Week 4, Oil Spill 1 & 2

Links to the full and much more impressive files are HERE and HERE.
If I had more time, there's more I'd do with the part 2 maps, but the clock is winning out here. I've certainly used some features of the program I hadn't tried previously, and learned a variety of useful things. All of the study areas are local and familiar to me; I picked one I'd done surveying in within the last week.

For part 1, I went off script to get my result. The primary reason I am taking the GIS classes is to integrate GIS with what I am already doing in surveying. I have found that ArcGIS does many things well, but original creation of vector linework isn't one of them. After completing step 3, I exported the map to png, imported it into AutoCAD, and georeferenced the image there after running a long/lat to grid conversion to calculate a line to reference the image to. In AutoCAD, which is designed for rapid vector creation, I was able to complete the linework in about 2 minutes, without fighting trace or TS lag. Once you are doing this professionally, you will find that time is quite literally money. With the current economy, only the fast and profitable are still employed in surveying. My polygon area missed the published value by 3 tenths of a percent. This is due to a few reasons:

1. I should have exported to a dxf instead of a png, improving accuracy.
2. I eyeballed the lines in fast. If I had created the known long/lat values for the partial coordinates as constraints, I'd have landed closer.
3. Who knows how accurate the calculated area really was? It did not have the signature or raised seal of a licensed surveyor on it, so the expected accuracy can only be described as informational.

Overall, Part 1 was an immensely useful assignment for me in terms of using Excel, ArcMap, AutoCAD, and GoogleEarth in a holistic and unified manner. The whole assignment ran about 90 minutes by using this approach. This sort of software tool integration is the central thing I was hoping to gain in taking the GIS certificate program.