Colorado 14ers, pixel by pixel:An exercise in mountain geography

Brandon J. Vogt, PhDDepartment of Geography and Environmental Studies

University of Colorado Colorado Springs

Description• Colorado 14ers, pixel by pixel is an undergraduate mountain

geography-themed exercise that:– Synthesizes a suite of emerging geospatial tools and introduces web

publishing– Explores issues of scale and measurement that are inherent to digital

data explorations – Highlights examples of geomorphic and anthropogenic processes in a

mountain landscape– Elucidates the reciprocal relationship between form and process in

physical geography– Uses raster analysis to verify criteria used to determine what makes a

Colorado 14,000 ft. + summit a true 14er?– Helps articulate to students ‘what geographers do’– Is web-based and online here

Purpose• The exercise was developed with five purposes in mind:

1. Minimize intimidation: Students should be introduced gently to geospatial technologies

2. Talk the talk: Students should enter upper-level geography courses armed with basic computer skills and a diverse geospatial toolkit

3. Scale is king: Students should internalize how digital geography (e.g., GIS) is influenced by scale

4. Human impacts: Students should be able to identify natural as well as anthropogenic impacts to a landscape

5. What geographers do: Students should conceptualize through interesting case studies what geographers do

Learning objectives

• The learning objectives require students to successfully use:– Roving windows to create DEM variety, slope, and

hillshade– A map calculator to convert units and to subset elevations– Contour lines to visualize topography and to compare

different map resolutions– Tools of geomorphometry to articulate why a certain

summit that exceeds 14,000 feet is not a true 14er– Web pages and a web server to display and share maps

and map interpretations

Gradable items

• Students post all gradable items to their UCCS personal web space:– Students create four digital images (maps) using GIS

software– Students answer nine questions– Students place images and text on a web page– Students transfer web page to internet– Instructor grades work by visiting student web page

Data and software requirements

• Data – A freely-available US Geological Survey digital elevation model (DEM):– Students download or obtain from instructor two map

resolutions (10 and 30 m) of the Alma, CO 1:24,000 DEM• Software – Software required include:– Windows Explorer– ESRI ArcMap with Spatial Analyst Extension– Adobe Photoshop– Adobe Dreamweaver– Secure Shell File Transfer– A web browser

Sample of issues addressed in exercise

Why are the two sets of contour lines not paralleldespite being drawn on the same map product?What new patterns appear on

the DEM by simply changing the orientation of the light source?

Sample of issues addressed in exercise

Why are the two maximum elevations differentdespite being measured from the same map product?From this variety measure

(variety serves a proxy for roughness), what processes can

be extracted?

Exercise available on-line here:http://www.uccs.edu/~bvogt/ges205/labs/co_14ers_px_x_px.html