Lab Four: Mini-Final Project

Goals: 
The goal of this lab was to propose a spatial question and to answer that question using Geo-spatial skills learned throughout the semester.  Using four or more Geo-spatial tools created an analysis that was used to make a cartographic map in Arc Map 10.4.1

Introduction:
My proposed spatial question was where would be the best spot to place a new hospital in Eaton County, Michigan? Objectives for this project are that the new hospital should be located within 20 miles of another hospital, within 1 mile of a highway, and near an urban center.  The intended audience would be Eaton County government representatives, as well as local medical facilities and citizens of Eaton County. This question was proposed because I grew up in Eaton County, Michigan and the closest hospital to most of the cities in Eaton County, Michigan is located about 20 miles away making it difficult for people to obtain immediate medical care.

Data Sources:
Data was obtain through the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire GIS database. Data used was Major highways, Hospitals, Cities, and County feature classes. There were a few data concerns such as if its to big. Another concern was if the data was out of date.

Methods:
The first thing I did was to add the U.S. states layer from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire GIS database. After that, the next step was to create a layer using select by attribute for Michigan.  The next step was to add the highway,cities, county and hospital classes to the map.  The step after that was using the attribute table to only have the highways, as well as cities, and county layers show Michigan.  I created new layers labeled Michigan Hospital, Michigan, Michigan Cities, and Michigan roads. Next I used the Intersect tool on Michigan Hospital and Michigan layers. Using the intersect tool allowed me to combine Michigan Hospital layers with Michigan layers. The following step was using the Buffer tool for all areas around hospital so that new hospitals are away from current ones. This tool allowed me to select a certain distance from the actual location.  The next tool used was the Dissolve tool. This tool was used on the Michigan Hospital buffer, The following tool used was creating a buffer that was within 2 miles of all Michigan cities and in an urban center. I then used the Erase tool on the michigancitybuffer from the hospital buffer. The last tool used was the Dissolve tool on the Michigan hospital buffer.  After the map was created using Arc Map 10.4.1, the next step was to make a data flow model to show the steps mentioned above.

Figure 1: Data Flow Model

Results:

After answering the spatial question using the tools learned in GIS class, it is apparent that the best location for a new hospital in Eaton County, Michigan would be Charlotte City.  Looking at the map posted below, the grey circles represent urban areas that are within 20 miles of a hospital. This location would be near a highway and an urban area. Another location is Grand Ledge, Michigan as well as Mulliken, Michigan.

Figure 2: map results

Evaluation:

My overall impression of this project is that it was good practice to utilize all the current skills learned throughout the course. If asked to do the project again, I would change very little. Although the hardest thing was coming up with a spatial question that wasn't to hard to accomplish with the time given.  Challenges I faced were actually coming up with the spatial question, and figuring what tools to use.

References:
 Data retrieved from "UWEC geospatial data server”.2016.
"Esri - GIS Mapping Software, Solutions, Services, Map Apps, and Data.2016"