Geo-Archiplangineering

Interesting report from 1000 Friends of Oregon on how infrastructure to support sprawl will bankrupt the state.

If you have ever wondered what Solomon’s Temple (aka the First Temple) looked like, someone has built a Sketchup model of it.  Download the model at this link.

Also FYI, 1 cubit = 1.5 feet.

This article in the Economist explains how farmers can save 15% of water use and reduce fertilizer use with a high res map of fields in GIS.

There are many proponents and opponents, for and against planning. Franklin County, NC outlines some good reasons to plan in their Comprehensive Land Use Plan in a simplified way:

Inevitably when dealing with parcel data you have to clean up geometry errors. When calculating anything on a per acre basis sliver polygons will cause havoc in your summary statistics if you don’t remove them.

One way to do it is calculate a thinness ratio. This Esri podcast explains how.

Basically you add a field (type double) and use the following formula:
(4*3.14* [Shape_Area])/( [Shape_Length]* [Shape_Length])

Then you identify a threshold that indicates slivers. I then combine a query based on the thinness ratio with a query for minimum size.

P.S.  You might get an overflow error (function 99999) when calculating the thinness ratio, make sure you avoid this by selecting only those parcels with no 0 length and area values.  Use the following query:

Need place names for a map?  The USGS  Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a good place to look.  Crossroads communities, cemeteries, churches, schools, water features are included.  Especially good for historic locations.

There is a good article on how to do this in this technical article.

The field calculator window should look something like this:

 

The Pre-Logic Scrip code block would be:

 

Then the second block should be

isDuplicate(!INSERT FIELD NAME!)

It is not necessary to create a new field with a rounded number, you can use vbscript to round labels in ArcGIS 9.3.1 and 10.

For instance an expression like the following:

Can be used to get a label like:

The City of Charlotte has put together a neat ArcGIS Online app that shows street closures, venues and other items of interest.  Definitely a good use of ArcGIS online.

There are also maps for each day that can be searched for.  The map of closures scheduled for Tuesday Aug 4th is imbedded below.

View Larger Map

Saint Claire Mapping has great fishing maps of the Smoky Mountains.