Wednesday, July 17, 2019

The WSS - a fantastic resource for Environmental Science students

The Web Soil Survey is a project put on by the USDA in order to help people understand and promote the sustainable use of the soils around them. The product of the project is an interactive web resource that allows anyone to select an area of interest and look into the soil data that is available for that region. I chose to highlight a region that encompasses Great Falls Park, VA but goes outside the boundaries slightly. It is possible to import a shapefile of the park boundary with a few simple steps using ArcGIS or a similar GIS program.

Here is the link to my Great Falls Park 'Area of Interest'. It was really easy to create with the AOI polygon tool.
Area of Interest - Virginia's Great Falls Park (with a little overlap) (Photo credit: C. Pollack 2019)

Area of Interest in blue from zoomed out view of DC Metro area. (Photo credit: C. Pollack 2019)

Then the magic happened when I selected Soil Map!

(Photo credit: C. Pollack 2019)
 The Area of Interest (AOI) I created was divided into many smaller sections according to soil properties. Then when I clicked over to the Soil Data Explorer, I could filter the map according to any number of data features that are stored in the WSS. For example, here is a look at my AOI with the regions identified according to suitability for paths and trails. There is a description that tells about the criteria for the coloring, as well as a legend for the colors, both of which can be toggled on and off.


Here is a look at the AOI based on susceptibility for soil erosion. The blue portions of the area are made up of soils that are more susceptible to sheet and rill erosion from water.

Finally, here is a look at the suitability for roads in the AOI. The red areas have soils that are not conducive to constructing and sustaining roads. The description points out that the color ratings are based on slope, rock fragments at the surface, plasticity index, and water table level among other things.



Within the Soil Data Explore tab there are other tabs to explore and I found the Soil Properties and Qualities to be perfect for the soil science we investigate in my IB Environmental Systems class.

This screenshot shows a close up of the AOI according the the percent clay, and based on the menu on the left, you can see that many other textures and property features of soil are searchable.


The final feature of the WSS that I want to mention (although there are many others!) as so valuable to my needs as a high school environmental science teacher is the ability to create reports so easily. 
This screenshot shows a report of the Chemical Soil Properties of the AOI.
 This is a figurative goldmine of data for students to use as practice for processing, analyzing, drawing meaningful conclusions, and determining significance in correlation.


Sunday, July 7, 2019

Climate Resources


NOAA NATIONAL CENTERS
FOR ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION 

STATE CLIMATE SUMMARIEs

VIRGINIA


This resource blows me away!  The level of accessibility of the information is impressive, and the fact that science organizations (governmental and non) are able to provide such specific and organized data makes me happy. Anyway, this resource is from the NOAA NCEI - which is tasked with providing all sorts of environmental data to the public. It has Key Message pointed out at the beginning that are specific to Virginia's Climate, followed by a descriptive narrative of it, and finally a range of data specific to Virginia's climate available for easy download




This source is a general look at Virginia climate, including breakdowns by region. The average low/high temperatures and precipitation amounts are posted by region and the basics of how the physical geography affects the climate in our area is discussed.



http://www.virginiaplaces.org/climate/

This resource is a more technical and specific look at the climate history of Virginia. The publisher of the site attributes well the information posted, so those sources can be checked for further, possibly more reliably-sourced,  information.


There are many more relevant sources about the climate of VA including some about GFP specifically.

Washington Post Article about Potomac river flow at GFP
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/06/05/the-potomac-at-great-falls-explodes-at-flood-stage-i-have-never-seen-the-river-appear-so-violent/?utm_term=.b3d1d900476d
RIVER at a GLANCE feature - https://water.weather.gov/ahps2/glance.php?wfo=lwx&gage=gflv2&riverid=206834
https://www.weather.gov/marfc/DailyPrecipitation
https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/soil-water-conservation/you-your-land-climate
https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/virginia/united-states/3216
http://www.climate.virginia.edu/description.htm
https://traveltips.usatoday.com/can-climate-virginia-described-102713.html
https://garden.org/nga/zipzone/index.php?zip=22046&q=find_zone&submit=Go+%3E
https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/natural-heritage/natural-communities/document/ncoverviewphys-veg.pdf



GFP vegetation resources -
https://vnps.org/conservation/virginia-native-plant-registry-sites-3/great-falls-park/
https://www.nps.gov/grfa/planyourvisit/upload/Potomac%20Gorge%20brochure%20B.pdf

Maps of GFP


I have learned a lot in a short time navigating Google MyMaps. It is very user-friendly including the ability to import KML files, but I could not find an available KML file of the entire GWMP area to import. Below is my map of Great Falls Park, Great Falls VA. There is a distinction between the Maryland vs. the Virginia side and when describing just the National Park segment, I think it important to highlight that the park is only in VA. GFP (MyMaps)

I also created an ArcGIS online map of the system of parks of which Great Falls Park in VA is a part of. Some of the area that is highlighted is in the care of the George Washington Memorial Parkway system and some is in the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park.  GFP (ArcGIS)

Additionally, I have included the link to the NPS map of Great Falls Park. Note that the VA side of Great Falls Park is bordered in a dark color. The rest of the grey region is considered part of the George Washington Memorial Parkway of the C & O Canal Park system, but is not tended to in the same way as GFP.  GFP (NPS)

Finally, linked here are a digital copy of the brochure distributed by the National Park Service at the Visitor's Center,  Great Falls Park - NPS Brochure, a Trail Map of the park, and a Geological map of the Potomac River Gorge from USGS.

Note - I really would like to know if it is possible to embed the interactive maps I created into this Blogger platform.