Benjamin Sykes and Dr. Matthew Bekker, Geography Department
This Research Project involved the use of Geographic Information Systems, Remote Sensing Images, Fragstats, GIS Data layers obtained from Utah County, and database programs to quantify change to the natural landscape following human development in the area commonly known as “The Meadows” Shopping Center, located in American Fork, Utah.
The project began by creating a GIS layer on top of aerial photographs to represent areas of urban development and non-urban areas. Figure 1 shows the landscape before development took place, while Figure 2 shows the same area in 2004, after much of the area had been developed. Additional data was needed to quantify which of these areas are classified as sensitive wetlands. Figure 3 shows GIS layers obtained from Utah County that show the distribution of wetland types in the area.
By using ESRI ArcGis 9, the Wetlands layer was intersected with the layer representing urban and non-urban areas. With this intersection the wetlands that were replaced with urban buildup were able to be extracted, as shown in Figure 4. After extracting these polygons, their areas were calculated and added together using database software. The percentage of the various types of wetlands were calculated (see Table 1). These results indicate a need for increased awareness of wetland locations before proceeding with urban development.
This research project was a great experience and great experience learning how to apply Geographic Information Systems technology to a real-world situation. Further research could be done to utilize GIS to find an area that would have been better suited for this type of development in order to lessen human impact on the environment in the future. Much of my learning involved learning about why wetlands are important and how we can utilize better planning skills to preserve these sensitive areas.
References
- Berke, Philip R., MacDonald, Joe, White, Nancy, Holmes, Michael, et al. Greening development to protect watersheds. Journal of the American Planning Association. Vol. 69, Issue 4. Autumn 2003.
- S.D, and Highfield W.E. “Does Planning Work? Testing the Implementation of Local Environmental Planning in Florida.” Journal of the American Planning Association 71.2 (2005): 159-75.
- Burns, Douglas; Vitbar, Tomas; McDonnell, Jeffrey; Hassett, James; Duncan, Jonathan; Kendall, Carol. Effects of suburban development on runoff generation in the Croton River basin. Journal of Hydrology. Sep 2005, Vol. 311 Issue 1-4, pg. 266-281.
- Dahl, Thomas E. Wetlands losses in the United States 1780’s to 1980’s. U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, Washington, D.C. Jamestown, ND: Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Home Page. 1990. http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/othrdata/wetloss/wetloss.htm
- Honachefsky, William B. Ecologically Based Municipal Land Use Planning, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. 2000.
- National Research Council. Restoration of aquatic ecosystems: science, technology, and public policy. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C.. 1992.