Steps followed to create the final map representing areas with high Arsenic concentration & Perennial croplands in contaminated sites
- Shapefile for Abitibi-Temiscamingue Municipality was introduced into Arcmap follwed by Point data representing soil sampling stations (250). Measured Arsenic Concentration in soil at each point was known.
- Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) Interpolation was carried out to obtain a continuous layer representing Arsenic Concentration in the entire Area.
- Shapefile for Perennial Croplands was then introduced.
- Perennial Croplands found to be within contaminated Areas were highlighted in yellow.
- Schools around contaminated areas are indicated with names & pink-pins, to make it easy for the map readers to locate themselves.
Data Sources
- Abitibi Municipality Data - Ministere des resources naturelles (MRN) Quebec, 2012
- Soil samples data collected by Natural Resources Canada in 2002 was used in this study for Mapping and Analysis. Sampling station locations and Concentration of Arsenic at each location were taken into consideration. ICP (Inductively Coupled Plasma) -AES (Atomic Emission Spectroscopy) technique was used by Natural Resources Canada for soil-Arsenic analysis and the unit used was ppm (parts per million).
- Perennial Cropland Data - 2009 data from Natural Resources Canada, Earth Sciences Sector, Centre for Topographic Information. According to these sources, Perennial Croplands are defined as periodically cultivated croplands, including Tame Grass, Alfalfa, Clover & Fall seeded crops such as Winter Wheat.