Areas of interest
1. Using ModelBuilder to manage data downloaded from the Internet.
http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=7180ba6e9d8845128eaadf70a4b6bf7e
This tutorial piqued my interest because my data will come from a variety of sources. I will likely encounter a variety of formatting, labeling, and quality differences among datasets so standardizing the process would be beneficial. This tutorial illustrates some of the pertinent considerations, such as no spaces in field names, when importing data into ArcGIS as well as how to use ModelBuilder to plan and automate tasks.
2. Using R in ArcGIS 10.
http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=a5736544d97a4544aa47d06baf910f6d
Extending ArcGIS with R – presentation from the 2010 Users Conference
http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=547085ee428f4141b2cacb338f8f61a3
Since ArcGIS can experience limited functionality working with large datasets and spatial statistics needs can extend beyond its capabilities, being able to integrate with software that is more capable, such as R, could be very useful.
To Do:
- I am still early in my thesis development but one of the things that I would like to investigate is habitat use of melon-headed whales around French Polynesia and compare that to habitat use around other islands. I would like to continue to investigate the spatial statistics tools that are out there and see what the best approach will be for my project.
- I am also interested in looking at spatial distributions of small cetaceans in the Pacific and test for relationships between these distributions and the presence or absence of melon-headed whales. So again, investigation into the spatial statistics relevant to this type of study is on the to do list.
