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GIS Portfolio Christopher Chapman

2015

Geospatial Analysis

and Program

Implementation of

Litter Pickup by

Persons on Probation

U n i v e r s i t y o f N o r t h A l a b a m a

G e o g r a p h y D e p a r t m e n t

A p r i l 1 7 , 2 0 1 5

Christopher Chapman

Removal of litter using an untapped source of labor,

saving taxpayers money on jail cost and allowing

volunteer groups to concentrate on other projects. This

study is to show that by using persons placed on court

appointed probation keeps counties and cities clean as

well as teach responsibility.

Geospatial Analysis and Program Implementation of Litter Pickup by Persons on Probation

April 17, 2015

1

Introduction:

It is of great importance that individual communities keep towns and cities litter free.

With substantial amounts of trash generated by Americans on a daily basis, it is a miracle that

towns and cities do not look like the trash heaps of some third and first world countries. People

in many parts of the America respect the land where they live; however, here in Alabama, this is

not always true. The south is the “dirty south” for several reasons. One of the reasons is cheap

labor, which brings large industry, which pollutes the air, the water, and the land. Many of these

people, the wealthy and the poor alike, litter beautiful city streets and backcountry roads with

total disregard to appearance and native flora and fauna.

Over the past year, I have been envisioning a way to create a program that would keep

Florence and Lauderdale county streets clean. Through research I found a program that is not

Adopt-a-Highway and it is a not a community service project either. It is a mandatory litter

pickup service that is authorized by the court system. Persons on probation are given locations

close to their home were litter pickup must be completed within a certain amount of time. All

streets within the parole’s locations are monitored by city officials. The offender is given the

necessary tools to complete the task such as gloves, OSHA vest and trash bags. The offender

must maintain these items at all cost and if there is wear and tear, the damaged item must return

to the proper authority in exchange for another pair or another vest. This extra task will teach

responsibility and respect for property not belonging to them.

The program is built around the fact that the Courts do not have to appoint officials to

supervise individuals during litter cleanup. The individuals can “clean their assigned streets or

roads anytime, day or night, as long as it is cleaned prior to the twice-monthly inspections.”

During the probationary period, he or she must maintain the same area assigned until time is


April 17, 2015

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served. This program keeps people with misdemeanors out of jail and out of the taxpayer’s

pocket. The program is a “No Excuses” approach1. Even if the offender is physically disabled,

he or she must hire someone to clean up his or her section or have someone help him or her. The

job has to be complete prior to inspection date otherwise the courts will be notified.

In addition to the aforementioned, if the offender does not comply with the court ordered

clean up, they are placed on a van, under strict supervision and taken to areas that are not being

cleaned by other offenders. This performed with indifference to their schedule, if there is a

problem with this; they sit in jail for a few weeks allowing them time to think about their state of

affairs.

The purpose of the program is to clear roads and streets of repulsive litter. In addition to

roads and streets, the litter collected will stay out of water sources and sensitive environments,

protecting native flora and fauna. Using persons on court appointed probation to perform this

task extracts an untapped resource and allows county and city officials as well as volunteer

groups (Adopt-a-Highway) to focus on other projects or locations that are not covered by persons

on probation. The numbers produced by this program are astounding. The following study is to

show that by using the tactics of another well-established program in Virginia2, keeping the

streets and roads within the city limits of Florence and Lauderdale County, AL is not only

feasible, but legal as well.

Methods:

After researching litter programs all over the country the one that I thought would work

the best was ‘HB 534 Roadway litter p/u; civil immunity of officials & vol. who participate in

1 http://www.assignahighway.com/about-the-program.html 2 http://www.assignahighway.com/about-the-program.html

http://www.assignahighway.com/about-the-program.html


April 17, 2015

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programs for probationers in Virginia’3. After reading a PDF of the proposed law, I knew that

this program could be implemented in Florence, AL. Using ESRI’s GIS software, ArcMap, I

added street, county, and urban data that I collected from the USDA Geospatial Data Gateway4.

I then randomly placed points on roads and streets within the city limits of Florence, AL to

represent addresses of offenders.5 The map in Figure 1 exhibits an example of offender

addresses with the city limits of Florence, AL.

(Figure 1)

When creating the above map, I placed the points on random streets and buffered at 1000

meters or 1 km. In addition to buffering the points to 1km, I buffered them at 750 meters as

well. The 750-meter buffer (figure 2) cuts down on overlap of many of the points within the city

3 http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?041+sum+HB534 4 https://gdg.sc.egov.usda.gov/ 5 Points are not actual addresses of offenders. Points are used for example only.

http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?041+sum+HB534

https://gdg.sc.egov.usda.gov/


April 17, 2015

4

limits. Although the results do not seem to change drastically, the amount of roads and streets

that each offender must clean will still be the same. Once I placed the data on the map, it

practically spoke for itself.

(Figure 2)

In addition to placing points on a map of Florence and Lauderdale county roads and

streets, I found numbers for counties that have already put the plan into motion. The numbers


April 17, 2015

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display an overwhelming success. The graph in figure 3 shows a program that is making a

difference in everyday lives. Most importantly, it is keeping the Environment clean. The

following numbers are from only three counties: Buchanan, Dickenson, and Russell.

(Figure 3)

In addition to the aforementioned, I would like to show the extent in which litter has on

our water systems. With the Tennessee river flowing smoothly just south of the city and every

primary and secondary road crossing some type of hydrography, litter is destined to find its way

into the water source. The map in figure 4 shows just this.


April 17, 2015

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(Figure 4)

In conjunction with hydrography, landuse plays a major part in this as well, the map

presents land cover for Lauderdale county. Clearly, none of what is shown is tolerent to litter. As

paradoxical as this may seem, the land all over Florence and Lauderdale county is covered with

litter. In my research, over the past year, in every ditch next to everyroad there is litter. this

litter is picked up by rainwater and transported into storm drains where it clogs up the drain and

causes flooding. In addition to this, the litter is carried into streams, creeks and then into rivers

and oceans. Litter deposited on the side of a road will eventually end up in a stream somewhere

nearby, polluting a delicate ecosystem. Therefore, it is plain to see that steets, landcover and

hydrography are all tied to together, making the litter issue detremental to the welffare of our

society and the environment.


April 17, 2015

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(Figure 5)

To conclude the methods section, by implementing GIS into the process, I was able to

show how many roads one individual is assigned. If different parameters need to be set, that is

not a problem. Inserting the correct numbers into GIS software is easy and produces results.

Discussion:

When I first found this program I was astonished at how well it was working in Virginia.

As an environmentalist, I find myself on constantly complaining about the amount of litter on the

streets of Florence. Consequently, the beautiful streets that carry us into historic downtown

Florence, to the wide open roads that support the travelling needs of the many are littered with

cups, bags, empty beer bottles, the list is endless. Every road and street in and around Florence

contains more litter than the environment can hold. Commercial and residential areas alike are

all in the same condition: poor.


April 17, 2015

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Florence, AL is a GOLD COMMUNITY in the sustainability game. The city boast an

outstanding recycling program along with other sustainability inititives, such as a community

garden, sustainability education and the Keep the Shoals Beautiful campaign. People must stop

littering, unfortunately we all know this will not happen. Therefore, inplementing a program that

will benefit society and the environment is a win win combination. The Assign-A-Highway

Program established into law in Virginia is the first step to cleaning up Florence and Lauderdale

County.

Admittedly, I myself have picked up litter and it is not a task I wish on anyone,

nevertheless, it has to be done. With this in mind, please understand me when I say that this task

will make a person despise litter and the people that do it. Picking up litter helps a person notice

all the other litter scattered throughout the city and county. Implementing our own Assign-A-

Highway type program is a very simple task. Furthermore it is beneficial to both society, the

environment and the offenders themselves.

Proposal:

Indeed, it is certain that Virginia’s Assign-A-Highway program is an exceptional one,

however, I feel that down here in Alabama, there may need to be a little more vigor added to the

program to ensure that offenders do not get the chance to sit in jail and do nothing. With

Virginia’s program if an offender does not perform the task he or she is assigned, they will sit in

jail for a few weeks. For Florence and Lauderdale county, the offender will not go to jail if their

assigned roads are not cleaned at the appropiate times. Sitting in jail is far easier than actually

helping society to these people.

My proposal is to implement the program just as it is; however, persons not performing

the task handed to them are still responsible for the roads assigned to them in the alloted time


April 17, 2015

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provided. In addition to their assigned roads, for each strike, per-se, an offender acquires three

more weeks, which is added to their sentence. For three weeks they are assigned to the “High

Traffic Area Bus”. This is under strict supervision and offenders are forced to dress as prisoners.

Probationer is still responsible for his or her own food and drink; however, there will be breaks

throughout the eight hour day. Their name can be called at anytime a space is available. In

addition, if extra hands are needed to clean up after an event or for any reason the city needs an

area cleaned, offender can be called and must comply. If offender cannot comply, their must be a

valid reason with a written excuse. If the offenders parole officer can guarantee that a doctor or

lawyer approves the absense, then the court will excuse the offender for that event only, offender

must still complete his or her original sentence and extra three extra weeks.

With this being said, offenders that do perform clean up duties that are random events

will have that time removed from their extended sentence and volunteers for an event will have

two days removed from their extended or regular sentenced time. Moreover, like Virginia’s

program, if an offender displays extraordinary acts of promptness and cleanliness the judge can

shorten the probationers time. This is a motivation builder, especially when performed in front

of other probationers. I would like to see it taken to another level. When each person is realeased

from his or her sentence, wether it be early, on time or after extended weeks, former probationers

must sign an agreement, provided by the courts, to participate in two clean up events for five

years. One must be a city or county clean up event, and the other, a volunteeer clean up event. If

former probationer moves, the courts must be notified or persons will find themselves on

probation again. The aforementioned proposal not only works for probationers, it also works for

recepitants receiving government assitance. If individual does not have a job and is physically


April 17, 2015

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able to perorm the job, then the recepitant will adhere to the rules of the program with a few

minor exceptions.

Conclusion:

Lauderdale County and Florence probationers can be a vital, untapped source of labor.

The majority of offenders end up in jail receiving three free meals and a place to sleep at night.

This type of environment is not for all offenders. My proposal is meant to spark ambition, self

awareness, and responsibilty for ones actions. Something many offenders lack. If the county

would implement my proposal for one year and weigh the pros and cons and the amount of litter

recycled, at the end of that year, I am willing to bet that not only will our streets and roads look

better; persons on probation will decline. With this information displayed in the above text, it is

easy to make a case for the program with city officials. In conjunction with the chart from other

counties that shows that the program is already a well-defined plan, there should be no reason

not to consider implementing the program here in Florence and Lauderdale County.

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA

Habitat Suitability American Alligator

Christopher Chapman

April 25, 2015

Habitat Suitability 2015

1

Introduction:

American Alligators can be found throughout their range in freshwater swamps, marshes,

rivers, lakes and streams. They prefer water sources that do not go dry in the summer months

and that provide an abundance of food. Although Alligators are found in the state of Alabama,

their distribution has likely not reached its full potential. Conservationists (and the public) are

interested in suitable habitats throughout the state of Alabama so that appropriate protections can

be put in place.1

This analysis is to show Habitat Suitability for alligators in Alabama. Using GIS, maps

were created to show hydrography, land cover, urban areas, elevation, and transportation routes.

Using this data unsuitable area and suitable areas are produced. Using the map, I will discuss

where the alligator can and cannot travel or live.

Methods:

The first task was to buffer the roads at 1500 meters and streams and water bodies at 500

meters. Upon completion of this task, I reclassified land use into wetlands and not wetland areas

using the acquired data2. In addition, I pieced together the elevation files by using the mosaic to

new raster tool. Using the less than tool, then converting from the raster to a polygon, the

product was suitable elevation. I added this map because it presents possible elevation in which

alligators can travel were there nothing in their way. Once this was completed, I merged the

output from the buffered roads file with urban areas. The product of this merge was unsuitable

areas. This means that all roads and urban areas are not acceptable locations for the alligator. In

addition to unsuitable areas, I added a land use map. The land use map in is added to show what

wetland is and what not wetland is. There are over 77,000 streams, rivers, creeks, and lakes in

the Alabama. The map displays the amount of water in the state.

Furthermore, after all the buffering, reclassifying, and converting to vector data was

complete. I plugged all suitable and unsuitable in data into the model and ran accordingly. The

model merged suitable water bodies, streams, and land use. In addition, it merged unsuitable

roads and urban areas. It also ran the intersect tool using suitable hydrography and suitable

elevation to produce suitable inclusive (Hydrography). Once suitable inclusive was created, I the

1 http://www.outdooralabama.com/american-alligator

2 USDA Geospatial Data Gateway

http://www.outdooralabama.com/american-alligator


2

model erased unsuitable areas from suitable inclusive, and the finished product was a Final

suitability.

Analysis:

I believe that it is fair to say that looking at the maps in the appendix. If there were not

any obstacles, the alligator could simply travel throughout the majority of Alabama. With this

being said, north, northeast, and east of the fall line, the elevation does not allow the alligator to

travel very easily or at all. The rest of the state, below and west of the fall has possible routes for

the alligator to take.

However, looking at the final suitability model, because of roads and city centers, the alligator

would have to take several out of the way river and creek paths to venture into northwest

Alabama.

In conclusion, it is under the assumption that there is not a need for alligators to venture

this far north as of yet. The southern and eastern regions of the state provide the perfect habitat

to alligators to feed and populate. I believe my maps show the appropriate amount of suitable

and unsuitable information need to make the assumption.


3

Appendix:


4

Suitability Model

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA

Risk Assessment

Bankhead National Forest and Sipsey Wilderness

Chapman, Christopher W.

February 12, 2015

Christopher Chapman February 11, 2015 1

Search and Rescue (SAR) Risk Assessment

Introduction:

As the GIS expert for the search and rescue team covering Bankhead National Forest

(BNF), I was asked to provide a risk map indicating areas of high risk to rescuers. The maps

provided give data needed when a rescue mission is warranted. I was given certain parameters to

follow such as a relative risk score for different land covering and the slope of the terrain.

Although the entire BNF has trails, the trails that carry the most foot traffic and with the higher

risk factors are located in the Sipsey Wilderness, therefore, this assessment is presented using

well-traveled hiking trails and within the wilderness as well as roads within Bankhead National

Forest.

Methods:

Using ESRI’s ArcMap I inserted data from two sources1. Using land use, elevation,

roads, trails, Sipsey Wilderness and BNF boundary data I was able to analyze numerous

conditions within the boundaries. I reclassified by land use and slope data to show risk scores

for different types of land cover, at the same time the same was performed on slope, in degrees,

to display gently sloping to extremely steep terrain. Each one, land cover and slope had a scale

that was provided by the SAR team prior to the assessment. Separately, tools were used within

the software to create new layers that constructed the desired raster outputs. In addition, tables

were created to show the area of high risk in the Sipsey Wilderness as well as high-risk sites

within 100 meters of trails in the wilderness (Figure 1). Using the new risk scores, I was able to

display the Sipsey Wilderness' overall high-risk areas with high-risk trail sections. (Figure 2) In

addition I created two more maps showing road sections, in blue, that are in a high risk area and

a map showing roads and trails that are have a grade of greater than 50 risk score. Land cover

and slope maps are also located in the appendix. (Figure 5 and 6)

Analysis:

Upon completion of the task given, my findings are that of caution. The Sipsey

wilderness with its Karst topography, massive boulders, fluctuating river levels, 100 foot cliffs

and just the mere fact that it is a wilderness is only a few of the problems that confront SAR

teams in an emergency. The canopy is very dense in the summer months and the river and

1 Geospatial Data Gateway (http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/), Wildeness.net (http://www.wilderness.net/),

USDA Forest Service (http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/alabama/landmanagement/gis)

http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/

http://www.wilderness.net/

http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/alabama/landmanagement/gis


creeks can pose problems. The data compiled below is only a small portion of what is actually in

the wilderness and forested areas. When driving into the area one is around 900 feet above sea

level and can rapidly fall to 600 feet. In other words, one is driving into a very large canyon

most of the time; therefore, careful consideration must be taken when driving into the forest.

Search and rescue teams must be aware of their surroundings at all times because of wild boar,

snakes, and felled trees from the April 27 tornado. On that note, every trail has many trees that

one must climb over or under. With this being said, doing this with a stretcher and heavy

lifesaving gear will be difficult. In addition to the trees, small, deep creek beds and massive

boulders must be traversed as well.

In conclusion, by performing the task given to me, I recommend that all SAR teams and

volunteers know the trails and roads very well and that formal training on a regular basis be

administered.


Appendix:

(Figure 1)

High Risk Roads within 100 meters

Row id ID COUNT AREA SUM

1 0 301594 2.71E+08 6207

High Risk Trails in the Sipsey Wilderness

COUNT AREA MIN MAX RANGE MEAN STD SUM VARIETY MAJORITY MINORITY MED

16429 14786100 0 1 1 0.407876 0.49144 6701 2 0 1 0

(Figure 2)

Sipsey Wilderness Overall High Risk with High Risk Trail Sections


(Figure 3)

High Risk Roads within Bankhead National Forest


(Figure 4)

High Risk Areas with Risk Score Greater than 50


(Figure 5)

Bankhead Land cover


(Figure 6)

Bankhead Slope

Each map in this portfolio was Digitized,

Georeferenced, and Edited using ESRI

ArcMap with data from USDA Geospatial

Data Gateway and the Virtual Alabama

website.

Christopher

Chapman A GEOGRPAPHICAL

INFORMATION SCIENCE

PORTFOLIO

Geographer

P a g e | 1

Pages 1-5 display an array of maps that analyzed environmental concerns, storm water retention

and detention ponds as well as commercial and residential high-density areas within and around

Florence, AL. In addition, a 1000-meter buffer was utilized in ArcMap to determine the problem

radius of each environmental concern.

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P a g e | 3

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P a g e | 5

P a g e | 6

Pages 6-12 display and evaluate the habitat of the Cotton tailed Forest Gopher. An

aspect map shows what side of the mountain the gopher prefers to live. A cluster

and outlier map displays how many gophers have a tendency to live within certain

areas and a density map that shows how close each colony lives. In addition, the

following maps show land cover, (grass, shrub, forest) and distant from roads and

stream in which the gophers choose to live.

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P a g e | 8

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P a g e | 11

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Pages 13-17 were created for my final GIS project. The following are simple maps answering

the question, “How easy is it for a hiker to access drinkable water on the Thompson Creek trail

within the Bankhead National Forest? Using elevation data from the USDA Geospatial Data

Gateway website and a GARMIN GPS unit, I dropped points along the path and documented

each time I crossed water that was drinkable. The maps created displayed access to water via

campsites and the trail. In addition, they were created to show elevation, Public and Private

Lines, a 300-meter buffer zone and a potential flood zoned.

P a g e | 14

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P a g e | 18

The image below is a fully digitized map of the Lauderdale county Wildlife Management Area.

I digitized it for the sole purpose of displaying the roads and places were one might ride his or

her touring bike and camp along the way. In addition it shows old cemetary and church sites.

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