Sunday, July 31, 2016
Wednesday, July 20, 2016
Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Web Soil Survey
 | ||
| Here is the area of the Soil Web Survey I looked at. Ivy Hill Cemetery is the open space in the center of the selection and contains the following soil types: 92B, 71D + 72B. |
The Soil Web Survey allowed me to dive into further explorations of the relationship of soil and space use. I choose to look further at Foresetland Productivity as that is one of the highlights of Ivy Hill Cemetery, the historical oak-dominated forest ecosystem.
Conclusion:
I love the idea of the soil that saved the world! Soil needs more respect and acknowledge and I believe that the Soil Web Survey and an accessible application that gives practitioners from a variety of fields really great information that will allow them to make more informed decisions.
As a soon to be landscape architect I found lots of value in this application. I would go as far to say that a soil survey should be included in the history and research of all design projects. When you are in the site planning stages of a project the WSS would allow you to make design decisions based on soil characteristics and use. It gives you the ability to draw conclusions about the water table, percolation rates, flood-plains, etc. All really important information to consider when designing. I think the ability to import an AOI from GIS data is a very valuable tool.
As a natural resources practitioner, I think that time shots would be great! If you can see how the built/occupied environment has changed the soil makeup/distribution over time that would be quite valuable data, allowing us to make more informed planning decisions in the long run.
It was good to learn about the categories of soil:
Mono taxa vs. Multi taxa
Major components vs. Minor components
Similar vs. Dissimilar
One of many questions: How is the soil data collected?
Friday, June 24, 2016
Weather and Climate
Weather Underground is a great day to day weather snapshot site. What they call hyper local weather allows you to take micro-climates across a specific region or sub-region—which could be very helpful in prediction and following species in an area. It also has an interactive satellite map which makes you feel like you are in a real weather room and a popular cities capability so you can monitor your favorite places globally all with a quick glance.
Check out their site here: https://www.wunderground.com/
Climate.gov provides data snapshots, data gallery and a climate dashboard. The information here is visualization heavy, so it is great if you need to include graphs or charts with any research you are doing and it also has a teaching climate section that provides a lot of information about climate literacy and provides teaching resources.
Check out their site here: https://www.climate.gov/maps-data
The University of Virginia Climatology Office is unique in that it has links to all sorts of other information, such as general climate, drought, fall foliage, astronomical information, lightning, etc. I will definitely be referring back to this site for information both locally and for camping adventures across VA. While collection of information is great, a lot of their links need to updated. Check out their site here: http://climate.virginia.edu/online_data.htm
Check out their site here: https://www.wunderground.com/
Climate.gov provides data snapshots, data gallery and a climate dashboard. The information here is visualization heavy, so it is great if you need to include graphs or charts with any research you are doing and it also has a teaching climate section that provides a lot of information about climate literacy and provides teaching resources.
Check out their site here: https://www.climate.gov/maps-data
The University of Virginia Climatology Office is unique in that it has links to all sorts of other information, such as general climate, drought, fall foliage, astronomical information, lightning, etc. I will definitely be referring back to this site for information both locally and for camping adventures across VA. While collection of information is great, a lot of their links need to updated. Check out their site here: http://climate.virginia.edu/online_data.htm
Thursday, June 16, 2016
Mapping Ivy Hill Cemetery
Map of Ivy Hill Cemetery
This map shows where the forested areas of the cemetery are, in red. While surveying the land, I had an interest in large trees (dbh = 3'+) that were in the cemetery plot areas, essentially outside the red. I began to catalog these trees and if time permits would like to get more specific with an area, calling out the dbh (diameter at breast height), estimated height, genus and species as well as an estimate of the value of the tree. My interest in the trees within the cemetery plot area extends from my interest of the intersection of humans and nature. On a certain level, it seems like these trees are potentially more vulnerable then the species within the forested area. They are also more accessible for analysis and would be a good exercise in terms of species identification.
In terms of my experience mapping, I definitely feel that MyMaps has some benefits and drawbacks depending on the type of project you would like to map.
Benefits: 1. the ability to enter point data, even without an address 2. Can add specifications about each point. 3. Acreage and square mileage is included information--great for polygons! 4. I imagine there is some ability to collect data, like gps coordinates in the field and have it added to a map? Could I stand next to a tree and capture its exact location, then record all of my data in the field? That would be awesome!!
Drawbacks: 1. No curved lines. This seems like a big one in drawing organically. 2. Limited in ability to change color and size of marker. 3. Unable to group objects together. I wanted to group all of my forest area together to get a grand totally of square footage. 4. It seems a little tedious to add a lot of data. It would be great to copy and paste icons and then move then to new locations so you could add a lot of icons quickly.
Potentially, some of the drawbacks stem from the fact that I do not understand how to use the application to its fullest.
Arc GIS Explorer had a lot of similar drawing features as MyMaps, so many of the benefits and drawbacks are similar. However, I struggled a bit to get going and figure it out. It was not as intuitive for me, however I imagine that is because of my experience with other google products vs other GIS/ESRI products.
Arc GIS Explorer Map
Oh yeah, I saw a Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes!!! It ran right across my path and gave all the birds quite a stir! What a beautiful color! Definitely the highlight of my morning.
This map shows where the forested areas of the cemetery are, in red. While surveying the land, I had an interest in large trees (dbh = 3'+) that were in the cemetery plot areas, essentially outside the red. I began to catalog these trees and if time permits would like to get more specific with an area, calling out the dbh (diameter at breast height), estimated height, genus and species as well as an estimate of the value of the tree. My interest in the trees within the cemetery plot area extends from my interest of the intersection of humans and nature. On a certain level, it seems like these trees are potentially more vulnerable then the species within the forested area. They are also more accessible for analysis and would be a good exercise in terms of species identification.
In terms of my experience mapping, I definitely feel that MyMaps has some benefits and drawbacks depending on the type of project you would like to map.
Benefits: 1. the ability to enter point data, even without an address 2. Can add specifications about each point. 3. Acreage and square mileage is included information--great for polygons! 4. I imagine there is some ability to collect data, like gps coordinates in the field and have it added to a map? Could I stand next to a tree and capture its exact location, then record all of my data in the field? That would be awesome!!
Drawbacks: 1. No curved lines. This seems like a big one in drawing organically. 2. Limited in ability to change color and size of marker. 3. Unable to group objects together. I wanted to group all of my forest area together to get a grand totally of square footage. 4. It seems a little tedious to add a lot of data. It would be great to copy and paste icons and then move then to new locations so you could add a lot of icons quickly.
Potentially, some of the drawbacks stem from the fact that I do not understand how to use the application to its fullest.
Arc GIS Explorer had a lot of similar drawing features as MyMaps, so many of the benefits and drawbacks are similar. However, I struggled a bit to get going and figure it out. It was not as intuitive for me, however I imagine that is because of my experience with other google products vs other GIS/ESRI products.
Arc GIS Explorer Map
Oh yeah, I saw a Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes!!! It ran right across my path and gave all the birds quite a stir! What a beautiful color! Definitely the highlight of my morning.
Sunday, June 12, 2016
Sunday, May 29, 2016
Biodiversity Definition
My definition:
Biodiversity is the evaluation of the variety all life forms
in a defined region. Life from a
cellular level to mammals.
As defined by: Essentials of Conservation Biology, Richard B. Primack (2014). Biodiversity, shortened from biological diversity includes all species, genetic variation, and biological communities and their ecosystem-level interactions.
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog about the biodiversity of Ivy Hill Cemetery.
I recently discovered this place, which is about a .25 mile from my home, when I was on a walk with my daughter and husband. I instantly fell in love! The almost 23 acre Ivy Hill Cemetery is a historic burial grounds with a surrounding forest with a small creek, Timber Branch, running through the eastern side of the space. My initial reflection of the space was that it is an urban oasis whose native beauty was preserved as a result of a bubble of respect that formed around the cemetery. Burials at Ivy Hill began in this oak-dominated forest in 1811 and include descendants of Washington and Jefferson and is still active today.
I moved to Northern Virginia last fall from the Southern CA desert to pursue a Masters in Landscape Architecture and Natural Resources. With a background in horticulture I have been very excited to learn about new ecologies and lots of new plants. My family and I moved to Del Ray, Alexandria which is a short bike ride from where the WAAC (Washington Alexandria Architecture Center) is located and most of my LA course work.
I have chosen to begin my biodiversity studies at Ivy Hill Cemetery, because it is close to my new home and a good example of a preserved area. I look forward to learning what characteristics and species it has that defines its ecology and where it might be replicated in other areas in Northern VA.
I recently discovered this place, which is about a .25 mile from my home, when I was on a walk with my daughter and husband. I instantly fell in love! The almost 23 acre Ivy Hill Cemetery is a historic burial grounds with a surrounding forest with a small creek, Timber Branch, running through the eastern side of the space. My initial reflection of the space was that it is an urban oasis whose native beauty was preserved as a result of a bubble of respect that formed around the cemetery. Burials at Ivy Hill began in this oak-dominated forest in 1811 and include descendants of Washington and Jefferson and is still active today.
I moved to Northern Virginia last fall from the Southern CA desert to pursue a Masters in Landscape Architecture and Natural Resources. With a background in horticulture I have been very excited to learn about new ecologies and lots of new plants. My family and I moved to Del Ray, Alexandria which is a short bike ride from where the WAAC (Washington Alexandria Architecture Center) is located and most of my LA course work.
I have chosen to begin my biodiversity studies at Ivy Hill Cemetery, because it is close to my new home and a good example of a preserved area. I look forward to learning what characteristics and species it has that defines its ecology and where it might be replicated in other areas in Northern VA.
Location of Ivy Hill Cemetery within Alexandria, VA.
Zoomed in arial of Ivy Hill Cemetery locating Timber Branch Run.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)