Opioid Epidemic

During the Summer of 2014 there was an alarming increase in Opioid abuse and drug related crimes for the State of Massachusetts. Particularly in the City of Worcester, with drub abuse responsible for drug related deaths at higher than normal counts. Using the City of Worcester and data collected from Crime Reports website, an analysis was done during the months of July through October 2014. The study examined drug related crime and the proximity to clinical care, and how these drug related incidents have a strong correlation within Environmental Justice groups. The research for this study examined the City of Worcester, however it is indicative of a rise in drug abuse, addiction and 
even deaths in many large cities throughout the Commonwealth, and in other states

Does Where You Live Dictate your Quality of Life?

This project was completed during the Fall 2014 semester Cartography class.  Our team analyzed quality of life factors, to  determine if quality of life is improved or compromised depending on where you  live. We used health factors from County Health Rankings and Roadmaps, as well as data from The United Nations, The U.S. Census Bureau and MassGIS to create maps that displayed how global, national, and state to county in Massachusetts ranked in health behaviors, health care, social & economic and environmental factors when applied spatially by location.  

Network Analysis/Service Coverage Area

Emergency Response

The national standard for emergency response dictates that emergency vehicles need to respond to an emergency within 6 minutes - 90% of the time, as victims in a health emergency can suffer severe oxygen deprivation after 6 minutes.

This project used Network Analysis to determine response times and coverage areas for the Town of Sandwich, Massachusetts and their Fire Department.  The first map on the left illustrates the response time and coverage area for all three existing fire stations.   The map on the right illustrates how that coverage is impacted if one of the fire stations had to close in the event of town budget constraints.  Since the Town of Sandwich is only meeting 34% and 22% coverage areas within 5 minutes, and 68% and 57% within 10 minutes,  it is essential that this town keep all three fire stations running.  Help from neighboring communities can help meet that critical impact time; however a fourth fire station would help achieve the necessary response times that this community needs for meeting emergency response in their coverage area.

GPS!

Trips to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston and The Metropolitan Museum in New York City provided an opportunity for mapping my trip using GPS!  An iPhone application called MyTrax dropped points along the course of the route between the two museums on two different days.  The .gpx file was then captured and saved, then uploaded to ArcGIS online using ESRI software. See the mapped Museum trips below:
To visit the ArcGIS online web application go here:

View Larger Map

Network Analysis

ArcGIS Network Analysis tools can find shortest routes, produce the most efficient routes for a deliveries, locate closest facilities, etc.  The map below demonstrates the process for Network Analysis, that allows a user to define service areas around any location on a network, in the map below the service areas surrounding Massachusetts Community Colleges with a 20 mile radius.  Both the Network Analysts tools for ArcGIS using the ArcGIS online Generate Services Areas tool and the ArcGIS desktop Euclidian Distance tool was used as a comparison of each tool to create maps of Massachusetts Community Colleges and their service coverage areas.

Massachusetts Community Colleges

Address data was collected, then using GIS ArcMap software and a geo-coding process, this map was created to show the location of Massachusetts Community Colleges.  It also displays the Community Health Center locations and their proximity to the schools.  The map is symbolized by town population to show areas of dense urban population, where the location of a Community College is important for commuting students. The map also displays a table with the distance in miles for the nearest Health Center for each Community College.

View Shed for Wind Turbine Visibility

Wind Turbines produce a lot of Eco-friendly energy.  However, not all property owners want a turbine within view, and worry it will destroy property values.  Mount Saint Mary's Abbey in Franklin, MA has proposed an upgrade for their small 30 meter to a larger 120 meter/1800kW wind turbine.  A lot of energy can be harvested to power their facility and provide surplus energy to the area.  This project will analyze the view shed in the area and examine if the turbines will indeed have a significant impact on their views.  The citizens are in support of green energy options, and this study will help get the answers they need to support or oppose the proposal.

Fig.1.  View Shed Analysis for Citizens Opposed To (Wind) Turbines On (Mount) St. Mary (But) Otherwise Green  committee of Franklin and Wrentham, MA.

Green Energy!

Solar and wind energy will supplement and possibly replace the current energy sources with methods that are more economical, ecological and sustainable as options for the Earth's future.

A Green Energy Committee has formed and has asked GIS Experts in Geography to join a team that will find suitable sites for combined solar and wind farms.  The proposal examines the best slope and aspect for the solar panels, with wind speed specifications for wind turbines using three main criteria: 

1. The site has to have a slope angle of 15° or less (it also can be flat). 

2. The slope has to have a southerly aspect (135° to 225°). 

3. The wind speed at 30 m has to be above 5 m per second. 

The study looked at two towns in Plymouth County, Massachusetts to identify potential locations.  
For this project potential locations were processed and analyzed in the towns of Kingston and Marshfield using site selection, geo-processing, and spatial analyst tools. After initial site selection criteria has been met, further analysis will be needed to find the best suitable locations to site a combined solar and wind farm. The resulting research and analysis is the map poster below.

Fig.1.  Potential locations for a solar wind farm in the towns of  Kingston and Marshfield, Massachusetts.

Go here to view these potential locations in an ArcGIS Online web application.

You can also view the potential locations from Google Earth!

This is Kingston:
This is Marshfield:

City of Brockton Biotechnology Park

This assignment required finding the City of Brockton a suitable parcel for a proposed Biotechnology Park.  Working with the planning department's requirements, site selection process was completed using ArcGIS geoprocessing tools.  The parcels all needed to meet three main criteria:

1. Must be 10 acres or greater.
2. Must be in industrial and/or commercial zones.
3. Must be located 50 feet or more from any water feature; including ponds, lakes, rivers, streams and wetlands.

The research result includes a table listing each of the 13 potential parcels, the details of their map location, and size of the parcel in acres.  The analysis also includes a map illustrating the potential parcels that meet the above criteria.

A written report is included and can be viewed here.  The report includes a copy of the map below, the table listing potential parcels, a flowchart and details describing the process, with analysis and recommendations for this site selection.  From this data further criteria and analysis can then be discussed and decided upon by the City of Brockton's planning committee to determine the best possible site location for a new Biotechnology Industrial Park.

Figure 1. Map of potential parcels for a new Biotechnology Industrial Park

Town of Bellingham Pulaski Revitalization Project

Town of Bellingham
Pulaski Boulevard Corridor Plan - Revitalization Project

This assignment was in response to the Town of Bellingham's need for GIS resources in analyzing current parcels of land, land use, urban features and available space for a new revitalization plan of the Pulaski Boulevard.

Using GIS tools and software, parcels were separated, coded and color symbolized by category types, and maps were created to illustrate and analyze the data.   Each map breaks down parcels that are: Conforming/Non-Conforming, Business and Mixed Use Parcels, Residential parcels and Vacant parcels.

In addition to the parcel maps created, charts and graphs were implemented to break down and distribute data for the quantitative and categorical information.

Hopefully the work done by students of Bridgewater State University's Geography department will be useful and helpful toward their goals.
Good luck to the Town of Bellingham in their efforts for improvement and vision for the future!

ArcGIS Online Maps

In this first GIS II project, we learned how to: digitize, map (X,Y) coordinate data, and perform geocoding/address mapping. The assignment included completing four ArcGIS online maps, with written tutorials for each. The first three maps were generated from assignment prompts, the last map was assigned with creative license to choose our own idea. 

A copy of my methods report can be viewed here.  This methods report breaks down the steps and describes my process for creating these four ArcGIS online maps.


First Map: BSU Campus Buildings
Assignment: Digitize three new buildings on campus. 
Visit this ArcGIS map online here:

BSU Campus Buildings

Second Map: Jolie Tattoo
Assignment: Using a photo of Angelina Jolie's arm tattoo, map coordinates that locate the birthplaces of her children.
Visit this ArcGIS map online here:

Jolie Tattoo

Third Map: My Digital Resume
Assignment: Create a map of employment history.
Visit this ArcGIS map online here:

 My Digital Resume

Fourth Map: A Gardening Road Trip
Assignment: Create a map of your own design.  I chose to map my favorite gardens and gardening suppliers with acre size for my quantitative data. 
View this as an ArcGIS Online Web Application here:

A Gardening Road Trip