Zachary Arcaro

NR533 Assignment 1

Fall 2007

 

Problem Description

 

Namibia is a developing country with a growing need for clean and reliable electricity.  I am exploring the use of a solar power plant to meet this need. To maximize the investment the best location must be found within the country to situate the new plant.

 

Data Used:

 

To find this ideal location I downloaded files from the following website:

http://www.uni-koeln.de/inter-fak/sfb389/e/e1/download/atlas_namibia/index_e.htm

 

Although there were numerous layers that could have been used to refine this project I chose to focus on the following:

 

namibias_borders  This is a shapefile with lines denoting the borders of Namibia and was used for display purposes only.

 

conservation_areas  This was a shapefile containing polygons of areas within the country that the government has decided should not be developed.  These areas were used to denote areas that were “restricted” by the weighted overlay function.

 

protected_areas  This was a shapefile containing polygons of areas within the country that the government has decided can not be developed.  These areas were used to denote areas that were “restricted” by the weighted overlay function.

 

road2  This is a shapefile with lines describing the major roads within Namibia.  This file was used because I decided that a new power plant would ideally be located near and existing major road.

 

grid_network  This is a shapefile with lines describing electric grid system within Namibia.  This file was used because I decided that a new power plant would ideally be located near and existing power line with sufficient capacity for high voltages.

 

Average_values_of_solar_radiation  This is a shapefile containing polygons that describe the different average values of solar radiation for the whole of the country.  It was used as the main input into the weighted overlay I have presumed that the solar power plant would produce the most electricity in areas with the most solar radiation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the model used to complete the analysis

 

 

 

 

 This is a screenshot to illustrate the parameters used in the weighted overlay tool