Site Selection

For this campsite site selection project, the work begins with a satellite picture; a Digital Elevation Model, downloaded from the USGS Earth Explorer website.   This is "raster" data, where the information is stored in continuous pixels with one value per cell, typically the elevation of that cell.  

With this in hand, all sorts of calculations become possible; what's the elevation of the area, what are the contours, what is the slope.  Those attributes can be turned into scores to identify locations above 4,000 ft, with a certain type of terrain, relatively flat, and close to a road.