2015 GeoTech/URISA Geospatial Technology Skills Competition Winners
Identifying Wildfire Risk Areas in Western Washington State
Matthew Seto, Senior, University of Washington - Tacoma
1st Place
2014 saw a dramatic wildfire season culminating in the largest fire that Washington State has ever seen. In order to be properly prepared for future wildfires it is imperative that we have a means of predicting where large scale fires are most likely to occur. This research focuses on the western half of Washington State, in particular the Cascade Mountain Region. This research aims to incorporate known fire threat variables and produce a wildfire threat map for this region. To create this map I incorporated six variables: land cover, elevation, slope, aspect, proximity to roads and proximity to urban areas. Each raster layer was added to a final formula to output the threat raster. This resultant map accurately depicts risk areas for wildfire in the Western half of Washington State. The results were validated against historical large fires from the last 5 fire seasons. In comparing the historical fire locations to the high risk areas that I discovered there was some significant overlap. In particular, the large Carlton Complex fire of 2014 is situated almost in the middle of one of the risk areas I generated. This research should be used to predict likely areas where wildfires will start and propagate. These areas should be closely observed to ensure large scale fires are not allowed to grow. Further research in this area may involve plotting existing firefighting equipment locations and determining more effective locations for fire services and personnel.
Matthew Seto, Senior, University of Washington - Tacoma
1st Place
2014 saw a dramatic wildfire season culminating in the largest fire that Washington State has ever seen. In order to be properly prepared for future wildfires it is imperative that we have a means of predicting where large scale fires are most likely to occur. This research focuses on the western half of Washington State, in particular the Cascade Mountain Region. This research aims to incorporate known fire threat variables and produce a wildfire threat map for this region. To create this map I incorporated six variables: land cover, elevation, slope, aspect, proximity to roads and proximity to urban areas. Each raster layer was added to a final formula to output the threat raster. This resultant map accurately depicts risk areas for wildfire in the Western half of Washington State. The results were validated against historical large fires from the last 5 fire seasons. In comparing the historical fire locations to the high risk areas that I discovered there was some significant overlap. In particular, the large Carlton Complex fire of 2014 is situated almost in the middle of one of the risk areas I generated. This research should be used to predict likely areas where wildfires will start and propagate. These areas should be closely observed to ensure large scale fires are not allowed to grow. Further research in this area may involve plotting existing firefighting equipment locations and determining more effective locations for fire services and personnel.
| Identifying Wildfire Risk Areas in Western Washington State |
Toxic Mapping with Python and GIS: Exploring Relationships Between Carcinogen Dumping and Cancer
Amy Halloran, Senior, DePaul University
2nd Place
Toxic release facilities regularly dump harmful chemicals both on and off site, which can pose serious health problems to people in nearby areas. The Environmental Protection Agency provides data for digital mapping that can help explain spatial relationships between dumping and other phenomena. However, more detail is required in order to create maps that tell a more powerful story. Cancer is a particularly devastating health problem, and rates have been growing in recent years. This project aims to use a case study of Will County, Illinois to demonstrate a potential method for understanding spatial relationships between toxic release of carcinogens and cancer rates. First, Python scripting for ArcGIS was used to clean, sort, and filter large and numerous data sets, including cancer, toxic release inventory data (TRI), and carcinogenicity of particular chemicals that exist in the TRI tables. Afterward, the data was brought into ESRI Arc Map software to produce a map that shows locations of facilities that released carcinogens from 1988 to 1994 displayed over density rates of cancer diagnoses by zip code tabulation area from 2006 to 2010. These methods can be expanded upon and applied to various geographies to move toward better understandings of cancer causation.
Amy Halloran, Senior, DePaul University
2nd Place
Toxic release facilities regularly dump harmful chemicals both on and off site, which can pose serious health problems to people in nearby areas. The Environmental Protection Agency provides data for digital mapping that can help explain spatial relationships between dumping and other phenomena. However, more detail is required in order to create maps that tell a more powerful story. Cancer is a particularly devastating health problem, and rates have been growing in recent years. This project aims to use a case study of Will County, Illinois to demonstrate a potential method for understanding spatial relationships between toxic release of carcinogens and cancer rates. First, Python scripting for ArcGIS was used to clean, sort, and filter large and numerous data sets, including cancer, toxic release inventory data (TRI), and carcinogenicity of particular chemicals that exist in the TRI tables. Afterward, the data was brought into ESRI Arc Map software to produce a map that shows locations of facilities that released carcinogens from 1988 to 1994 displayed over density rates of cancer diagnoses by zip code tabulation area from 2006 to 2010. These methods can be expanded upon and applied to various geographies to move toward better understandings of cancer causation.
| Toxic Mapping with Python and GIS: Exploring Relationships Between Carcinogen Dumping and Cancer |
Shading out the Gun: How Baltimore City Greenspace Relates to 2013 Homicides
Molly Finch, Freshman, Community College of Baltimore County
3rd Place
Homicide rates in Baltimore, like in many large cities, continue to be a major concern. With the understanding of what makes a homicide more likely to occur in one geographic area compared to another, city entities would be able to take proactive measures to ensure community safety. Many studies allude to the fact that natural elements, such as trees and green spaces, can have a calming affect on people, which in turn could reduce the amount of violent acts that occur. The purpose of this project is to analyze the location 2013 homicides within Baltimore City and the proximity to “greenspace”, which is a layer that was created by merging a city public park land layer with a layer of vegetation features that are 50 feet or greater in length. The null hypothesis applied to this study was that the proximity of “greenspace” does not have an affect on the number of homicides that occur. To enhance the analysis a 500m buffer was drawn around each homicide location. These buffers relate to a study which found that criminal behavior tends to be affected by their surroundings most significantly when less than 500m from the criminal’s original location. No clear conclusions were able to come from this map, but future investigation of the type of “greenspace” near homicide locations, such as private or public land, could provide greater insight to the relation of homicide location to “greenspace”.
Molly Finch, Freshman, Community College of Baltimore County
3rd Place
Homicide rates in Baltimore, like in many large cities, continue to be a major concern. With the understanding of what makes a homicide more likely to occur in one geographic area compared to another, city entities would be able to take proactive measures to ensure community safety. Many studies allude to the fact that natural elements, such as trees and green spaces, can have a calming affect on people, which in turn could reduce the amount of violent acts that occur. The purpose of this project is to analyze the location 2013 homicides within Baltimore City and the proximity to “greenspace”, which is a layer that was created by merging a city public park land layer with a layer of vegetation features that are 50 feet or greater in length. The null hypothesis applied to this study was that the proximity of “greenspace” does not have an affect on the number of homicides that occur. To enhance the analysis a 500m buffer was drawn around each homicide location. These buffers relate to a study which found that criminal behavior tends to be affected by their surroundings most significantly when less than 500m from the criminal’s original location. No clear conclusions were able to come from this map, but future investigation of the type of “greenspace” near homicide locations, such as private or public land, could provide greater insight to the relation of homicide location to “greenspace”.
| Shading Out The Gun: How Baltimore City Greenspace Relates to 2013 Homicides |
The Syrian Conflict and Migration of Refugees
Kevin McMahon, Freshman, Community College of Baltimore County
4th Place
Being a twenty year military veteran, I have often found it appalling that the true casualties in any war seldom have a chance to be seen or heard. This project is a humble attempt to bring attention to those people. What started as a side project, has evolved into my submission to this competition and the focus of my next three semesters. As my skillset in GIS grows, so too will this project. As this project progressed and more data became available, it became increasingly difficult to know when to stop. I felt that the crisis I wanted to draw attention to, would be best accomplished by creating a large scale (34” x 72”) story map. My goal was to take an immensely complex set of issues and portray them to the casual viewer in a simple yet powerful presentation. I hope I’ve achieved that. I feel that these types of projects need to be created, supported and presented to the widest audience available. This is my second project dealing with a humanitarian crisis and it has truly opened up my eyes to the world at large and has given me a profound sense of gratitude.
Kevin McMahon, Freshman, Community College of Baltimore County
4th Place
Being a twenty year military veteran, I have often found it appalling that the true casualties in any war seldom have a chance to be seen or heard. This project is a humble attempt to bring attention to those people. What started as a side project, has evolved into my submission to this competition and the focus of my next three semesters. As my skillset in GIS grows, so too will this project. As this project progressed and more data became available, it became increasingly difficult to know when to stop. I felt that the crisis I wanted to draw attention to, would be best accomplished by creating a large scale (34” x 72”) story map. My goal was to take an immensely complex set of issues and portray them to the casual viewer in a simple yet powerful presentation. I hope I’ve achieved that. I feel that these types of projects need to be created, supported and presented to the widest audience available. This is my second project dealing with a humanitarian crisis and it has truly opened up my eyes to the world at large and has given me a profound sense of gratitude.
| The Syrian Conflict and Migration of Refugees |
