Lab 6: Digital Elevation Models

1. Shaded Relief Map

2. Slope Map

3. Aspect Map

4. 3-D Model

For the assignment for Lab 6, I selected a region of western Colorado. I chose this area because of the various different mountain ranges and hills found here in order to create a more drastic elevation model. The extent is as follows. Top: 39.114, Left: -107.582, Right: -106.988, Bottom: 38.737. Lastly, the geographic coordinate system used was GCS North American 1983.

Lab 7: Mapping the Station Fire

The Station Fire which struck Los Angeles County in September of 2009 was one of the most deadliest and destructive forest fires ever seen. Officials name it as the most destructive fire in modern Southern California history. Starting around 26th August and finally ending in October, the Station Fire blazed the Angeles National Forest Area for almost a month, destroying 209 structures, 90 of which were homes.

The fire was fully contained on October 16th, with the help of light rainfall in the area. It was later announced that the cause of the fire was actually arson, initiating a homicide investigation. Unfortunately, two firefighters were killed in the line of duty. It can safely be concluded that this was no mere spark, but a full blown blaze that threatened the residents of LA county and surrounding areas.

As a precautionary and preventive measure, the fire department issued evacuations for surrounding neighborhoods. The areas most affected by the fire were the communities of La Canada Flintridge, Glendale, Acton, La Crescenta, Pasadena, Littlerock, Altadena, Sunland, and Tujunga. Many of these populated areas had a mandatory evacuation, which was lifted as of September 6th as the fire became more manageable. Nevertheless, the wildfire threatened the very sanctity and safety of citizens residing in these neighborhoods.

As shown on the map, the fire progression worsened day by day until the firefighters had full control of it. Not only did it threaten the livelihood of neighboring areas, it also threatened surrounding structures such as the Mount Wilson Observatory which houses expensive astronomical equipment. Such damage would be costly and even irreplaceable.

In conclusion, the Station Fire which hit Los Angeles County hard early this year has been named one of the most dangerous and long lasting in modern history. As shown on the map, it threatened to come dangerously close to many residential areas. GIS is an important tool in mapping and analyzing such incidents. From natural disasters to other catastrophes, GIS has proved itself as a useful tool. Not only does it allow users to show progression, it also allows us to display other features such as 3-D models, elevation, and spatial analysis. It is these very features of GIS that makes it so useful to the geographic community. In addition, it goes beyond the realms of geography itself. Countless other professions and fields make use of this application to display and analyze information in the form of maps.

Lab 5: Projections in ArcGIS

The mathematical transformation of a three dimensional world to a two dimensional plane is referred to as a map projection. There are various different categories of projections. These differ in what is preserved such as angles or distance. However, a similarity found in all projections is the ability to portray the discrepancies that occur as a natural result of transforming the world onto paper or a computer screen.

Conformal map projections aim to preserve angles. Mercator and Stereographic projections are two examples of a conformal map. I noticed that my two conformal maps differed in approximately 3,000 miles when measuring the distance between DC and Kabul. This is yet another consequence of map projections that geographers must keep in mind.

Equal area map projections, on the other hand, seek to preserve area. Hammer and Sinusoidal projections are certain types of equal area maps. When measuring the distance between the two capital cities of America and Afghanistan, I noticed that the results were quite similar for both maps, with only a variance of 200 miles.

Lastly. equidistant map projections aim to preserve distance from a standard point. Examples of this category of map projection are Plate Carree and Equidistant Conic maps. Once again, similar to the discrepancies found in the Conformal maps, the distance between DC and Kabul varied substantially. A difference of around 3,000 miles was found in the two maps.

These distortions and discrepancies highlight the very pitfalls of projecting the 3-D world onto a 2-D surface. However, a certain aspect, may it be angles, area, or distance, must be compromised in one way or the other. This is the reality faced by many a cartographer, traveler, or geographer.