Lab 6: Digital Elevation Models [Aspen, Colorado]

Aspen, Colorado

The area I have chosen to do my digital elevation model is Aspen, Colorado. "A place where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano..." I chose this area because when I was a child I wondered how the characters Harry and Llyod (from the movie Dumb and Dumber 1994) dove a small moped motorcycle all the way to Aspen successfully. There had to been way too many inclines and mountains for that little moped to handle. On a serious note, I went to Aspen recently on a Fraternity ski trip and had a really great time playing cards, eating, and snowboarding. The mountains are so amazing and I thought it would be interesting to display this area in digital model. This type of information would be useful for many different purposes. One that relates to why I chose this area relates to contractors who are looking to construct a new ski resort on another mountain near Aspen. On a biological scale this type of information is important in mapping types of vegetation and species because elevation has a huge impact on the species diversity and range. 


The following information describes the area, the extent information, and the geographic coordinate system.

Extent
Top: 39.7522222217degrees
left: -107.004166666 degrees
right: -106.474999999 degrees
bottom: 39.2777777772 degrees
Spatial Reference: GCS_North_American_1983
Datum: D_North_American_1983

Hillshade

Although there are other visuals that have been modeled from this data, the hillshade is the most visually appealing. It's glossy finish and color chart really allows one to see how the elevation is from a bird's eye view.

Slope

Three-dimensional

This view one to put the elevation on the two-dimensional scale and see the spikes of elevation.

Aspect

The aspect ratio allows one to see the elevation changes at different angles.

For all you Dumb & Dumber Fans
Follow this to see their amazing feat on a moped.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKRtdgQhVbw


I stayed at Hotel Jerome when I went to Aspen. If you would like to check it out, take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ScpbPC_vLU