Assessing the Impact of Tree Canopies on Urban Heat Islands in Virginia

Learning Unit Description:

The Integrated Geospatial Education and Technology Training Project (iGETT) presents a series of Learning Units (LU) designed to incorporate federal land remote sensing data into Geographic Information System (GIS) instruction. The Assessing the Impact of Tree Canopies on Urban Heat Islands in Virginia LU, created by Fred Hoffman of Roanoke Valley Governor's School, uses remotely sensed imagery to help quantify urban tree canopies. In this assignment, students use remotely sensed imagery to automate the process of determining the extent of a tree canopy, and give reasonable approximations of tree canopy coverage. 

The iGETT Learning Units amount to about two weeks of instruction and are designed for use both as “skills-based case studies and building blocks for new courses.” All LUs are intended for students with a basic understanding of GIS. Each LU includes three core documents, an instructor’s guide, a student guide, and a curriculum support document, as well as the remote sensing data needed to complete the unit. To complete the lesson, students must have access to a computer with ArcGIS View and ENVI software.

Upon completion of the lesson, students should know how to use ArcGIS for creating maps using two overlapping images and normal map components, and a word processor to create an integrated document. 

For orientation purposes, viewers should begin with Hoffman_Thumbnail.pdf, which offers a description of the LU as well as an overview of topics covered, required software, and the intended audience.

Lesson Contents:

The attached files associated with this LU exist in a variety of formats and a variety of geospatial data file types.

Below is a list of the files contained within the .zip attachment. The size of each file is included in parenthesis.

LU_Hoff.zip

• Documents
  • Hoffman_SH_Final.pdf (1.5 MB)
  • Hoffman_IG_Final.pdf (498 KB)
  • UrbanTreeCanopy_Hoffman_CG.pdf (395 KB)
  • Hoffman_Thumbnail.pdf (61 KB)
• Data
  • LE70170342002215EDC00
    • ​​L72017034_03420020803_B80.TIF (235.8 MB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_B10.TIF (59 MB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_B20.TIF (59 MB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_B30.TIF (59 MB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_B40.TIF (59 MB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_B50.TIF (59 MB)
    • L72017034_03420020803_B70.TIF (59 MB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_B61.TIF (14.8 MB)
    • L72017034_03420020803_B62.TIF (14.8 MB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_MTL.txt (66 KB)
    • L71017034_03420020803_GCP.txt (19 KB)
    • README.GTF (7 KB)
  • ​ortho_imagery_MDOQAPFO_974013_01
    • ​ortho_imagery\ortho_e1-1_s_va161.sid (157.4 MB)
    • ortho_imagery\ortho_sample_metadata.html (68 KB)
    • ortho_imagery\ortho_e1-1_s_va161.sid.txt (20 KB)
    • ortho_imagery\ortho_e1-1_s_va161.aux (9 KB)
    • ortho_imagery\gway_974013_01_MDOQAPFO.txt (6 KB)
    • ortho_imagery\ortho_e1-1_s_va161.txt (434 bytes)
    • ortho_imagery\ortho_e1-1_s_va161.sdw (186 bytes)
  • RoanokeCityFiles
    • ​​ROANOKE_BIGFOOT_citylimit_poly.shp (15 KB)
    • ROANOKE_BIGFOOT_citylimit_poly.shp.xml (11 KB)
    • ROANOKE_BIGFOOT_citylimit_poly.prj (579 bytes)
    • ROANOKE_BIGFOOT_citylimit_poly.dbf (326 bytes)
    • ROANOKE_BIGFOOT_citylimit_poly.sbn (132 bytes)
    • ROANOKE_BIGFOOT_citylimit_poly.sbx (116 bytes)
    • ROANOKE_BIGFOOT_citylimit_poly.shx (108 bytes)