The data CD offers a wide range of data resources. Instructors can request a copy of the CD from the National Center for Case Study Teaching in Buffalo by emailing snowboard@sciencecases.org. You are not expected to use all of the resources provided. The data CD is partitioned into three primary directories; ResortInformation, Shapefiles, and Ski_resorts. This appendix provides a brief description of each type of information, specifically the attributes in each data file. Note that all spatial data is projected in UTM Zone 18 (NAD 83).
Contains information on the individual ski resorts such as the number of ski runs, ski lifts, web address, etc. This file also contains links to the existing web sites for the individual ski resorts. Permission has been granted (by the resorts) to use any and all information and images available.
This directory contains all of the shapefiles that may be accessed through the ArcView software. The following shapefiles are visible when the project is opened in ArcView:
SnowfallData—Annual snowfall averages for selected cities in New York.
The demographic data is available at the county level and at tract level. Information is available on education, income, labor, and population. Below, definitions are provided for the attributes that can be found in the attribute table for each shapefile.
Tract data is at a finer resolution, but the attributes are the same as the county data.
The data sets provided for the ski resorts are specific to each resort (they are not statewide datasets). Data is presented for the following eight resorts:
In each directory you will find three products: a Digital Elevation Model (DEM), orthophoto, and a 1:24,000 USGS topographic map.
A DEM contains elevation values in digital form. The DEMs used in this project are 1:24,000, 7.5 minutes quads published by the U.S. Geological Survey during the late 1990s. This data was collected as part of the National Data Mapping Program.
An orthophoto is an aerial photograph that is processed to remove the effect of planimetric shift. A digital orthophoto is a raster image of remotely sensed data in which displacement in the image due to sensor orientation and terrain relief has been removed. The color infrared photography (CIR) used in this study was produced from 1994–1999 under the federal Digital Orthoimagery Quadrangle Program and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. They offer 1-meter pixel ground resolution and are projected in UTM18 (NAD 83). Note: The red tones on the image indicate healthy vegetation.
A topographic map shows the shape and elevation of the terrain. The maps available in this study are raster images of scanned USGS topographic map including the collar information, georeferenced to the UTM grid. They are known as U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Digital Raster Graphic (DRG) Quadrangles. The maps were first published in the mid 1960s and converted to digital form in the 1990s. The original data was acquired in UTM Zone 17/18 (NAD 1927), 1:24,000 scale.
Originally published at http://www.sciencecases.org/snowboard/appendixB.asp
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