Lab 8

Map 1 - Reference Map 1

Map 2 - Reference Map 2

Map 3 - Reference Map 3

Map 4 - Thematic Map 1

2009 Station Fire

           In late August of 2009, a fire broke out in the Angeles National Forest near a ranger station on Highway 2 (also known as the Angeles Crest Highway). The fire raged for about six week and was not fully contained until October 16^th.  After, an extensive fire investigation, it has been determined that the Station Fire was caused by arson. Investigators found “puddle burns” at the fire’s origin. Puddle burns indicate that some type of accelerant was used. The station fire is the 10^th largest in California history and the largest in modern Los Angeles County history. 

             Many agencies and personnel were involved in the fight against the Station Fire. The list includes Los Angeles County Fire Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles City Fire Department, California Highway Patrol, Caltrans, American Red Cross, CAL FIRE, Southern California Edison, Office of Emergency Services, National Park Service, and the Bureau of Land Management. This is in addition to the US Forest Service that manages the Angeles Nation Park. Over 640 men and women, 5 helicopters, 27 fire engines, and 14 hand crews were assigned to fight the Station Fire. Assisting fire fighters were inmates from a Department of Correction’s prison program that trains convicts how to fight fires. Unfortunately, two firefighters lost their lives during the blaze, meaning the arsonist (if caught) will also face murder charges.

As illustrated by Map three, the Station fire was incredibly close to urban and developed areas. This only increased the danger of the fire. Many mandatory evacuations were ordered for 8 communities as the fire threatened over 12,000 structures. Two highways were closed, including Highway 2 that runs through the Angeles National Forest and was located near the fire origin point. In the end, 209 structures were destroyed, 89 of them being homes. In addition to the two deaths, there were also 22 injuries. Highway 2 did not reopen until November 30^th of 2009.  Over 160,000 acres were burned. Efforts are still being made by the USFS and volunteer groups to restore the land and heal the fire scar

            The 2009 Station Fire is one of the only true forest fire events in Southern California. Although the area in prone to burning, SoCal typically experiences fast burning brush fires. However, it was very similar conditions that make Southern California susceptible to brush fires that exacerbated the 2009 Station Fire. Because of the region’s infrequent burning resulting from fire suppression practices, the area carries a high fire load. This means that the probability of severe fires in the area is extremely high; in this case the accumulation of old, dead, dry vegetation feed the fire.  Moreover, hot and dry weather conditions worsened the fire and made fighting it extremely difficult.

            The station fire resulted in heave criticism of the USFS for some of its fire practices. It has been said that the fire should have been contained in the very early stages by bringing in more personnel and equipment in the beginning. Additionally, policy resulted in the lack of use of night flying helicopters that could have aided firefighters during the night time hours. USFS has stood by their actions. However policy adjustments in regards to vegetation clearing and fire practices are still underway. The 2009 Station Fire was an incredibly devastating time for SoCal residents, but hopefully lessons can be learned from it to prevent such extreme events in the future.

Bibliography

"20 Largest California Wildland Fires (By *Acreage Burned)." Cal Fire. CA.gov, 28 Sept. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"Angeles National Forest Restoration." TreePeople.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

Blood, Michael R. "2009 Los Angeles Station Fire Report Reveals Foggy Policies In The Forest Service." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 16 Dec. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"Fire and Aviation Management: Station Fire Initial Attack Review." United States Forest Service. N.p., 13 Nov. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

Garrison, Jessica, Alexandra Zavis, and Joe Mozing. "Station Fire Claims 18 Homes and Two Firefighters." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 31 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"How Did the Station Fire Start?: And Other Questions about the Disaster in Southern California, with Answers from Our Archives." Slate Magazine. N.p., 3 Sept. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"InciWeb - Incident Information System - Station Fire." InciWeb the Incident Information System: Station Fire News Release. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"InciWeb - Incident Information System - Station Fire Update Sept. 27, 2009." InciWeb the Incident Information System: Station Fire News Release. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"New Fire Breaks out near Angeles Crest Highway; Forces Road Closure." Pasadenastarnews.com. N.p., 26 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

Siegal, Daniel. "U.S. Forest Service Turns to Nonprofits for Help Restoring 2009 Station Fire Damage." Glendale News-Press. N.p., 16 Mar. 2013. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"Station Fire Evacuations." Dailynews.com. N.p., 30 Aug. 2009. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"STATION FIRE: Forest Service’s Response Offers Potential Lessons for Future Wildland Fire Management." U.S. Government Accountability Office. N.p., Dec. 2011. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

"Station Fire Recovery." Angeles National Forest. U.S. Forest Service, n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2013.

Lab 7

Map One

Map Two

Map Three

For this lab I created three choropleth maps based on population percentage data within the United States. These maps are based on data taken from and provided by the 2010 Census. From the census, I attained statistics of percentages of populations of specific races in counties across the continental US. My lab focuses on the populations of “Black”, “Asians”, and “Some Other Race Alone”. For each of the three maps the data was broken down into six groups (based on natural breaks) to achieve the color gradation. 

Map One illustrates Black population concentrations within the continental United States. Clearly shown is the large concentration of Black populations in the Southern US represented by the darker purple colors.  There are also substantial populations in California, in the eastern part of the Midwest, and within New York and New Jersey. The large concentrations in the South can most likely be attributed to the slave trade and industry that was primarily based within that region. The other three regions represent former or current economic hotspots, such as the Los Angeles and Riverside counties in California.

Map Two illustrates Asian population concentrations. From what can be seen, Asian populations are much more disturbed in the US. The population is not nearly as concentrated as the Black population. Congregation seems to be most intense along the West Coast, mainly in California and Washington, and along the Northeastern seaboard. The concentration patterns most likely represent immigration patterns. It should also be noted that both the Asian and Black populations have counties with less than 0.01% populaces. These counties are represented by no color, i.e. the color of the maps’ background.  

Map Three illustrates “Some Other Race Alone” concentrations. The “Some Other Race” category is an interesting aspect of the Census. This category is meant for people whom do not identify themselves as any of the other 14 racial categories. The group most often includes Hispanic Americans, non-Hispanic West Indian/ Caribbean Americans, Turkish Americans, Arab Americans, and Iranian Americans, with Hispanics making up the majority of the category. The ethnicity and race portion of the Census is being reevaluated for the 2020 Census in hopes to attain more accurate and informative data. The map reveals that these groups are most concentrated in the West, primarily the South West, and in Florida. This is most likely due to the regions proximity and history with Mexico and Central and South America.

My census map series really highlights how informative GIS can be. From readily available data I was able to easily create maps that encapsulate said data in a fashion that can be analyzed by others. GIS in conjunction with the ArcGIS software suite have limitless possibilities.

Lab 6

 

 

For this lab assignment I created a digital elevation model (DEM) of a portion of the Front Range mountain range in Colorado, USA. The extent information for the geographic area is 39.829 degrees to 39.384 degrees from top to bottom and -105.789 degrees to -104.969 degrees from left to right. The geographic coordinate systems used for the DEM is “GCS North America 1983” and the datum system is "North American 1983". Using ArcMap and ArcScene I created four maps showing the shaded relief, the slop, the aspect, and a 3D image of the area.

Extent

Top 39.8291666661

Left -105.788888889

Right -104.969444445

Bottom 39.3838888883

Lab 5

The focus of this week’s lab assignment was map projections and the various forms that they exist in. The creation of a map projection is a complex science. One must take the geographic features of an oblate ellipsoidal earth and represent those features on a flat surface. This transference creates distortions and as such all maps have distortions. Within map projections, distortions usually come in the form of equal area versus true shape. When a projection holds one property true the other is sacrificed to varying degrees. Therefore, a map projection should be chosen based on its intended use.

For this lab, I created three posters in ArcMap displaying three categories of maps, with two examples of the categories. Each map is focused on the same general area with the same two cities marked (Washington, DC and Kabul, Afghanistan) to highlight the distortions from one to the other. I worked with and altered three layers of data to illustrate what I wanted my maps to feature. From there I used the measuring tool to determine the distance from Washington DC to Kabul and displayed that information on the maps for reference. I also added a scale bar and a scale fraction to each map. Finally, I arranged the layout and adjusted the background to map the posters more appealing to the the eye.

The first category of projection presented is Equidistant Maps, with a Sinusoidal and an Equidistant Cylindrical map as the examples. Equidistant maps preserve the distance of a standardized point of reference. The second category is Conformal Maps, with a Mercator and a Stereographic map as examples. Conformal maps preserve angles in the area of focus. The third and final category is Equal-Area maps, with a Bonne and a Goode’s Homoiosine map as the examples. Equal Area maps preserve true area. Some of my example, like the Mercator, are far more common map projections than others, like the Boone projection.

The distortions in these examples can most easily be observed in the shape and size of Earth’s landmasses. South America, for example, changes greatly in size and shape from one map to another. In the Mercator map it appears to be less than Greenland in area and one of the smallest continents in general. In the Stereograpic map, South America and Australia appear to be just off the coast of one another. Distortions in map projections are very important when judging distance. Each map contained within in my posters has the distance from Washington DC to Kabul in miles included in the map data. The distance varies from 5,000 miles in the Equidistant Cylindrical to 10,000 miles in the Mercator. This is an extreme fluctuation.

 

Map projections are an extremely useful tool when studying the Earth and all of its attributes. However, the distortions must be taken into account when viewing the map and judging distance, shape, and area.