Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Special Topics in GIS Student Sotlight

GIS4930 Special Topics in GIS, Mrs. Trisha Holtzclaw

Project 4 Forestry Analysis


This week students calculated summary area statistics and frequency distributions, reclassified using locational attributes, calculated a viewshed , and utilized the raster calculator to determine clearcut visibility. Deliverables included a frequency distribution of boundary lengths shared by clearcuts and main roads, a tally count and map of clearcut visibility , a basemap of the study area, with an appropriate legend and all other essential map elements , a completed written summary (summary and article search) , a completed Process Summary and a blog post including a basemap along with project description.  

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Calculate summary area statistics and frequency distributions 
  • Reclassifying using locational attributes 
  • Calculating a viewshed 
  • Utilizing the raster calculator to determine clearcut visibility

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARDS

The following student was chosen for their exception work on the Network Analyst Report Week assignment:

Scott Crosby


About Scott: Scott has over 20 years of experience in traditional silviculture. He gained his BS degree in Forestry from the University of Florida in 1988 and has been working in the industry ever since. Scott in a Florida Certified Prescribed Burner and has held numerous leadership positions within the Florida Society of American Foresters. Project 4 is a great one and its no wonder that Scott earned the spotlight this week. Congratulations Scott!

What we like: Scott followed all of the deliverable directions to the T. His basemap was simple yet contained all of the data one would need to fully asses the study area at a glance, including an inset map for geographic reference, a detailed title, and a layer displaying the various cover types in the area. His visibility map also displayed excellence in that he included and easy to interpret chart and text explaining his results. Way to go, Scott!


Have a Happy Thanksgiving and keep an eye out for our next spotlight!


Monday, November 18, 2013

Special Topics in Archaeology Student Spotlight

GIS4990/5990 Special Topics in Archaeology, Dr. Scott Palumbo

Biscayne Shipwrecks - Analyze Week


In the previous week, students added and compiled the essential ingredients that they would need to create a study of the Biscayne National Park Maritime Heritage Trail shipwrecks. This la focused on investigating the environment in which the shipwrecks lie. This can be done using available environmental data to compile and run processes to generate weighted overlays that indicate areas with attributes similar to those where the shipwrecks are located. This can be a valuable guide and/or tool for conducting marine surveys, as it can indicate areas where potential for shipwrecks is higher. There are many factors that cab be visualized in GIS with relation to shipwrecks such as oceanographic data on tides and currents and marine energy, as well as water chemistry, temperature, and prevailing winds and weather patterns. 

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Convert vector data to raster
  • Quantify raster information
  • Classify bathymetric data
  • Generate a weighted overlay
  • Familiarize yourself with shipwreck location modeling in the archaeological literature

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARDS

The following student was chosen for their exception work on the Biscayne Shipwrecks - Analyze Week assignment:

Steven Kieffer


About Steven: Steven is an undergrad in the anthropology/archaeology department with a minor in geography and of course, pursuing the undergrad GIS Cert Program. He is still new to archaeology, but is a forensic digger at heart. After a few years on the corporate ladder making big paychecks without enough time to spend it and see his family, Steven would prefer digging, cataloging, mapping, and being happy with much less. Welcome back to the spotlight, Steven!

What we like: Besides being technically sound and accomplishing everything the assignment asked for, what helped Steve stand out was simply good presentation. So many students do the technical side well, but rush through aspects of map layout and specific. Steve used his data frames to effectively "chunk up" his presentation and no one map is particularly overwhelmed with text or detail. By applying a wide or shaded background to particular map elements, he ensured that these stand out and communicate to the reader.



Thursday, November 14, 2013

Remote Sensing Student Spotlight

GIS4035 Photo Interpretation and Remote Sensing, Mr. Brian Fulfrost

Unsupervised Image Classification


In this week’s lab, students learned to perform unsupervised classification using both ArcGIS and ERDAS Imagine. Along with running the classification process, students were asked to determine what feature the new image classes represent (reclassification) and then simplify many classes into a few types of features (recoding). The map submitted was a reclassified and recoded image of the UWF property including text identifying impermeable and permeable surfaces as percentages.  

Student Learning Outcomes:

  • Perform an unsupervised classification in both ArcMap and ERDAS 
  • Accurately classify images of different spatial and spectral resolutions 
  • Manually reclassify and recode images to simplify the data 

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARDS

The following student was chosen for their exception work on the Unsupervised Image Classification assignment:

Justin Coryell


About Justin: Justin is originally from Arizona, but currently lives in Mississippi with his wonderful family. He is an Aerographer's Mate Chief in the Navy and has been in for 15 years. An Aerographer's Mate is a name applied for Weatherman, Chief is the rank. Besides Mississippi, Justin's duty stations have been all over the world; Yokosuka, Japan, Naples, Italy, and San Diego, California, along with deployments to South Carolina, Western Pacific, Indian Ocean and the Arabian Gulf. He received his bachelor's degree from Mississippi State University in Broadcast/Operational Meteorology in 2007 and wanted to do more with GIS. So, Justin joined the UWF GIS program in January 2013, and has since loved every minute of it. Welcome to the spotlight, Justin!

What we like: In this week’s lab, Justin’s reclassification and recoding was exceptional.The combination of both Justin's (a) description of the process and technique of unsupervised classification, and his (b) map, which was well designed and clear,  demonstrated his high level of comprehension of the week's material on automated image classification methods. Justin also provided a brief critique of unsupervised classifications  including (1) the limitations of unsupervised classification of spectral values to distinguish every pixel as pervious or impervious cover classes, and (2) issues with the pixel values of the imagery (e,.g. shadows). Although the vast majority of students did very well on this week's lab, Justin's map and description provide the best overall blog posting.



Monday, November 4, 2013

Internship Student Spotlight

GIS4944/5945, GIS Internship, Instructor, Mrs. Leah Lewis, GISP

GIS Internships - Let's get to work!



STUDENT SPOTLIGHT AWARDS

The following student was chosen to highlight their current GIS internship experience.  

Ritza Anitsakis 


About Ritza: Ritza (which rhymes with pizza) graduated from Texas A&M with a B.S. in Spatial Science in May 2011. She now works as a GIS Analyst for Surveying and Mapping, Inc. (SAM, Inc.) Ritza spends most of her time researching and interpreting source records and documents along with producing special graphic layouts that combine various data from sources to produce complex plots using GIS software. In addition to this, her works also requires her to plan and sequence processing steps for database creation, application, display, and document production along with preforming a variety of analytical studies related to the development and implementation of the GIS system. She finds GIS interesting because there is no limit in what it can be used for. She learns about new ways that GIS can be applied everyday and those discoveries keep the profession exciting! When asked if she would describe herself as a vector or a raster, Ritza says that she would say vector because she's a small yet intricate person and she tries to appear smooth no matter how big or small a situation she is in. Welcome to the spotlight, Ritza!

Tune in next week for a spotlight on a lucky Remote Sensing student!