Get the GIS of it

 Not Finished: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1KqG50vwCE07sGXUQ8RSCCj38PlowmVE_/view?usp=drive_link

An example of GIS use in Archaeology:

 Internship Update: I am expected to perform multiple tasks with little supervision at this point in my internship. When collecting survey data for my project or that of my peers, if we have been previously trained and have the appropriate amount of volunteers, we are expected to collect the data with no higher supervision. Regarding my own project, I have made great progress this semester.  I have finished the initial survey of my three survey areas, and have nearly finished processing the data collected from them. I have also been aiding another research associate with their survey project for which the data collection should be finished in the next couple of months.  After processing the initial data for my project is completed, I will be moving on to applying for a permit with the state to conduct a high-resolution survey and collect core samples. I have also been working on the report for this project simultaneously for time-saving purposes, which will be beneficial ...

  Key Takeaways from GIS Job Search - Maintain knowledge of State and Federal regulations concerning historic preservation, environmental protection, and the identification, evaluation, and protection of archaeological resources - Maintain status as a scientific diver - Continue accumulating knowledge of geophysical survey data processing methods and digital mapping applications, such as ArcGIS and QGIS

The internship that I secured for the requirements of this course is out of the University of West Florida Archaeology Institute as a Research Associate under the direction of the Marine Archaeologist Will Wilson. This internship began at the beginning of May last year. I will be continuing this work until the end of this summer. The work required of me includes the following: Conducting remote sensing surveys of submerged archaeological sites or areas of interest (using subbottom profiler sonar, side-scan sonar, and/or magnetometer) Creating maps of sites, coring locations, and data overlays  Editing survey data within various data processing programs (Sonarwiz, Hypack, etc.)  Taking sediment and site-specific core samples with GNSS-recorded locations  Creating reports based on findings in the field and other documentary research  In addition to performing my duties at the institute and working towards the completion of my thesis, I chose to join the North Carolina...

This week I learned how scale and resolution can affect the interpretation and analysis of data and how to utilize the Polsby-Popper score to determine which voting districts are less than ideal when looking at their compactness and the dividing of counties. Scale effects on vector data involve the level of detail in spatial features: at large scales (high detail), features like rivers and city boundaries are depicted with more precision, while at small scales (low detail), features are simplified, leading to potential data generalization.  Resolution effects on raster data refer to the size of cells: higher resolution provides finer detail, while lower resolution leads to loss of detail, affecting analyses like land cover or terrain modeling. When resampling LiDAR data, you need to consider what analysis you will perform to determine which technique is best to use. I chose bilinear interpolation since we were using the data for a DEM of a watershed area. The lowest and highest-res...

 This week  I learned that different interpolation techniques can produce varied results depending on the frequency of the data points and the contents of that data. A  single instance of coinciding data points can throw off the results of the analysis greatly when using spline interpolation. W hen working with continuous data with gradual changes spline generates a smooth spatial pattern that more accurately represents the data. Where preserving exact values is necessary IDW shows sharp transitions between data points. Thiessen represents the data as various zones using TINs.  Spline (regulated) Spline (tension) IDW Thiessen

 This week, I explored various techniques for creating, extracting, manipulating, and analyzing TINs and DEMs. One of the tools that we used, the "Spline" tool, was used to create a DEM from the given elevation data points. Afterward, I created contour lines using the resulting DEM with the "Contour" tool. The image shown below is the final result.

 For this lab assignment, we were to complete an accuracy assessment of the road network data from two different sources for Jackson County, Oregon to determine their completeness. My methods to complete this task were as follows: 1.      I started by using the “Pairwise Intersect” tool for each of the road shapefiles to isolate each of the road segments within the grids 2.      Within the attribute table of the two new shapefiles the previous step created, I added a new field and used the “Calculate Geometry” tool to get the length of each road segment in kilometers. 3.      I then used the “Summary Statistics” tool for each shapefile to combine the lengths of each road segment based on their grid code. 4.      I used the “Join Field” tool to join the two resulting measurement fields to the grid attribute table to compare them. 5.      I created a new field in the grid attribute table called “comparison” an...

This week I completed a data quality standards assessment using the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy to measure and report geographic data quality as described in the Positional Accuracy Handbook. In the two provided street maps, I selected 20 points at various intersections and their matching counterparts. Afterward, I put a point where the intersection should have been for each intersection point. I then populated the attribute tables with their x and y measurements in decimal degrees. After I had all of the x and y points I filled in the horizontal accuracy statistic worksheet as shown in the worksheet and completed the formal accuracy statement. Figure 1. The 20 intersections selected for the assessment. Formal Accuracy Statement: o    Horizontal Positional Accuracy: §   Using the National Standard for Spatial Data Accuracy, the ABQ_Streets data set was compiled to meet 4.39067E-05ft and 0.001008426ft for the StreetMapUSA data set horizontal accuracy at 95%...

 For this lab, I was to determine the horizontal accuracy and precision of various data points taken with a GPS. The horizontal accuracy is determined by finding the average point from the data points taken and measuring its distance to the reference point. To determine horizontal precision, buffer zones can be used to show the distribution of the data points around the average. The distance between the reference point and the average location point is 10.71 meters and the vertical accuracy is within 4 meters. My results used the accuracy of the GPS unit to find the point that would represent the precise point that they are centered towards but not the exact location where they should have been.  In general, the points taken with the GPS are accurate but not precise.

For this suitability assessment, I needed to find the areas that black bears would most likely move through to get between the protected areas. -          I began by reclassifying the landcover and elevation rasters with their suitability values. I then used the Euclidean distance tool for the roads raster before reclassifying it with its suitability values. After that, I used the weighted overlay tool to combine the 3 rasters using the specified percentages before inverting it using the raster calculator tool with the equation [Cost_Surface = 10 – “Weighted_Suit”]. Using the newly created cost surface and both park areas, I created 2 cost distance rasters using the cost distance tool and then combined them using the corridor tool. I then reclassified it to represent the best possible corridors and changed the symbology.

A suitability analysis for property development is shown below. For this analysis, I started by converting the slope DEM and soil layers to rasters, and using the Euclidean distance tool for the rivers and roads layers, before reclassifying all rasters (landcover, rivers, roads, slope, and soil) by their suitability rating. I then used the weighted overlay tool to generate the two images seen in the map above using two different sets of weight percentages (equal and varied respectively). 

     For this week's assignment, I  completed a small part of a post-disaster evaluation for an area of coastal New Jersey that was affected by Hurricane Sandy.      The image above depicts the coastal area near Atlantic City, New Jersey where the hurricane made landfall before the storm. Outlined in grey is the study area for completing a structural damage analysis. After overlaying the parcel information, you can see the outlines of each property within the study area. I switched back and forth between the Pre-Storm and Post-Storm images to determine the damage level for each structure on each parcel.      With the key provided above, you can see the differing structure damage levels for each parcel within the study area as I saw fit to code them. Most of the severely damaged or destroyed structures seem to be closer to the coastline on initial inspection. To determine the damage level based on proximity to the coastline we will need t...

The most challenging aspect of the lab itself this week was figuring out how to correctly reclassify rasters, render them as polygons, and merge them with others to get the tables to populate correctly. I was stuck on this step of the lab for a couple hours. When I was finally able to get it to work for selecting the buildings within the USGS flood plain(after finding a post from the professor about how other students found it easier to complete, see screenshot below), my online desktop/software decided that it did not want to complete the rendering process to select for the buildings within the LiDAR flood plain. I tried restarting the online desktop multiple times to see if I could just restart the process, but it ended up not even loading the contents of the map. If I can get the map to load correctly or have the opportunity to redo this last part of the assignment this week, I will resubmit the assignment and update this blog post as well. 

 This week I completed 4 exercises to learn how to use 3D visualization, perform line-of-sight and viewshed analysis, and share 3D content. The most interesting tools and requirements I learned from the exercises are listed below. Local Scenes: can be used to display subsurface data Extrusion: displays 2D data as a 3D layer (works on points, lines, and polygons)     Requirements for uploading a 3D scene: must be a scene layer with multipatch data layer must use absolute heights for feature elevation (cannot be defined on the ground or relative to the ground) if the multipatch content is projected then the layers x and y units need to match the z units

  For this week's lab assignment, I learned how to use multiple tools that aid in the processing and presentation of LiDAR data. The map shown at the top of the poster below depicts the LiDAR data that was used for this assignment. From this data, I was able to get information on vegetation density, height, and ground cover. I was also able to create an image showing the elevation of the area. The four images shown below the LiDAR data depict the study location, a canopy density map, a forest height map, and a digital elevation model.

       F or  this assignment, I created three maps, each using a different hotspot technique. To achieve this I first calculated the area in square miles for each hotspot map by creating a new field called “Shape_Area_sqmi.” I then used the Calculate Geometry option by right-clicking the new field in each attribute table. Since the kernel density hotspot map consisted of multiple separate polygons, I had to use the “summary statistics” geoprocessing tool to add all of their areas together to get the total coverage. I then selected the 2018 homicides within the 2017 hotspot areas by location. After that, I exported the selected features to create a shapefile containing those selections. Next, I used spatial join for each hotspot map to get the count of 2018 homicides within each map. I, again, had to use the “summary statistics” geoprocessing tool to add all of the 2018 homicides within the kernel density map.  For each of the new shapefiles I created (hom20...

I am currently a grad student in the Historical Archaeology department at UWF and am also working on the completion of a grad certification in GIS. This Fall I will begin working on putting together my thesis for my master's and will hopefully finish by the end of Spring. I really enjoy living in Pensacola and I don't think I'll be leaving here for a while after I graduate. Since I am used to moving every 2 years it might be a bit difficult for me to stay in one place. I really enjoy being able to see and experience new places. The places that I have lived that are shown in my story map  are not the only places that I have ever traveled. I have been to Mexico and Puerto Rico many times. I have also been to Jamaica, Haiti, the Cayman Islands, England, Scotland, and Guatemala. I hope I get to continue traveling often.

 This week was our final assignment. For this assignment, we were to write a code to create a new text file and copy all the information for the point data for 25 features. This data included the Feature OID, Vertex ID, X coordinates, Y coordinates, and the name of the river features. I created the code below, and the images following the code show the resulting text file.