GIS 4048: Final Project

Final Project:  Identify Locations with Special Circumstances for Informational Campaign

This final project involved performing location analysis of American Survey Community block groups in the City of Oxnard, Ventura County, California with special circumstances (selected criteria) to be considered in the crafting of an information campaign for a new citywide tax district.  The selected criteria included:

·         Areas far from City Hall.

·         Areas far from City maintenance yard.

·         Areas with a large population.

·         Areas with a high rate of population below the poverty line.

·         Areas with a high rate of limited English language proficiency.

The location analysis included the use of the Weighted Overlay tool resulted in two maps representing all criteria individually, all criteria weighted equally against each other, and the poverty and limited English criteria preferred over other criteria. 

Final Thoughts:

The project was interesting and applicable to the work I do as a consultant assisting public agencies to create and manage tax districts.  I am satisfied with the results.  In hindsight, I would have liked to have used more current data (instead of 2013) and if possible it could have been obtained privately at extra costs.  The next deliverable on this project would have been a close up version of the selected ACS block groups with suggested locations for public informational meetings nearby such as public schools.  This analysis could be performed with network analyst to determine the most accessible locations for the meetings within or near the selected ACS block groups.

Great class!  Learned a lot, but I am looking forward to the break between Summer and Fall semesters – I am happy to have my weekends back!

Link to my final project presentation is found below:

Click Here for Final Project Presentation

GIS 4102: GIS Programming Module 11

Module 11: Sharing Tools

This week’s lecture covered methods for distributing tools, considering licensing issues when distributing tools, using a standard folder structure for sharing tools, working with paths, finding data and workspaces, creating a geoprocessing package, embedding (importing) script tools, setting tool password protection, and creating documentation for tools.

This week’s assignment involved editing a script tool, embedding the script into the tool, and sharing it. The assignment included:

·         Creating variables with sys.argv[] expressions (instead of GetParametersAsText()) to capture parameters from the tool dialog.

·         Editing the tool’s Item Description to add documentation that shows in the tool dialog.

·         Embedding (importing) the script into the tool.

·         Setting a password to prevent an unauthorized user from viewing, editing or exporting the script.

·         Sharing the Toolbox (without the script as it was embedded into the tool).

Below are screenshots of the Tool’s dialog window in ArcMap and successful map result after running the Tool.

GIS 4102: GIS Programming Participation Assignment No. 2

Participation Assignment No. 2

GIS as a Job Growth Area for IT Professionals

World of Computer Science and Information Technology Journal (WCSIT)

ISSN: 2221-0741

Vol. 5, No. 6, 98-111, 2015

Link: http://oaji.net/articles/2015/567-1431504311.pdf 

This study focuses on GIS as a job growth opportunity as companies take advantage of the benefits of geospatial data.  Careers in the field of GIS require knowledge of geography, cartography, and information technology (“IT”).  In addition, geospatial data requires storage, management, analysis, and dissemination.  These skills provide opportunities for IT personnel in the GIS industry as network, database, cloud computing, and development technologies change and grow.

The GIS field has not been known as a growth area to IT professionals, in part because job postings do not clearly match the skills of IT professionals with the skills required for GIS job openings.  This study evaluates job postings in Monster.com, Indeed.com, CareeBuilder.com, GJC.org, and GISJobs.com for four positions in the GIS field.  The postings were rated and compared to similar postings in other job boards. 

The results varied significantly even among similar job postings.  The inconsistency on job postings may mislead prospective candidates into thinking they don’t have the skills required for the position when they often do.  This study highlights the need for the industry to set standard job descriptions and requirements for positions in the GIS field to help those seeking to match their skills set with the job opportunities. 

GIS 4102: GIS Programming Module 10

Module 10: Creating Custom Tools

This week’s lecture covered creating custom tools, editing tool code, setting tool parameters, working with tool messages, and customizing the tool progress information.

This week’s assignment involved creating a script tool from a Python script that clips multiple layers at once.  The assignment included:

·         Creating a new custom Toolbox.

·         Adding a Script Tool from the Python script.

·         Setting the parameters of the newly created Tool.

·         Modifying the script to reflect the new Tool parameters.

·         Sharing the Toolbox, Tool and Script.

Below are screenshots of the Tool’s dialog window in ArcMap and successful results window in ArcMap after running the Tool.

GIS 4102: GIS Programming Module 9

Module 9: Working with Rasters

This week’s lecture covered the use of the List and Describe functions with rasters, using raster objects in geoprocessing, using map algebra in operators, and working with classes to define raster tool parameters. 

This week’s assignment involved writing a script that creates a raster output that identifies areas with a particular set of parameters (slope, aspect, land cover type).  The final raster output highlights areas with the following traits:

·         Forest landcover with classifications 41, 42, and 43.

·         Slope between 5 – 20 degrees.

·         Aspect between 150 – 270 degrees.

Below is a screen shot of the final raster.

GIS 4048: Applications in GIS Module 9

Module 9:  Urban Planning: GIS for Local Government – Scenario 1 & 2

This week’s lab involved obtaining and editing a parcel, working with parcel zoning, learning about the public land survey, using advanced editing techniques, and using data driven pages to create a map book.

The map below represents 1 page from my map book created with data driven pages.

GIS 4102: GIS Programming Module 8

Module 8: Working with Geometries

This week’s lecture covered working with geometry objects, reading and writing geometries, and working with multipart features.

This week’s assignment involved writing a script that creates a .txt file and writes to it the coordinates and Object IDs for vertices in a shapefile by using geometry objects, using a search cursor, and nested loops.

Below is a screen shot of the records written to the .txt file by the script.