ArcGis Animation

The following links are to a simple animation produced to illustrate the Deepwater Horizon oil spill extents, observed and predicted. These simple video files were produced with ArcGis software and the supplied data. ArcGis video capabilities seem to be adequate but the previews are lacking and full export to .avi file for preview is not practical. A time layer animation with time stamp that tracks the video are a few features to be explored when my schedule allows. The .mov file is much quicker to buffer and view on my mac.
JEL_DeepwaterExtents.avi
JEL_DeepwaterExtents.mov

The Role of GIS in the response effort in the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster has been apparent since the first days of the emergency. By providing timely digital and hard copy data assembled from disparate sources GIS can make sense of the scope and risk of such events.
The GIS operation in the gulf could be instrumental in assessing and recording the extents of damage as well as projected risks as the situation develops. From BP’s apparent stance on responsibility, this information may prove to be Important in future proceedings. Primarily at this time GIS has an important role in prediction and preparedness for the impending landfall of the oil. The various assets at risk, both socioeconomic and environmental should be considered. The animation exercise is a good example of the recorded and projected data at work. Many separate agencies and relief organizations can be represented, informed and updated with an efficient GIS. Efforts both onsite and off will be better able to coordinate there efforts and communicate relevant information.

Disaster recovery can utilize a GIS in many respects.
Relief efforts can benefit from an organized and current inventory of destruction and needs assessment. Aid facilities can be efficiently located considering demographics and geographic attributes of the disaster area. Transportation communication, and critical infrastructure status can be collected and analyzed and resources allocated efficiently.
Cause and effect data modeling, while most useful in risk assessment can also be used in a response situation to focus efforts on probable areas of need. It may also be necessary to forecast or budget resources and funds in the event of an emergency. The GIS operation is an excellent tool for estimating costs related to cleanup and rebuilding efforts.
GIS is also used to inform the public of changing situations and efforts as recovery proceeds. The various jurisdictions and agencies can also utilize the system for timely information and cost/results accounting.

Week 4 - Oil Spill

The maps above were submitted for use by planners and responders to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The data was gathered from several sources and maps created for environmental and wildlife sensitive areas of concern for use when oil reaches this part of the coastline. Interesting and timely, this exercise has given me a new perspective on the situation in the gulf.

Week 3 - Hurricane Deliverables

Deliverables for this week were challenging, mostly because the server was not as fast as I needed it to be. I ended up skipping the labels on the roads layers because redraw times were excruciating with one other map open at the same time. I specified several different road labels according to road type, they just refused to redraw. Also noticed a discrepancy in the landcover data when labeling the reclassified values. Barren and Developed seemed to be switched around. To keep from getting confused i kept the data and subsequent analysis as per the instructions.

Final ACT

Here is the link to my presentation.
PowerPoint as PDF
I produced this with OpenOffice and all the type formatting was lost when saved as a PowerPoint. So I saved as a PDF and it looks just as created.
Summary PDF

Labels and Annotation

This course module has some great tips for professional looking labels and annotation. This is going to come in handy in the future. Feature weight and label weight will take some practice to be useful but otherwise the tools available are quite intuitive.

Spatial Analyst

Here is the Map for the first module in the Spatial Analyst course. I've included the output using a mask as well as the challenge exercise. One legend is used for both data frames after matching the color ramps.

3DAnalyst Wild Map

This is a screen grab from the AdvancedFlight.sxd. I stopped the animated rotation and used the Flytool to get to this vantage point in the model. The flytool took some getting used to but I was able to find my wings and navigate fairly well after a few attempts.