The object of this lab was to propose a spatial question that was relevant and could be answered with a simple set of criteria, where we would use the geoprocessing skills (vector analysis) that we have learned previously. The spatial question I proposed was, what is the best place for a new outdoor camping and recreation center? The intended audience for my question are outdoor enthusiasts looking to explore new outdoor areas, families looking for family friendly and easily accessible recreation areas to bring their kids, as well as others who do not own recreational items such as kayaks, canoes, and tents or those individuals that do not want/cannot travel long distances with those items. The idea behind the question stems from my passion to explore the outdoors. Additionally, being a college student I do not have the ability to own a kayak, but I love kayaking, so having a place where I could explore and be able to easily rent recreational items is ideal.
Data Sources:
In order to find a suitable area for a new outdoor camping and recreation center, I needed to determine the data pertinent to answering my question. I navigated through many datasets from the ESRI2013 database including base data, hydrographic data, and transportation data. The features I decided that were most important to answer my spatial question were the proximities of major highways, airports, lakes, summits, cities, previously established park and recreational areas, as well as already established national parks or national forests. My favorite place to explore the outdoors is the western United States, so I picked an area found in either Montana or Wyoming. To narrow my search to just one state, I picked an area based on high traveler destination. One place I’ve always wanted to visit is Yellowstone National Park and it is a highly recommended traveler location, so I focused in on the counties in and around Yellowstone National Park. A few data concerns I have with my criteria and area of interest is the reliability of the roads/highways present and the scale to which travelers will use to determine their likelihood of visiting. Also, because some data was unavailable, I was not able to determine the land cover present at these areas.
Methods:
In order to begin solving my spatial question, I picked an area of interest, Yellowstone National Park, and found a county that was included in my area that contained all of the criteria I was looking to use. The county I used was Park County, WY. I searched through data to find a precise area that visitors could access based on airport and highway accessibility, where there is abundant resources for outdoor recreation including lakes and summits for water activities and hiking, as well as a nearby city. I found Yellowstone Lake off of Entrance Road/Fork Highway, inside of Yellowstone National Park in Park County, Wyoming that does not currently have any recreation centers nearby. Because water is an important feature for outdoor recreation centers and camping, I made that my focal point based on its proximity to an airport, and used the additional criteria based on the location of the lake.
I created a blank file geodatabase and then browsed data form the ESRI2013 database. Once I concluded that the area I wanted to use was Park County, WY, I exported my county of interest to the geodatabase. Then, I had to clip all of the feature classes I was planning to use to my county: major highways, lakes, summits, airports, cities, previous parks and rec areas, and national parks/forests nearby. After I clipped all of the feature classes I was going to use, I decided to project my data using the projected coordinate system: NAD_1983_2011_StatePlane_Wyoming_West_FIPS_4904. After this, I was then able to move on and begin running analysis to answer my spatial question.
First, I created a buffer around Lake Yellowstone to find the number of summits present within a 100km radius. Then, I used that selection of summits within 100km of the lake to create an additional buffer of highways found within 25km of those summits. Once I had my selection of highways and summits I created a new layer with those features by intersecting the buffers and getting rid of the internal boundaries. Because I realized that 100km is a far distance to travel for outdoor activities, I decided to create a new buffer of only 25km away from the lake that included the summits and the highways. After, I had to intersect my 25km buffer of highways and lakes to only be included in Yellowstone National Park boundaries and the Park County boundaries (Figure 1). Once I had finished, I had an ideal location for a new outdoor camping and recreation center in Yellowstone National Park.
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| Figure 1. Digital flow model representing the methods used to obtain an answer to my spatial question. |
Results:
The result of my project was an area anywhere in the 25 km radius of Yellowstone Lake, inside the Yellowstone National Park boundaries, and inside of Park County, WY (Figure 2). The major highway that runs from the Yellowstone Regional Airport into Yellowstone National Park is called Fork Highway. There is a city named Cody, which is just west of the airport along Fork highway where travelers can obtain any necessary items. From there, you follow Entrance Road all the way to Yellowstone Lake. Once you are in Yellowstone National Park, there are many summits within the 25km radius of the lake and the highway/road for exploring. Ideally, the recreation center would be to the east of Yellowstone Lake not too far off of the road, with adequate camping areas around the lake and hiking trails to the summits and surrounding areas.  |
| Figure 2. The area for my proposed outdoor recreation center is shown in the aqua color on the east side of Park County, WY. The data used for assessment for my spatial question includes airport proximity, city proximity, water proximity, summit location and highway accessibility. Ideally, the outdoor recreation center would be to the east of Yellowstone Lake, not too far off of Entrance Road. |
Evaluation:
My overall impression of this project is that I really enjoyed it. I thought it was great that we got to create our own spatial question and use our own criteria to solve it. If I had to repeat the project, I would like there to be stricter guidelines as to what kinds of questions we should propose. The challenges I faced with my project were unavailable criteria for the assessment of my proposed question. Overall, I really enjoyed the project, it made me think outside of the box and use everything that we had learned in class and using the MAG book to do a project that was completely our own.
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