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Blog Post 7

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This week I finished up my final poster that I will be turning in. I decided to do an introduction, methods, results, and suitability factors section. My method section describes exactly what I did to get my wildfire hazard potential raster. My results section shows a table that I made in Microsoft word to show the top five National Parks and Monuments with the greatest average wildfire hazard potential. These National Parks and Monuments include 1. Lake Mead 2. Castle Mountain 3.Tuzigoot 4. Channel Islands 5. Mojave. The suitability factors sections shows the three rasters that I reclassified. I then added these three rasters together to get my wildfire hazard potential raster. I also decided to add in some pictures of wildfires to fill in the blank spaces to make my poster look more complete. My last steps are to proofread my written sections and make sure that all my images and tables line up neatly and look professional. I am so happy this is finished and am proud of...
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Blog Post 6

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This week I completed my final raster showing wildfire hazard potential. The values range from 5, being the least suitable for a wildfire, to 27, being the most suitable for a wildfire. To do this, I used the raster calculator and added my average precipitation raster, average wind raster, and average temperature raster together. I also created a table based on wildfire hazard potential to show which National Parks and Monuments have the greatest values. I did this using the zonal statistics tool. On my final poster I will list the top 5 National Parks and Monuments that have the greatest wildfire hazard potential. I have also started to work on my final poster this week. This has been challenging because I have never made a poster on power point. I have been having trouble trying to figure out how to wrap the text around an image so my poster does not look blocky. In my next steps, I plan to finish my final poster and hand it in.
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Blog Post 5

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Western Wind Raster - Reclassified Mean Temperature Raster - Reclassified Mean Precipitation Raster - Reclassified This week I began to analyze my data to work on showing wildfire hazard potential across the western United States. To do this, I used the reclassify tool to give my rasters rankings. I then chose a color scheme which correctly represents each raster. Each of these 3 rasters has a ranking system of 1-9, so I will eventually use the raster calculator to add these rasters together in order to receive a number which represents wildfire hazard potential. The maximum number of wildfire hazard potential will be 27. I also had to use the interpolation tool in order to convert my western wind data set from points to a raster. This data set was also in a different coordinate system than my mean temperature raster and mean precipitation raster so I had to change it. My next steps will be to use the raster calculator to add these 3 rasters together and come...
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Blog Post 4

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Precipitation Raster Clip Temperature Raster Clip This week I worked on clipping my raster data to show just the Western United States. The first map shows the annual average precipitation for the month of September in the western United States and the second map shows the annual average temperature for the month of September in the western United States. On top of the raster's, I have also clipped my western wind data set and the national park boundary data. Next week I plan to add color to my rasters based on the ranking systems which I have already created. I also need to figure out how I will be showing wildfire hazard potential surrounding National Park boundaries in the western United States. I am not sure if I should choose the most popular national park in each state to show wildfire hazard potential or use each National Park in each state.
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Blog Post 3

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This week I have not made any changes to the data on my map, but I have begun working on the ranking system that I will be using for my raster data. I have two layers of raster data which are the monthly average precipitation and the monthly average temperature. The monthly average precipitation raster data is split into 7 categories based on precipitation ranges. Also, the monthly average temperature raster data is split into 7 categories based on temperature ranges. I have also decided to base my project on monthly averages from the month of September. This is because September is the month when wildfires are the most common. This shows my categories for monthly average precipitation during the month of september. The lowest precipitation levels recieve the highest number while the highest precipitation levels receieve the lowest number. This shows my categories for monthly average temperature during the month of september. The highest temperatures receive the highest numbe...
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Blog Post 2

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This week for my project I worked on importing data. The first map shows the national park boundaries, western wind averages, and average monthly temperature data for the United States. The second map shows the national park boundaries, western wind averages, and annual precipitation data for the United States. I also added a state boundaries layer, but have to figure out how to show this on top of the other layers because it was showing up under the other layers. Next, I plan to work on using the clipping tool or completing a query to show only the western United States. I will need to do this for each of my layers specifically so only the western United States data is shown. I also plan to figure out how many different maps I will be using to show wildfire hazard potential. As of right now, I have two because I have to be able to show two different rasters. Lastly, I plan to figure out how I will be analyzing my data in order to calculate wildfire hazard potential surroun...
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Project Proposal

Examining Wildfire Hazard Potential in the western United States with GIS Lexie Lill Siena College School of Science Loudonville, NY 12211 September 24, 2018 Introduction A wildfire is a large unplanned fire that takes place in a rural and vegetated area. Wildfires have the ability to destroy homes and kill humans and animals. They are usually started accidentally by humans or by a lightning strike that reaches the ground. During time spans of little precipitation, increased temperatures, and increased winds, the risk of a potential wildfire in an area increases dramatically. The western United States tends to have an increased number of wildfires each year in comparison to other regions. Along with having an increased number of wildfires, the western United States is home to many National Parks. These National Parks are constantly being threatened by the potential risk of a wildfire. Inside of these National Parks contain very unique ecosystems with rar...
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