JIDA

Hi Jida,

I sent you the following email regarding my lab section grade. Please get back to me when you read this so that I know that you have seen it.

Hi Jida, I have completed the labs that I missed earlier this quarter and posted them to my blog, and wanted to make sure that I would receive full credit for them. I had tried to meet up with you and then you had overslept because you were prepping for your conference, and when we spoke after my lab session you told me I could turn in the labs when I finished them for full credit, because we were unable to talk earlier. On MyUCLA I have the grade for Lab 6 as a 0/10, and wanted to make sure that was a temporary grade (and that I would receive full credit for Lab 7 as well). Additionally, I am not sure why I received a 0/10 for Lab 2. Your notes say that it was not submitted--it was submitted on time and I am not sure why I didn't receive any credit. I tried to come by A155 to talk to you in person about these concerns but you were not there. If there is an issue and you would like to talk about these grades more in person I would be glad to come by. For your reference, my lab url is http://ergeog7.blogspot.com/ Thank you again for a great quarter!! Sincerely, Eli Rubin

FINAL LAB

Overall, this final lab was fairly straightforward once I was able to accurately join the data within ArcGIS. Originally I did not have the same column names on each list, and attempting to join the data was a very patience-trying ordeal. In terms of map-making, trying to fit as much of the map itself into the layout format was a difficult process. I ended up cutting out Hawaii, and I thought about eliminating Alaska as well. I wanted to include as much detail as possible on regions that would offer more analysis (ie the Continental US), but did not want to exclude data that could be helpful and add to the overall impression. I really enjoyed this exercise, as we finally were able to deviate from the Tutorial and utilize our own skills as novice map-makers within the confines of ArcGIS. Additionally, undergoing a preliminary spatial analysis with regards to each of the maps required thoughtful insights in order to explain the spatial distribution and autocorrelation that was present in each of the below maps.

As far as Geographic Information Systems goes, I still believe that digital map-making is one of the foremost skills in this information age. Humans are visual creatures and can take in far more data at once and gather an impression from glancing at one map than from analyzing tables of numerical data. Especially in today's information age, people are much less willing to sit down and pore over data tables full of monotonous numbers than glance at a map and automatically see a pattern that they can apply their own skills of spatial analysis to. In addition, learning how to work with GIS has helped in the "it takes one to know one sense." Learning how people can manipulate maps to present an ideological agenda, for example, by simply changing the histogram groupings or unit aggregation, helps put one on guard against misleading maps. Nonetheless, familiarity with GIS is a useful skill that will help me personally to find my way in much of my life to come.

Counties wtih Some Other Race Alone Population Ranked by Percent (Continental US and Alaska)

The percentage of people who self-classified themselves as "Some Other Race" is much higher along the southwestern United States. There could be a few reasons for this clustering of responses for "some other race." First of all, the American southwest is home to large swaths of Native American populations. They may still wish to refer to themselves as members of their original tribe, and thus mark the "Some Other Race" category (even instead of the Native American box). Additionally, the American West is known for being liberal, and marking "Some Other Race" category even if you fit into a different category could be a form of political statement.

Counties with Black Alone by Percentage (Continental US plus Alaska)

The counties that have a higher percentage of blacks are concentrated mostly throughout the southeastern United States. This makes sense as most blacks were forced to immigrate to the United States under the bonds of slavery, which was concentrated on large plantations in the southern United States. Additionally, there are dark spots that run up the Atlantic seaboard, denoting clusters of large cities throughout the East Coast that have many diverse job opportunities. In addition, these cities tend to offer several low income housing areas and service jobs. The same logic applies to the higher percentages of blacks living in the southwestern United States in Los Angeles--diverse job opportunities and many employment options for those that happen to be unemployed.

Asian Alone (Continental US plus Alaska)

The majority of the Asian population is clustered in California and the southwestern United States. Historically speaking, this makes sense as large numbers of Chinese immigrants came to California to help build the transcontinental railroad. In addition, California is a developed economy with the Silicon Valley having many Asian engineers and a corresponding dark spot denoting a higher percentage of the population being Asian. There are also several clusters of dark spots throughout the United States, in the areas that denote economic centers and metropolis economic activity that have specialized jobs that Asians partake in. This again makes sense as if Asian's first came here as immigrants than they would need jobs (offered only in large cities or areas of advanced technological innovation).

Lab 7: LA Station Fire Perimeters

The Los Angeles Station Fires were the most threatening natural disaster in Los Angeles of since the 1994 earthquake in Northridge. As fires go, the blaze was "unprecendented, with fire blazing through 25,000 acres in an eight-hour period", according to Deputy Fire Chieft Mike Bryant (L.A. Now). Within the first few days, firefighters attempted to cut a break between residential homes and the flames closest to these homes, but were struggling with winds burning in the wrong direction the whole time. "Damage assessment teams have confirmed 53 strutures have burned..." (L.A Now) and that was just in the opening stages. The Station fire would go on to burn over 160,000 acres and 209 structures, 89 of which were homes (Station Fire Update).

The fires threatened structures throughout the Angeles National Forest and the surrounding communities of La Canada, Flintridge, Glendale, La Crescenta, and Altadena as well as the City of Los Angeles (Station Fire Evening Update). The station fire also burned through Mt. Wilson, "threatening numerous television, radio, and cellular telephone antennas on the summit" (Knoll). It was later discovered that the fire was started by arson. Over 93.8 million dollars were spent fighting the fire (Station Fire Update September 15), and the fire was only fully contained after firefighters were aided by a light rainfall. The Station fire ranks as the 10th worst fire in California history, and the worst in Los Angeles County history.

However, the blaze was dangerous because it threatened several civilian and residential communities. Many fires occur out in the rural countryside, and while more acres may burn less human structure is at risk. The thematic map below details Los Angeles Population Density, and clearly the population at risk is not at the heart of Los Angeles population density. While this Station Fire only threatened the outside of Los Angeles communities, it still affected more individuals than almost any fire in recent memory (along with the devastating San Diego fires about 7 years ago).

Additionally, I included the thematic map of Los Angeles County freeways and major roads. Along with only affecting the outskirts of the population, major thoroughfares were not truly affected. Only California Interstate 210 was truly at risk, but most major Los Angeles traffic patterns were permitted to continue normally. From this point of view, the fire had a smaller effect.

The biggest problem with natural disasters on this scale and magnitude is that they strike fear into the hearts of the general population. In retrospect it is easy to say that less than 100 residential homes were burned, or that major roads and freeways were not forced to close, or that the largest effect on the lives of most Angelinos was the smoke in the air and the damage caused to the lungs from breathing smoky air. At the time, people were frightened that their house could be next, and that their way of life would be no more. GIS provides a valuable tool in delineating the borders and affected populations after the fact to determine the true scale and magnitude of the disaster.




Bibliography

"L.A. NOW" Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/08/some-official say-spread-of-station-fire-appears-to-be-slowing.html. Online. Dec 2, 2010.

"Station Fire Update" InciWeb. http://inciweb.org/incident/article/9640/. Online. Dec 2, 2010.

"Station Fire Evening Update." Inciweb. http://inciweb.org/incident/article/9360/. Dec 2, 2010.

Knoll, Corinna. "TV, cellphone signals from Mt. Wilson at risk" Los Angeles Times.
http://articles.latimes.com/2009/aug/31/local/me-fire-mount-wilson31. Online. Dec 2,
2010.

"Station Fire Update Sept. 15, 2009" Inciweb. http://inciweb.org/incident/article/9535/.
Online. Dec 2, 2010.

LA Station Fire Perimeter

Map of LA Fire Perimeters.

Thematic Map of LA Fire Locations and Freeways

Thematic map of LA Station Fires and Freeways

Thematic Map of LA Population Density

Thematic map of LA Population Density

Thematic Map of LA Freeways

Thematic map of LA Freeways

Lab 6

DEMs in GIS

The area I selected covers the area:

37.4038888882 degrees North latitude to
37.1580555548 degrees North latitude

and
118.483611111 degrees West longitude to
118.193055555 degrees West longitude

to an extent of 0.017453292519943295 degrees.

The area I picked lies in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in southeastern California near to the bend in Nevada. I selected this area due to its mountainous terrain, knowing that it would provide a stunning visual display on a 3D model, shaded relief model, slope map, and aspect map. Mountainous terrain is typically accompanied by a number of valleys in between the mountain peaks, providing for relief when put on any of the above-mentioned maps. Additionally, I had just gone camping in the Yosemite Valley near to this location which gives added significance to this map for me. The drastic changes in elevation can be seen in the maps below.

Shaded Relief Map

Shaded relief model of the area using a color-ramped DEM layered above a hillside model.

Slope Map

Slope map

Aspect Map

Aspect map

3D Image

3D Rendering

Lab 5

1. The equator spans 360 decimal degrees.
2. North-South measures 180 decimal degrees.

And no, just because Brazil appears smaller than Alaska, Greenland, and Antarctica on the Mercator projection does not mean that they are larger than Brazil in real-life. Each projection has its difficulties and shows size relative to the projection, and unfortunately not equal to size in real life.

This exercise in map projections has taught me several key lessons about not only map-making, but about map-reading as well. Different projections lead to different scales and sizes, making some land masses appear larger or smaller in perspective. If even I can make a particular territory appear larger or smaller based on the map projection that I choose, then in the hands of a professional map-creation can certainly distort reality in a way to make a particular point.

This really adds on to what we discussed in class, especially when we began to discuss how different colors map certain map attributes jump out. By utilizing color alone, particular elements of a map may jump out at the viewer and create a designed impression that either backs up or rejects a certain assertion.

This is particularly unnerving because like numbers, maps are viewed in the eyes of the general public as something that must be absolutely and positively true. In the same way that statistics can be used to manipulate numbers, GIS can manipulate maps. Prior to this lab, I had no idea that maps could be manipulated in such drastic fashion merely by re-assessing the map projection. Like all things, I hope that this power is used in good faith to create the most accurate and best possible recreations of reality, but I am scared that the technology could easily be manipulated to refocus ideological positions.

*Note: Once again, I pasted each map into their own post, as for some reason my Blogger account has prevented me from posting multiple photos into the same post.

GCS WGS 1984

On the GCS WGS 1984 map projection, the distance between Washington D.C. and Kabul is 9,891 miles.

Mercator

On the World Mercator Map, Washington D.C. to Kabul is 9,891 miles.

Equidistant Cylindrical

The distance between Washington D.C. and Kabul is 4,959 miles under the Equidistant Cylindrical Projection.

Equidistant Conic

The distance between Washington D.C. and Kabul is 7,012 miles under the Equidistant Conic projection.

Cylindrical Equal Area

The distance between Washington D.C. and Kabul is 9,899 miles under the Cylindrical Equal Area Projection.

Aitoff Equal Area Projection

The distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul is 8,503 miles under the Aitoff Equal Area Projection.

Lab 4

This ArcGIS lab has been the most trying lab yet. The program is very detail oriented, and tedious steps are required to make everything go correctly. Missing just one minor detail can throw off the entire map. To add to my personal exasperation, Blogger would not allow me to post more than one image within the same post, so all 5 screen shots of my lab as I progressed throughout the lab are seen in the following 5 posts.

As we only got through a small portion of the lab in class, the majority of this lab was learned by myself on my own. While the tutorial is extremely detailed and very helpful, instead of being a fun exercise in learning new computer software the lab became a tedious exercise with only one goal in mind, completion. Although I have now gone through the tutorial three times, I still find the steps to be a procedural guide and not extremely helpful in understanding the program. Yes, I was able to create the required maps for this particular example and could make these exact maps again, the tutorial provided little comprehensive guide for understanding the program of ArcGIS as a whole. Instead of clicking on buttons because the tutorial said so, I wish that there was explanation provided of what each button did or accomplished, so that I may utilize these skills in making my own maps in the future.

Additionally, the exercise itself of following the tutorial took out the fun part of learning new software: one's own individual creativity. In making your own maps, you get to decide what is important enough to include, what colors to make the various items, what design to use, what symbology to use, what legend to use, how to display different key terms, what to label, what to title, and every other minute detail with your project. This requires individual thinking, creativity, problem-solving--human skills that I have and would love to employ. Rather, this project was just filing through various steps to create a map of a fictional town that I have no connection to and don't get to make any decisions whatsoever. In this scenario, I could have literally done this as a 5th grader and feel that I personally have gained little knowledge from working with this system. Yes, I am slightly more familiar with the program ArcGIS, but I would be much more so if I had just sat and clicked randomly on different items and seen what happened for a half hour (which I ended up doing on my own just so I have an idea of how the program works).

Lastly, I believe that this tedious, minute-detail oriented process offers a lot of valuable information about GIS at large. Yes, it is important to follow procedure, but what makes the process of creating maps fun and useful has to do with individual characteristics of the map-maker, making decisions, and being a person. Details are vital; the smallest details can through off the entire GIS map projection. Learning how to join tables and make graphs is fantastic, I can see the relevance of these skills to future map-making projects. It is about detail, it is about procedure, but most importantly I believe that map-making is a reflection of human knowledge and progress. When we look to the simplicity of the previous empires, we look to the ancient maps and see how much more we know today. GIS is changing the game; now we can access more accurate maps than ever before. When people look back on the maps of today, what will they say about our level of knowledge?

Map 1

Map 2

Map 3

Map 4

Map 5

Lab 3

The following is a map of the home location of all individual Nobel Peace Prize winners since 1978. Every individual point represents the location of each individual winner, and lines connect the multiple winners of shared prizes (Example: the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize was shared between David Trimble of Northern Ireland and John Hume of Ireland). A polygon is used to denote the area of Norway from which the Norwegian Nobel Committee gives out the various awards. A photo is embedded with the picture of Liu Xiaobo, the 2010 winner of the Nobel Peace Prize from China, and there is an embedded link to a video of President Barack Obama's acceptance speech in 2009.



View Nobel Peace Price Winners by Country since 1978. in a larger map


The entire internet is shifting to a more user-uploaded-content infrastructure. Concepts such as Wikipedia, or Facebook, which thrives off of user-generated content, have boomed in popularity over the past decade. Following the trend of the broader internet, the concept of neogeography can be defined as “…people using and creating their own maps, on their own terms and by combining elements of an existing toolset. Neogeography is about sharing location information with friends and visitors, helping shape context, and conveying understanding through knowledge of place” (Turner 2006).

User-generated content has several advantages. First, it allows people to comment, add, or in this case create maps of those ideals or messages which are closer to ideological set of beliefs. This allows for a staggering size of sheer data uploaded daily, which even corporate entities cannot compete with on a consistent basis. A simple test case can be observed in the race between Google and Microsoft in creating Google Earth. In creating GoogleEarth, Google encouraged user-uploaded content and pictures uploaded to add to their database. Microsoft only uploaded their own content in creating their version of Virtual Earth, and Google clearly won the race in assembling massive quantities of data necessary for this vision.

However, like most user-generated sites, there is some cause for worry with neo-geography. People can very easily only complete maps with either inaccurate data or data that only reflects their personal ideological agendas. To use the above map as a reference case, a Chinese government official could very easily not include Liu Xiaobo in his rendition of the above map and thus give an inaccurate rendering that conveniently fits his worldview.

Neogeography, and user-generated content schemes as a whole, allow for any individual to create massive amounts of content, and fast. The above map took less than an hour to complete. And while this map is truthful and accurate, this new wave of user-generated content is vastly unregulated. Without any authorities, the validity of data is very quickly called into question. The chances are very good that somewhere, someone in China is simply making their own map to reflect their own personal ideology and leaving the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner, quite literally, off the map.

Lab 2

Here are the answers to the questions pertaining to Lab 2.

Lab 2

1. The name of the quadrangle is the Beverly Hills Quadrangle
2. The names of the adjacent quadrangles are : Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, and Inglewood.
3. The topography was first compiled in 1966, but this particular map was created in 1995.
4.One datum is the North American Datum of 1927 and North American Datum of 1983(horizontal datum) and the second datum is the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 (vertical datum).
5. The scale of the map is 1:24,000
6.
a. 5 centimeters on the map=5*24,000/100=1,200 meters
b. 5 inches on map=5*24000/(5280*12)=1.89 miles
c. 1 mile on ground=5280*12/24000=2.64 inches on map
d. 3 km on ground=3*1000*100/24000=12.5 cm on map
7. The contour interval is 20 feet, with a supplementary contour interval of 10 feet.
8.
a. Public Affairs Building: 118.44 degrees West, 34.07 degrees North
b. Tip of Santa Monica Pier: 34 degrees North, 118.5 degrees East
c. Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir: 34.12 degrees West, 118.41 degrees West
9. Elevation in Feet and Meters
a. Greystone Mansion: 580 feet or 177 meters
b. Woodlawn Cemetery: 140 feet or 43 meters
c. Crestwood Hills Park:
10. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone 11
11. UTM Coordinates for the lower left corner of the map are (37) 63 Northing, (3) 61.5 Easting
12. 1,000,000 square meters

Lab 1

This map, graphically displaying the biogeographical distribution of the black rhino population (viewed here), shows the native habitat of black rhinos in sub-Saharan Africa. An interesting facet of this map is how the area demarcating the native population of black rhinos is featured in red, thus insinuating the dire threat facing the black rhino and perhaps even implying its status as an endangered species. Such subtle clues can help to evoke subconscious emotions in the viewer.

This map of California's National Parks can be viewed here. I found this map intriguing as it portrays all of California's National parks, thus celebrating the natural wonders located throughout the state. However, despite California's televised fame with beautiful beaches abounding throughout the entire coast, the only coastal enclave nationally recognized for it's beauty is Channel Islands National Park, with the rest of the state's National Parks located farther inland. Ironically, the map also includes freeways, iconic of California's consumer culture typically represented as destroying the natural environment. It is these two conflicting ends that draw both my ironic sense of humor and interest to this map.

This map can be found here. I appreciate this map for its unique perspective of the physical geography of the world; there is no reason why North should always be viewed as "up," but rather this is a social construction that society has adopted as the norm. Rather, this portrayal of the physical landmasses and water is just as accurate as a "normal" map with north facing up, yet its portrayal challenges the thinking of its viewers.