Goal and Objective
The goal of this lab is to find a suitable location for a new sand mine to be established, using factors such as geology features, land cover, slope, water table levels, and railroad proximity.
Methods
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| Figure 1: The model used in the suitability model. |
As can be seen in Figure 1 above, the suitability model was a lengthy process. First, I created a Boolean raster of the geology features, the sand mostly being found in Jordan and Wonewoc formations (those features received a value of 1, all else was 0). A second Boolean raster was created of land cover features, giving developed land a value of 0, and everything else a value of 1. I then created ranks for suitable land-covers (giving barren and shrubby land a rank of 3, pastures a rank of 2, and fields and light forests a rank of 1), ranked slope to visualize high and low slopes, and ranked the water table data so that tables closest to the surface were highlighted. These three rasters were then added together using the raster calculator tool, and this raster was then multiplied with the two Boolean rasters from earlier, so that all that remained was the ranked values, while the unsuitable locations are excluded.
Results
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| Figure 2: Map of the final suitability model. |
The model above displays the areas that are likely candidates for the location of a new mine. The best locations are the dark green and the gradual transition to yellow and eventually orange display the less optimal locations (though they would still work). The gray areas are places were it wouldn't be efficient or logical to place a sand mine.
Conclusion
It seems Trempealeau County has plenty of areas that would be great for sand mines. Had I had more time and better organized instructions and data, I think I could have done a much better job completing this assignment.
