GIS Final analysis report

Welcome to the final project for our GIS class! In this project, we will be applying the knowledge and
skills learned over the last few months to provide a spatial answer to one of the following scenarios in
the form of a map. This will involve collecting the data, processing and analyzing, and finally creating a
visualization.

In addition to creating the map itself, you will also be required to document the process and
methodology used to create the map. This will involve outlining the data sources used, the tools
employed, and any analytical techniques used to process and interpret the data.

By the end of this project, you will have gained a deeper understanding of how GIS can be used to
visualize and analyze spatial data, as well as the importance of properly documenting and
communicating your methods and findings. I look forward to seeing the creative and informative maps
that you all produce! *REMEMBER to SAVE OFTEN***

Pick one of the following projects for the assignment.

Project 1: Livin’ the Dream

You have just graduated from college with a degree in rural psychology. You also do not have much
money because… well, you just graduated from college with a degree in rural psychology. Living with
your parents is not the future you have in mind, so you need to find a suitable place to live. You took a
course in geographic information systems in college, an elective, but perhaps the most useful class you
could have taken. Remembering that there is a free GIS software, you decide to find yourself the perfect
place to find a job and live cheaply. In addition, you are a very social person who enjoys outdoor
activities. Being young, active AND single, you would like to live in a community with a dating pool close
to your age. At a minimum it must meet all the following requirements (it would be even better if it was
not in North Dakota).

- It must be a rural community

- The community should have a higher than average suicide rate (per capita) (This can be State
level data)
- The cost of living in the STATE has to be lower than the national average
- The average temperature in January needs to be below 0 degrees Celsius as your favorite
outdoor activity is pond hockey.
- To increase your odds of getting a date, the young adult population (19-34) must make up more
than 20.5 % of the population of the urban area. If you don’t want to date people in the 25-34
range than choose the 19-24 and greater than 8.5% of the population. (The Census Bureau
breaks this age group into two columns: This can be State Level data). Use Policy Map to
download the data.
- You are not likely to find the above conditions and a fun nightlife so you will want to be within
30 miles of an urban area.
- ***SAVE FREQUENTLY AS THESE COMPUTATIONS WILL SOMETIMES CRASH QGIS****
Project 2: From Windows to Wineries
Bill Gates has had enough with software development and has decided he wants to pursue an
endeavor in the wine industry. He wants to plant a vineyard and has hired you as a consultant to help
him find the right location to do a trial. You have a first meeting with him and define the following
specifications:

- The terrain must be in an American Viticultural Area (AVA) in Washington State.

- Since Bill lives in Seattle, he would like the vineyard to be within 50 miles of a private airport.
- For ease of transportation of the produced grapes, it has to be at most 10 miles away from a
state/interstate route.
- Since he would like to plant Grenache, Malbec or Merlot grape varieties to make red wine, the
chosen area must have a Winkler index of III, which means the Growing Degree Days (GDD)
must be between 1650 and 1930.
- The annual mean precipitation of the terrain must be no less than 290 mm/year (with no
supplemental irrigation)
- During Summer (August) the temperature must not exceed 40 °C.
- The pH of the soil must be between 6.5 and 7.5.
(https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/soils/survey/geo/?cid=nrcseprd1464625)
- The elevation must be between 200 and 600 meters above sea level (MASL).
- The slope has to be less than 8°.
- It must have over 300 hectares.

***SAVE FREQUENTLY AS THESE COMPUTATIONS WILL SOMETIMES CRASH QGIS****

Project 3: Bring in the Beavers

Beavers are known to be ecosystem engineers which means they significantly modify
or create an ecosystem or habitat. The creation of wetlands from their dam building
can be beneficial to numerous species but can also be beneficial to slowing the
spread of wildfires. The objective of this project is to create a selection process
tool for the Land Use Committee to evaluate tax parcels for voluntary easement
purchase and therefore provide habitat for beavers. You will make a map to show
area landowners if their property is suitable for beaver reintroduction using the
following specifications:

• We will be focusing our efforts on landowners in Northwest Spokane County. As you will want to
contact owners of suitable areas, you will need a parcel map of Spokane County. There are
many parcels in Spokane and many are urban so zoom in on the northwest part of the county
 centered on Nine Mile Falls. Select just the parcels that have a current use of “Vacant” or
“Cur_use_open”. Finally the lot must be larger than 30 acres.
• Beavers require water to build dams and lodges. Include a layer that shows hydrology areas (i.e.
rivers, ponds, streams, etc.). Buffer by 30 m, beaver relocation efforts would have to be within
these areas. HINT: Use the Hydrography data from HU4 Sub Region that covers the Spokane
area
• Streams with a slope of < 0.04 (streams follow hillslope)
• Beavers are herbivorous animals who prefer aspen trees
o You can use a layer showing deciduous trees or riparian areas as a proxy for Aspen
o HINT: If using Gap Landfire data, use the attribute “Value” = 138 to select for Rocky
Mountain Cool Temperate Forest & Woodland
• Beavers are territorial and often travel around 5 km. Plot current beaver presence (layer
provided) to ensure that multiple beavers are not too close to one another and could cause
conflict.
• Beavers tend to colonize at elevations below 4500 feet.
• Your final map will show the parcels that meet the above requirements

***SAVE FREQUENTLY AS THESE COMPUTATIONS WILL SOMETIMES CRASH QGIS****

Project 4: Fixing the Phosphorous Flow

Contamination of waterways with phosphorous can lead to a degradation of water quality through
eutrophication processes. While a nationwide ban on phosphorous in household detergents was
enacted in 1994, it is still present in many commercially available fertilizers. Phosphorous movement in
the environment is typically as a sorbed complex on soil surfaces. Erosion of sediment is a main way for
phosphorous to make its way into waterways.

The Puyallup Watershed is over 670,000 acres and has a population of nearly half a million people.
Additionally, the watershed is part of a salmon recovery planning effort. This area is especially important
as it drains 60% of Mount Rainier and empties into Commencement Bay in the lower Puget Sound.

We need to identify the Areas of Concern, to enact effective and cost-efficient watershed management
strategies and maximize reduction of pollutants. Homeowners and agricultural producers are part of the
solution if they can be educated about responsible use of phosphorous containing fertilizers.

You collected Soil sample from 30 sites in Puyallup region, Washington and analyzed the samples for
phosphorous concentration. Your data is summarized in a spreadsheet with locations as X,Y coordinates
and a field for Phosphorous values. Your analysis showed that the concentration ranges from 15 to 300
mg/kg. The results of this analysis will be used to contact homeowners in the areas of most concern for
phosphorous source contamination. The Areas of Concern are defined by the requirements listed below.

• Phosphorous concentration greater than 150 mg/kg (buffer by 500 m)- provided as a point layer
• Sites within 500m from water bodies
• Areas with Sandy loam soil have higher risk of Phosphorous leaching
• Areas with Clay loam soil will sorb Phosphorous but can be prone to eroding
• Slope has a major influence on erosion. Select for areas with Slope greater than 15 degrees
 • Erosion can occur without steep slopes if the rainfall is sufficient, select for areas with greater
than 38 inches of rainfall per year (this will be an OR statement in the raster calculator)
• Areas that are most likely to erode are those with minimal plant cover such as agricultural fields
that are frequently tilled. Select the agricultural landcover areas in the Puyallup watershed.

Additionally, you will need to include on the final map: Watershed Sub basin boundary (HU8 level) for
the Puyallup region (Code 17110014 – Puyallup) *Available from TNM download in the NHD dataset

***SAVE FREQUENTLY AS THESE COMPUTATIONS WILL SOMETIMES CRASH QGIS****

Hunting Wonderland
You are interested in hunting in Washington state, and you took a GIS course while you were in college.
Instead of using paid commercial software, you decide to collect data yourself and find the best place to
go hunting. You want to hunt in one of the deer areas that are released by the Washington Department
of Fish and Wildlife. First you want to make sure that you are hunting on public land. You would like to
have roads nearby the hunting area, so that it is easier for you to carry the meat. You want to avoid
cliffs, so the area needs to have no more than a moderate incline. Since hunting in the woods is a lot
harder than in open areas, you prefer not to have tall trees. Finally, the temperature during the hunting
season must not be excessively cold.

1. Deer areas need to be on public land

2. Your chance of success is higher if you hunt in areas designated as “Deer Special Hunt Area”

a. Add a Game Management Unit layer for context in the final map

3. Must not be within 1.0 miles of a populated area.

4. The deer areas need to be within 3 miles of a road.

5. The maximum slope needs to be less than 12 degrees in the deer area.

6. Land cover types need to be Non-forested areas

7. The average temperature in November must be above 42 degrees Fahrenheit

8. Should be within 75 miles of a Cabelas

***SAVE FREQUENTLY AS THESE COMPUTATIONS WILL SOMETIMES CRASH QGIS****

Post Fire Ponderosa Plantings

After the 2022 Black Fire in New Mexico, Forest Service scientists have recommended that planting
ponderosa pine seedlings would be able to stop erosion in areas that were burned at higher severities.
Due to budget concerns, they want to maximize the efficiency of the plantings to ensure that the
maximum benefits are achieved at the lowest cost. To do this, they have agreed upon several
characteristics that will maximize the chance of seedling survival and have tasked you with making a
map that shows these potential planting sites.

● Scientists recommend that areas with Moderate and High Burn Severities be replanted, as their
lack of vegetation post-fire can cause erosion. (Layer is provided)*
● Ponderosa pine tends to grow better in very sunny areas, so a south facing aspect would be best
(Azimuth 135°-225°)
● Scientists recommend that areas with slopes greater than or equal to 12° should be replanted to
prevent erosion.
● Ponderosa pine grows best between 6500’ and 9000’ elevation.
● Potential planting areas should be within 3 miles of a road system so planters can hike in.
● All potential planting areas should be previously forested areas as per the National Land Cover
Data Set.
● Final map should have contour lines to aid in planning travel routes to planting sites.
● Additionally, the total number of acres for potential replanting needs to be listed on the map

* – Zipped folder has burn severity raster, metadata, and legend

***SAVE FREQUENTLY AS THESE COMPUTATIONS WILL SOMETIMES CRASH QGIS****

*********Complete Instructions are Below**********

Final Project Instructions
50 points

Pick one of the three proposed projects and describe how you would build your GIS
project. This will be in the form of a report with the following required elements. The
parts are described to help you develop each section of your write-up.

Opening

Title: this will be the description of the project as the map title

***Remember titles are important and not necessarily easy to formulate so take some
time and consideration with this element

Introduction
The bulk of this has been provided for you in the description of the project. You can copy/paste
parts of this into the Introduction but remember to put it in quotes. In a complete GIS write up
you should include background or support for the methods used in the data collection and
analysis. Conclude the introduction with a statement of objectives or output goals that the GIS
study will provide in your own words.

Methods
The methods section describes the steps that were used to conduct the research. The content
of this section varies with each report but must include the source of the information, attribute
summary, and method. You may insert the data collection paper for the data sources in this
section. The following is an example:

This part can be described in multiple ways: as a table such as the above example or in
paragraph form. You can also do a combination where you summarize the method in a
paragraph and then use a table to organize the method and follow up with the cartographic
model. The cartographic model is helpful in the planning of the GIS but can also serve as a guide
when writing up the sequence of operations in the final summary.
There should be enough information for someone else, with the same level of skill, to recreate
your study but you do not need to include specific steps within a software package. For
example instead of "I selected the Buffer tool in QGIS and set the buffer distance to 10
meters", just say "Buffer the data to 10 meters.”

Results
Make a print layout with your final map showing the selected areas clearly. Follow the design
principles learned over the semester. Remember to include all necessary elements (legend,
scale bar, N arrow). Labels may be beneficial as well. Include a text box on the map that
succinctly describes the requirements.

In your report include a description section that describes the layers displayed on the final map
and why you chose them, and the symbology used to render specific layers (ie. A color ramp
was used to show areas from most suitable to least suitable).

Problems or Issues
Lastly address any problem or issues that may exist in finding the solution to the question such
as is data unavailable in GIS compatible format or needs to be reformatted into tabular form.
Address those potential issues here. This can be just a sentence or two.

Citations
Please provide a list of your data source URLs at the end of the final project document. List the
data layers referenced in your methods along with the URL.

Yes, I know you did this in the Final Part 1: Data Collection but add the info to the final write up
citation page.

Example: Wa state boundary layer https://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/kingcounty::washington-

counties-with-natural-shoreline-washsh-area/explore?location=47.248549%2C-
120.740400%2C8.06

*Additional sources of information used as reference should be included here as well.