Mountain Top Removal - Report Week

Special Topics - Project 2 Week 3 & 4

This week was the culmination of all the prep work and analysis performed in previous weeks.  We had to publish our group Mountain Top Removal (MTR) Analysis map on ArcGIS Online UWF Org, complete our Story Map Journal and add our published map to that, along with a link to this blog.

Mountain Top Removal (MTR) is a method of mining for coal that destroys a mountaintop or ridgeline.  All too frequently the plans described in work permits are significantly different from the actually mining activities that occur on the ground.    Remotely sensed data has been used to investigate evidence of human caused changes to landscape as a result of MTR and to compare what was permitted to what has actually taken place.  The data and methods were provided by SkyTruth, a non-profit agency monitoring MTR in the Appalachian Coal Mining Regions within the states of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.  This dataset was created by Group 3 of the University of West Florida’s (UWF) Online GIS Certification Program 2016 class and will be shared with SkyTruth for a comparison study.  Group 3 students include; Rachel Hamaty, Maggie Roth, Charmaine Hingada and Austin Adkison.

Satellite imaging was chosen as an independent and cost-effective method of identifying, mapping and quantifying landscapes disrupted and altered by MTR.  2010 Landsat data was used to create this dataset of polygons covering those areas of MTR in eastern Kentucky.  It is a compilation of Landsat images LT50190332010243EDC00 and LT50190342010243EDC00.  The combined accuracy is 97%, with a total acreage of 131,144 acres.  This dataset contains only those areas 40 acres or larger.  Areas within 50 meters of roads and rivers or within 400 meters of major rivers and highways have been removed.  With those exceptions, only those areas that intersect with mountain ridges have been included.

The Story Map Journal is basically a compilation of slides with a column on the side for descriptive text.  My Story Map Journal, A Journal of Mountain Top Removal, starts with an introduction of MTR, then background of MTR and the role of GIS in defining and analyzing it, an image of the study area my group was responsible for, an image of our analysis that we published though ArcGIS Online, and finally a discussion through a link to this blog.  Below is the link to my Story Map Journal:

http://arcg.is/2daNCgz