In order to ensure data collected in the future is properly presented, it is critical to understand the fundamentals of presenting data through a map. In a followup to the sandbox survey, effective map design became the focus of this exercise. Using one of the interpolation methods of the last exercise, an effective map needed to be generated properly conveying the interpolation method of the sandbox plot. In addition, several maps would be generated of the Hadleyville Cemetery located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin. Every map generated, in addition to being cartography pleasing and including the relevant data, would contain the five primary components needed in order to interpret a map: a north arrow, scale bar, locator map, watermark, and data source. A north arrow simply denotes the direction of true north based on a maps orientation. A scale bar provides the necessary scale needed to properly picture and analysis the data. A locator map is a sub-map created that shows the location of the study or survey in relation to the larger surrounding area. A watermark denotes the creator of the map. The data source is simply when and where the data was taken from or recorded.
Part 1 Results
Due to the nature of this exercise, stating the process of the map construction would be redundant. Thus, the focus of the results will be on the completed map data. Part 1 focuses on the map generated from the spline interpolation method created from the original 212 points gathered from the sandbox plot on January 31, 2017. As a review, spline interpolation generates a model which creates a surface that passes through the recorded points while bending as little as possible between the points.
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| Figure 1: An elevation map of the sandbox plot (center) taken on the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire Campus. Included is a collection of 3 dimensional views of the sandbox plot from the western corner (top right), southern corner (top-middle right), eastern corner (bottom-middle right), and northern corner (bottom right). Also included is a reference map (left) depicting the location of the sandbox plot on the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire campus. |
Part 2 Results
The Hadleyville Cemetery of Eau Claire County is a fairly simple feature. The cemetery exits south of W441 Country Road HH, with the area to the south and the west of the cemetery being used as farmland, the area to the east being primarily forest, and the area north of the road being primarily open fields. However, the primary focus of this cemetery is the graves which are contained within it (Figure 2).
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| Figure 2: A series of maps for the Hadleyville Cemetery graves in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin: a map labeling each grave’s year of death with a corresponding reference map (top left), a map labeling the last name on each grave with a corresponding reference map (bottom left), a map showing the condition of each grave as defined by whether it is standing or not with a corresponding reference map (top right), and a map depicting the year of death on each grave as a ranked symbol with a corresponding reference map (bottom right). |
The newest graves in the cemetery seemed to be focused to the northern and eastern portions of the cemetery. In addition, the graves of the south east portion of the cemetery do not yet mark years of death. The oldest graves are largely confined to the western portion of the cemetery and to a small cluster in the wooded area to the far south eastern portion of the cemetery. In addition, graves are mostly grouped by family name. The north eastern portion of the cemetery contains the Sessions, Schultz and Peterson families. The north central portion of the cemetery is dominated by Foley graves. The western portion contains the Hastings, Cleasby, Hadley, Knight, Higley and Johnson family graves. The central area of the cemetery contains the Petersen, Huchinson, and Corwin families. The north central portion contains the Olson and Hanson families, while the far southern area contains the Robins, Chase, and a portion of the Cleasby family graves. When accessing the whether the graves are standing or not, several observations can be made. The majority of the graves appear to be standing. However, much of the data listing the state of the graves was listed as "null" and thus had to be mapped as an unknown data. This relates back to issues found within the metadata itself. The metadata for the gravestones, when accessed in ArcCatalog, is largely undocumented. There is little listing when the data was collected, who it was collected by, and what it was collected for. Thus, steps that can be taken to correct the data are limited. This undermines the integrity of the data at large. From what can be seen, however, very few graves are non-standing. These few grave tend to be the oldest in the cemetery, with several in the center and far south eastern portions of Hadleyville.
Sources
Hupy, J. (2017). Cartographic Fundamentals: Essentials in map creation, description, and interpretation. Eau Claire, Wisconsin
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