Searching for Data

We have arrived at the middle of the term, which I was surprised to learn, as it feels like it just started.  This is, without question, always the case when one is working too hard to pay attention to these matters.  At any rate, mid-term is a perfect excuse for a difficult project, and in that regard the past two weeks did not disappoint.  The task assigned was a minimum of one, and a maximum of three, maps with a list of required data- which was to be obtained in the form of free downloads from various government and non-profit websites.  Finding the correct data was one thing, putting it together into a cohesive map was quite another.

The first map (top) contains vector data- files with information in the form of points, lines and polygons- and the second (bottom) includes 2 raster graphics- a Digital Elevation Model (the left dataframe) and a digital orthoquad aerial photo (on the right).  I lost track of the amount of time I spent creating these maps, but I will estimate that it was quite a bit.  I was able to locate all of the data on FGDL.org and LABINS.org, and downloaded it free of charge, but that was definitely the easy part.  The plethora of data that's available isn't much help in the way of  telling one how to actually use and display said data.  The various combinations of layers in the above maps are datasets that I felt would present some spatial data in an interesting way- like the aerial photo on the right in the bottom map, which is overlaid with some data on high flood potential.

In the process of creating the above I can certainly say I downloaded and reviewed a virtual bevvy of interesting spatial data on various geographic phenomena in the state of Florida.  There are shapefiles, aerial photos and digital terrain models aplenty on the internet for making maps, provided one takes the necessary time to seek them out and review their contents.  That was another important concept of this project- reading metadata and considering the who, when and why of the data's actual collection.  Apart from appropriate citation of data sources, this information can assist in decisions regarding accuracy and temporal validity of the spatial data itself.  Searching, finding and using appropriate data that is available for various mapping projects is a worthy and important lesson for any aspiring GIS professional, and working on these maps for the past couple of weeks provided no shortage of opportunity to internalize this fact firsthand.