Problems and Discussion
In
general, this project went really well. The main problem was that
I wasted a lot of time manipulating data that I didn't need for my
final analysis. This was due to the fact that I had an
unrealistic vision of what I could accomplish in such a limited time
frame. For example, I thought that I could do a least-cost pathway
between all the rivers, lakes, greenways, electricity and railway lines
in the entire Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). After
15 hours of data manipulation, I narrowed my project down to the
Burnaby region and three variables (greenspaces,
electricity lines and railway lines).
During the data collection phase of the project, I was not successful
at contacting the representatives from BC Hydro or the Greater
Vancouver Regional District. I was hoping that I could get a high
resolution vegetation coverage from the GVRD and a "right-of-way" data
set from BC Hydro but many times I was playing phone tag or my e-mails
and telephone calls were never returned. Due to my inability to reach
the GVRD or BC Hydro I was forced to utilize the data that was
available in the SIS Lab.
Another problem with this project was that the software I used was not
useful for what I wanted to accomplish. I don't think that IDRISI
is designed to do connectivity analysis because you have to perform an
individual analysis for each link and this is VERY time consuming. I would recommend
using another vector-based software
program for connectivity analysis.
Despite a lot of wasted time in the data manipulation phase, I am happy
with the result. The map
I produced below, see figure 1, can help the Insitute of Urban Ecology
make decisions with regards to which residential neighborhoods should
be targeted for restoration or backyard enhancement projects.
figure
1
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