Chris Stephenson UWF GIS Blog

 This week's module focused on Data Classification and the different methods used to manipulate the information. We were tasked to identify the age 65+ population in Miami-Dade County. Our goal with the task was to create two layouts with four separate map frames showing different methods of classification. These methods were Quantile, Equal Interval, Standard Deviation, and Natural break. Layout number one utilized the percentage of population over Age 65. Layout number two is the count of population normalized by square mile.

This week's modules focused on getting back into ArcGIS and Cartographic Principles. We were tasked to make a basic map of Florida and a map of Ward 7 Schools in Washington D.C.  This map of Florida identifies the major county seats, major cities, and the large swamps in the state. The focus for this particular map was typography. Adjusting labels and fonts to help the user focus on the more important features, such as the county seats or the swamps. This map of Ward 7 in Washington D.C. identifies the public schools and neighborhoods in the area. The focus for this map was to utilize Gestalts principles and create a well-drafted map. The focus on the principles like balance, visual hierarchy, and visual weight provide the user an easier time identifying the focus of the map.

 This week's lesson was a history lesson in cartography and understanding basic mapmaking. The assignment was to identify a well designed map and a poorly designed map.  For my well designed map, I chose a national park map of Capulin Volcano National Monument in NW New Mexico. It is a park my family and I visited when we took a road trip shortly after returning from Germany.  https://www.nps.gov/media/photo/collection-item.htm?pg=7347320&cid=305fb7af-a71b-469b-941e-a98b439c882f&id=2d23d9a1-1dc8-423e-b058-1b67cc15b8ae&sid=ddf76276-66ad-45ec-a06d-d4f7651713bc&p=1&sort=relevance     I chose this map as a well designed map for its simplicity and getting straight to the point. The map is well labeled and identifies the most important features in the park for visitors. It identifies the different trails, their distances, as well as the road and other important facilities. The map is neat and all the essential map elements are easily identifiable a...

 Hi! I'm Chris. Please see my story map here ! I am a USAF veteran utilizing the VA VR&E program. I am a graduate student looking to expand on my GIS knowledge. I served as a Geospatial Analyst for 12.5 years and currently hold a B.S. in Geography and B.S. in GIS. This seemed the next logical step to utilize my education benefits.  Upon completion, I hope to utilize my skills to improve my current companies GIS practices.

  This week's lab was about utilizing different spectral combinations to identify features. Different combinations can be utilized to help identify very specific features or phenomena. Analysts in the wild use these different combos to help solve problems such as deforestation, flooding, or change detection. My personal experience is in the military intelligence world, where we utilized these different bands to help us identify or expose dangerous operations. We could use these different combinations to identify changes in equipment location, homemade explosives/IED identification, as well as verifying if a site is operational or not. One example, closely related to this assignment, would be to verify if powerplants were operating. The easiest and quickest way to determine if they were operational would be to look at the stacks/flumes to identify smoke or vapor, or to identify changes in water temperature in the cooling ponds.

      This week's lab was mostly enjoyable for me. It was my first interaction with ERDAS. It is a tool I have heard about extensively, however, I have never had the opportunity to work with it. We utilized it to look at the differences between raster and thematic images. The easiest difference to identify between the two is the pixelization between the two. The raster feels like a bare bones, "This is what is here" type of image. The thematic/multispectral is more defined and you can identify areas more distinctly.     My struggles this week came from determining the wavelengths, frequencies, energies. I have always struggled with math formulas. You put words and numbers together and it's like I have never read before! All in all, I did enjoy this week's lab.

 This week's lab was about identifying different types of land use. Identifying features in different areas allows you to determine what the land is used for. We utilized a small section of Pascagoula, Mississippi to start identifying the different land use codes. This area was mostly residential, but there were pockets of business, services, industry, as well as transportation. I have vast experience in identifying these features from my prior experiences as a GEOINT analyst in the Air Force. I was a Collateral Damage Estimation Subject Matter Expert. In the CDE process, our main goal was to identify all structures around a target location to minimize risk to the civilian population. I became pretty good at identifying locations based on shape, size, and attributes on and around the structures.