Monthly Archives: June 2012

Voting Report: State-Level Maps and Graphs on Voting

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Voting Report: State-Level Maps and Graphs on Voting
Check out the Voting Patterns by State
 
The Census Bureau has released a menu-driven, interactive Web page permitting users to access for any state a series of graphs showing percentages of adults who voted and registered in every congressional and presidential election between 1996 and 2010. In addition to graphs showing voting and registration trends over the period, users may choose a given election year and find separate graphs showing voting and registration by one of the following characteristics: age, sex, educational attainment, and race and Hispanic origin. Some analysis of the 2010 election is provided as well, as are thematic maps of states showing percent voting during each election. The statistics come from the Current Population Survey. 
 
View additional information at the US Census Bureau Voting Registration Voting Hot Report

Mark Your Calendars – GIS Planning, Preparation, and Mitigation for Natural Disasters Meeting – June 29, 2012

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Connecticut GIS User to User Network Quarterly Meeting – GIS Planning, Preparation, and Mitigration for Natual Disasters

The Connecticut GIS User to User Network Quarterly Meeting will be held on Friday June 29, 2012 and will focus on GIS Planning, Preparation, and Mitigation for Natural Disasters. This meeting is free and open to the public!

Date: Friday June 29, 2012
Time: 8:30am (Networking) with Presentations from 9:00am-12:00pm
Location: South Central Connecticut Water Authority – 90 Sargent Drive New Haven, CT
For additional information visit the Connecticut GIS User to User Network website at: http://ctgis.uconn.edu 

Pizza, (Root)Beer, and GIS Workshop – June 21, 2012

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Connecticut GIS User to User Network – Pizza, (Root)Beer, and GIS!

Are you interested in learning more about GIS? The Connecticut GIS User to User Network is offering a free workshop to explore GIS which will include a series of presentations and break-out hands-on workshops. So if you have been wonder what GIS is and how you might use this technology be sure to register for this free event!

Date: Thursday June 21, 2012
Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm
Location: Central Connecticut State University – New Britain, CT
Cost: Free!
Food: Food will be provided thanks to our sponsors!
Details:
The Connecticut GIS User to User Network is sponsoring a free evening education seminar on an introduction to GIS at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Thursday, June 21, 2012 starting at 6:00 PM till 9:00 PM. It will begin with informational presentations by expert GIS professionals to provide you with foundational basics to introduce you to the technology and principles of GIS. It will be followed by break out sessions for hands on instruction to allow you to experience using GIS with specialists to teach you a simple application that you can take with you. The breakout sessions will be focused on K-12 Educators, Planning Professionals, and First Responders (fire, police, and rescue). This event will be free of cost and dinner will be provided. Space is limited to 20 members from each group and registration is required. See here to register:

More specific location details will be sent to registrants prior to June 21.

For additional information visit the Connecticut GIS User to User Network website at: http://ctgis.uconn.edu

Updated Connecticut Population Projections Now Available through CtSDC

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About the Projections

The Connecticut State Data Center at the University of Connecticut Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) has just released updated population projections for Connecticut based on the 2010 Census data. The population projections include state, county, regional planning organization, and town level population projections for 2015, 2020, and 2025 and include population totals, age groups, and age groups by sex projections. The projections were developed through a collaboration between the Connecticut State Data Center, the Office of Policy and Management, the Connecticut Department of Public Health, and the Department of Geography at the University of Connecticut. 
Population projections are essential for planning, analysis, and informed decision making and these updated projections provide users with three scenarios for population change for 2015, 2020, and 2025 to highlight potential changes in the population based on increases/decreases in the fertility rates within a geographic location. The Connecticut State Data Center has included three fertility rates (high, medium, and low) for each year to provide users with a range of potential population changes and these three rates highlight that population projections are estimates which are subject to change based on a number of factors. Included below are brief definitions of each fertility rate included in these projections.
High Fertility Rate: This scenario assumes a high rate of population growth which based on recent trends in Connecticut’s population is least likely to occur. The High Fertility rate scenario serves as a guide of what could happen if the selected geography experienced a baby boom type scenario
Medium Fertility Rate: This scenario assumes a medium rate of population growth.This scenario would be most likely for areas experiencing moderate growth.
Low Fertility Rate: This scenario assumes a low rate of population growth. This scenario would be most likely for areas with slow population growth.


Exploring the 2015-2025 CtSDC Population Projections

The 2015-2025 Population Projections are available via the interactive data viewer developed by the Connecticut State Data Center. This viewer allows users to select a year and fertility rate, select the geography (State, County, Regional Planning Organization, and Town), and select the place you want to view projections data. The Viewer includes an interactive map, an interactive chart, and an interactive table of data which is sortable. In the coming weeks, users will be able to download this data in spreadsheet and shapefile formats.

View the 2015-2025 Population Projections for Connecticut at: http://ctsdc.uconn.edu/projections.html

Using GIS to Evaluate Vulnerability to Climate Change: A Case Study of Martha’s Vineyard

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Dukes County, Massachusetts is composed of the county subdivisions on the island of Martha’s Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands, which form the town of Gosnold. A few weeks ago, I completed my M.A. thesis in the Geography department which investigates where climate change could impact Dukes County. My study evaluates vulnerability to climate change through the examination of social vulnerability and vulnerability to climate sensitive hazards (i.e. sea level rise and storm surge events) and is designed to coincide with the jurisdiction of the Martha’s Vineyard Commission. The thesis includes maps created in ArcMap, with data from MassGIS, that locate vulnerable areas in the county as well as quantify the potential impact of hazards on specific land use categories. Additionally, a social vulnerability index quantifies vulnerability based upon demographic data from the 2010 Census and 2010 American Community Survey.

The overarching goal for this project was to develop a theoretical framework that serves as a GIS-based decision support system for policy makers to determine where climate change adaptation policies are needed. This framework is operationalized through a case study of vulnerability of Dukes County, Massachusetts. The abstract of the study can be seen below:

Climate Action Plans (CAP’s) are recent innovations in policy that have been catalyzed by a need to adjust the relationship between human activity and the Earth’s climate system. CAP’s often are composed of methods to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions in addition to adaptation strategies. Research indicates, however, that many plans focus on mitigation strategies while adaptation policies related to predicted changes caused by climate change are often overlooked. This thesis presents an integrative framework for locating areas that are in need of adaptation strategies through a GIS based decision support system that visualizes vulnerability. It is operationalized through an empirical study of Dukes County, Massachusetts.


Dukes County is a New England county composed of the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Gosnold. The county has a long history of commercial fishing, but more recently caters to affluent seasonal tourists. With both economic activities heavily reliant upon the ocean as a resource, climate sensitive hazards, such as sea level rise and tropical storms, pose an important risk to the population, built environment, and the natural environment that has made the study area a highly desirable New England tourist destination.

The results of my case study conclude that long term climate processes have shaped the way in which Dukes County has developed through the geomorphic influence of the last glaciation. The up-island towns of Martha’s Vineyard (Aquinnah, Chilmark, & West Tisbury) and Gosnold differ in geography- both physically and socially- from their down-island counterparts (Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, & Tisbury). This geographic variation results in an unequal distribution of vulnerability related to climate sensitive hazards distributed throughout the county, which have been identified as storm surge events in addition to chronic sea level rise. Generally speaking, my study concludes that…

Flatter land that is also lower in elevation down-island has traditionally been developed and inhabited more than the up-island land of Martha’s Vineyard and the islands of Gosnold. Consequently, larger populations and more developed land are at risk to hazards whose exposure is largely dependent upon elevation, like storm surge and sea level rise (down-island). 

The full text of this study is now available online through Digital Commons@UConn: An Integrated Approach for Developing Adaptation Strategies in Climate Planning: A Case Study of Vulnerability in Dukes County, Massachusetts

Historical Aeronautical Navigation Maps at MAGIC

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Today in the United States we can fly coast to coast in a commercial airliner comfortably in less than 6 hours. Air travel has not always been this easy or seamless. Historical air navigation techniques and practices can help us envision the beginnings of air travel and air mail, and really show how drastically aviation navigation technology has evolved in just over 100 years of flight. To help relive and appreciate air navigation from the onset of commercial flight, the University of Connecticut Libraries Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) brings you an interactive index to help users identify flight routes commonly used for passenger and air mail service in the 1920’s and 30’s. Back then there was no such thing as hitting the direct button on your Garmin and following the pink line to your destination!
The creation of this historical aeronautical navigation chart index provides pilots and aviation enthusiasts with a glimpse into how far air navigation methods and technology have progressed since the inception of powered flight. The University of Connecticut Map and Geographic Information Center (MAGIC) includes an extensive collection of navigation charts spanning in time from 1923 through 1935. There are more than 150 charts in the collection that span across the contiguous United States. Pilots at the time used the charts for navigation purposes including airmail delivery and the first commercial passenger service provided by the Ford Tri-Motor aircraft. Ford Motor Company produced an artistic route overview map in 1928 that is contained in the collection.
When the collection was digitized by the University of Connecticut Libraries in spring of 2011, Trevor was in the process of trying to procure an internship as part of my undergraduate major in Geography for fall 2012. When Trevor mentioned his interests and background to the staff at MAGIC, immediately a project was identified to georeference and create an interactive index for the collection of historical air navigation maps from MAGIC’s collections. The project focused on developing an interface for fellow pilots and enthusiasts to access and appreciate these relics of aeronautical navigation technology that bear many striking resemblances to aeronautical sectional navigation charts of present day. In preparation for this project, the historical navigation charts would be digitized using a high-resolution camera in multiple sections over the summer of 2011 to be later digitally reassembled. For more information on the digitization equipment utilized by the University of Connecticut Libraries visit: http://digitalcollections.uconn.edu/equipment/equipment.html.  
In the fall, Trevor began the process of creating mosaics of two images captured for each chart. After a mosaic was created and the complete charts were saved in raw uncompressed TIFF format, they were ready to be georeferenced. Georeferencing the image provides a way for each map to be overlaid within GIS software applications, Google Earth, Google maps and other applications in a spatially meaningful way. Trevor Utilized Adobe Photoshop to convert the JPF files from the digitized original photographs to TIFF images, and then created mosaics of the full charts. It was a slow and tedious process and had to be done with great care so that the georeferencing would go smoothly and with minimal error. It took an entire semester and a few weeks of another semester to complete the mosaicing and georeferencing of each image. Once this was completed the files were digitally archived.
To make these maps accessible to the public, an index was created to enable users to easily locate and identify maps for specific routes. To create this index, ESRI’s ArcGIS ArcMap 10 software was used to create a shapefile based on the geographic extent of each map. Then this shapefile was converted to a Keyhole Markup Language (KML) file for viewing with Google Earth and Google Maps. The KML file was then uploaded to Google Fusion Tables and joined to a spreadsheet that included links to each air navigation map. To ensure the index interface was easy to use, the Google Fusion Tables map interface was customized using the Google Fusion Tables API to develop custom dropdown menus and to refine the appearance of the map. This index will enables users to locate and download full-quality georeferenced images of each map and will be the first time that these historic air navigation charts will be easily identified and made available for public viewing and use. 
Interface for viewing air navigation maps in the MAGIC collection