Introduction:
ArcEarth is a program that allows the user to view the earth in a plethora of different ways. The program can be helpful for various different operations and has many tools that can make planning for said operations immensely easier. In this lab, we were introduced to some of the many basic tools that the program has to offer and applied those tools in different ways. Below is an outline of some of the tools that we used and how they can be applied to operations with an unmanned aircraft.
Objectives:
#1: Discover and identify the capabilities and options of ArcGIS Earth as a GIS data viewing platform
#2: Recognize, relate, and compare different forms of remotely sensed data in ArcGIS Earth
#3: Demonstrate proficiency and knowledge on how to effectively utilize the various functions of ArcGIS Earth in UAS data collection, processing, and analysis
Tools:
ArcEarth has many options in the realm of adding, adjusting, and reading maps. (Figure.1) The program has a interface that displays the layers that the user has added in a way that makes them readily available. Once a layer is added to the map, those layers can be checked on and off with the click of a button. This allows for different layers to be toggled for various ways of analyzing data. For instance, thermal layers can be added alongside layers that display locations of wild fires around the United States. This will be explored later on in this post but the ability to switch between two totally different forms of data is readily available. Alongside adding and switching layers, the program also has many tools that can be used to gauge the different elevations and terrain at the location of the operation. Below, (Figure.2) is an example of the line of sight tool.
 |
| (Figure.1 Tool Bar in ArcEarth) |
 |
| (Figure.2 Line of Sight Tool) |
The line of sight tool allows the user to click a location, point A, and then click another location, point b, and draws a line between them. Based on the elevation in between the two points, the line will be visible in the areas along the line that are visible from point A. If the elevation is higher, as seen in the figure above, the line will not be visible because this is clear elevation that is blocking the line of sight. This tool can be immensely helpful during unmanned aircraft operations because the planner of the mission is able to tell what the line of sight will be from the starting location, point A. Point B is the target location that the aircraft will be flying to. This will give the team an idea of the possible hazards they may face when conducting an operation in this area.
 |
| (Figure.3 Elevation Profile for West Lafayette & Lafayette Indiana) The elevation profile tool is another tool that mission planners can use to gain a scope of the elevation in an area for an operation. (Figure.3) The tool allowed us to create an area around West Lafayette and Lafayette and view the elevation. The graph that appears at the bottom of the screen shows the levels of elevation around the area selected. As you can see, if you hover over a point on the graph, it shows the location of that elevation on the map above it. This is helpful when trying to understand the different levels of elevation around the area of operation. If you did not use this tool, just looking at the map above the graph, you would not be able to pinpoint exact levels of elevation. |
Layers:
The use of layers in ArcEarth allow the user to view various forms of data over the specific basemap that they choose. In this lab, we chose a couple different layers that allowed us to view the health of vegetation in specific areas. These layers included USA NAIP NDVI (Figure.4) and USA NAIP Color Infrared. (Figure.5) These layers displayed the vegetation index on the map using different colors. The NDVI map uses green to show areas of healthy vegetation and yellow/red to show areas of population or unhealthy vegetation with their respective spectrum of severity based on levels on population and health. The Color Infrared map used Purple/Pink to show areas of vegetation and blue/gray to show areas of population. These layers can be useful in detecting information that we would not normally be able to detect. If we were to just look at google maps for the area of Lafayette, we would not be able to understand which areas of trees and vegetation were healthier than others. The use of layers are an important part of collecting and digesting data. They allow us to see and understand things that we would not be able to with simple photography.
 |
| (Figure.4 USA NAIP NDVI) |
 |
| (Figure.5 USA NAIP Color Infrared of Lafayette Indiana) |
Something to note about Figure 5 above is the quality of the image. I attempted to load in the layers but they would continue to stay blurry even after letting it load for an hour. This can be a problem when collecting and analyzing data with unmanned aircraft. For many operations, it can take an immense amount of time to collect the data and process it. Having multiple different layers that can display the same information in different ways is something that can save time down the road. For instance, if I were analyzing data for vegetation health in Lafayette, I have the ability to select different layers and view the same information except in a different way. This allows me to still get the results that I need.
 |
| (Figure.6 MODIS Layer) |
Zooming in to the state of California we can get a more detailed understanding of what I mentioned above. (Figure.7) The symbols for wildfires in California are all different sizes which indicate the severity of the fire.
 |
| (Figure.7 MODIS Zoomed In To California) |
After analyzing the MODIS layer, we looked at some UAS data that was uploaded by our professor. With the thermal layer on we can compare how the image looks with and without the thermal layer. The thermal layer lights up the very dense areas of vegetation like the forests. The areas in the fields are a bright yellow indicating less vegetation. (Figure.8)
 |
| (Figure.8 Thermal Layer) |
Discussion:
Comments
Post a Comment