Lab 8: Mapping the Station Fire in ArcGIS

The map above is reference map of the Station Fire.  It outlines Los Angeles county and illustrates the spread of the fire between August 29th, 2009 and September 1st, 2009.  Below is a thematic map that illustrates the California Department of Forestry Fuel Ranking for the land in LA County.  The map also includes major population centers and highways.

The Los Angeles Station Fire started on August 26th, 2009 and burned over 160,000 acres of the Angeles National Forest (Station Fire Release, 09/26/09).  Investigations regarding the cause of the fire determined that arson was the cause.  Due to the fact that two firefighters were killed fighting the blaze, a homicide investigation was launched as well (LA Times, 09/03/09).

The reference map above illustrates the spread of the fire over the course of four days.  The fire started in the Angeles National forest near La Canada Flintridge.  From there, the fire expanded north before spreading out in all directions.  The temporal expansion map shows how the fire was constantly expanding in changing directions.  Originally, the fire spread north, but as of the evening of August 30th, 2009, the fire had moved east.  The next morning, conditions had changed, and the western border of the fire was being expanded.  During this time, erratic winds constantly changed the direction of the fire, which explains the expansion pattern mapped out above.

The thematic map above examines the fuel ranking of the land burned in the fire.  It is immediately apparent that the burn area of the Station Fire was a high burn risk/high fuel area.  Prior to the Station Fire, the Angeles National Forest near La Canada Flintridge hadn't burned in a long time.  Because of this, there was lots of dried out vegetation and high trees, which fueled the Station Fire.  It is no surprise that this fire happened because of the fact that the vegetation was the perfect fuel.  Almost all of the burn area was given a high fuel rank, while the remainder was given a moderate fuel rank.  Areas outside the fire burn area have low rankings, so it makes sense why the fire burned where it did.

Also included on the map are highways and populated areas in Los Angeles County.  One can see that only one highway goes through the burn area, Angeles Crest.  This highway was shut down during the fire and for 18 months after due to severe damage.  On June 3rd, 2011, Angeles Crest Highway was finally reopened (LA Times, 06/05/11).  Aside from Angeles Crest Highway however, no other major highways went through the burn zone.  While parts of the 210 freeway were shut down during the fire, there was no damage to Los Angeles' major highways.  Furthermore, there were no majorly populated cities within the burn area.  The fire started just north of La Canada Flintridge and burned away from the city.  While there were nearly 100 structures lost in the fire, there were no major losses in populated areas.

All in all, it is no surprise that the Station Fire grew to be the devastating fire it was.  The conditions were perfect.  The fire started in an area where the fuel rank is high and the erratic winds and hot temperatures perpetuated the fire's intensity and expansion.  Fortunately, the area burned wasn't highly populated and Los Angeles' infrastructure was protected.

Works Cited:

"Anger Fire Roars Across 100,000 California Acres".  CNN. http://articles.cnn.com/2009-08-31/us/california.wildfires_1_mike-dietrich-firefighters-safety-incident-commander?_s=PM:US

Bloometkatz, Ari.  "Fans Can't Wait to Hit Reopened Road". Los Angeles Times, http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/05/local/la-me-0605-angeles-crest-20110605

Bloomekatz, Ari.  "Station Fire Was Arson, Officials Say". Los Angeles Time, http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/09/station-fire-was-arson-homicide-investigation-begins.html

California Department of Fire and Forestry Protection.  http://www.fire.ca.gov/index.php

InciWeb.  "Station Fire Update: September 27th, 2009".  http://inciweb.org/incident/article/9640/

Los Angeles County GIS Data Portal.  http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal/?tag=lar-iac

UCLA GIS Data Archive.  http://gis.ats.ucla.edu/

Lab 7: Census 2K, ArcGIS

The map above outlines the distribution of Asian Americans as a percentage of county populations in the United States.  One can see that the highest percentages of Asian Americans live on the West Coast in coastal cities and large urban areas.  The makes sense based solely on the proximity of the West Coast to Asia.  Urban centers on the East Coast also have high density pockets of Asian Americans.  Overall however, Asian Americans seem to be fairly well distributed throughout the continental US, with the majority being in the large coastal urban centers.

This map illustrates the distribution of black populations by county.  It is obvious that the large majority of blacks live in the South Eastern United States.  Other pockets of black populations are in densely urban cities of the north and some on the West Coast.  Examples of these cities are Detroit, Chicago and Los Angeles.  The reason for these pockets outside the South is that during the World Wars of the 20th century, the Great Migration took place.  The Great Migration was the movement of blacks out of the South and into industrial centers in the North and on the West Coast.  These industrial centers provided jobs and a much less hostile environment for blacks.  Many of the counties in the South have extremely high percentages of black populations, due to the fact that many of these counties are small and therefore, lesser numbers are needed to for a high population distribution.  Larger counties elsewhere may have bigger populations of blacks that may make up a smaller percentage.

The term "some other race" is a new term for the US Census that applies to any race outside of the following:  White, Black, Asian American, American Indian, and Native Islander.  "Some other race" therefore constitutes Hispanics and lesser volume international heritages.  In the most recent census, the large majority of the population that classified themselves as "some other race" were Hispanics.  The map above illustrates the census data of those who declared "some other race."  The map above shows very high population densities in the South Western United States.  This is due to the close proximity to the border of Mexico.  Many border towns and counties in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas have very high Hispanic population percentages.  The pockets in Florida are caused by large populations of Dominican and Cuban ethnicity.  These population figures make sense in the context of geographic proximity since the high density Hispanic populations are close to Hispanic countries.

Lab 6: DEMs in ArcGIS

The area that I selected for this lab is in the Sierra Nevada mountain range.  The central part of my map focuses on a small area known as Mineral King, a place where I have been camping since I was born.  Surrounding this area are Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, and the Sierra Mountain Range.  The whole geographic area is very mixed with high altitude peaks, river canyons, and low lying foothills, therefore the terrain reflects very well as a DEM and the various models created illustrate a beautiful and multi-faceted landscape.

The geographic coordinate system for this stretch of land is NAD 1983 UTM 11N.  The extant data is as follows.

Top:  36.6249

Left:  -119.0317

Right: -118.3078

Bottom: 36.2624


Shaded Relief Model:

Slope Map:

Aspect Map:

3-D Projection:

Lab 5: Projections in ArcGIS

It's amazing how one week can make a world of difference with regards to using a program.  After last lab, working in ArcGIS was a much more fluid experience, albeit, still taxing.  Basics of the program came naturally, while more advanced concepts were slightly easier to work through.  Creating a map projection in ArcGIS is one of the more simple tools seeing as how all the coordinate systems needed for these projections are already pre-loaded.

With these projections however, there is a large potential for misunderstanding with a user.  The differences between conformal projections and equal-area projections aren't common knowledge, which can lead to misuse of these maps.  From distortion of land masses to preservation of navigation angles, each map projection provides something different.  For someone to try and navigate with an equal area projection would be a grave mistake because conformal maps are the ones that keep navigation angles the same.

For this lab, the standard for measuring the distortion between projections was a linear distance between two points (Washington D.C. and Kabul, Afghanistan).  Some projections had distances around 7,000 miles, while others had distances of more than 10,000 miles.  This drastic difference is an example of how much a map can be distorted, and in the end, how big of a mistake it would be to use one of the projections wrongly.  Of course, it is entirely possible to use these maps correctly, and to utilize their benefits appropriately - for example, using a conformal map for navigation.

While many of these map projections can be confusing, they can also be very beneficial.  The most intricate projection that I created was the Fuller projection.  This one took a long time to render in ArcGIS, a testament to its immense data usage, and looks very intricate.  It uses triangles to correctly preserve area.  While this is the most confusing of the projections, it is also one of the best ones.  

In the end, each of these projections provide useful information to the user.  However, there is a lot of room for error in interpretation if one doesn't know how each projection changes the map, whether it be changes in area or angles.  Regardless, this lab continued to prove the usefulness and power of ArcGIS and the benefits of GIS technologies in general.

Lab 4: Introducing ArcMap

In my time at UCLA, I have been introduced to a few different programs through classes in the Geography department.  Up until this lab, I had never used ArcMap, although I had always seen it on lab computers and heard about it from friends in other GIS classes.  My "Statistics for Geography Majors" class required use of the program R to compute statistical data and assemble raster plots and "Environmental Modeling" required the use of Stella to run modeling equations.  While both of these programs have important roles in the field of GIS, neither of them have the power of ArcMap.

In comparison to Stella and R, ArcMap is a much more flushed out program.  There is the ability to integrate much more information in a more presentable and informative way.  R is severely limited in that is primarily a computational program.  Stella on the other hand is limited because it can only run modeling equations.  While each of these programs do different things, ArcMap has the most power and the widest range of functions.  The interface for ArcMap is also more friendly.  Both R and Stella are single windows with one single page for input.  ArcMap introduces layers and allows for a multitude of views, toolbars and functions to be performed.  It makes sense why ArcMap is one of the leading GIS programs.  It is incredibly powerful and has a flushed out interface.

One of the biggest problems with ArcMap however is its learning curve.  Learning to use ArcMap is very taxing.  Working through the 58 pages of the lab tutorial was a slow process, requiring multiple trips to the computer lab to finish.  Even me as the computer savvy person I am, had trouble at points using this program.  In my opinion, these problems stem from the fact that ArcMap is almost too powerful.  There are so many tools, so many options, and so many different functions that ArcMap can perform.  Of course this isn't a bad thing because it makes the program that much stronger, it just makes learning how to use it a more tedious process.

Another problem with ArcMap, a problem that most software programs have, is price and availability.  With all the programs I have worked with, there is a major barrier to using them.  These programs are very expensive, and in many cases aren't easily available to the general public.  In today's world, with the development of neogeography, programs like ArcMap give the power to make high quality informative maps to everyone.  With high prices and accessibility problems, a severe limit is placed on this possibility.

Overall, ArcMap is an incredible program.  It allows for the user to synthesize all different types of data to make powerful and informative maps, charts and diagrams.  Within a few hours, I, a first time user, was able to create density maps, make land use charts, design new roads and depict the effects of a proposed airport expansion in an easy to understand and easy to read map.  This ability highlights the benefits of powerful programs like ArcMap to the world of GIS.

Lab 3: Neogeography

The world of neogeography is a new one.  With advances in modern technology, the ability to make maps has rapidly developed and in the modern age, has become so easy and so available that anyone can make a beneficial and informative map.

With neogeography though, there are many positives and negatives.  In terms of positives, neogeography allows people to make whatever type of map they want.  This allows for a plethora of different maps to be created.  The creativity given in neogeography to create a map of "whatever you want" allows for maps to be made for nearly anything.  From standard maps of boundary lines to more modern maps of walking tours, the possibilities for a neogeographical map are endless.  Furthermore, with modern technology, the ability to imbed information in a map makes them much more useful.  To only have a piece of paper as a map isn't as helpful as an interactive map with audio/visual aids, like the one above, and many other new wave maps.  Furthermore, putting the power of map making in the hands of the others allows for new and creative maps to be made of areas where little is known.

With these positives does come negatives however.  The biggest downfall to neogeography in my opinion is that the maps suffer from becoming too simplified.  Since everyone can make these maps, and since everyone isn't a full scale cartographer, these maps may not be perfect.  Information such as elevation, scale and other important aspects of a map may be left out on some of these new maps.  Also, depending on the focus of the map, other important details may be left out, which allows for these maps to be incomplete and less of a resource.

My personal map is a sightseeing tour of Los Angeles that pinpoints the locations of the best tourist attractions in LA.  Below is a link to my map:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=200438625142593673299.0004a0e63922270ef4aed&ll=34.18795,-118.360519&spn=0.312963,0.54451&z=11

Lab 2: USGS Topographic Maps

1. What is the name of the quadrangle?

    The Beverly Hills Quadrangle.


2. What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles?

    Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, Inglewood.


3. When was the quadrangle first created?

    The topography was compiled in 1966.


4. What datum was used to create your map?

    North American Datum of 27 (NAD 27) and the North American Datum of 83 (NAD 83).


5. What is the scale of the map?

   1:24,000.


6. At the above scale, answer the following:

a) 5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to how many meters on the ground?

   1,200 meters.

b) 5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground?

   1.894 miles.

c) one mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map?

    2.64 inches.

d) three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map?

   12.5 centimeters.


7. What is the contour interval on your map?

   The contour interval is 20 feet.


8. What are the approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:

a) the Public Affairs Building;

   34.073934 N,-118.439098 W

   34°4'26" N, -118°26'20"W


b) the tip of Santa Monica pier;

    34.007546 N,-118.499915 W

    34°0'27" N, -118°29'59" W

c) the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir;

    34.120155 N,-118.410283 W

    34°7'12" N, -118°24'37" W


9. What is the approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:

a) Greystone Mansion (in Greystone Park);

   560 feet/170.69 meters

b) Woodlawn Cemetery;

   140 feet/42.67 meters

c) Crestwood Hills Park;

    700 feet/213.36 meters


10. What is the UTM zone of the map?

    Zone 11.


11. What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map?

   3,763,000 Northings and 362,000 Eastings


12. How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines?

   1,000,000 square meters


13. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel (hint: create a line chart). Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus. Insert your elevation profile as a graphic in your blog.

Intersection Points of Northings and Eastings

(Points 5 and 6 occur on the UCLA campus)

*** Y-Axis represents Elevation in Feet***

14. What is the magnetic declination of the map?

   14 degrees.


15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir?

   Water flows south in this intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and the Stone Canyon Reservoir.


16. Crop out (i.e., cut and paste) UCLA from the map and include it as a graphic on your blog.