Professor Shin
Geography 168
As LA County is interested in comparing and assessing precipitation for a normal season and a season to date I have made three analyses using three different spatial interpolations, inverse data weighting, spline, and kriging. Spline interpolation involves a special kind of piecewise polynomials, called a spline. The spline is used as the interpolant. The interpolant uses a series of patches resulting in a surface that has continuous first and second derivatives that ensures continuity in elevation, slope, and curvature. Kriging is a series of geostatistical techniques that, when conducted, will interpolate a random field at an unobserved location from observations of its value at nearby locations This application is commonly used in mining, hydrogeology, natural resources, environmental science and remote sensing. The technique’s basis focuses on the rate at which the variance between points changes over space.
Inverse data weighing is commonly understood to consist of a process of applying values to unknown points or areas assigned by a typically scattered set of points that are known. Since the rain station gauges that acquired the data are scattered throughout the county, it becomes obvious the most efficient and accurate technique is the inverse data weighing. We are able to apply the normal season precipitation and season to date precipitation data points to the regions within the county that don’t possess a rain station gauge.
With this data geographically depicted we are now able to understand risks and vulnerabilities throughout the county involving floods and mudslides. Comparing the normal season precipitation to the season to date we are able to recognize the climate of the county and act appropriately. Dams, checkdams and basins must be maintained in order to work properly. These analyses show how necessary funding is in order to save regions like Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and Glendale. Furthermore, if we know how much it rains in the winter we will know what kind of vegetation to expect in the summer. This is important to keep in mind since forest fires in Southern California are typical in the summer and LA County is unfortunately located in the Southern California region.
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