Final Project - Station Fire 2009

Source: Station Fire, Los Angeles (http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/09/03/station-fire-los-angeles/)

The Station Fire in 2009 began in the north of Los Angeles, Angeles National Forest. The fire was spread out quickly. The fire has burned for more than a month. The fire was the largest and deadliest of the wildfires. It burned 160,577 acres and killed two firefighters (2009 California widfires). The fire began August 26th, 2009 and continued to grow until September 2nd and was not completely contained until October 16th (Angeles National Forest).

Source: Station Fire, Los Angeles (http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/09/03/station-fire-los-angeles/)

Using ArcGIS as a tool, I made some relative maps for the station fire. I learned more about the station fire while I was making maps. Through the reference map I made, I found out where the fire began and how the perimeter of fire grew. The fire began in the middle of Los Angeles County. It quickly spread north and outwards. 

Reference Map: 2009 Station Fire - LA County

The spread out of fire perimeters from 08/29/09 to 09/02/09

From the map, we can see that the fire perimeter (in red line) on 08/29/09 covered a small area. It grew north and west first, and then it suddenly changed its direction to east. Only in five days, the fire has burned from a small area to an extensive area. Why did the fire spread out so fast? We will find out one of the reason from the next map. 

Fire Perimeter with Fuel Rank

The California Department of Forestry has created a variable called the fuel rank. The department uses this to find out the places where have high potential to grow wildfires. It is ranked on a basis of -1,1,2, and 3. -1 is non-fuel area, 1 is a moderate fuel rank, 2 is a high fuel rank, and 3 is a very high fuel rank. Analyzing the map, we can see that the fire was originally started from a very high fuel rank area. It also spread out in very high fuel rank area too. 

Fire Perimeter with Fuel Surface

Another thematic map tells us the fuel surface of the fire perimeters. As you can see, mainly the tall chaparrals are in the fire perimeters. The chaparral area receives about 38-100 cm of precipitation a year, which makes it most vulnerable to fire in the late summer and fall (Chaparral). Combining the map of fuel rank and fuel surface, we can see that tall chaparrals are in very high fuel rank. 

All in all, we can see that fuel rank and fuel surface are two variables affecting the spread of the fire, but there are more other factors that affect this station fire. The fuel rank and the fuel surface can serve as good indicators of where the fire is going to spread. How can we prevent the wildfire? Residents should not choose around areas with very high fuel rank, also should not plant tall chaparrals around due to its most vulnerable to fire. 

Work Cited:

Angeles National Forest. “Station Fire.” InciWeb. 10 Nov. 2009. Web. 4 June 2011.

          <http://inciweb.org/incident/1856/.>

California Department of Foresty and Fire Protection. "Fuels: Surface Fuels." Fuels: 

          Surface Fuels. 2005.

California Depatment of Foresty and Fire Protection. (2005). Fuel Rank. Fuel 

          Rank . California : California Depatment of Foresty and Fire Protection.

"Chaparral." Wikipedia. 12 sEPT. 2012. Wikimedia Foundation. 13 Dec. 2012
          <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral>.

Los Angeles County Enterprise GIS. "Station Fire Perimeters." Los Angeles County
          Enterprise GIS. WordPress & Atahualpa. 2009. Web. 26 May 2011.
          <http://egis3.lacounty.gov/eGIS/?category_name=gis-data>.

Stoddard, Cris. "Station Fire, los Angeles A<<Flickr Blog." Flickr Blog RSS 20. 03 Sept.
          2009. 13 Dec. 2012 <http://blog.flickr.net/en/2009/09/03/station-fire-los-angeles/>.

"2009 California wildfires." Wikipedia. 12 Apr. 2012. Wikimedia Foundation. 13 Dec. 2012
          <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_California_wildfires>.

Lab #7 Census Data 2000

The Asian population is more concentrated in the West coast as well as the North-Eastern coast. This phenomenon is probably due to the large Asian immigration to the United States a few generations ago. Asian immigrated to the United States for a better living standard, which mostly located at urbanized areas like Los Angeles and New York City. The highest concentration of Asian population is located in the West coast with 46%, which means that almost half of the population living there is Asian.

 The Asian-American population is more dense in the South-Eastern of the United States. This phenomenon can be explained by the historical factor. Before 19th century, the slavery was labored mostly in the South states. After the slavery was prohibited by the law in the 19th century, African-Americans remained in South states. For various of social and economic factors, African-American population became the majority in the South. The area with the highest African-American population concentration is 86.5%.

Some other population is more dense in the South-Western coast. This phenomenon may be explained by the immigration of the Hispanic roots since Mexico is in that direction. Other race people in the United States is not well-spread. More other race population in the West than those of in the East, and more in the South than those of in the North. Compared to Asian and Black population, other race population do not have a particular high concentration in on area. The highest percentage is 39%.


After a few labs, I figured out the great potential of ArcGIS. I was surprised that I was able to make my own map too. ArcGIS is a pretty useful tool for map makers. Sometimes, the analysis can be population distribution, physical attributes...etc. I have never used ArcGIS before, so I felt that I have more to learn about ArcGIS. I see ArcGIS as an useful tool for all career field; therefore, I am looking forward to learn more about the capabilities of ArcGIS and become a worthy mapmaker.

Lab #6 DEM in ArcGIS

In this map, I choose the Snow Forest Ski Area around Big Bear Lake in California. I love snowboarding, and I have been to Big Bear Lake for snowboarding a lot; therefore, I am interested in the aspects, elevation, and slope of this area. From the 3D map, I can see that the forest slope is steep, which is dangerous. Therefore, from this lab, I learn that I should not try on snow forest ski area during the trip this time.

The extent for this map: Top: 34.25°, Left: -116.976°, Right: -116.789°, Bottom: 34.149°
Geographic coordinate system: GCS North American 1983
Datum: D_North_American_1983

3D Map

Lab #5 Map Projection

     The world is so big. In order to arrive the destination, we will need some sort of direction tool to help out; therefore, the map will be the one. There are many kinds of map projections; however, there is no way to project a 3-D surface on a 2-D surface perfectly. It is important to choose the right type of map projection for the purpose of map usage. I will use 3 different types of map projections, conformal, equidistant, and equal area, to compare the distance between Washington D.C. and Kabul. Each type of map projection preserve a specific feature, for instance, the area, shape, direction, or distance; however, not all features are able to preserved on one map.

     Equal area projection preserves the relative size and area of a continent or a country. Equal area projection is not used for navigating large distance because neither the angle nor the distance is preserved. Equal area projection can be used for mapping countries since its relative size is correct. However, each equal area map preserves area in a certain region or with certain conditions. Therefore, is it important to choose the right equal area projection depending on your region of focus. For example, Bonne projection is usually limited to maps of continents or smaller regions.

     Equidistant projection preserved the distance from the center point and any other point in all directions. The most significant characteristic of Azimuthal equidistant projection is that both distance and direction are accurate fromt he central point. Two point equidistant projection shows the true distance from either of two chosen points to any other point on a map. Each equidistant projection is projected under different conditions. You can see that two right equidistant projections. Even they are called "equidistant" projection, the distances from Washington D.C. to Kabul are different. 

     Conformal projection is most commonly used in the map. Conformal projection preserve the local shape and angle. The advantage is that the direction is preserved; therefore, it is used in navigation. A disadvantage is that the sizes and areas of the continents are distorted. For example, in the Mercator projection, the size of south pole continent is larger than any other continent. Large area distortion makes Mercator projection not suitable for general world maps.

Lab #4 ArcGIS

ArcGIS is the most professional mapping system I have ever used. Compared to the Google map we used in the previous lab, ArcGIS provides more details and more professional maps. You cannot do much on Google Map, but you can do a lot about mapping on ArcGIS. You can highlight and crop the information you want to present through ArcGIS, but apparently you cannot do the same task through Google map. ArcGIS makes maps look nice and detailed.

I follow the tutorial in order to create my first map poster. I have never created a professional map before. Following the straightforward steps, I was able to create the above poster in the least amount of time. I really enjoyed making this poster. It was a fresh experience for me. I found it interesting to create my own map poster, but it required me long times and patient to accomplish it.

The potential for ArcGIS is that professional users would like to use ArcGIS to create their detailed maps instead of using Google Map. ArcGIS provides more geographic function than Google Map, for instance, highlighting, layers, and backgrounds. Furthermore, ArcGIS provides aesthetic looking. It not only looks nice, but also provides detailed information.

The pitfall for ArcGIS is that it requires very accurate information input. For amateur users like me, I did not know if my input data were correct. If my input data were wrong, then my map would show incorrect information. I would not even notice whether I input the wrong data because I was not familiar with ArcGIS yet. Therefore, ArcGIS will be more complicated to amateurs like me.

All in all, ArcGIS is a modern and useful tool for professional geographers.

Lab #3 Interactive map: Welcome to Taiwan

View Welcome To Taiwan-Taipei Tour in a larger map

     Neogeography provides instant information to its users, however, there are several pitfalls behind it, such as information inaccuracy. Since everyone can access neogeography, we do not know who is sharing and publishing the information; therefore, we can not be 100% sure that the information is correct. For example, everyone can access to Wikipedia and edit the information, so the accuracy of information from Wikipedia is not guaranteed. 

     Moreover, the loss of privacy is also a pitfall of neogeography. The satellite from Google Map can capture the street view from almost everywhere. For example, the picture captured by satellite may include a person appear at a specific place. A satellite may accidentally captures the image of inside view of a person's house. Since everyone can access to neogeography, people can see that person's privacy accidentally or the person may feel uncomfortable of appearing in a public image.
     Despite the inaccuracy and privacy, neogeography can help people in lots of ways, for instance, helping companies make decisions depend on geography. When we get lost at a place, our GPS guides us out. Neogeography really helps the people, but we just need to fix the flaws of neogeography and make it more reliable. 

Lab #2: USGS Topographic maps

1. Beverly Hills
2.Adjacent quadrangle 1: Canoga Park
   Adjacent quadrangle 2: Van Nuys
   Adjacent quadrangle 3: Burbank
   Adjacent quadrangle 4: Topanga
   Adjacent quadrangle 5: Hollywood
   Adjacent quadrangle 6: N/A
   Adjacent quadrangle 7: Venice
   Adjacent quadrangle 8: Inglewood
3. Year 1966
4. North American Datum 
5. Scale 1:24000
6. a) 1200 meters
    b) 1.89 miles
    c) 2.64 inches
    d) 12.5 centimeters
7. contour interval 20 feet
8. a) the Public Affairs Building: 34°4'25" (34.0736°); 118°28'27" (118.4742°)
    b) the tip of Santa Monica pier: 34°0'23" (34.0064°); 118°30'08" (115.5022°)
    c) the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir: 34°08'00" (34.1333°); 118°24'41" (118.4114°)
9. a) Greystone Mansion (in Greystone Park): 620 ft or 188.97 m
    b) Woodlawn Cemetery: 140 ft or 42.67 m
    c) Crestwood Hills Park: 660 ft or 201.17 m
10. Zone 11
11. 361500m.E x 3763000m.N  Zone 11
12. 1000m x 1000m= 1000000 square meter
13.

14. 14°48' East
15. South
16.