LA County DEM Elevation Model
Zoom to Station Fire Area
The Station Fire is a very interesting natural phenomena, which presumably gained mass attention by its close proximity to one of our nations largest urban areas, Los Angeles. The fire was located just Northeast of the urban area of LA. The fire was a brush/shrub fire, and was primarily found to be in the mountains and hills, where fires flourish due to the changing altitudes. Lucky for us, LA is a very important area, and has multiple GIS databases available to the public.
The first two maps shown here depict the steep rise in elevation from the urban area of LA county to the mountain area. I included the full extent of LA county to illustrate the dramatic rise of the mountains in comparison to the flatter area. The zoomed in extent focuses on the area where the Station Fire took place - nestled in the steep mountains. It really is quite impressive just how dramatic the elevation changes are. I figured this would give us a good look at the terrain, aside from the usual 2d feature data.
The third map is a view of the Station Fire and surrounding areas. The blue shape marks the area of the fire as of August 29th, while the lime green shape depicts the fire on the last day of the data: September 2nd. This gives us a good idea of just how fast the fire spread and the amount of area it encompassed. The dull green shape covering most of the map shows the area of National Forest, which is occupied by the fire. There are many different color coded land use areas, displaying data such as cemeteries, to sports complexes. Out of these, the most affected by the fire are the regional parks and gardens. I also included significant ecological areas which are depicted in yellow. Most of these areas are unaffected by the fire, however the smoke and pollution caused by the fire might've caused complication in the areas. Also included on this map are scenic highways, major highways, and hospitals. I created this map to show just what kind of land use areas are directly affected from the Station Fire.
The last map relates directly to recreation. I am a Recreation Management Major so it interests me to see and display what types of recreation areas were affected. Again, in this map we have the two biggest differences in fire size, the areas of the fire on the first day and last day of the data. I have included Parks and Recreation trails on the map, some of which pass directly through the fire area. Trail access points are also shown as dots in lime green. A master bike plan of 2012 is included with trails in bright blue, and might be used to tell differences in appearance and vegetation as corresponded on the map. I have vaguely included rivers and bodies of water, as some people may frequent these areas without using a documented trail or road. Again, I have included the scenic highway due to the fact that many people use their recreation and leisure time to go sightseeing and exploring. I am sure the locations shown in the map have been less frequented in recreational pursuits due to the Station Fire. Recreation is a growing industry in business and importance, and I thought it was a great idea to illustrate just how the fire has impacted recreation in the area.
There are many more patterns and trends that one could show with the data provided. I'm sure a more complex picture could be shown with increased knowledge of ArcMap and ArcScene. It will certainly be interesting to learn about such techniques in further GIS classes. However, this project is a great way to practice data comprehension, ArcMap skills, and creativity. As a future GIS geographer, I'm sure I will be completing many more projects similar to this.
Complimentary video of Station Fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sD-DgvO_9-0
References
All Station Fire Perimeters (as of September 2, 07:02) – Complete set. (2 September 2009) Angeles County Enterprise GIS, Retrieved from: http://egis3.lacounty.gov/eGIS/2009/09/02/all-station-fire-perimiters-as-of-september-2- 0702-complete-ste/
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works. (2012) 2012 County of Los Angeles Bicycle Master Plan. Department of Public Works, Retrieved from:http://dpw.lacounty.gov/general/spatiallibrary/metadata.cfm? path=BikeMasterPlanMeta.htm&zip=BikePlan.zip
Los Angeles County Major Parks. (2006) Mapshare: UCLA's Spatial Data Repository, Retrieved from: http://gis.ats.ucla.edu//Mapshare/Default.cfm
National Forest. (13 November 2012) Angeles County GIS Data Portal, Retrieved from: http://egis3.lacounty.gov/dataportal/2012/11/13/national-forest/
Station Fire 2009 Big Tujunga Canyon [Video File]. Retrieved from: http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=sD-DgvO_9-0
