This activity has been reviewed by 2 review processes

This activity was selected for the On the Cutting Edge Reviewed Teaching Collection

This activity has received positive reviews in a peer review process involving five review categories. The five categories included in the process are
- Scientific Accuracy
- Alignment of Learning Goals, Activities, and Assessments
- Pedagogic Effectiveness
- Robustness (usability and dependability of all components)
- Completeness of the ActivitySheet web page
For more information about the peer review process itself, please see https://serc.carleton.edu/teachearth/activity_review.html.
This activity has benefited from input from faculty educators beyond the author through a review and suggestion process. This review took place as a part of a faculty professional development workshop where groups of faculty reviewed each others' activities and offered feedback and ideas for improvements. To learn more about the process On the Cutting Edge uses for activity review, see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.

This page first made public: Aug 17, 2010

Mapping Hurricanes - Working with Digital Vector and Raster Data Sets

Scott White, Fort Lewis College

Summary
This lab exercise shows students how to create a map of the track and winds of a hurricane. Hurricane Jimena from 2009 is examined using both vector and raster data.

Context

Type and level of course
entry level GIS course for undergraduates (primarily Biology and Geology majors)

Geoscience background assumed in this assignment
Basic pre-college understanding of hurricanes.

GIS/remote sensing skills/background assumed in this assignment
A few basic GIS skills are assumed, such as Adding Data to a blank map in ArcMap, opening up an attribute table, basic map layout design, etc.

Software required for this assignment/activity:
ArcGIS, ArcView, v.9.3.1
Hawths Tools (www.spatialecology.com) - may not be necessary with ArcGIS 9.3.1.

Time required for students to complete the assignment:
3 hours

Goals

GIS/remote sensing techniques students learn in this assignment
Building point features from an x,y coordinate table.
Buffer tool.
Symbology of hurricanes and winds.
Satellite imagery and world files.

Other content/concepts goals for this activity
Learning about hurricanes and tropical storms.

Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity

Description of the activity/assignment

This lab exercise shows students how to create a map of the track and winds of a hurricane. Hurricane Jimena from 2009 is examined using both vector and raster data. Students will learn how to create a map from a table of x,y coordinate pairs. They will also learn how to buffer hurricane locations based on tropical storm force and hurricane force winds. Finally, students will complete two map layouts showing the symbolized track and winds of the hurricane, along with a satellite image.

Determining whether students have met the goals

This is primailry a cartography product, so students' final printed maps are assessed for cartographic completeness.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.

URLs and References

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2009/index.shtml
http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery

Download teaching materials and tips

Activity Description/Assignment: Student Handout for Mapping Hurricanes assignment (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 79kB May17 10)
Instructors Notes:
Solution Set: Solution map for Mapping Hurricanes assignment (a 2975 by 3850 pixel WebP)