What can I do for you?

From simple project maps to complex spatial analysis, I can help!

I have experience working for groundwater and surface water hydrologists, fire management personnel, ecologists, and water and wastewater engineers. Read below for more details.

Fire Behavior Predictions and Analysis

Fire Management personnel often operate on limited budgets. Therefore, a priority system to help determine where fuel mitigation monies should be spent to maximize a community's investment in fire safety is necessary. I provide scientific based fire behavior predictions in a spatial format so that land managers and community leaders can make informed decisions.

Fire management is dependent upon a variety of information layers in order to be effective. GIS enables the easy integration of data such as vegetation type, slope position, fuel model, historic fire data, road access, land ownership, elevation and countless others that help fire managers do their job. I have the equipment and knowledge needed to gather all the pertinent information from a variety of existing sources: aerial photos, field investigations and existing maps (both digital and hard copy). These data layers are combined and analyzed using standard fire modeling programs, FARSITE and FlamMap, to produce fire risk assessments and fire behavior predictions.

The resulting maps and analysis are great for public forums too!

Surface Hydrology

GIS lends itself nicely to surface hydrology. Point and linear feature data such as stream locations, gaging stations, and monitoring sites as well as the associated information for each, can easily be stored and manipulated in a GIS.

Using a standard USGS DEM (surface elevation model), watersheds and sub-basins can be delineated using ArcHydro. The resulting basin attributes, such as area and elevational range, can be used to determine a host of hydrological characteristics for a particular location. Coupled with precipitation data, a well thought out GIS query can answer a number of surface water questions efficiently and accurately.

Groundwater

98% of the available freshwater for human and environmental uses is stored below the surface of the earth in aquifers, this water is known as groundwater. Groundwater demand is increasing every year as surface water sources become limited due to current uses. It is becoming more important to accurately characterize this valuable resource.

Gathering all the data necessary to determine groundwater characteristics can easily be done with a GIS. Geology and geologic features for most areas have already been mapped. Well water level data and surface elevation can also be mapped in a GIS and used to determine ground water level (potentiometric) maps.

GIS allows hydrologist and natural resource managers to characterize groundwater spatially.

Cartographic Services

Sometimes, it's as simple as that - you just need a map. But not just any map. You need something that is reproducable, database oriented and updatable. I have experience making all kinds of maps! I also have a rich source of base data layers that I use to create maps. I tailor each map to your project needs, the map goal or "message", and potential audience.

The final product can be delivered electronically in a number of formats (PDF, JPEG, etc.) or printed to hard copy (up to 36" x 48"). In addition, if you need the GIS layers used to create the map, just ask! I'll provide everything I use (shapefiles, grids, geodatabases and mxd files).

Google Maps

Recently I have learned a bit of javascript. Add that knowledge to Google's Map API and viola! You have an instant internet map server. Yes, other than my time to create the backend script and data, it's free.

Check out this simple example I created using tabular data found on the Town of Truckee's Planning website.