Module 4: Suitable Campsites Within DeSoto National Park

 

This week, the lab was focused on vector analysis, specifically overlay tools and attribute table modifications. The main purpose of this map was to identify potential campsites that meet all of the following parameters: 

-Within 300 m of a road

AND

-Within 150 m of a lake OR Within 500 m of a river

AND

-Not within a conservation area

Data: 

Road, Water, and Conservation Area data was provided. The BUFFER tool was used to create a 300 m buffer surrounding the roads polyline data. A variable distance buffer was created to do two different buffer distances within the water data. Rivers received a 500 m buffer and lakes received a 150 m buffer. The UNION tool was used to combine the water and roads buffers to create data that show the areas that overlap (i.e. meet the roads AND the water criteria). Then the ERASE tool was used to exclude the areas that overlap with the conservation areas. This produced only the areas that meet all three parameters. 

Symbology: 

The suitable campsite areas were separated by color based on area, in which smaller suitable campsites were set to light yellow and large suitable campsites were set to red. Water was set to blue and the roads set to light gray with labels that do not distract from the main focus of the map, the campsite areas. The campsite areas were set to be transparent to show the underlying basemap. 

Layout: 

A portrait layout fit the provided data the best. The key map features were also included, either at the corners or at the bottom of the map. 

My Thoughts: 

This lab was interesting to me because it shows how much thought needs to go into planning the perfect campsite area. Most campers would want to have a nice view near a body of water, but still have easy access via roads. Also, this has environmental themes, as the campsites could not be within conservation areas  to avoid impacting plants and wildlife.