4/25/2017
Soil Health Survey
Introduction:
The objective was to use the geographic inquiry process to conduct a study. The geographic inquiry process involves developing a geospatial question. Then, relevant data is collected and analyzed to answer the question. Our task was to generate and deploy a geodatabase with domains to ArcCollector. It should be added that the proper usage of geodatabases and domains is critical when collecting data. Data would then be collected in the field using ArcCollector to answer a geospatial question.
Specifically, the geospatial question that came up was , "Are the soil homogeneous throughout the UW-Eau Claire campus?"
To answer this question different soil measurements and observations had to be made. In this case, soil PH, moisture, and grass appearance were used to determine the consistency of the soil throughout campus. Grass appearance does not necessarily correlate with soil health. However, healthy grass has a certain aesthetic appeal to it so it was included in the data collection.
As previously stated, the study area for this project will include the UW-Eau Claire campus. The campus of the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire is fairly diverse with the campus being divided into an upper and lower section. There is also a very heavily forested area and hill dividing upper campus from lower campus. This area is part of Putnam Park. Upper campus is primarily comprised of dormitories, while lower campus is mainly made up of academic halls. Lower campus also extends across the Chippewa River with a walk bridge connecting the two parts of lower campus. Throughout campus there are several large open areas. These large grass open areas are where the data will be collected. The smaller patches will not be touched.
To view the study area check out the embedded map below.
Also, view Figure 1 to see the zones where the soil data were collected in.
Figure 1. Different zones where the soil data were collected shown outlined in red.
Methods:
Before any data collection took place a geodatabase for the project with domains was created so the project could then be deployed to ArcCollector. For this study three domains were created. Moisture, PH, and grass health comprised the three domains that were created. In the geodatabase for the soil health project a soils feature class was created. This feature class contained three fields. These fields included moisture, PH, and grass health. Moisture and PH were both set to float and grass health was set to text. Grass health included three different categories which included excellent, moderate, and poor. These three attributes were to be determined based off the appearance of the grass.
After the geodatabase was set up, the project was deployed to ArcCollector by following the create and share a map tutorial on ArcGIS Online (ArcCollector Project).
Once the project was deployed to ArcCollector, data could then be gathered. This involved going out to the different grass sites with a hand held meter that collected moisture and PH. The overall health of the grass was also observed. Points were taken at intervals so that a good portion of the zone would be covered. Following the collection of soil data, maps showing PH, moisture, and grass appearance were generated.
Results/Discussion:
There were several interesting finds after analyzing the data. First, there were several locations that were more acidic than expected (Figure 2). The grounds crew regularly maintains the grass/grounds therefore a neutral PH was expected to be present in the soil throughout campus. One of these acidic locations included the large grass area just west of the Haas Fine Arts Center. Another location that proved to be more acidic than expected was the grass area just north of the Nursing Building. It should be added that soil that contains a PH of lower than 7 is considered acidic. However, a PH of 5 to 6 is not considered a strong acid. All together, a good majority of the soil had a fairly neutral PH. This is representative of the work that the grounds crew does to maintain the campus yards.
There were many inconsistencies with regards to soil moisture levels throughout campus (Figure 3). Certain areas such as the yard to the north of the Nursing Building possessed a very high level of moisture. Meanwhile, areas such as the yard west of Towers Hall and the grass area north of Davies Center were very dry. These areas also received a poor to moderate grade as far as the grass health observation (Figure 4). The likely cause for the poor to moderate grass health grade and the low levels of soil moisture would be the fact that these areas receive a high amount of foot traffic. This foot traffic can destroy the grass and decrease the grasses ability to hold moisture. It should be added that there was an area with a high amount of moisture and very poor grass. One of the yards to the north of the Nursing Building had very poor grass and extremely high moisture. It is possible that the grass there is receiving too much moisture.
Figure 2. Soil PH represented in shades of red. IDW interpolation method was used to map PH.
Figure 3. Soil moisture shown in shades of red and blue. IDW interpolation method was used to map soil moisture.
Figure 4. Grass health observation map. Healthy grass shown in green, while unhealthy grass shown in red. Grass health was assessed based on appearance of the grass where healthy grass was the most green and thick.
Conclusion:
To answer the geospatial question of "Were the soil homogeneous throughout the UWEC campus?", the conclusion can be made that the soil is in fact somewhat heterogeneous throughout campus. Although there are many locations where the soil quality is very similar, several locations held different qualities. Though the differences in soil health were not extreme, the grounds crew may want to attend to several areas throughout campus. One of these areas includes the yard west of Towers Hall which needs to be watered and re-seeded.
Once again ArcCollector proved to be very useful and applicable (view previous blog for more ArcCollector uses MicroClimate Survey). This soil health project and the micro climate survey from the previous week demonstrate ArcCollectors usefulness. The next step to the soil health project could be to create an web application that could be used by the grounds crew and people traveling about campus to monitor the campus grounds. This would be done by using web app-builder for ArcGIS. Overall, the lab proved to be very useful in further developing the ArcCollector skill.
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