Lab #6

                In the introduction class to GIS I took last quarter, we had an assignment to create a map showing an element of the Station Fire and to write an essay about it. After completing the tutorial and going through the steps with the Station fire data I downloaded from Seamless and FRAP websites, I had a better understanding of the Station fire than I did before. Last quarter I just had a digital elevation model with roads showing what roads were at threat. I had the elevation because I knew that fire spread faster uphill. However, I realized that the slope model is a better representation of where the high and low hazard areas are. By doing this tutorial and assignment I learned a lot and received a lot of help from my classmates.

                After completing the tutorial I began to download the data. I easily downloaded the DEM from the seamless website. However, the vegetation cover was a lot more difficult to find. The seamless data could never find anything and a lot of things were not free. Some data I downloaded did not have the right metadata that I was looking for. After asking around, I downloaded the vegetation cover from the FRAP website (Fire and Resource Assessment Program). I then created a slope by percent model from my DEM I downloaded from seamless. Like from the tutorial I reclassified the slope into 4 categories 1, 2, 3, 4. I later changed these categories to low, moderate, high, and very high. In these categories I classified the ranges of slope by percentage. A high slope percent would be “high” which means that this area of high slope is also ranked “high” in hazardous because fire spreads more quickly when the slope is steeper. Furthermore, I created the vegetation cover map; however I also had to reclassify, like the tutorial. I classified the different categories of land cover into none-very low, low, moderate, high, very high. In the high categories were the vegetation that are dried and burn more easily and the lower categories are the ones that don’t burn at all or are less likely to burn. Lastly, in order to complete the fire hazard map, I combined the slope ad vegetation map to ultimately show the places of high and low vulnerability to fires. I did this just like in the tutorial through the raster calculator. The result was the combination of the two maps showing many of the designated “high” hazard areas inside of where the Station Fire burned.

                In conclusion, the fire hazard map helped me better understand how to create an analysis of fire hazard areas in chaparral covered slopes. Although the tutorial was very descriptive of how to do the assignment, I never fully understood what exactly I was doing and why I was doing it. I did not know why we needed to “reclassify” because the tutorial never said why, I said just to do it. Getting help from my classmates and asking a lot of questions were really how I learned how to create a fire hazard map. I had a lot of difficulty finding the data and it took a lot of my time but it all came together in the end. Also, it was often quite frustrating when the reclassify would not work and I had to redo everything. But I never gave up and a definitely had a positive and productive experience.

Lab #5

 

                Last year, it was discovered that there was a higher than normal amount of birth defects in Kettleman City, California. Because of this factor, Barbara Boxer put a delay on the growth of a nearby landfill, until the investigations of the birth defects are completed. There is reason to believe that the landfill might have an impact of the high levels of arsenic in the drinking water of the city and therefore could be hazardous to the people’s health. The drinking water test showed that there were high levels of arsenic, “a naturally occurring element in California soils that also is used in pesticides, herbicides, insecticides and metal alloys,” according to Louis Sahagun in his article “Feinstein, Boxer call for delay on plans to expand Central Valley landfill,” in the Los Angeles Times on February 10, 2010. Although not known yet, this may be a cause to the birth defects of the area. By using GIS and we can make a map overlaying different layers of water runoff, landfill runoff, and also wind patterns to help investigate the reasons as to why there are so many birth defects in Kettleman City, CA.

                We can make a map of Kettleman City and its surrounding areas and overlay the contours of the land around agricultural sites and rivers to see if there are any problems with the runoff. By making this map, we will be able to see if any of this runoff is improperly going into the water systems of Kettleman City. If so, this could be a reason why the arsenic concentration in the drinking water is so high. Further investigation would be needed in order to determine the effects of arsenic on human life. Also, this map could help show that there are no problems with the runoff and will allow investigators to move onto the next investigation. It is important to note that the team should investigate the kinds of pesticides used in the nearby farms.

                We can also make a map show possible landfill runoff. Two years ago, according to the article, “the site took in 400,000 tons of hazardous waste, including cancer-causing PBCs.” Although the landfill “is among the most heavily regulated and monitored facilities of its kind in the nation,” many residents in surrounding cities have observed safety violations of the facility. Therefore, this could mean that a leak in the system. Besides investigating and finding a leak, when found a map should be made to assess where the leaks goes to. This will show if the leak heads to groundwater that the cities are getting their drinking water from or maybe a nearby river of stream. If it does, it can be brought up to investigators that the many PBCs in the landfill could be leaking into the water and getting into the drinking water from Kettleman City. This could be the problem as to why there are birth defects in the area.

                Furthermore, landfills are not only hazardous for the chemicals they hold, but also the particulate matter and chemicals that are released into the air. This could pose health threats to surrounding areas that are downwind from the landfill. If we overlay the Kettleman City area with a general wind pattern map, we will be able to see if the fumes from the landfill do indeed travels over the Kettleman City. We will then be able to see if the decades of exposure to smog and particulates have had an effect on the birth defects.

                Birth defects are a big problem in Kettleman City because people do not know what the direct cause is. We can only begin to assume that it could be because of the large landfill near the city. By using GIS maps properly, we can assess the situation to find the problem. We can find out if the cause is pesticide runoff into the drinking water or landfill leak into a ground water tap. Or maybe even the exposure to particulates in air from being downwind of the landfill is the leading problem. Whatever it may be, the GIS maps will help pin point the direct cause and thus begin the steps that need to be taken to prevent further defects.

Quiz 1

Although medical marijuana dispensaries are legal in the City of Los Angeles, they should not be located within a 1,000 foot buffer of places where children congregate. This includes places such as schools and parks. It is extremely important that these dispensaries are not located within this buffer because children should not be exposed to the distribution of marijuana.

In the map above, the medical marijuana dispensaries in the City of Los Angeles are located. Also, a buffer (in red) has been created around all schools and parks. As you can see, there are some dispensaries that are located in the “red zone” and should be considered to be ineligible in the city. In January of 2010, the City of Los Angeles passed an ordinance to discontinue all dispensaries within the buffer and are currently in the process of shutting those places down.

There are many benefits to shutting down the dispensaries with the “red zone.” Not only will children’s innocence be protected but also they will be protected from many drug related crimes that potentially take place in areas that sell marijuana. The children will be safe and the parents will be happy. However, there are costs to shutting down these dispensaries because this means there will be more business at other locations thus possibly adding to the crime around those areas not in the “red zone.” Also, many families might live in areas that are not within a 1,000 foot buffer of schools and parks and therefore may be located by and eligible marijuana dispensary. This could cause these families to be unsafe in where they life and may cost them to relocated their home. In all, I believe it is a good idea to not allow medical marijuana dispensaries with 1000 feet of schools and parks because children do not need to be around marijuana.

Data and information found at:

http://cityclerk.lacity.org/cps/pdf/preliminaryResults08-25-10.pdf

http://gis.ats.ucla.edu//Mapshare/Default.cfm

Lab #4