Ground Truthing and Accuracy Assessment

Module 4 of Remote Sensing, covered Ground Truthing and Accuracy Assessment.  For this project we used the LULC map from last weeks module, and since actually going to the site and verifying the accuracy of our LULC assessment was not feasible, Google maps street view was used.  First I selected 30 random points within the study area. Then using Google maps I located these exact points, and zooming to the street view I was able to verify if, in fact, my assessment of that particular point was correct.  Once this was complete I calculated the overall accuracy of LULC Assessment.  In this case, of the 30 points that were checked, three were found to be incorrectly identified resulting in an overall accuracy of 90%.  

LULC Classification

Module three of my Remote Sensing course covered Land Use and Land Cover Classification.  Given a aerial photograph of the Pascagoula, Mississippi area I created a shape file of polygons that depict different land uses and land covers. This was done only to the second level as shown in the legend.  Techniques and criteria used to identify these areas were covered in Module two. 

Project1 Analysis

During week two of project one, Statistical Analysis with ArcGIS,  I ran an Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression model using known meth lab locations as a dependent variable, and twenty-nine  various social statistics as independent variables. Using the OLS model and a set of criteria I was able to pare the list down to nine independent variables,(shown in the table above) that are the best indicators of future meth lab locations. The results of my final model are displayed in the map of standard residuals (also shown above).  This model was created to give law enforcement the ability to target areas with a high propensity for meth labs in the future.

Interpreting Aerial Photographs

Above are two maps I created using aerial photographs. The first map shows several features I was able to identify using four sets of criteria; Shape and Size, Shadow, Pattern, and Association. In the second map I selected five areas showing separate textures, and five areas with show five separate tones.

Base Map for Project 1

This is a base map I created for the first project of my Topics in GIS Course.  This is the first of a three part project. As the project progresses we are going to determine what, if any demographic factors could aid law enforcement in predicting the location of meth labs. The map depicts the area around Charleston, West Virginia, to include Kanawha and Putnam Counties.  It shows the location of Meth labs that have seized by law enforcement, along with other features for reference.