This week, I decided
that since the raster I intended on using was too large to clip or convert to a
polygon, I would have to find another base map to use that contained data for
land use classifications. I tried searching for a raster that contained land use
data for just New York State. I could not find one, but I did find a vector
polygon online that contained land use data within the Patroon Watershed which
is even better. The vector contains more of a variety of land use
classifications that are more specific than the land use classifications
contained in the raster I initially planned on using. Commercial, residential,
urban, industrial, and commercial road use are among the classifications
included in this polygon vector that exist within the Patroon Watershed.
I clipped Albany County
from New York State counties layer and added the land use polygon and
delineated Patroon watershed layers to my map. In the next couple of days, I
hope to complete the land use percentage calculations within the watershed.
A classmate suggested
that I identify some critical areas within the watershed that may contribute large amounts or high
concentrations of pollutants to the watershed irrespective of their location in
order to hypothesize which stream sampling sites are most prone to containing
high concentrations of heavy metal content. I thought that this could be a
great addition to my project.
The criteria I am
interested in considering are:
- areas adjacent to a waterbody
- areas within 1/4 mile of a
waterbody
- areas that contain direct
discharges to a waterbody (pipes, ditches, tanks)
- areas that have intense land
use patterns
- areas that are used for
higher-risk purposes
- areas with steep slopes
Sample areas that meet
two or more of these criteria would be considered buffer zones and are
especially vulnerable to pollution.
I’ll plot these criteria
as layers. I would have to add a layer containing elevation data to my map and
use a DEM to slope tool to calculate the slopes along the stream sampling
sites. Then, I’ll use the intersection tool to determine the buffer zones
within my watershed and then hypothesize the stream sampling sites that will
contain the highest concentration of heavy metal content.
After hypothesizing, I
can gather the actual heavy metal concentration gathered by research students
at Siena from the sample sites to see whether or not my predictions were
correct.
It looks like you've made a lot of progress and it sounds like things are coming together! I like how you're going to make predictions based on different criteria and then match it to collected data. I'm excited to see whether the data will match up with your predictions. Whether the predictions match or not, this project will be important because it will show critical areas that either do or do not contribute to high concentrations of heavy metals. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteHey, great job making progress on your project. This sounds like its coming together quite nicely. One thing you could add to help your predictions would be known remediation sites. There is a zip file available through the NYS GiS clearing house that shows state superfund and brownfield sites and then ranks them as to how dangerous they are. I know that there are several of these in different stages of clean up within the patroon creek watershed. This might help you as you hypothesize which sites are most threatened. Keep up the good work!
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