For this project, I found that my abilities with GIS are limited but growing. Although the main purpose was “preservation through education”, I had acquired a new set of knowledge myself. Using the techniques gathered from class work to put together a final project that used all if not more, helped to get a sense of the work people in the careers of GIS actually do.
It was nice to have a website that provided an archive of data and layers to download, however not all of the metadata communicated well with ArcCatalog. A major problem faced with the execution of Geodatabase Sets and Features was the projection of Metadata. When viewing properties of both the feature sets as well as the individual feature classes, it was easily noted that each was in the proper coordinate projection of NAD 1983 and UTM Zone 4N. But when trying to view within the borders of the ArcCatalog Metadata frame, there was a listed ‘Error’ for all.
Another issue I found was with the location of files upon download. No matter how much I would organize each shapefile and attribute table to their specified locations on the H: drive, it always depended on the computer I was using. After losing a few layers here and there in my paths from my computer at home to the computer in the FAST lab, it was concluded that one platform (personal computer) would be the best solution.
The process of intersection really helped me in deciding the species of plant types I was going to use. Seeing as to there being over 700 different plant types, it was nice to communicate the species that were at the greatest risk of extinction.
Although I feel like my abilities of the world of GIS are limited, my preparation for and representation of, the dynamics that I had not seen prior to this project, was a success. My greatest hope for this task was to see a trend between and correlation amongst the different erosion levels, land types, elevation ranges and the endangerment of specific plant species and the Oahu Elepaio.
Overall, it was a pleasure to see the layers fit together so nicely. I believe the purpose of the project was served and more features were presented to the environmentally concerned public on behalf of the endangered species of the Oahu Island.
