Lab 7 - Fire Hazard

In this lab we had to create a fire hazard map of the mountainous area in northern Los Angeles county where the station fire occurred. Luckily I already had the DEM raster, county boundary, and fire perimeter shapefiles from the Intro to GIS class last quarter, so I did not have to search for the majority of the information needed to perfrom this analysis. On the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection website I was able to find a map of fuel hazard rating based on vegetation. I then created a slope map using ArcMaps surface analysis tool. I then created a model that added the fuel hazard rating to the slope to create a fire hazard map. I changed classification of the fire hazard map to a continuous scale and changed the color ramp to 'yellow-red' in order to represent fire hazards.

Here is the map that I created.


As you can see, the area with the most flammable vegatation and slope conducive to the spreading of fires are the Malibu area and the mountainous areas where the station fire occured. ArcGIS was very useful in performing analysis of fire hazards due to its ability to combine data to create models based on factors that contribute to fire hazard.

The main challenge of this lab were understanding the rationale behind the model of fire hazard. We were assigned a tutorial to complete before creating our own fire hazard maps that taught us how to create models from raster data. The tutorial used data that had to be reclassified according to NFPA 1144 standards, but did not explain how those were created and what the rationale behind the reclassification. So when I set out to make my own fire hazard map it was difficult to come up with a way of reclassifying fuels and slope to match the NFPA 1144 standard. Instead I just created a rank order classification scheme for both the fuels and slope data and added the two together to derive the fire hazard map. Thus, while my fire hazard map does not conform to the NFPA 1144 standard it is still represents a rank ordered level of fire hazard within LA county.

Here is the map I created from the tutorial.

Landfill Suitability Analysis

Landfill Suitability Analysis Maps





Spatial analysis is a very powerful tool for policy makers to utilize in helping to make decisions when major decisions need to be made regarding controversial subjects such as building or expanding landfills and its effect on the health of those living near the areas in question. GIS helps to manage and analyze data of the various factors affecting the decision. Spatial analysis of the suitability of an area of land to build a landfill on is especially complicated as it may involve slope analysis, distance to bodies of water, land cover, soil drainage, and distance to other landfills. Thus, using GIS to help inform policy makers about the suitability of building landfills on certain plots of land will be important.

A toxic waste landfill in Kettleman City, California, has been planning to expand its capacity to take in more . However, residents of Kettleman City have reported increased rates of birth defects and blamed the landfill for this increase. Senators and the EPA have gotten involved with the investigation due to the outcry of the residents regarding the death of infants who suffered from birth defects and have suspended the expansion of the landfill pending further investigation of the health risks associated with the landfill. The owners of the landfill were surprised to hear about the suspension but were cooperative with the investigation.

A preliminary report concluded that birth defects occurring in the area surrounding the landfill were comparable to nearby communities and there were no common factors between birth defect cases . The report did not sit well with advocacy groups and residents who complained that the study was conducted haphazardly and did not include other factors that may contribute to birth defects.

It is difficult to comment on the report without knowing the specific details on the analysis that was conducted. However, in general situations when rare cases are involved it will be difficult to find associations with any factor due to the lack of statistical power. With only four cases to work with it is not surprising that the report did not find any meaningful associations between environmental factors with birth defects. Historical analysis of past rates of birth defects will need to be conducted so more cases can be involved and statistical power can be increased.

GIS also can play a major role in the investigation of the landfill and other environmental contaminants’ effect of the development of birth defects. Spatial analysis can be run on the slope, soil drain, nearby water sources, and land cover to determine which areas would be the most affected by toxic waste leakage. Wells can be plotted and see if they draw water from contaminated water sources. Pesticide use maps reported by farmers can be used to determine ambient exposure to agriculturally applied pesticides. These are just a few spatial analyses that can be conducted with GIS which can be combined to provide a more complete assessment of the factors that contribute to birth defects.

So in conclusion, I would agree with the advocacy groups and residents that the preliminary report is inadequate to determine whether or not living near the landfill are associated with birth defects.

midterm

Policy Regarding LA City Council Decision of Marijuana Dispensaries

I support the city council's decision to restrict marijuana dispensaries from being within 1000 feet of schools, libraries, and parks.




The purple areas indicate the restricted areas (within 1000 feet of schools, libraries, and parks) while the yellow areas represent areas where dispensaries can operate. According to the data obtained from our GIS, it appears that there is adequate area for dispensaries to do business outside of the 1000 feet restriction.

The costs incurred to the county by this decision include loss in revenue from marijuana dispensaries since less dispensaries would be able to operate under this new policy and there may also be potential illegal selling of marijuana in restricted areas, increasing the level of crime in these areas.

The benefits of this policy include reducing the access that children have to marijuana dispensaries and heightened regulation of the marijuana industry.

I believe that the benefits outweigh the costs in this case. The motivation behind the legalization of marijuana is to be able to regulate it. A tough stance such as the one California took against smoking is also needed against marijuana since it does have psychologically altering effects and should definitely be regulated.