Introduction
For this lab
my goal was to find out the best locations in Bayfield County, Wisconsin that I
could build a cabin. I created a list of four specific criteria for where I
wanted my cabin to be located in Bayfield County. The first criterion was that
the location must be in a census tract with a population greater than 2,500. I
wanted my cabin to be in an area that was somewhat isolated but I also wanted
there to be people in the vicinity. The second criterion was that the location
had to be within 25 miles of a lake. If I were to build a cabin in Bayfield I
want it to be near a lake so that I can go boating and fishing. The third criterion
was that the location must be within 20 miles of a county forest. I wanted my
cabin to be close to a county forest so that I could go on nature walks and
experience nature. The fourth criterion that I wanted was that the location be
at least 5 miles away from a major highway. The map that I created for this lab
shows the best locations for my cabin. I think the map may be helpful to anyone
who is thinking about or planning to build a cabin in Bayfield County.
Data
Sources
To answer my
spatial question I needed to use data provided by ESRI and the Wisconsin DNR. I
retrieved my data from the ESRI and Wisconsin DNR databases in ArcMap. The data
files that I retrieved from the ESRI database include the Bayfield County
boundary, the lakes of America, census tracts, and major highways. From the
Wisconsin DNR database I used data for the county forests in America.
Methods
To answer my
spatial question I first added the specific data layers I needed to my map from
the ESRI and Wisconsin DNR databases. Next, I located my area of interest,
Bayfield County, Wisconsin in ArcMap and made it a feature class. Next, I
clipped the census tracts, lakes, county forests, and major highways data
layers to the Bayfield County feature class. My next step was to begin using
the analysis tools in ArcMap to answer my spatial question. I began by looking
for census tracts that had a population of greater than 2,500. I did a select
by attributes query to find the census tracts that had a population greater
than 2,500. After I found the tracts I wanted I proceeded to find areas in
Bayfield County that were within 25 miles of a lake. To find these areas I created
a 25 mile buffer on the lakes data layer and dissolved to make sure that any
internal boundaries were cleared. To find the areas that were within 20 miles
of a county forest I created a 20 mile buffer on the county forest data layer.
Once I had found all of the criteria I wanted for my cabin location I was ready
to use the intersect tool. I intersected the new census tract, lake, and county
forest data layers that contained the areas I wanted my cabin to be located.
Then I moved on to find the areas that were 5 miles away from a major highway.
To find these areas I created a 5 mile buffer on the major highways data layer.
I did not want my cabin to be near a major highway so next I used the erase
tool to remove the areas in Bayfield County that were 5 miles from a major
highway. After doing the previous steps I finally discovered the best locations
to build my cabin based on my criteria.
Results
My final map
has four separate maps that show each of my criteria along with the best
locations to put my cabin. Based on my maps the areas that met my criteria were
located mainly in the northern region of Bayfield County.
Evaluation
I thought
this project was fun because I was able to choose what my spatial question was
going to be. I also liked that I was able to choose the criteria I wanted for
the question. If I were to do this project over I would try to make my criteria
more detailed and less basic. In order to make my criteria more advanced I
would look up more information about what attractions are in Bayfield County
that I may want my cabin to be near or do some research on locations that I may
not want my cabin to be next to. For example, next time I would try to find
data on the locations of restaurants in Bayfield County because when I go to
the cabin I would like to be able to not have to drive very far if I want to go
out for a nice meal with some friends.
I ran into
some challenges as I worked through the project. One problem that came up was
that one of the criteria I chose did not work when I ran the analysis tools.
Before I ran the analysis tools I wanted my cabin to be in a census tract with
a population under 1,500 and be 25 miles away from a major highway. The area
that resulted from this criteria was non-existent because there were no areas
that matched this criteria in Bayfield County. So in order to fix this problem
I had to change the buffer distances. After changing the buffer distances I was
able to find areas to put my cabin.
Figure 1. Potential Cabin Locations in Bayfield County, WI
Data Flow Model
No comments:
Post a Comment