GIS in Water Resources
There
are four questions on this exam. They
are of equal credit. Do all four
questions. For the first three
questions, prepare a 2-page typed theme paper.
For the fourth question use ArcGIS to prepare the map and tables
requested. Staple all four
solutions together in the order of the
questions, and turn in the result to the EWRE secretary in ECJ 8.6 by 5PM
on Monday, December 17. This is a
take-home exam. You are honor bound not
to discuss this exam with your colleagues in the class. Your answers should be the result of your
work and thought alone. Be assured that
if essentially the same idea appears in answers from more than one person, it
is fairly easy to recognize that when the grading is being done. If that happens, it is not clear from whom
the idea originated and who is just using somebody else’s knowledge. So, keep your ideas to yourself!
The
term papers that you choose to describe in answering Questions 1 and 2 should
be mutually exclusive, that is, if you focus on a particular term paper in
answering one of the questions, don’t focus on the same paper when answering
the other question. The Texas class
term project listing can be found at: http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/MAIDMENT/giswr2001/docs/termprojlist.htm
The
Utah class term project listing can be found at:
http://ceefs.cee.usu.edu/dtarb/giswr/
You
can use projects from either location in preparing your answers.
What
I am looking for in grading your answers is:
·
Knowledge of the facts. Make sure you lay out the facts of what has actually been done
before you start offering opinions about what could have or should have been
done. This particularly applies to the
discussion of term papers. Make sure
you discuss what was actually done in the term paper not just about the general
subject itself.
·
Thoughtful evaluation. How do you evaluate the advantages and limitations of the
principles, methods and data that have been used? How does the knowledge you’ve learned in this class relate to
the world around us? I am looking for
a sense of reflection here, of seeing you set individual situations and facts
in a larger context in an intelligent way.
1.
Summarize and Critique a GIS
in Water Resources Application
Choose
a single term paper (not your own!) that you think is interesting and
effective. Summarize the content of the
paper, describing the nature of the problem examined by the author, how the
investigation was carried out, and what results were achieved. Explain why this paper appeals to you. Why
is the problem it addresses important?
What insights or new knowledge does this paper contribute? What makes
the investigation described by this paper an effective implementation of GIS
technology? What makes the
presentation of the paper effective in terms of communication? How could the paper have been improved? What are the advantages and limitations of
the methods used in the paper?
2.
Compare and Contrast Two
Applications Dealing with the same Theme
Choose
two term papers that deal with the same or similar themes or topics. These papers should be different than the
paper you chose to answer Question 1, and neither of them should be your own
term paper. Briefly summarize the
contents of the papers (the problem examined, the method of analysis, the
results achieved). Compare and
contrast the approaches to the problem that the two papers took. Which technical approach do you think was
more effective? Why? Which paper does a more effective job of
communicating its results? Why? Suppose you were undertaking a study of this
same subject. Having studied these two
papers, what have you learned about how to go about your investigation
effectively? What would you do
differently from what the authors of these papers did?
3.
Geospatial data
infrastructure
In
this class you have learned about and been exposed to National data sets from a
variety of sources. Collectively these
represent an infrastructure that serves as a basis for water resources. Write a 2-page assessment of this data
infrastructure and the role of GIS technology in advancing water resources
practice based on this infrastructure, focusing in particular on the National
Elevation Dataset and the National Hydrography Dataset, and adding discussion
about other national datasets as you consider appropriate. Comment on deficiencies and limitations of
the national geospatial data available.
What problems remain to be solved?
What advances do you think can be made within the next year? What problems remain so far out of reach
that they are unlikely to be solved for a number of years? Where is progress limited by lack of
knowledge and understanding rather than technology.
4. Basemap data analysis.
As a recent GIS in Water Resources graduate you are
employed by a consulting company bidding on a project to assess the impacts of
global climate change on the water resources of the state of New
Hampshire. This study is to be based on
data from the USGS Hydro-Climatic data network of streamflow stations. To assist the preparation of your bid you
have been assigned to do the following.
-
The outline of the state of New Hampshire
-
8
digit hydrologic cataloging units (HUC's) that lie partly or fully within New
Hampshire
-
HCDN
streamflow stations that lie within New Hampshire
The map should be neatly prepared with scale and North symbol and in UTM coordinates with an appropriate zone for New Hampshire.
The data available for you to use is in the zip
file http://www.ce.utexas.edu/prof/maidment/giswr2001/docs/gisfinal.zip
available online. You should not need
to use any data not provided in this zip file.
The zip file contains:
-
states.shp. A shapefile giving states within the U.S.
-
huc01_250k.e00. The Arc/Info interchange format file giving
HUC's for region 1, including New Hampshire, obtained from
http://water.usgs.gov/lookup/getspatial?huc250k
-
Stations in Region 01.txt. A text
file listing HCDN stations in region 1, including New Hampshire, obtained from http://water.usgs.gov/pubs/wri/wri934076/
-
Stations.xls An Excel file with the station locations prepared from Region01.txt
The
metadata on the huc01_250k data reports the following Spatial
Reference Information:
Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition:
Planar:
Map_Projection:
Map_Projection_Name: Albers Conical Equal Area
Albers_Conical_Equal_Area:
Standard_Parallel: 29.5
Standard_Parallel: 45.5
Longitude_of_Central_Meridian: -96
Latitude_of_Projection_Origin: 23
False_Easting: 0.0
False_Northing: 0.0
Planar_Coordinate_Information:
Planar_Coordinate_Encoding_Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate_Representation:
Abscissa_Resolution: 1.0
Ordinate_Resolution: 1.0
Planar_Distance_Units: METERS
Geodetic_Model:
Horizontal_Datum_Name: Unknown
Ellipsoid_Name: Clarke 1866
Semi-major_Axis: 6378206.4
Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 294.98