A GIS Application for Trail Suitability within

Bale Mountain National Park, Ethiopia

 

GIS Concepts:

Search for online data:
primary gis concepts used involved online searching of geospatial data to use for the trail suitability analysis within Bale Mountain National Park.

Sort by Attributes:
enables us to organize features within a given dataset which are being stored within an attribute table.  Throughout this investigation we have performed this step in order to cluster similar features.  In particular we have done this in order to more easily visualize data which is of interest for the use of trail suitability analysis. 

Project: 
refers to altering the geographic coordinates of input data that allows us to visualize a sphere on a planar surface.  The image that is displayed on the planar surface is ultimately transformed having a Cartesian coordinate system.  Projection is carried out because degrees of latitude and longitude lack a standard length measurement.  Throughout this investigation we have projected and re projected our data in order to display spherical data on a flat surface, as well as accommodate a consistent coordinate system across unconnected layers of data. 

Clip:
is used for creating a new layer by clipping some feature of an original layer.  It can be used to visually observe layer features within a study boundary, while eliminating those that fall outside of the area of interest.  During this investigation we clipped layer features in order to simplify our dataset as well as displaying only our area of interest. 

Adjusted symbology:
allows users to create visually pleasing geo spatial displays using colors, symbols, and sizes of their choice.  Throughout this investigation we altered the appearance of our display symbology to more effectively display our data of interest. 

Convert from vector to raster:
permits users to convert from a feature based data set dealing to points, lines, and polygons to a raster based dataset dealing with grid organized cells each having varying numeric values.  During this project we converted datasets from vector to raster in order to organize our data, and allow us to analyze and calculate from a uniform dataset format. 

 

Spatial Analyst:

Reclassify:
refers to the grouping of individual raster cell values in order to create a easy to read visual display of a few categories or classes.  Previously unconnected values can be grouped in order to have them display similar symbology.  Throughout this investigation we have reclassified our data in order to more conveniently display the data set of interest.  In particular, data sets concerning the slope, vistas, and land uses were reclassified in order to show a more general trend of these parameters. 

Raster Calculator:
provides a convenient way to manipulate a raster based map focusing on map algebra expressions.   Throughout this investigation we have utilized the raster calculator in order to derive specific data from the general data set which we were working with.  We employed it to assign values of zeros and ones in order to show more suitable areas versus less suitable areas, particularly for slope, land use, and vistas within the study area.  Ultimately we used the calculator to find areas that had all the attributes of a most suitable land area for trail use and construction.