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

OuterSPACE

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