Transcript Project Proposal Presentation

Potential Scenic Sites Analysis for the
Hill Country Conservancy
Nancy A. Heger, Manager
Matt Broadaway, GIS Analyst
Image source: http://www.philadelphianstours.com/
Gene Sipes, Assistant Manager
Matt Gray, Web Master
What is “scenic” and why is it important?
Inherent notion of what scenic is
 Agreement among viewers
• Socioeconomic groups
• Regions
• Age classes

What is “scenic” and why is it important?
Steeper or greater relief
 Water is present
 Diversity of vegetation
 Edge effects
 More natural (less developed)
 Visually complex
 Some Cultural Modifications

What is “scenic” and why is it important?
Cultural heritage
 Scarcity

Image source:
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/find
adest/parks/lyndon_b_johnson/
Image source:
http://www.spadout.com/wiki/images/
Enchanted_rock.jpg
What is “scenic” and why is it important?
More scenic is also more natural
 Less developed
 Has conservation value

Introduction
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Conserving places of scenic
value also conserves areas of
natural or historical heritage.

In line with the goals of the
Hill Country Conservancy
(HCC) - a non-profit group
seeking to preserve parts of
the Texas hill country.

N.E.R.D.S. will use GIS to
help HCC identify areas for
future preservation.
Purpose
•Identify potential sites for future preservation by the
Hill Country Conservancy (HCC)
•Identify areas that are “scenic” as defined by factors
such as topographical relief, proximity to water bodies,
and vegetation.
•Provide a map of potential scenic sites that HCC can
use to identify areas for future preservation
Scope

Study region - 22 county area in Hill Country
Figure 1. Hill Country study area.

Will take approximately 3 months (6 Sept. to 13 Dec.)
Data Layers and Sources
Layer
Projection/Datum
Source
30 Meter DEM
UTM Zone 15/ NAD 83
U.S. Geological Survey
Study Region
State Plane Texas Central
FIPS 4203/ NAD 83
Hill Country Conservancy
Urban
No Projection/ NAD 83
Texas Natural Resource
Information Systems
Roads
No Projection/ NAD 83
Texas Natural Resource
Information Systems
Water
No Projection/NAD 27
Texas Department of
Transportation
Historic Sites/State Parks
No Projection/ NAD 83
Texas Parks and Wildlife
Department
Land Use
UTM Zone 14/ NAD 83
National Resource
Conservation Service
30 Meter DEM
Base Map for Analysis
Buffer From Roads
The buffer of 3 to 5 miles will serve as areas viewable from the roads. Then all other
criteria will be applied to the inside of the buffer for analysis.
Image source: www.learnarcgis.com/.../buffer%20road/1.jpg
Model Criteria

Distance from streams

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Distance from State Parks/Historic Sites
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Areas near these features preferred
Land Use

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Areas closest to State Parks preferred
Distance from unique natural feature e.g. Enchanted Rock

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Areas closest to streams preferred
Areas with preferred vegetation types
Topographic Variation i.e. slope

Areas with more relief preferred
TIMETABLE
Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Date
Data Collection
Data Preprocessing
Preliminary
analysis using
only one county
Analysis of rest
of counties
Data
interpretation
Create website
Prepare final
deliverables
9/6
9/13
9/20
9/27
10/4 10/11 10/18 10/25 11/1
11/8
Week
11
Week
12
Week
13
11/15
11/22
11/29
IMPORTANT DATES
•September 6- Receive Client RFP
•October 4- Proposal Presentation for Client
•October 27- Progress Report
•December 13- Final Presentation and Deliverables
FINAL DELIVERABLES

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Final deliverables will include:
A Detailed Final Report (2 copies)
Professional Poster for display in the Geography
Department
Website
CD (2 copies) containing



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
All data
Metadata
Proposal, Progress, and Final reports
Poster
Power Point presentation
Instructions on how to use CD (readme file)
Uses & Implications

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Phase one in HCC’s plan to locate scenic areas.
Regional governments to promote tourism.
Concerned groups to raise environmental awareness in the
region.
Information for public use.
Model created that can be used in other areas to determine
scenic beauty.
Conclusions

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Layers created from collected data.
Maps showing the most likely places to find scenic
places.
Model created that can be used in other areas to determine
scenic beauty.
The End