GIS Labs - Andrew Wians

Introduction The goal of this lab is to identify ideal locations for backcountry skiing and snowboarding in Northern Wisconsin that can be accessed on public lands in the winter via hiking or snowshoeing. The focus of this study will be on the Blue Hills, East of Rice Lake, WI. As lift ticket prices at ski resorts across the country continue to rise, more and more people are looking for new locations to downhill ski and snowboard. Wisconsin may not have the biggest selection of backcountry locations, but they are out there, and this spatial analysis sets out to find them! Ted Bauer at Pinehurst Park in Eau Claire, WI -  Photo: Andrew Wians Data Sources DNR Properties courtesy of WI DNR Open Data  https://data-wi-dnr.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/dnr-managed-properties?geometry=-91.969%2C44.532%2C-90.662%2C44.703 National Forest Properties courtesy of WI DNR Open Data  https://data-wi-dnr.opendata.arcgis.com/datasets/usfs-national-forest-dissolved Co...

Goal and Objectives The goal of this lab exercise is to gain experience measuring and interpreting spectral reflectance signatures of various Earth surface and near-surface materials captured by satellite images. In addition, basic monitoring of the health of Earth surface resources (vegetation and soil) using remote sensing band ratio techniques will be practiced. To gain experience with spectral reflectance signatures, the spectral reflectance of 12 materials will be collected, graphed, and analyzed to distinguish spectral separability between surface features. The steps taken to complete this analysis are outlined in the Methods section of this blog post. Methods There are two objectives that this lab exercise seeks to achieve; (1) Collect and analyze the spectral reflectance signatures of 12 materials and surfaces and (2) Monitor the health of Earth's vegetation and soil resources. This section will outline the processes used in order to complete the analysis of e...

Goal and Objectives The goal of this lab exercise is to use various geoprocessing tools for vector analysis in ArcGIS in order to determine and map suitable habitat for bears in the study area of Marquette, Michigan. Python will also be introduced in this lab. Objectives 1. Map a GPS MS Excel file of black bear locations in the study area - central Marquette County, MI 2. Determine the forest types within the study area where black bears are found based on the GPS location of bears 3. Determine if bears are found near streams 4. Find suitable bear habitat based on two criteria 5. Find all areas of suitable bear habitat within areas managed by the Michigan DNR 6. Eliminate identified habitat areas near urban or built up lands 7. Generate a digital data flow model of the workflow and a cartographic output 8. Gain experience using Python Methods This section will highlight the methods taken to achieve each of the objectives for this lab exercise. Objective 1...