Well, let's
just say that I did not know exactly what I was getting myself into
when I decided to use a Digital Elevation Map as
part of my project for this class
class. This has been a lengthy and complicated
process, but the map is coming
together quite nicely, so I am pleased.
The reason that I chose to do
a map of this kind is that I wanted to integrate
the sciences with mapping. I started looking
for ideas and I found a website that
provided databases for maps of the toxic waste sites
in Michigan. Please visit
http://www.lib.msu.edu/coll/main/maps/datadown.html
for more information
on these downloads. This is where I obtained both the Digital Elevation
Maps
(DEMs) and the toxic waste site maps. The only problem is that the
files for
DEMs are huge, so it took quite a while to download every file, which in
total
amounted to about 40. I changed the legends on all the DEM files
so that they
would be continuous in color and elevation. For some reason, I was
having
difficulty downloading the border files from the website, which included
parts
of Chicago, Ohio, and Indiana, so Sandy emailed the website and they kindly
responded with help. It turned out to be a URL error in a few of
the files, so
we fixed that and I had a complete DEM of Michigan, borders and all!
Next, I decided it would be neat to see where the toxic waste sites are
in
relation to elevation, and further if this waste has the potential to seep
into
downward flowing rivers. I overlaid the Michigan rivers files over
the DEM,
with the toxic waste sites on top of that to reveal what you see on the
map so far.
The downloading and arranging of the map took so much time, that I haven't had
the chance to do any real research on this topic. This is what I plan
on doing
for the remainder of the semester to complete my project. I also plan
on geocoding
the map to provide information on the largest toxic waste sites and relevant
rivers.
This will give my map more meaning and possibly will provide clues to potential
contamination zones.
I am anxious to continue working on this map and integrating my research of
the
toxic waste sites and rivers with it. I hope that you come back to visit
when the map
is complete. It will definitely be worth your time!