As a start: here is a link to the final Powerpoint about the project: http://students.uwf.edu/db27/Bobwhite.ppt
and just in case it's not retrievable otherwise, here is the link to the pdf:
http://students.uwf.edu/db27/Bobwhite.pdf
Here is a map from the Powerpoint ( I had trouble getting this link to show the revised ppt which includes this particular map, so I put it in here just in case):
Here is a map from the Powerpoint ( I had trouble getting this link to show the revised ppt which includes this particular map, so I put it in here just in case):
Hmm. What to say about this that I haven't already said in the essay and the Powerpoint? For this project we were given some background information about Florida Power and Light's efforts to get approval/certification for an electrical transmission line that would run through part of Manatee and Sarasota counties in Florida. We were also given some data about the project (the actual, somewhat revised corridor for the project was approved in late 2008) and asked to find some more.
We were required to do four things: 1) evaluate the extent of the conservation lands and wetlands within FPL's preferred corridor; 2) count the number of housing units in the corridor and a 400-foot buffer around it, and also count the number of land parcels within the corridor and the buffer; 3) count the number of schools and of daycares within the corridor and buffer; and 4) measure the length of the corridor.
This was an enjoyable project because of the variety of work it entailed. Doing the first part (conservation lands, wetlands) was pretty straightforward - see the map above. Counting housing was more problematic - we did it from aerial photographs - because there were some buildings that looked from the air like what in North Carolina we would call tobacco barns. I didn't count every structure; I tried to count the ones that looked as though there was regular access (driveway, space cleared around the building) as housing. I noted a caveat in the essay because of this and the fact that there was no date for the aerial photos. Parcel counts were easy given the selection/calculation functions in ArcMap, though it's hard to say what is within and what is without the corridor when many more parcels intersected than were entirely within the corridor or buffer.
Schools and daycares were easy to exclude given the useful data from the Florida Geographic Library. Measuring the transmission line was a bit more of a challenge. I found it difficult in ArcMap because the measuring line would disappear when I panned the screen to get to the next section. Instead I found the same area in Google Earth, whose measurement tool is more user-friendly for multiple-screen uses (at least for me), and measured it while looking at the ArcMap aerial photos as well to compare the ground view. I later measured it again in ArcMap, adding short distances together, and got the same result but with more effort.
We were required to do four things: 1) evaluate the extent of the conservation lands and wetlands within FPL's preferred corridor; 2) count the number of housing units in the corridor and a 400-foot buffer around it, and also count the number of land parcels within the corridor and the buffer; 3) count the number of schools and of daycares within the corridor and buffer; and 4) measure the length of the corridor.
This was an enjoyable project because of the variety of work it entailed. Doing the first part (conservation lands, wetlands) was pretty straightforward - see the map above. Counting housing was more problematic - we did it from aerial photographs - because there were some buildings that looked from the air like what in North Carolina we would call tobacco barns. I didn't count every structure; I tried to count the ones that looked as though there was regular access (driveway, space cleared around the building) as housing. I noted a caveat in the essay because of this and the fact that there was no date for the aerial photos. Parcel counts were easy given the selection/calculation functions in ArcMap, though it's hard to say what is within and what is without the corridor when many more parcels intersected than were entirely within the corridor or buffer.
Schools and daycares were easy to exclude given the useful data from the Florida Geographic Library. Measuring the transmission line was a bit more of a challenge. I found it difficult in ArcMap because the measuring line would disappear when I panned the screen to get to the next section. Instead I found the same area in Google Earth, whose measurement tool is more user-friendly for multiple-screen uses (at least for me), and measured it while looking at the ArcMap aerial photos as well to compare the ground view. I later measured it again in ArcMap, adding short distances together, and got the same result but with more effort.
Thanks for the opportunity to do these labs during the semester. This in particular was a really interesting absorbing project.
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