GIS 5100 Module 1 Suitability 

For this module we have learned about and explored suitability modeling. Suitability modeling has many different uses and can be very helpful particularly when carrying out analysis related to planning. Our assignment had us create theoretical suitability maps for mountain lion habitat and we also created a suitability model that determined the amount of potentially developable land within a certain area. Both analysis used different factors as constraints. 

The map posted below contains two distinct products that show the same data but were derived using the weighted overlay tool but using different weights. Various constraints were analyzed to come up with the final developable areas. On the map document below the map on the left has equal weights assigned to all inputs that were put in the weighted overlay tool. The map on the right has varying weights assigned to the various inputs. The map on the right is likely more accurate for the stated needs as it places varying weights on input factors. A developer will likely assign weights to some factors based on their favorability for development much like we did in the map on the right.