Assignment #7: Arc Collector: Microclimate

Introduction:

GPS for mobile devices and tablets has come along since the technological advancements of the 21st Century. Recording data has become much faster and much more simple. This activity revolves around using a mobile device with the app ArcCollector, and it will teach students about alternative data collections. Groups of Students were sent to split up throughout the UWEC campus in order to collect the Temperature in Fahrenheit, Dew Point, Windchill, Wind speed, and Wind Direction. All data was record same day, October 24, 2007, within the the timeframe of 15:45-17:10.

Study Area:

The study area was mainly located on the UWEC campus. It contains parts of water street, the walk bridge, most of lower campus, and most of upper campus as well. The study area was split up to seven different sections. Zones 1 and 2 are on the North side of the Chippewa River, and Zones 3 through 7 are on the South side. Each group was assigned a specific section. This group was assigned to collect data in Section 5. As you can see in Figure 1, the study area is contains river as well as land cover. This will be apparent in the temperature range. The differences in elevation show a high variance for wind patterns.

Figure 1 displays the area in which student went around
and collected points. Groups of students were assigned to each

Methods:

In order to gather the data, The Kestrel 3000, a hand-held weather meter, was used to record the Temperature, Dew Point, Wind Chill, and Wind Speed (see Figure 3). One must note there is a potential for error based on variability.

Figure 2. Kestrel 3000 with
a field notebook for scale

The abbreviations, displayed on the Kestrel 3000, for the five variables measured were are shown in Figure 3.

Figure 4 shows the abbreviations that
the Kestrel 3000 uses.

Wind direction was recorded using a compass (Figure 4). By looking at objects flowing in the wind, or just the direction in which the breeze was hitting you, it was easy to tell which direction the wind was coming from thanks to the compass.

Figure 4. Compass

The first live shot of the Kestrel 3000 reading the Dew Point is shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 shows the Dew Point of the first
point recorded in this groups section.

Results/Discussion:

The in order to display the results, three maps must be made. One shows the temperature, another shows the Dew Point, and the last one shows the Wind Chill, Speed, and Direction. The first map I created was the Temperature map. The tool I used for this was the IDW tool, and it can be found in ArcToolbox under Spatial Analysis tools, and then Interpolation. I used a stretched color scheme for the legend. As you can see in Figure 6, upper campus seems to be warmer then lower camps. However, the coldest temperatures were recorded on the bridge. There is a clear shortcoming on the temperature map with a value that reaches a low point of 9.8905 Fahrenheit. This was probably due to one of the groups missing a digit.

Figure 6. Temperature Map (Fahrenheit)

The second map I created shows the variation of the Dew Points around campus. Again, the IDW tool was used, but this time a classified color scheme was chosen for the legend. As depicted on Figure 7, the wettest areas seem to be in the woods, on the hill, and at southern parts of the campus. It also shows similar patterns to the Temperature map. There is also one shortcoming displayed on the map, this Group incorrectly entered a Dew Point value that was clearly lower then the other dew point values recorded. It is depicted as the only green area on the Dew Point map, and is due to this group forgetting to type in a digit.

Figure 7. Dew Point Map

The last map I created shows the Wind Speed, Wind Chill, and Wind Direction (See Figure 8), and it is a graduated symbol map. For the Wind Speed and Wind Direction, click on the data collection feature class. Then, choose the Symbology tab, and Graduated symbols under the Quantities option to display the Wind Speed. For Wind Direction, choose the Advanced options, and Rotate. From there, select WD in the drop down box, and leave the Rotation Style as Geographic (See Figure 7). The wind pattern map shows that the river and open areas that do not receive cover from the Hill are the coldest parts parts of campus. Whereas upper campus, and mainly the covered parts of lower campus are the coldest.

Figure 8. Rotate Window for Graduated Symbols
under Layer properties

Figure 9. Wind Patterns Map

Conclusions:

In conclusion, the ArcCollector app proved to be a very efficient way to instantly upload data from a mobile device onto ArcGIS. Not only is it quick, but it is very simple. Not to mention, it is a free app. ArcCollector absolutely addressed the goals for the assignment. By recording the data, and inputting it into a table, one had easy access to reviewing and utilizing data due to our mobile device. Overall, it is safe to say that the river plays a huge factor with temperature, wind, and dew point variations on the UWEC campus. All three maps show open areas near the river to be either colder or dryer then the on-campus areas covered by the hill and buildings. Although there were a few shortcomings, there was enough data recorded to help level out the damage done from the outliers, resulting in pretty solid maps.