Finding Fossils: A GIS Approach to Dinosaur Hunting Kate Oheim May 6, 2004 CE/ENVE 524

Project Setting Two Medicine Formation, in north central Montana Collaborator: Dave Trexler, Two Medicine Dinosaur Institute

Two Medicine Fm Background Late Cretaceous – Million Years old Relatively unexplored until late 1970’s Famous finds: Egg Mountain, first baby dinosaur bones in the U. S.

Dinosaurs - Predators Daspletosaurus Troodon Bambiraptor Unpictured: Gorgosaurus; Saurornitholestes

Dinosaurs - Lunch Styracosaurus Maiasaura Lambeosaurus

GIS and Suitability Analysis Plan of Attack Create a list of attributes to look at Gather data Process vector data to raster Decide weighting of data Calculate Experiment with weighting of calculation

Data Ancient Geology Digital Elevation Models Modern Vegetation Coverage Roads Current Site Data Ownership

Data Processing Buffer roads (half mile increments Rasterize roads and reclassify Rasterize geology, merge layers, reclassify Merge DEM’s and reclassify Reclassify vegetation

Calculation & Analysis Add layers in raster calculator Weighted in two different ways

Problems & Sources of Error Problems Map corruption Spatial Analyst is very picky Storage: File sizes are VERY large Some data missing such as ranch roads Error Some data points were gathered before acquisition of a GPS receiver Two geologic quadrangles contain updated geology, one does not

Future Work Run analysis using current sites for other models Walk sections of the formation this summer in MT as a field test and for refinement Gather more data