Final Poster!

Hello Everybody,

Here is the final product for this semester's work toward mapping the property of the Otter Pond Club.

Figure 1. Final Poster for Otter Pond Club Property Mapping

Final Draft of Property Map

Hey All,

Here is the final draft of the whole property map of the Otter Pond Club.

Figure 1. Whole Map of Otter Pond Property

Final Draft of Cabins Map

Hey All,

Here is the final Draft of the Cabins/ Otter Pond Lots Map.

Figure 1. Map of Lots/Cabins on Otter Pond Property

New Drafts of Camps and Property Maps

Hello Everybody,

I just post two of the newer drafts of both the Camp/Lot Map and the whole property map with labels. Please Comment and leave any feedback!

Figure 1. Map of Cabins Around Otter Pond

Figure 2. Full Otter Pond Club Property Map

Plotted GPS Points

Tuesday, November 26th, 2013

Hello Everybody,

Yesterday I finally finish entering all the GPS points and other data variables into Excel from my field notebook. After a couple hours here and there all the data has been entered into Excel sheets in a nicely organized format. Upon finishing that process I was able to finally plot/display the GPS points onto the basemap. Overall I took 613 pairs of GPS points. These are very rough versions of what are to coming in the following week. Check out the results below!

This map displays the camp/property driveways.

This map displays the full extent of the Otter Pond Property with property line and trails.

Georeferenced Map

Hello Everbody,

Here the product of georeferencing the Essex County Property survey to the NYGIS Clearinghouse orthoimages.

First Rough Draft Map with Georeferenced survey raster JPEG

Weekend of Data Collection

Monday, November 4th, 2013

Hello Everybody,

         Jonathan and I had a successful weekend collecting GPS points over the weekend. I believe that we collected points for all the needed trails and paths at the Otter Pond Club. In the next week or two I will be compiling all of the data points into excel along with other information that is pertinent to each coordinate pair. For the most part aside from the beginning of data collection I collected the data in four columns that consisted of; Degrees North, Degrees West, Error (in feet), and Notes. All of which are quite self explanatory. Aside from this I recorded the weather conditions and dates for both days. 

Jonathan Glueckert Reading off the GPS Coordinates

         The first day wasn't exactly the most favorable day for collecting points as it was a 40° F with a wind chill and intermittent periods of light rain. At first the light on and off drizzle was tolerable but then it began to rain heavily making it impossible to collect the points in the notebook. To avoid ruining the notebook and becoming sick we decided to call it a day to head back to the cabin early. This set us back in time and made us much more constrained with time on Sunday. Sunday was 30° F, a clear and sunny day. To get back save time we used ATVs to get back to the waypoint at which we stopped collecting points the day before. Moving as efficiently as possible we were able to collect all the points needed by the time the sun had set. Overall we collected just under 800 coordinate pairs. In the next two weeks I'll be compiling the hand written data into excel so that it can be then loaded into ArcMap to map out the trails and paths. 

Important points are:

East Network Trail Head
        North - 43° 54.929      West - 74° 12.348
West Network Trail Head
        North - 43° 54.573      West - 74° 12.952
Otter Pond Way Trail Head
        North - 43° 54.718     West - 74° 12.913
East and West Network Trail Intersection
        North - 43° 54.345      West - 74° 12.455
Split in Trail to Tree Farming Plot from Network Trail
        North - 43° 54.577      West - 74° 12.165

GeoReferencing and Strategic Planning

Tuesday, October 29th, 2013

Hello Everybody,

         Over the weekend I was able to georeference the raster basemap from the Essex County Clerk office to the orthoimages obtained from the NYSGIS Clearinghouse. I used the georeference tools to effectively lay the county map over the orthoimages.

         On top of this I have started to strategize and develop a detailed plan of how I plan to collect GPS points for the needed areas -trails, and cabin paths/driveways. I also did research on what the whether would be like to be prepared for the worst. The plan is to head up north to the Otter Pond Club on Saturday, Oct. 2nd at 7:00 am. ETA is around 9:00 - 9:30am. From here Jonathan Glueckert, a volunteer assistant, and I will drop off our stuff at the cabin the Club has offered as a place to stay. We will then set off to collect points for as long as the sunlight will let us. We will then return to the cabin for the night and then finish collecting points until we have collected all that we need. The first day will consist of starting collect points of the the hunting and network trails. Day two will consist of collecting he remainder of these points and the points that will represent the driveways. Upon completion Jonathan and I will return back to Siena College that evening.

Collecting Layers and Making a Basemap

Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013

Hello Everybody,

          This week I have been working on a couple tasks. Mainly, finding data layers to add to my map, learning how to georeference a raster from a JPEG.

        I began with finding new basemaps and layer to use for the final product. After having some difficulty with importing basemaps from the internet through ArcMap I decided that it might be best to try some other sources. I began my search at the New York State GIS Clearinghouse. From hear I used NYS Orthos Online, an interactive map that allows the user to select the region they would like orthoimagery by using a tool similar to that of select by rectangle in ArcMap. An example of what the application look like can be found below. Once I had select the area of interest I was able to download the orthoimages, extract them, and then load them into Arc Map. This gave me a clear satellite view of the Otter Pond Club and surrounding properties. Following this I was able to get internet database to work from which I began to add and remove layers as to see what information they provided to judge whether they had any use or not. I was able to find some land usage layers along with a topographic layer. I need to do more research to find a layer that provides information about the watersheds, roads, and a more up-to-date map showing land ownership. 

           On top of this research I began reading up how on how to georeference a JPEG file to a base map. After reading though chapter 11 of the Mastering GIS ed.5 textbook and practice the tutorial from within chapter 11 I was able to understand how to georeference with the examples and practice files given. Within the next week I'm going to perform this I using the orthoimages obtained from the New York State GIS Clearinghouse. 

Meeting with Client 10-14-2013

Monday, October 14th, 2013

Hello Everybody,

         Today the I met up with the client, Ronald Peter of the Otter Pond Club, to discuss some of the more technical aspects of the project and more specifically the project proposal. During this meeting we made additions and edits to the rough proposal to be included in the final draft/MoU. We came to an agreement of what should be included in the final deliverables and by what time they should be produced.

During this meeting I also received a raster base map that outlines the property of the Club. Ronald was able to acquire this property survey map from the Essex County Clerk office. By the end of this week, most likely by Friday (10-25-2013) I plan to have rough map created using the raster basemap acquired from the client by georeferencing it to an aerial basemap supplied by ArcGIS.  A post including the rough map will follow in the coming days.


Below you can observe the raster base map that I obtained from the client.

(Source: Essex County Clerk Office)

GIS Applications Project Proposal

Otter Pond Club and Association Property Mapping

Overview

            The Otter Pond Club located up in Newcomb, New York is a private association of about 15 members. There are 12 paths/trails that each lead to cabins around half of a sizable pond called Otter Pond. Along the backside of the pond exists a walking trail that slightly runs parallel to the pond. Lastly there are various hunting and hiking trails that navigate through the club's approximately 800acre plot of land. This association is located about 2 hours away from Siena College in the heart of the Adirondacks.

            The President, Vice-President, and Secretary of Otter Pond Club are representing the remainder of the club's members as the clients for the project. Their Names are Kenneth A. Peter, Rick Wood, and Ronald W. Peter -in order stated before. We have and will continue to discuss and finalize what features they believe would be best for a map that would provide maximum utility for their club. This is of course give the limitations of my time to a certain extent as this is also a course project for just one of my semester's courses.

Objectives

            As of now we have agreed that I would definitely be mapping each cabin/camp trail. As well as the trail along the backside of the pond, and some a couple of the hiking/hunting trails. As of right now we are having open dialogue about the feasibility of me being about to plot the entire 800 acre property perimeter alone within the given amount of time. We should be reaching a compromise on what will be expected in the final product within the next week.  

Methodology

            To develop the map I will walk the property with a GPS device marking points every 4ft for each path being created. This applies to both the cabin paths as well as the backside trail, and hiking/hunting trails. A county survey map will be scanned and used to draw an approximate property line for the the Club.

Data Sources

            Some of the data layers included will be water bodies, roads,  and topography (for the map that doesn't use the aerial image). These will help lay out the surrounding features to the property and to display how the elevation changes across the land. The data sources that will or could possible be used are as follows;

• Essex County survey maps
• Online aerial maps
• ERSI 
• Possible watershed maps from USGS or like sources

Work Plan

• Week 1: Reach out to clients and begin discussion about the project.
• Week 2: Finalize features and elements of map that the clients would like included and in what formats they would like it in.Also acquire the county survey map of property perimeter/line.
• Week 3: Finalize methodology and pre-field assessment for the preparation of collecting data. Also create a draft map with available data sets and county survey map. Show this draft map to the client
• Week 4: Travel up to Otter Pond Club in Newcomb, NY to meet with client and begin recording trails and paths around the property with a GPS device. 
• Week 5: Compile GPS points in excel and load them into the GIS. Also scan or enter county map information so that it can also be compiled in GIS. Begin developing map. Create a new draft with collected data and present it to the client with along with the first draft map. Record their feedback.
• Week 6: Designing map and map layout. Include various additions and attention to areas brought up from the feedback about the draft maps.
• Week 7: Final editing of map and map layout. Show the client the finalized maps.
• Week 8: Prepare for the Presentation of the final product for class and client.

Deliverables

            There will be several final products for the client. There will be a large map -roughly 3' x 4'-, and an 8.5 x 11in. PDF version of each type of map, which includes a topographical map and a satellite based map. Each of these will also be created in color as well as in black and white. They will also receive a poster that includes the maps with information that describes its features as well as  various information about the process to make it and lastly other important information about the Otter Pond Club.

Below is a rough outline of the property of the Otter Pond Club in orange and a green marker to signify the general location of the clubs central loci.

View Otter Pond Club in a larger map