Calculation and modeling of groundwater elevation and BTEX analytical concentrations-Betsy BoutonPart 1, Part 2

The monitoring of groundwater elevations and analytical concentrations of potentially harmful contaminants is important for the delineation of the nature and extent of the contamination, assessing the stability of the plume, and developing trend data. The creation of groundwater contours and plume models has previously been performed manually by the environmental scientists collecting the data. This tool automates the process by taking CSV files of field measured depth to water along with the results of the laboratory analysis and interpolates groundwater contour lines, a raster surface of the contamination, and outputs to an HTML webpage the maximum, minimum, and average groundwater elevation and analytical result values with a map. The input of multiple years’ worth of data allows for comparison of the flow of the contamination over time. All original source data used as example input are Government owned and are the property of the Government with all rights and privileges of ownership/copyright belonging exclusively to the Government.

Keywords: CSV, groundwater, groundwater elevation, groundwater contamination, interpolation, contour lines, BTEX, HTML

Gridded Coastline Simplification of Postal Code Polygon-Bill Morelli Part 1, Part 2

In the package delivery industry Postal polygons are used for complex geospatial operations to analyze asset movement data and make business decisions. Data purchased from vendors are highly accurate, which results in a large number of vertices per dataset, particularly in countries with long coastlines. This complexity causes spatial operation issues due to memory and network capacity demand when performed using GIS services. My process and tools create a varied size grid coastline for postal polygons based on square area size in countries that fit this description, while maintaining the original accuracy and integrity of the inland postal code boundaries. This reduces the vertex counts tremendously in coastal water areas that do not have any residents.

Keywords: Postal Codes, Polygon Simplification, Grid Coastlines, Vertex Reduction, Spatial Selections, HTML Creation

Retrieving and Manipulating Map Tiles from a Webservice - Kenneth ClawsonPart 1, Part 2

The python tool allows the user to query Google’s Static Maps API with predefined parameters to obtain map tiles. By building the query with parameters the user can choose to included or remove map features including buildings, roads, and points of interest among others. After obtaining the map tiles the python script displays the map tiles in Esri’s ArcMap Desktop Software.

Keywords: Map tiles, web services, python, urllib, Google Maps

Importation of National Severe Storms Laboratory WDSSII Custom NetCDF Data Formats to ArcGIS - Robert Toomey Part 1, Part 2

At the National Severe Storms Laboratory we use custom NetCDF data formats as part of the WDSSII project. Being able to read these formats into ArcGIS is useful for working with this data within a GIS system and for data presentation. We create ArcGIS toolboxes to allow reading of custom NetCDF data into ArcGIS GRID format, and for batch creation of HTML and PNG map images.

Keywords: Data Conversion, NetCDF, Weather, Rasters, NSSL, WDSSII, Zipfile

Forecast Fetcher: Generating Weather Information with Geospatial Data for NC State Parks - Jason Brown Part 1, Part 2

Weather events are capable of having severe impacts on recreational areas and as a result, park managers as well as park visitors must stay informed. The current alert system for weather related warnings in North Carolina State Parks relies upon field staff observations and manual updates to online messaging that advises the public. By integrating National Weather Service geospatial data, an analysis is automated to determine specific alerts for precise areas of the state park system. This project differentiates summer and winter weather events and identifies the parks in the forecast area. The script also prepares data for a statewide map of all weather watches and warnings within state park land.

Keywords: weather, alert, state park, warning, public safety, site closure, weather hazard

Vector-based Shadow Analysis - Reza Amindarbari

The shading condition of buildings, that is how much of their facades and roof are in shadow or inversely receive solar radiation at given times, highly impacts their thermal performance, daylight quality, or capacity for using of solar panels. There are a very few number of GIS tools for shadow analysis, such as Sun Shadow Volume tool, however, none of these tools are vector based. Getting a building footprint polygon shapefile as input, which should contain building height data, the Shadow Analysis toolbox, however, computes the in-shadow area/ratio of the rooftop and facades for all individual features in the input dataset for given solar altitude and azimuth. Additionally, it creates two polygon shapefiles for shadows casted on the ground and rooftops.

Keywords: Building Footprint, Rooftop Shadow, Facade Shadow, Geometry Object

Vehicle Routing Problem Map and Directions Automation - Stephanie A. Wendel

Finding the optimal route for a fleet of vehicles is helps to speed up delivery but unless you tell the drivers where to go, the route be ineffective. They have to have an easy to read interpretation of the optimal route. The easiest way to deliver that is in the form of a map and written directions. This solution provides a way to automate solving the vehicle routing problem and then deploying a set of written directions in a pdf map as well as in webmap form for the drivers to use. This saves both the analyst and drivers time. The mapbooks are built and uploaded automatically and the driver has a set of easy to follow instructions which they can access via their ArcGIS Online account.

Keywords: Vehicle Routing Problem, directions, fleet, mapbook, ArcGIS online, deliveries

Processing Daymet Data for Intersection with the WaSSI Model - Jonah Freedman

Developed by The Eastern Forest Environmental Threat Assessment Center (EFETAC), the WaSSI (Water Supply Stress Index) Ecosystem Services Model (http://www.fs.fed.us/ccrc/tools/wassi.shtml) can be used to project the effects of land cover change, climate change, population change, and water withdrawals on river flows, water supply stress, and ecosystem productivity. Daymet (http://daymet.ornl.gov/gridded) is a collection of algorithms and computer software designed to interpolate and extrapolate from daily meteorological observations to produce gridded estimates of daily weather parameters. Some of these parameters are used in the Priestley-Taylor (PT) method for calculating PET (Potential Evapo-transpiration) which is a variable missing from the WaSSI model. The processes required for preparing Daymet data for intersection with the WaSSI model are presented here.

Keywords: water supply model, Water Supply Stress Index Model (WaSSI), ecosystem services, climate, precipitation, temperature, solar radiation, vapor pressure, spatial analysis, scaling, evapotranspiration (ET), potential evapotranspiration (PET), actual evapotranspiration (AET), Priestley-Taylor (PT) method, watershed, HUC12

Automate and Email Daily Movement of Collared Nigerian Elephants - Janet L. Loomis

Human-elephant conflict is a major issue in Nigeria. As part of an ongoing effort to reduce this conflict, Nigerian officials use satellite data from two collared elephants to monitor the locations of the two herds in Yankari National Park. The collars transmit location data on a daily basis which is used by the North Carolina Zoo to create elephant location maps. These maps are then emailed to counterparts in Nigeria to aid in their efforts. This tool automates the process by parsing the satellite data, creating a final map image, and emailing the final image.

Keywords: elephant satellite location data, automated email, parsing text, daily movement

Eye Tracking Data Visualization - Michelle Glatz Part 1, Part 2

An eye tracker is a device that tracks the locations where the eye’s gaze dwells (fixations) and the movements from one fixation to another (saccades). The eye tracker can be used with ArcMap to gather data that specifies where on a map a user is focusing, when and how long their gaze lingers, as well the size of the dilation of their pupils. The ability to analyze various properties of and recognize patterns in this data would be beneficial for many applications as a tool for determining the effectiveness of the map presentation . An analysis of map eye tracking data is presented here. The data is extracted from the eye tracker output file (.csv) and displayed on the map using symbology based on length of gaze or pupil dilation to visualize the level of viewer interest. A space-time grouping analysis is conducted to indicate areas of high focus both spatially and temporally.

Keywords: eye tracking, grouping analysis, space-time analysis, visualization

Climate Change Vulnerability Index Toolset - Brian T. Watson Part 1, Part 2

NatureServe has developed the Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) to rapidly assess vulnerability of animal and plant species to climate change using a scoring system based on predicted exposure and sensitivity to climate change. The CCVI incorporates the overlay and classification of species ranges with both predicted and historical GIS climate data as factors of a species’ exposure and sensitivity to climate change. The CCVI Toolset is a suite of tools that calculates exposure to predicted change in both moisture and temperature for single or multiple species in varying formats. Future plans for the toolset include incorporating tools to calculate historical temperature and precipitation factors, exporting and/or creation of summarization reports, and interface improvements.

Keywords: Climate Change Vulnerability Index, CCVI, climate change, NatureServe, climate model, raster

Crime Analysis Population Environment - Kevin Williams Part 1, Part 2

It has been said that crime has an inherent geographical quality. Yet, simply looking at crime density creates a bias outlook at high crime areas. The key aspect in crime analysis is the people, which serve as victims, offenders, and guardians. A population environment to overlay crime data and display hot spots is presented here to visualize the true rate of crime.

Keywords: crime, population, crime rate, analysis, database, Tennessee

Air Force Incident Management (AFIM) Aggregator - Kevin Dunlop Part 1, Part 2

The U.S. Air Force has many air bases located overseas. During a wartime invasion, the airmen at each base track incidents, attacks, damage, and readiness status for their base. This information is summarized and reported to the number Air Force headquarters (i.e. 7th Air Force) responsible for their region. The AFIM Aggregator is an application designed to standardized the summary process for each base and then aggregate the results into a regional picture resulting in freed up manpower at the base levels while providing a more accurate and concise regional picture.

Keywords: military readiness status, incidents, building damage, air field damage, reporting, overseas, air force

Automated FAWN Weather Data Download, Cleanup and Geoprocessing - Jeannette Atkinson Part 1, Part 2

There are 36 weather stations in the state of Florida that collect daily data, such as temperature and rainfall. The data cannot be processed in its raw form due to data issues such as missing values. An application of automated data download, cleanup, and geoprocessing is presented here. The FAWN csv files are updated and automatically uploaded into ArcGIS for an interpolated visual display.

Keywords: FAWN, Weather, Spline Interpolation

GPX, KML and Shapefile: One Tool to Rule them All - Gregory B. Dunnigan Part 1, Part 2

ArcGIS provides many tools for data conversion. Basic users of Arcmap may not be familiar with exactly where these tools are located. It is more valuable for these users to be out in the field, not spent with time consuming data conversion processes. With the power of Python and Scripting, a tool can be built that greatly streamlines the basic users process in regards to basis conversion tools as well as heavily customized processes.

Keywords: Data Conversion, GPX, GPS, KML, KMZ, Shapefile, Zipfile

GoldenEye....tracker: GIS Analysis of Eye Tracking to Study Data Visualizations - Stewart Rouse Part 1, Part 2

Maps enable viewers to inspect, interpret, and analyze geospatial data sets.  Effective maps are designed to engage viewers by directing attentions in response to visual stimulus, but research indicates that meaningfulness has a role in controlling visual attention.  In this study we explore how data visualizations attracts a map viewer’s attentions.  Using LIDAR data from Jockey’s Ridge, eye tracking hardware, and GIS; we can change the manner in which the data is displayed and track the motion of the user’s eyes to see where on the map the user’s attention is pulled.

Keywords: tracking, Jockey’s Ridge, CSV file, data visualization, clip

Quantifying changes in snow cover using Landsat imagery - Stephen G. Smith Part 1, Part 2

As global climate change continues, one of the most apparent consequences has been the diminishing volumes of snow and ice in many areas of the world. Quantifying these changes in earth’s cryosphere aids researchers in developing models to predict the future impacts of climate change. One method of assessing changes in ice and snow cover is through the analysis of satellite imagery, and due to the time-consuming nature of manually mapping the extent of snow cover from satellite imagery, this programming tool has been developed to automate the process of importing Landsat imagery into ArcGIS software, extracting areas of snow cover, and quantifying the results. Analyzing these results may provide an effective means for elucidating the impact of climate change in a certain area.

Keywords: snow cover, Landsat, image classification, satellite imagery, raster classification, mapping, climate change

Generation of Vector Field(s) using Partial Derivatives from ASCII Text Files - Emily R. Russ Part 1, Part 2

Coastal areas are highly dynamic and the surface is constantly evolving. Therefore, LiDAR data is an invaluable resource for displaying terrain change in coastal areas to help understand coastal processes such as storm impacts. However, it can be difficult to understand how the surface is changing spatially using typical surface analyses such as slope or aspect maps. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to show the fastest rate of change in a high resolution DEM by generating a gradient vector field, to more clearly visualize coastal evolution. Mapping the direction and magnitude the surface changes spatially using vector fields can increase understanding of the processes acting in coastal areas, and highlight the vulnerability of certain coastal areas.

Keywords: Rodanthe, NC, LiDAR, ASCII text files, vector fields, partial derivatives, XY to Line

Investigating Appropriate Sites for the NSF Olympex Radar Observing System - Lani Clough Part 1, Part 2

The Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington experiences orthographic precipitation within the mountain ranges with precipitation rates 50-70% higher at the crests than the annual precipitation means. Current knowledge of orthographic precipitation is greatly limited by the lack of large rain gauge and radar networks with the ability to monitor small-scale precipitation events. Radar antennas are difficult to place in mountains due to topographic features which can block radar beam patterns. This tool identifies appropriate sites with minimal blockage for placing the National Science Foundation (NSF) Olympex radar observing system in Washington's Olympic Peninsula.

Keywords: Radar Systems, Orthographic Precipitation, Viewshed, National Science Foundation, Spatial Reference, Site Analysis, Select By Location, Distance between point, Arcpy Mapping

Rapid Prototyping for Tangible GIS - Brendan Harmon Part 1, Part 2

The research objective is to create physical 3D models of Jockey’s Ridge for Tangible GIS. GIS is coupled with a physical model through an iterative cycle of 3D scanning and projection. A rapid prototyping tool analyzes a DEM and exports for laser cutting, 3D modeling, and rapid prototpying. A time series tool performs time series analysis and exports point clouds for 3D modeling and rapid prototpying.

Keywords: Tangible GIS, rapid prototyping, lidar, time series analysis

Landsat Forest Change Tools (LandsatFCT) - David G. Jones Part 1, Part 2

The N.C. Forest Service (NCFS) has identified a simple methodology for locating forest harvest sites for forestry Best Management Practices implementation monitoring using Landsat satellite imagery and collateral GIS datasets. LandsatFCT includes a suite of Python-based tools to assist with the identification of available Landsat scenes, batch downloading, TAR file unzipping, and geoprocessing to identify areas on the landscape where forest change has occurred. Presently, change analysis is primarily done through a Band 7 differencing. Future plans for LandsatFCT include a more user-friendly interface, user customizations, and additional change detection methods (e.g., NDVI, NDMI, etc.).

Keywords: Landsat, Forest Change, Band 7 Differencing, Raster, Parse, GeoRSS, TAR, TIF, TXT

Automated Assignment Grading - Joshua Verkerke Part 1, Part 2

The GIS 520 course at North Carolina State University is an advanced look at some of the tools and methods available through ESRI’s ArcInfo software, and has been increasing in enrolment in recent years. The course takes students through 13 exercises involving many different geoprocessing methods, with exercise deliverables including shape files, databases, toolboxes, and similar data, typically with a structured naming convention for each component. Converting the grading process of such files from a manual or visual check to an automated system would help minimize the time TAs need to spend grading, and free them up to be more responsive within the student forums. The tool presented here partially automates grading of the “Suitability Analysis and Weighted Overlay” assignment, checking for the inclusion of the appropriate files with their proper names, as well as checking for valid results of several steps in the assignment.

Keywords: Grading, Rasters, Toolbox Model, Suitability Analysis

Area-Time Inundation Index Model (ATIIM) - Chris R. Vernon Part 1, Part 2

The Area-Time Inundation Index Model (ATIIM) was created to quantitatively assess site restoration potential. The ATIIM generates two-dimensional inundation extents, determines average bankfull elevation, and generates a suite of other site metrics using hourly water-surface elevation data and terrain surface created from Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) data.

Keywords: Area, Time, Inundation, LiDAR, Index, Model

Converting Weather Collection Data into Displayable Raster Data - Brian McLean (2 part videos) Part 1, Part 2

FAWN “Florida Automated Weather Network” is a series of 36 weather stations spread throughout the state of Florida that collect various types of weather data. This weather data can be a useful source of supplemental information that farm managers can use to help make production decisions. The information is available for download via CSV file format. This tool will convert and interpolate the data across the state based on user input.

Keywords: Raster, Interpolation, Spline, Weather, CSV file, Conversion, Florida, Temperature, Evapotranspiration

Suitability Analysis for Potential Rifle Range Locations at the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (SCDNR) - Geoff Schwitzgebel (2 part videos) Part 1, Part 2

The SCDNR builds and maintains various shooting ranges throughout South Carolina for public use. This script takes various input layers (soils, wetlands, slope, flood zones and proximity to roads) resulting in a final raster dataset that shows which areas are the most suitable for the construction of a new shooting range. As a result, significant cost savings are realized and the Engineering Department can go directly to specific areas for further field verification before determining a final site location.

Keywords: Suitability Analysis, Reclassification, Site Analysis, Raster, Raster Addition, Select by Location, Extract by Mask

Potential Core Forest Conservation Areas in the Southern Blue Ridge Ecoregion - Rachel Albritton (2 part videos) Part 1, Part 2

Conservation focused non-profit organizations such as land-trust agencies often complete large-scale regional analysis to identify areas that may have high conservation value. Results from these processes are often shared within the agency and sometimes shared between agencies. This requires extracting sub groups of shapefiles and related information from larger datasets. Additionally, the individual(s) receiving the information are often not GIS experts and would benefit from having information that is easily accessed and digestible. The purpose of this project was to create a tool that extracts previously identified areas of high conservation value (polygons) along with relevant information (i.e. land ownership, species diversity, etc.) according to user selected county boundaries, map these areas, and automatically generate a summary report for the end user regarding acreages of conservation area(s), species diversity for selected areas, and acreages by landowner type.

Keywords: Conservation areas, southern blueridge ecoregion, batch processing, automated reporting

Integrating GPS data and geotagged photographs into ArcMap and Google Earth for watershed analysis. - Megan Culler Part 1, Part 2

This project involves converts GPS data and geotagged photographs to shapefiles for analysis of a watershed's health, and conversion of data to KML files so it can be accessible to the public in Google Earth. GPX files containing waypoints and trackpoints are converted to shapefiles and joined with notes collected during watershed monitoring and attributes from shapefiles. Shapefiles relating to the watershed are then exported to KML, along with geotagged photographs.

Keywords: GPS, GPX, geotagging, photographs, KML, Google Earth, watershed

Fire Incident Response Planning and Site Analysis - Joshua Tanner Part 1

The time it takes to respond to a fire incident is greatly impacted by proper planning and knowledge of the site. Using geospatial technologies and concepts, situational awareness can be improved upon and potentially provide faster response times. Two main factors in providing a prompt and efficient response are: (1) The shortest route from the fire station to the geocoded address; and (2) the closest fire hydrant to the incident. The python script in this project identifies and outputs both the shortest route and closest hydrant to a html page to help fire fighters better respond to an incident.

Keywords: Shortest Path, KML, Web Mapping, Fire Stations, Fire Hydrants, Google Maps