Introduction: The goal of Lab 1 is to accumulate us with various spatial data sets used in public land management, administration, and land use, in order to become familiar with GIS and its applications. In order for us to understand the uses of various spatial data, we mapped the Confluence Project in relation to the various data that could correspond with its location.
Methods: Throughout this lab, the main skill I learned was how to utilize different data in order to create six different maps of the same general area. We started off by exploring the data sets between the city and county of Eau Claire. After exploring the data, we digitized the area for the future confluence project, in order to utilize the digitization for other maps. We also learned about the Public Land Survey System (PLSS) and the legal information in order to understand the boundaries of the site, and where the site is located in accordance with the PLSS. Finally, based off the Confluence Project digitization, we created six maps that corresponded to different data in relation to the Confluence Project's location: we created maps based off of (1) the Confluence Project in relation to the civil divisions of Eau Claire County. (2) The Confluence Project based off of census boundaries and population per square mile. (3) The Confluence Project based off of zoning classifications. (4) The Confluence Project based off parcel areas. (5) The Confluence Project based off of the PLSS. And (6) The Confluence project based off of voting districts in Eau Claire.
Results: The results were six different maps of the same general area, each corresponding with a different data set. Some of the patterns with the maps emphasize the "urban nature" of the Confluence center (in the Civil Divisions map, it's evident that the Confluence center is located in the center of the city, while in the Census Boundaries map it's located in the second highest population density area per block group). The Zoning Classification map highlights the central location of the Confluence Center in accordance with the central shopping districts. In accordance with the Parcel Area map, it seems like the proposed site is larger then the average parcel area exhibited in the immediate surrounding area, while in the PLSS map the proposed site is located in the south-central part of their section. In the voting district map, the proposed site is located on the northwest side of voting district 31.
Sources: The source for the map data is City of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County 2013, and ESRI for the base maps.
