Geographic Information Service Division

Posters and Relief Maps

Posters for the 1996 ESRI Users Conference, May 1996. Click on images to view larger maps.

Relief Maps
	A colored relief map of the County of Boulder, Colorado. This map was created using the HILLSHADING function in grid, and then doing a GRIDCOMPOSITE of the HSV colors to generate a composite of the hillshading grid and the elevation colors. Since a COLOR to HSV conversion is needed, we tried different color schemes to come up with some good HUE, and SATURATION values. The hillshading grid was reclassified by using the SLICE function to change the range of values from 1-255 to 1-100.
reliefsd_bc.jpg (153846 K)	A colored relief map of County of Boulder, Colorado DRAPED over an elevation surface. A DEM to LATTICE conversion was done to create a lattice that was used for both the HILLSHADING function and the SURFACEDRAPE command. The same principals were used with the GRIDCOMPOSITE command as noted above with the relief_bc.jpg map. As a side note, we get a lot of requests on what is the highest and lowest elevations in the county. The highest point is Longs Peak (elev. 14225 ft) in the northwestern corner of Boulder County. The lowest is where the St. Vrain Creek exits the county line in the Northeastern part of the map (approx. elev. 4890). Can you find these two points on the blow up of this map?

2008 Boulder County Road Map

The 2008 Boulder County Road Map. This map was created by using existing gis data to generate an Arc/Info Graphic File. It will then be converted into POSTSCRIPT format to be sent 'Out of House' to a printing shop where it will be processed on an offset printer. We call it our "AUTOMATED ROAD MAP SYSTEM". Since all of the county's updates are done on a fairly regular basis, the colored layers on this map (Open Space, Subdivisions, & City Limits) are already updated once a new road map needs to be printed. The only items that need to be changed are any updates to the County's road coverage, the date, and newly elected County Commissioners.

WHIMS (click for more info)
elev_bc.jpg (187176 K)	Elevation Map of Boulder County. This map illustrates the topography of Boulder County. The eastern portion of the county are high rolling plains and the mountains dominate the western portion. The WHIMS project was started to help identify the hazard areas and reduce the risk of wildfire through mitigation efforts. This map was created by using the SLICE function to classify each elevation range color. By specifying a SHADESET that we created with our own color choices, a GRIDSHADE was done on the slice grid to shade each elevation range.
brslope.jpg (201037 K)	This SLOPE map is showing steepness of slope of the topography within the Boulder Rural Fire Protection District. This attribute is one of the factors that goes into the model for calculating the wildfire hazard. It is also a useful tool for the fire fighters to let them know the dangerous areas to avoid. The slope coverage was converted from a grid by using GRIDPOLY. The slope grid is a 4 class grid and was generated from a 1:24,000 USGS DEM by using the SLOPE function with the percent option.
braspect.jpg (191967 K)	This ASPECT map is showing the direction of slope of the topography within the Boulder Rural Fire Protection District. This also is a factor for calculating the wildfire hazard. This map was also generated from 1:24,000 USGS DEM.
brtinveg.jpg (139832 K)	The vegetation layer is another important factor in determining the wildfire hazard. The Colorado State Forest Service, in Boulder, has been collecting the vegetation fuel type data for the mountainous part of Boulder County. They are then digitized into the database and used for the WHIMS project. This map shows the Vegetation Fuel Type Layer draped over a DEM elevation surface.
brhazard.jpg (142702 K)	All the information collected from the individual parcels using the WHIMS questionnaire and from other parcel, terrain, and the fuel type data is compiled and analyzed to produce the 2 hazard rating maps derived from a model which uses a series of weighted sums. The results are then scaled from 1-10 where 10 is the most dangerous. This map shows the Wildfire Hazard Rating for the Boulder Rural Fire Protection District WITHOUT mitigating any hazards.
brhazmit.jpg (14151 7 K)	This map shows the possible Wildfire Hazard Rating for each individual parcel for the Boulder Rural Fire Protection District if moderate mitigation efforts were done by the homeowner. This is a very useful aid. In comparison to the without mitigation map, the homeowner can begin to understand the importance of mitigating their property.

For Questions or Comments Contact:

For any questions regarding the accuracy of Boulder County maps, contact Ken Ziebarth, GIS Manager at (303) 441-3930.

This information comes from many sources, and may contain inaccuracies or other errors. If you find any problems in this data, please notify us by email us and we will try to fix it.

Boulder County Land Use Department Publications are available in PDF format which can be previewed using Adobe� Acrobat� Reader software. If you have Adobe� Acrobat� Reader installed on your computer, simply click on relative link above. Please note that these files vary in size.
If you do not have a version of Adobe� Acrobat� Reader installed on your computer, it can be downloaded for FREE.
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Geographic Information Service Division

Posters and Relief Maps

Relief Maps

2008 Boulder County Road Map

WHIMS (click for more info)

For Questions or Comments Contact:

Land Use Director: Dale Case

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