Finding An Ideal Ski Resort Location

GIS Group Project: Meredith Faust Dana French Kalyna Malm

First things first:

In order to find an ideal ski resort location, we need elevation data

Digital Elevation Models  With GIS, the appropriate data is incorporated into a layer called a DEM, or digital elevation model.

 While searching for DEMs on the web, several options are available.

Types of DEMs

National Elevation Data (NED)  Developed by USGS  Merges highest resolution & best quality elevation data from across the US into a seamless raster format.  1:24,000 scale DEM data for continental US & 1:63,000 scale for Alaska  Result of maturation of USGS effort

National Land Cover Data (NLCD)  Used by Geostat Center at UVA  Accquired by Landsat ’ s Thematic Mapper sensor, as well as a number of other data sources  30-meter format, shading scheme

Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM)  A joint effort from NASA, NIMA (National Imagery & Mapping Agency), DLR (German Space Agency), ASI (Italian Space Agency)  Flight of shuttles occurred February 11 22, 2000  12 Terabytes of raw data, being processed into DEMs

Outer S P A C E

Step 1: Finding Elevation Data   We found elevation data in NED form near the southern Virginia/North Carolina border at the following web site: http://seamless.usgs.gov/viewer.htm

The following slide shows the specific area we selected for our ski resort

Geographic Context

Step 2: Looking for Common Ski Resort Features  In order to see the way that ski resorts are typically set up, we searched the internet for pictures of existing ski resorts.  The following pictures show a large ski resort in Vail, Colorado, and Wintergreen right here in VA

Vail, Colorado

Wintergreen

Ski Run Design  The best ski resorts have maximum slopes converging to a few ski lifts.

 Based on actual resorts, slopes run parallel down small valleys within the mountain side

Properties of Area Ski Resorts WINTERGREEN mountain has an elevation of 3,515 ft, with a vertical drop of 1,003 ft.

The longest run is 1.4 miles

RESORT Whitetail, PA Liberty Blue Knob Snowshoe VERTICAL DROP & LONGEST RUN 935 ft 600 ft, 1 mi 1,072 ft, 1.75 mi 1,500 ft, 1.5 mi

Close to Blacksburg Winterplace, WV Beech Mtn, NC Sugar Mtn, NC 603 ft, 1.25 mi 830 ft, 1 mi 1,200 ft, 1.5 mi

Step 3. Using GIS  There are 2 options that can be used to determine the best possible ski slopes for our selected area – Option 1: 3D Analyst in Arc Scene – Option 2: Neighborhood Analysis

Option 1

Using the 3D Analyst in ArcScene to make the Data three dimensional

3D Analyst  Use the 3D analyst extension on ArcScene to view the DEM in three dimensions  Once this is done, it will be easier to find a specific location for a ski resort: from the picture of Vail, we concluded that a good ski resort contains a large valley, surrounded by two or more mountains containing a variety of different slopes for possible ski trails.

Our DEM in its Original Form:

Turning the DEM from 2D to 3D  Right click on the layer name  Go to properties  Click on the base heights tab  Use the same settings as the picture to the left

Option 2

Using Neighborhood Analysis to determine the highest elevations

Neighborhood Analysis  Another way of finding the best ski resort would be using Neighborhood Analysis in the Spatial Analyst extension.

Neighborhood Analysis  You will need the following for this type of Neighborhood Analysis: – A DEM of the target location – The Spatial Analyst extension and toolbar activated

Our DEM in its Original Form: (with the Spatial Analyst activated)

Neighborhood Analysis Cont.

 Now highlight the Neighborhood Statistic function under the Spatial Analyst arrow  Select your criteria for analysis. In our example, we used Maximum

Neighborhood Analysis  Because we are using a DEM, the maximum function will find the highest (maximum) areas compared to each cell around it in the grid.

 When the program is done computing, The areas with the largest slope in the grid in relation to its neighborhood will be shown

Neighborhood Analysis  The following map output has the maximum slope of our DEM shown in RED.

 The most exciting potential ski areas are shown inside the blue circles.

Neighborhood Analysis

Discussion  This is the best possible geographic location for a Ski Resort within our selected area because: – 3 mountains surrounding a large valley that is prime for ski slopes – The Neighborhood Analyst found steep slopes within this region … . and

BECAUSE JONNY SAID SO!

Further Discussion  This area is optimal for other reasons: – Interstate Access – Nearby Colleges provide many potential customers – High annual precipitation compared to other locations in Virginia

And, of course, the best reason:  Because it would be …

THE END