Using the USDA's Web Soil Survey interactive map helps provide a more thorough understanding of my study area. Although other research has shown similar findings, the extent to which detailed information was provided gave a clearer picture to the soil composition. I found the interactive map to be very user friendly, coming from someone with little background in soil knowledge. Below is a quick screenshot of my area of study depicting the land's soil make-up. As you can see Blago silt loam, frequently flooded and Muck and Peat make up a majority of the study area. Essentially these soil compositions give identity to the area through the produced flora that thrives in the given composition. The colors making up the sections within the map are corresponding with the legend below. I have selected "Soil Health Organic Matter", thus, this is what's being measured in this specific map. Another very useful feature within the interactive map is the option to &qu

Climate and Weather Anecdotally, it's apparent the weather in Canaan Valley is relatively cool and moist. Through the help of NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmosphere Association) and other resources, these anecdotal experiences are given credence. Below I have taken a screenshot of 1981-2010 Normals as NOAA provides a clear explanation for the data,  " The 1981-2010 Climate Normals are NCDC's latest three-decade averages of climatological variables, including temperature and precipitation. This new product replaces the  1971-2000 Climate Normals  product, which remains available as historical data" ( NOAA, n.d .).    NOAA The amount of creditable data specific to my area of study is applaudable. However, I found the data tools within NOAA to be a bit confusing. It would be ideal if the user could pan over the data and view the specific year it was recorded. For example I found another site called Intellicast . Here are some screenshots from the site:

My Maps In the past, I've used mapping tools like Google Maps and Earth, but I have never had the opportunity to use  ArcGIS Explorer. Since I'm using a Mac, I was limited to the online format of ArcGIS. But first I'll share my, MyMaps experience. The layout of MyMaps is pretty simplistic. I marked 3 areas which can be classified Beaked Sedge Fen Communities (BSFC). One frustrating aspect of MyMaps is when an area is created (the darker section) and one is attempting to move around inside the area--when panning, the created section moves not the map. This can be annoying when searching for specific areas within the darkened section. ArcGIS Between the ArcGIS and MyMaps, there's really no comparison. The depth of database within ArcGIS is astounding. I'm not a professional cartographer and I'm sure the possibilities with ArcGIS are much wider than I explored but, two baselayers I added to my study area are land cover and intact habitat. The land co