Assignment: Cartographic Modelling in ArcGIS
Introduction
This is your second piece of assessment for the unit. It tests the skills and knowledge you have acquired in the unit within all weeks of the unit (particularly the applied skills from labs 5-9). You have been introduced to the functionality of ArcGIS and this second assignment provides a reflection on you demonstrating more comprehensive spatial analysis and cartography skills. The assignment will really help you to harness your applied understanding of what spatial analysis is appropriate to answer a specific research question (there are many appropriate analysis options here although no specific one is deemed correct). In particular, the assignment will allow you to demonstrate your knowledge around map algebra and analysis, data projections and compatibility, cartographic modelling and the use of ArcGIS model builder. It is worth 40% of the unit assessment.
Requirements
- Word limit: 2000 words maximum
- Submission format: Word document only
- Word file size: less than 20mb
- There is no limit on the number of graphics used within your report (but be selective to communicate your findings well)
- Please note there are strict penalties for infringing these requirements - full guidelines are in the unit outline document for you to refer to. These include what is included in the word count, penalties for exceeding the word count and/or incorrect file submission (and size), late submissions and plagiarism.
Marking criteria
A full marking criteria matrix can be found in the assessment folder on Blackboard. Please check this to ensure you meet all the higher level criteria for producing an outstanding assignment. In addition, you need to provide sufficient response to the assignment brief as detailed below.
Assignment brief
For this assignment you will generate a report which analyses the spatial data provided to you within ArcGIS. Similar to your first assignment, you will need to be both precise and concise for reporting your findings. You will need to write your report as if it is being presented to the Western Australia State Government. You are acting on behalf of the WA Farmers Federation to carry out this spatial investigation. You are wanting to diversity agricultural production in the southwest of the state to cultivate tea. Small-scale tea cultivation is emerging in temperate climate zones e.g. parts of Victoria; the southwest of the UK etc. resulting in niche high-value products being sold into the market for premium revenues. Tea requires very specific conditions for growth with optimal ranges of enviro-climatic variables important for production. This provides an ideal task opportunity for using GIS to undertake a multi-criteria analysis. The task is to determine which site(s) within southwest WA could provide the most viable land for tea production.
You will need to think about a suitable method for preprocessing the data provided to ensure it is compatible and is used in a suitable way to answer the brief. This will include ensuring the compatibility of data files for geographic projection and extent as well as standardising file types. You can utilise any combination of the analysis options you have been introduced to in ArcGIS during previous labs (e.g. converting data file types, reclassification, distance analysis, topographic analysis, interpolation etc.). To answer the brief you need to be able to demonstrate a robust cartographic modelling process which uses ArcGIS model builder. You must undertake your analysis in ArcGIS. Perform an overlay operation with all your processed data to produce a final risk map(s).
Datasets provided for analysis; you need to select what is important to use for identifying potential production, however, you must been the below criteria as a minimum.
- Southwest WA boundary (polygon)
- Road network (line)
- River network (line)
- Native vegetation (polygon)
- Department of Parks and Wildlife designated land and water (polygon)
- Soil capability (polygon)
- Minimum annual temperature (raster)
- Maximum annual temperature (raster)
- Average annual precipitation (raster)
- Digital elevation model (raster)
Criteria you must consider for determining potential crop production
- The optimal minimum temperature for tea to grow is 12°C - annual minimum temperatures should ideally be higher than this
- You cannot plant tea crops in areas of native vegetation which are greater than 2km² in size and production must be at least 1km away from areas this large
- Aspect of the terrain should be optimal for maximum sunshine hours
- Water resources are essential - the higher the annual rainfall and/or closer to surface water for irrigation the better
In addition you must define and justify at least TWO extra criteria yourself. For these you can either use the data provided or acquire your own. When finalising your results, provide an indication to the state government as to which specific area(s) you would recommend for production.
You will need to make some assumptions within your report to simplify the representation of reality - this is fine, just ensure that all assumptions made are clearly communicated and justified when you write your report. Remember, you are undertaking an academic piece of research, so your reasoning should be based on academic literature. Also, within your discussion, communicate how confident you are in your mapped outputs based on these assumptions, your methodology and the quality of the data used. Remember, you will need to think about all processing we have covered in labs to ensure data compatibility and a robust analysis.
What to include in your assignment report
- The research question
- Background information to the subject
- Description of data and methodology
- A complete model builder diagram of your full methodology
- Results and discussion
- At least one output map
- A reference list
Structuring your report into clear subsections is good practice. Your report needs to be professionally written and presented. Do not include a table of contents or any appendices - these are not required for this report. Only include visual material which is relevant for communicating your findings effectively. If you want to use additional spatial data you may, although you can proficiently answer the assignment brief without any extra data.