Mat & Steph

1. The Essentials for Life at
COGS
By Stephanie Debus & Mat Robson
Bit.ly/YourCOGSLife
Photo taken by Paul Illsley

2. ● Purpose
● Why we chose this project
● Obtaining the data
● Network Analysis
● Creating a Web Map
● Using a JavaScript API
● Demonstration of the web application
Presentation Topics

3. Purpose & Objectives
● Improve future students’ access to rent information and useful
information about Annapolis Valley through a web application
○ Determine factors that influence decision-making process of
renting a place
○ Use Network Analysis to identify commute times from rental
locations to COGS
○ Create a GIS-based web application with the use of ArcGIS
Online API for JavaScript and ArcGIS Online’s web map

5. Why We Chose This Project
● After deciding to attend COGS
○ We were unaware of all the rental houses available
○ Did not know where/ how far away stores were
○ Did not know about activities/ sightseeing in
Annapolis Valley
○ Wanted to complete a project that would benefit
future students

6. What Future Students Need to Know
● Possible rental locations
○ Price, # of rooms, Distance, ect.
● Grocery stores/ shopping stores
● Restaurants/ bars
● Points of interest
● Banks
● NSLC
● Hairdressers

7. Data Provided
● Road network
● County data
○ Modified into a study area
polygon
● Both provided from Konrad’s Network
Analysis course

8. Data Collected
● Rental Information
● Businesses & POIs
● Trails (GPS data
collection)

9. Rental Information
● Survey from students

10. Rental Information
● Contacted landlords on Kijiji &
Places4Students
● Asked from them for the same information
that was on the survey

11. Points of Interests & Business Information
● Google Maps, Yellow Pages, Tourist Sites, & Company
sites were utilized

12. Points of Interests & Business Information
● Ran into errors with Google Maps data
○ i.e. Pearles

13. Points of Interests & Business Information
● To verify the location of all the points, Google’s street view was used

14. Organizing the Data into CSVs
● Each type of data was organized into its own spreadsheet
on Google Drive and then downloaded as a CSV

15. Trail data
● Could not locate features with
satellite imagery
● The Hippie houses, Saint Croix
Cove Falls, Roxbury, and the
trails to get to these locations
were not provided
● Used a Juno GPS to collect point
and line features

16. Trail Data - Planning
● Prior to collecting the data used GNSS
Planning website
○ More satellites are better and can improve accuracy
○ DOPs is a measure of the quality of GPS positions,
based on the geometry of the satellites (GPS
Pathfinder Software Help, 2009)
■ Lower DOP is better

17. Trail data - Planning
● Prior to collecting the data with the GPS we
checked the number of satellites & _____
GET IMAGES FROM SCHOOL
1

18. Trail data - Planning
● Prior to collecting the data with the GPS we
checked the number of satellites & _____
GET IMAGES FROM SCHOOL
2

19. Differential
Correction
● From COGS
Base
Station

20. GPS Data
● Line features
for the trail
were not as
precise as
originally hoped
● Had to alter the
vertices to
straighten the
trail

21. Transformations
● Our data was unprojected
● Juno collects data in WGS84
● Used the Transformation and projection tool
in ArcMap to transform the data into WGS
1984 Web Mercator (Auxiliary Sphere)

22. Meaningful Symbology
● Found company logos, edited them in both
Paint & Corel Paint X6, then uploaded them
into ArcMap
● Scale dependent symbology

23. Network Analysis
● Determine the walking & driving distance from each
rental unit to COGS
● Completed by:
○ Making assumptions of road types & speed limits
○ Using Google Earth to find exact speed limits for HWY 1
○ Add walking trails
○ Create a network dataset
○ Complete analysis
○ Update shapefile

24. Network Analysis
● Making assumptions of speed limits & walking speed
○ A particular road type has a corresponding average speed limit
○ According to an article in the Journal of Neurophysiology, the average
walking speed is about 5km/h
Roads Types and Speed Limits. (2015).
Retrieved May 12, 2015, from
http://canada.angloinfo.com/transport/driving/r
oads-speed-limit/
Cappellini, G. (2006). Motor Patterns in Human
Walking and Running. Journal of
Neurophysiology, 3426-3437. Retrieved May 12,
2015, from
http://jn.physiology.org/content/95/6/3426.short

25. Network Analysis
● Found exact speeds for highway 1 through Google Earth’s street view
○ It is the most heavily used road by students commuting to school and
to the surrounding amenities

26. Network Analysis
● Add walking trails
to the road
network
○ Through the
parking lot
behind COGS
○ Along the
train track trail

27. Network Analysis
● Created a network
dataset
○ Set parameters
■ Connectivity
policy
■ Fields needed
for directions
■ Imperial to
metric

28. Network Analysis
● Determining the
Distance and Time from
each rental house to
COGS
○ Created a New
Closest Facility
■ Set COGS as the
Facility
■ Set the Rental
Houses as the
Incident

29. Network Analysis
● Completed the
Network Analysis
○ Produced
directions for
each house
○ Took the total
time and
distance and
created a CSV

30. Network Analysis
● Joined the CSV to the
shapefile
● Completed twice, once
for driving and second
for walking

31. Create a Web Map
● Shared as Service
● Connected to the
COGS server
● Chose the Feature
Access Capability

32. Creating a Web Map
● Tiled Mapping VS Feature Access

33. Creating a Web Map
● Added a Summary,
Tags, & a Description
● Clicked Analyze and
resolved all errors

34. Setting Parameters in ArcGIS Online
● Created it so the icons would appear at
certain extents
○ Uploaded each layer twice, one for the zoomed in
symbology and another for the zoomed out
symbology
● Changed the settings so only the rental
houses can be edited by the public
DEMO!!

35. Setting Parameters in ArcGIS Online
● Allowed for each attribute in most layers to
be searchable

36. Using JavaScript API for Customization
● Need a webserver to host the API
(Application Programming Interface)
○ Could not find a free webserver
■ Google Drive allows for HTML and CSS files to
run, but not JavaScript files
■ Drop Box no longer makes public folders for free
accounts
■ Had to use a friends webserver from school, but
could be kicked off at anytime

37. Issues with JavaScript API
● Searchable layers not appearing
● Directions widget missing
○ ESRI disabled the directions widget for the public
○ Found directions on Google Maps from COGS to
Each point and added the link to the attribute table
DEMO!!

38. Conclusions
● Identified and investigated variables that were important
in the decision-making process of renting a place
● Determined commute times from possible rental
locations to COGS with Network Analysis
● Developed a web application that
○ presents an effective method to communicate rental
information and important amenities
○ uses ArcGIS Online API for JavaScript and ArcGIS
Online’s web map

39. Acknowledgements
● Dave MacLean, as our project supervisor, as well as for
his help while working on this project
● Kathleen Stewart for her patience, help and knowledge
of JavaScript
● Darren MacKinnon for his help and assistance with
using the Juno and getting the base station data

40. References
Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia - Travel and Tourism Information - Directory. (2014). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from
http://www.valleytourism.ca/travel-directory.html
Atwell, B. (2014). The walking-hiking Trails in the Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia. Retrieved May 12, 2015, from
http://www.annapolis-valley-vacation.com/walking-hiking.html
Cappellini, G. (2006). Motor Patterns in Human Walking and Running. Journal of Neurophysiology, 3426-3437.
Retrieved May 12, 2015, from http://jn.physiology.org/content/95/6/3426.short
Determining factors of what you look for when renting
http://www.savethestudent.org/accommodation/guide-viewing-student-accommodation.html
Dramowicz, K. (Director) (2015, March 12). Preparing Data for Building Network Dataset for Nova Scotia. Network
Analysis Course. Lecture conducted from, Lawrencetown NS.

41. References
Garcia, R. (2014, October 1). Roadway Design Manual: Ramps and Direct Connections. Retrieved May 12, 2015, from
http://onlinemanuals.txdot.gov/txdotmanuals/rdw/ramps_and_direct_connections.htm#i1026126
Roads Types and Speed Limits. (2015). Retrieved May 12, 2015, from
http://canada.angloinfo.com/transport/driving/roads-speed-limit/
The ultimate guide to viewing student houses. (2013, September 27). Retrieved May 4, 2015, from
http://www.savethestudent.org/accommodation/guide-viewing-student-accommodation.html
What are the ArcGIS Online network analysis services? (2015, March 25). Retrieved May 14, 2015, from
http://resources.arcgis.com/en/help/main/10.2/index.html#//0047000001v5000000

42. Questions?

43. Thank you!