A. Starling's GIS Blog

We were asked to conduct a job search for GIS positions and examine what GIS skills the job requires, as well as why the job may interest us. A key takeaway from our GIS job search assignment was just how diverse the industry is for GIS positions. With the right experience, you can work anywhere from local government to space exploration. Using the learned skillset of data management, ArcGIS applications, geospatial tools, and with the initiative to learn – you could end up working in the industry of your choice.  

     As part of obtaining the GIS Graduate Certificate at University of West Florida, a requirement is undergoing 130 hours of hands-on GIS related experience – this can be done in a few different forms, but I am attempting to undergo an internship experience. In order to obtain an internship, I considered the industry and type of business that may use GIS and sent correspondence when a business/governmental agency aligned with my goals.      I’ve started an internship with a private environmental consulting firm. I will be expected to produce quality maps that indicate appropriate site planning, general environmental maps, and test my ability when it comes to creating flow in ArcGIS Pro/Online. I may supplement this internship with ESRI courses as it applies.     I've  also gotten a recent positive response from one of my local government departments. This department has a GIS Manager who has indicated willingness to act as a supervisor ...

       An important consideration in mapping to take into account is scale. The larger the scale value, the more detailed a map may be (showing a smaller area). For example, if we were to make a map of airports with airports represented as points (vector data) and we zoomed in significantly, we would be able to see many more details (polygon features indicating building, lines indicating runways). As a note, vector data consists of points, lines, and polygons.      Raster data, on the other hand, is comprised of cells. The smaller the cells, the more details/higher resolution. The bigger the cells, the lower the resolution. The level of detail relates to the processing time of the data cells, so the higher the resolution, the more processing time is necessary.      Gerrymandering is manipulation of districts to give an advantage to one political party over another. One way to determine if a district is undergoing gerrymandering is to...

     In this lab, we sought to use different interpolation methods to determine which would be the best to most accurately depict the BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) within the Tampa Bay area in Florida. We explored Thiessen, Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW), and Spline (Regularized and Tension) methods. Thiessen interpolation advantages include the interpolated surface equaling the values of each given sample point, which means there isn’t a difference between the true and interpolated values. Disadvantages include the abrupt change of between values at the edges of the polygons this interpolation method outputs. While Thiessen interpolation is good for sampled locations, it may not be as accurate around unsampled locations. IDW averages values and determines the weight based off point cell proximity. This method assumes points closer to one another are more alike and is good for more evenly distributed, uniform, dense points. Spline interpolation will estimate va...

                In this lab, we explored two types of elevation data models - Digital Elevation Model (DEM) and Triangulated Irregular Network (TIN). The DEM is raster-based and information is stored in grid format, while TIN is vector-based and uses irregularly spaced points that were calculated according to the connections of sets of triangles for contouring. Because of this, the DEM has smoother curves in its contour lines, while TIN has pointed/jagged contour lines. The DEM contour lines in this instance also have a few more lines due to the data parameters.                 The TIN contour lines are likely more accurate, as TIN can differentiate between more complex terrain than DEM contour typically can (depending on resolution). TIN uses irregularly placed elevation points that vary based on data density, but DEM is a grid with elevation values stored within the grid cel...

     The goal of the analysis for this week’s study on accuracy assessment was to determine which dataset, TIGER Roads or Street Centerlines, were more complete for Jackson County, Oregon.  In this lab, we are measuring completeness using the assumption that the more road there is, the more complete it is.      We could use the length of the roads to determine completeness. After ensuring data was in the same projection, we looked at the statistics (Attribute Table -> Visualize Statistics) to determine the sum of the road segment lengths: Street Centerline : 10873.3 km TIGER Roads : 11382.7 km Because this lab measures completeness based on road length (the more road there is, the more complete it is) – in this case, TIGER Roads is more complete than Street Centerline. We went a little further in this lab to determine length of roads with each grid of Jackson County, Florida – see Map 1: Map 1: Percent Difference of Road Length between TI...