I really liked using the Euclidean Distance Tool and running models with confidence. It's really helpful when learning something new to have this kind of set up. What I mean is learning it one week and then doing it yourself the next. The few problems I had were frustrating, but resolved by switching servers. I also had an issue with calcuting the right age but someone was extremely helpful on the discussion boars. Last but not least, I had issues with the medium house value data I download from the U.S. Census website. Even though I added all the values for Miami-Dade county, the upper northeastern part was the only area with the values on my map.

Week 6 - Location Decisions

I greatly enjoyed working on this assignment, not only because I finished it without running into the usual complications, but because it put a lot into prospective for me. I am no longer afraid to try creating my own modules or using more of the tools in ArcTool Box. Not only that, but I feel confident going into this weeks assignment. Although problems my problems were few, some of the tools wouldn't work the first time around so I resolved that issue by closing out of the portal and then making a second attempt. It usually worked by then. At times I forgot to set the environment too so my map was a little crazy, but an easy fix. Last but not least, it was hard to post the combinations on a single map while trying to add all the map elements. I may have omitted a few things.

Week 5 - Urban Planning and Impact Assessment

This is very thought provoking and extremely useful for future assignments, projects, and those seeking jobs in this field. I will have to go over it a few times to make sure I absorbed everything. With every exercise I become more amazed by what GIS can do. Not to say that doesn't come with an equal if not greater amount of frustration when trying to get the end results. I did run into the predicted problems when trying to add a field and run the model. Thank you for fixing it. I don't think I could have suffered another week of failure.

Participation Post

http://students.uwf.edu/cml30/animation/oil.avi

I'm truly amazed by how many applicable things ArcMap can be used for. The exported video would be very useful in disaster events, especially when you can show the oil extent and future trajectory to the public. I did run into some problems but they were minor and the mistake was easily recognized. At first I clicked on the 'one slide at a time' and then my other mistake was switching over to my local computer before it was done exporting.

The role GIS has in disaster management is crucial and overlooked by so many who are unfamiliar with the field. GIS is the foundation for putting together a base like those such as awareness programs for the public, evacuation routes for counties, the location of medical aid, and areas that are prone to the most disaster. In the case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, the spatial data can be used not only for tracking trajectory, but for evaluating the ecological damage expected along the coast. It is also useful when other alarming factors such as hurricane season is thrown into the mix. Last but not least, maps can be created showing were treated areas that are being burned, sprayed, and so on.