To become familiar with downloading data from different data source websites on the internet. After downloading the data sets, the data will be imported into ArcGIS, joined with other data sets, and projecting each data set to the same coordinate system. In completing the lab, a geodatabase will be created to store the data.
This lab serves as the beginning of a several part project that works to create a sustainability/risk model for sand mining in Western Wisconsin. Trempealeau County is the Wisconsin county that is the main study area for the research.
Objectives
There are four different objectives associated with this lab.
- Download data from several data source websites
- Importing downloaded data, joining tables, merging data, and viewing the data
- Creating a Python script that projects, clips, and load all of the downloaded data into a geodatabase
- Creating a few maps to display the data collected and organized for the project
Data files were downloaded and unzipped from a number of different websites.
US Department of Transportation
(https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/index.html)
The 2015 National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD) was downloaded. This database includes a nationwide set of databases of transportation facilities, transportation networks, and other transportation associated utilities.
USGS National Map Viewer
(https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/)
The 2011 National Land Cover Database (NLCD) was downloaded. This database includes a raster of a selected area of interest symbolized by land cover type. Trempealeau County is covered by fifteen different land cover types.
The Elevation Product of a 1/3 arc-second DEM was also downloaded. Two DEMs had to be downloaded because Trempealeau County falls within the two downloadable DEMS. These DEMs were downloaded as raster datasets.
USDA Geospatial Data Gateway
(https://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov)
The Land Cover Cropland data layer (NASS) for Trempealeau County was downloaded. The database included a raster of the area of interest symbolizing the land cover by crop type. In Trempealeau County forty-one different crops were symbolized.
Trempealeau County Land Records
(http://www.tremplocounty.com/tchome/landrecords/)
The Trempealeau County GIS file geodatabase (TMP) was downloaded. This geodatabase consists of feature classes containing data pertaining to boundaries, transportation, recreation, land, emergency, and cadastral data. The transportation records from the NTAD is more up to date and will be used in this project instead of the TMP transportation datasets.
USDA NRCS Web Soil Survey
(https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/App/HomePage.htm)
The NRCS Soil Survey was downloaded for Trempealeau County. Included in the download was shapefiles of soil data and database containing many personal geodatabase tables containing soils data.
Data Accuracy
The metadata for each data source was consulted to complete the following table on data accuracy.
http://www.tremplocounty.com/tchome/landrecords/data.aspx for links to individual metadata.
Data Accuracy Conclusions
It was rather difficult to determine the different data accuracy for the various data sets. Metadata is not easy to read and a lot of data accuracy information was missing. The lack of information was not consistent amongst the data sets, some had more missing than others. The metadata of the NLCD stated that "a formal accuracy assessment has not been conducted". Also some sources admitted some accuracy data is "unknown". This seems concerning and should be noted as working through this project that there is probably some error present in the data.
Maps
The maps created displaying the datasets that had python scripting applied to them to project and clip the datasets.
Figure 1. Map displaying the DEM, NASS, and NLCD data after python scripting was applied.
Sources
Land Records. (n.d.). retrieved March 10, 2017, from http://www.tremplocounty.com/tchomr/landrecords/.
National Transportation Atlas Database | Bureau of Transportation Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://www.rita.dot.gov/bts/sites/rita.dot.gov.bts/files/publications/national_transportation_atlas_database/index.html.
TNM Download. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://viewer.nationalmap.gov/basic/.
USDA:NRCS:Geospatial Data Gateway. (n.d.). Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/.
Web Soil Survey. Retrieved March 10, 2017, from https://websoilsurvey.sc.egov/App/HomePagehtm.
