The first assignment of the 2013 fall semester was to create our own coordinate system, using our own creativity. The idea was to create a microcosm of a large area and be able to develop a coordinate system and collect point data in order to upload the points into a GIS and map the landscape with x,y,z (length, width, and height) values. The coordinate system was applied to a landscape which the group created inside of a planter box. The landscape was made of snow and included: mountains, rivers, valleys and ridges.

The dimensions of the planter box was 100 cm x 230 cm. My group developed a Cartesian  coordinate system and decided to split the planter box up into 10 cm x 10 cm grid cells. The origin was set in the southwest corner of the planter box to ensure positive values. The top of the planter box was used temporarily as sea level. However, with a lack of sufficient snow, we were unable to build features much taller than the top of the box. Our sea level will be lowered by a yet to be determined amount of centimeters to ensure that our geographic features are best represented. We used cut length pieces of twine to make our grid which was pinned to the planter box and then a yardstick was used to collect elevation at each of the grid vertices. The whole process took around 2 hours from set up to a complete data set of x,y,z values.

This exercise was a really neat project because it allowed us to use our own creativity and prior knowledge of coordinate systems and apply it to a geographic model. It also reemphasizes the fact that you do not need GPS points in order to create a map in a GIS, but rather the data can be collected the old fashioned way and then be uploaded into the software as long as there is a workable coordinate system. After collecting the data points, it was then realized that a 10 x 10 cm grid was probably a bit too course and that a 5 x 5 cm grid structure would have better captured elevation changes and would have generated a more comprehensive landscape. The pictures illustrate some of the progress throughout this field outing.

Creating the Landscape

Beginning Stages of the Grid

Getting Elevation Data

Completed Grid