I have put together a quick overview of my study area, and some important features, using the Google My Maps tool. Most internet users are familiar with Google Maps in some capacity, but using My Maps, you can create a custom view, and add your own data to the map. I am coming from a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) user background, and I have used professional tools for several years in my employment, but this tool is a great intro to the concepts of GIS for new users, and an easy way to make a web-viewable map that contains custom layers.
I was shared a great tutorial that helps new users start from square one, and instead of rehashing it out, I will share the link here if you are interested in creating a map for yourself. Google My Maps Tutorial
I have added two polygons to the map, the outer boundary of this portion of the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest, and the boundary of the Leatherwood Wilderness Area portion. The wilderness area is a special designation that has no roads, no access by motor vehicle, no facilities, signs, maintained trails, habitat maintenance, etc. It is set aside to allow nature to approximate her natural processes as best as possible. The only access is by foot, and non-motorized watercraft.
I have also created a layer that contains some important hydrological features for this area. The White and Norfork Rivers I have mentioned before. They are both tailwater systems below a bottom release dam (Bull Shoals Dam for the White, and Norfork Dam for the Norfork River). This bottom release has dropped the river temperature significantly, as I have mentioned before. I have also dropped a point on the two lakes that are created by these dams. One benefit to the layers in Google My Maps over traditional GIS programs, is you can add polygon (shapes), line, and point features into the same layer. This allows all of my Hydrology layer to be toggled on or off at once.
The Google My Maps tool does not provide some of the higher level cartography, analytical, and modeling tools that are available in professional tools like ArcGIS products, but it does have some great features. The first one is it is already in an online format, and it is very easy to create a shareable map in minutes, that is accessible to anyone with an internet device. It is also very easy to collaborate, and allow others to edit and add to your product.
Some of the main drawbacks compared to ArcGIS products that I see is the accuracy of the data. I was only able to create a rough outline of these areas easily, and it would be much easier to import, edit, and provide more accurate boundaries in other products. It is more useful are higher resolutions for a large area like my study site, and not as applicable for looking at small scale interactions.
That said, there are some nice tools that will answer a few questions, the best two are observable on the polygon features. Just by completing the polygon, it automatically calculates the area and perimeter of the feature. This is valuable in many real world situations, and the area and perimeter of complex shapes is not always easy to estimate, and you can quickly sketch in a polygon to get this information with minimal setup. Similarly, it calculates the length of line features.
Obviously this is not a tool designed for high octane cartography work, but the ease of setting up a shareable, hosted, online map, and quick assessment of some geographic measurements, makes this another tool in the toolbelt for sharing and collecting geographic data
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