Goal and Background:
During this lab students were supposed to familiarize
themselves with spatial data sets used in public land management,
administration, and land use and create Base Maps for the City’s Confluence
Project.
This involves…
·
Exploring and answering questions about various
data sets of the City and County of Eau Claire, WI.
·
Digitizing the proposed site of the City’s
Confluence Project.
·
Learning about the Public Land Survey System.
·
Creating a legal description of the parcels of
land involved in the Confluence Project and generating a short report
describing the site.
·
And finally, building a layout of the major
thematic feature classes.
Methods:
A folder connection to W:\CHupy\geog335_f13\labwork\lab1\
was necessary for the creation of each map.
First, students created a Civil Divisions Map. This map consisted of a world imagery Basemap,
the boundary line of Eau Claire County, the civil divisions within the county
and an outline of the projected site of the Confluence project. By increasing
the transparency of the Civil Divisions Data we were able to clearly see where
the projected site fell in association to the civil divisions but also where
the site was on the world imagery Basemap. This map can be used effectively as
a locator Map for the City’s Confluence Project.
Secondly, students created a Census Boundaries Map. This map consisted of a world imagery
Basemap, tract boundaries, Block Groups of the population per square mile in
Eau Claire, and an outline of the projected site of the Confluence Project. By
using different colors to represent different population groups you are able to
see how the population density varies across the City of Eau Claire and into
the site of the Confluence Project. By making the Block Groups more transparent
you are also about to see the underlying Basemap for further reference to the
actual topography of the city.
Thirdly, students created a Public Land Surveying Systems (PLSS) map. This map consisted of a
world imagery Basemap, Quarter Quarter segments of land parcels, and an outline
of the projected site of the Confluence Project. The map would be very useful
as a locator map for the site of the Confluence project as it shows the PLSS
Quarter Quarter segment that the sit e falls into.
Fourthly, students created Parcel Data map. This map consisted of a world imagery Basemap,
parcel outlines of each property in Eau Claire, and an outline of the projected
site of the Confluence Project. This is effective at showing exactly which
parcel of land is being discussed with the Confluence Project and the Parcels surrounding
that may come into play throughout the execution of this major city project.
Fifthly, students created a Zoning Areas map. This map consisted of a world imagery Basemap,
the different zoning areas in Eau Claire, and an outline of the projected site
of the Confluence Project. The zoning data classifies areas by their most
prominent use of land parcels. It explains if an area is industrial vs.
commercial etc. This is useful to see whether the Confluence Project would fit
well into the area it has been projected to be constructed in. By making the
zoning areas more transparent it’s very easy to see the zoning areas in
relation to the actual city.
Lastly, students created a Voting Districts map. This map consisted of a world imagery
Basemap, the voting districts of Eau Claire, and an outline of the projected
site of the Confluence Project. This allows you to very clearly see the
separate voting districts surrounding the site of the Confluence project. By
making the voting districts more transparent and the number of each district
bold, it is very easy to match the bold district number to the actual city and
site of the project.
Results:
Sources:
City of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County 2013
W:\CHupy\geog335_f13\labwork\lab1\
