Locating a Fire Tower Using GIS - Answer Key

12)  [ 9 classes]

13)  [Highest elevations in the Southern portion and Northeast]

[Lowest elevations follow major rivers]

[St Francis at a higher elevation than Rosebud]

14)  [9 classes]

15)  [ Steeper slopes surround creeks]

[ Steeper slopes are in the South West quadrant]

[ St Francis is in a flat area] 

[ Lower Southern area is quite flat]

16)  [16,275]

17)  [ 14 classes ]

18)  [ landcoverc ]

19)  [ St Francis is surrounded by type 81 (pasture) except for type 71 (grassland) on the East]

[ Type 43 (Mixed forest) is found at lower elevations]

[ Type 71 (grasslands) is most prevalent in the study area]

[ Types 81, 82, 83 ( agricultural ) are mostly in the Southern area]

20)  [ Type 43 (mixed forest) ]

21)  [ Type 81 (pasture) ]

22)  [ more moisture for more natural vegetation ]

[ not cultivated due to higher degree of slopes ]

23)  [ 41 Deciduous forest, 43 Mixed forest, 92 wetlands ]

24)  [ grasslands , pasture, small grains ]

25)  [ No, because southern South Dakota is predominately grasslands ]

26)  [ number of polygons]

27)   [ area of each polygon ]

28)  [ largest landcover is, by far, grasslands]

[ Smallest landcover is urban ]

29)  [ grasslands, mixed forest, deciduous forest ]

30)  [ not exactly, as it is difficult visually to add up the small polygons of forest ]

[create buffer and query distance]

31)  [596/627 x 100 = 95.056 %]

32)  [  Includes the towns ]

[evenly distributed throughout the study area ]

33)  [ from the road to the edge of the buffer zone ]

34)  [72/305 x 100 =    23.6  %]

35)  [ polygon ] 

36)  [ gridcode > 6 ]

37)  [1172]

38)  [South East and North West ]

39)  [ only the polygons selected were copied over to the new elevhigh table ]

40)  [ gridcode < 3 ]

41)  [ 22,339 ]

42)  [ Northwest and Southeast ]

43)  [ number of records = 2 ]

[ encompasses Rosebud but not near St Francis ]

44)  [ 64 records ]

[  pattern from southwest to northeast ]

[ medium to small shapes ] 

45)  [ 43 ]

46)  [ 43 records ]

[ Largest area is west of Rosebud ]

[ Three other areas almost equidistant  from St Francis ]

47)  [ Cluster of three sites are South of Little White River and Northwest of St    Francis]

[ Another site is Northeast of the intersection of Little White River and Beads Creek]

[ Largest site is West of Rosebud and the West Branch of the Rosebud Creek]

48)  [ 16,275 ]

49)  [ 987 ]

50)  

Site       UTM                       Distance from St Francis     Direction from St Francis

#1          347,377.17 E                          12 km                                       NE

            4,786,142.41W            

#2           337,485.24 E                          7.8 km                                       W

           4,778,310.78 W

#3           335,549.04  E                        7.77 km                                     NW

             4,786,007.72 W 

       [ Answers may vary ]

51)  [ The three sites were chosen because they are spread out within the study area and are each near a large grassland area. ]

52)  Layout.  

52) [ Fire towers should consider elevation, slope, land use/land cover, and proximity to features.  GIS enables the analyst to consider many factors when deciding the best locations for anything spatial in nature, such as fire towers.  ]

53) [ Answers will vary, and may include buffering, intersecting, sorting, printing, and using GIS to make an informed decision. ] 

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