{"id":508822,"date":"2019-05-16T07:30:57","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T14:30:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=508822"},"modified":"2026-03-09T06:33:24","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T13:33:24","slug":"mapping-a-better-route-from-the-shire-to-mount-doom","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/mapping\/mapping-a-better-route-from-the-shire-to-mount-doom","title":{"rendered":"From here to there: Mapping a better route from the Shire to Mount Doom"},"author":9232,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[22941,37511],"tags":[223302,25611,349332,27881],"industry":[],"product":[36551,36611],"class_list":["post-508822","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mapping","category-sharing-collaboration","tag-fantasy","tag-higher-education","tag-least-cost-path","tag-storytelling","product-arcgis-online","product-story-maps"],"acf":{"short_description":"In an advanced GIS course, college students used ArcGIS analysis tools and Story Maps to assess the efficiency of Frodo's journey.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":508832,"id":508832,"title":"Robert A Rose, PHD","filename":"RobertRHeadshot.jpg","filesize":10171,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/mapping\/mapping-a-better-route-from-the-shire-to-mount-doom\/robertrheadshot","alt":"A portrait of Robert Rose, the director of the Center for Geospatial Analysis at William & Mary","author":"9232","description":"","caption":"","name":"robertrheadshot","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":508822,"date":"2019-05-16 13:06:25","modified":"2019-05-16 13:07:25","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":231,"height":268,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","medium-width":225,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","medium_large-width":231,"medium_large-height":268,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","large-width":231,"large-height":268,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","1536x1536-width":231,"1536x1536-height":268,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","2048x2048-width":231,"2048x2048-height":268,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","card_image-width":231,"card_image-height":268,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/RobertRHeadshot.jpg","wide_image-width":231,"wide_image-height":268}},"image_position":"right","orientation":"vertical","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

About the author: Robert Rose is the Director of the Center for Geospatial Analysis at the College of William & Mary.<\/a> He comes to William & Mary after seven years at the Wildlife Conservation Society as the Assistant Director of Conservation Support, a team that provided technical support and training to conservation programs around the globe. Robert\u2019s interests include the use of GIS and remote sensing to better understand drivers of land change and broader conservation issues, the promotion of remote sensing for conservation applications and the integration of advanced and interactive geovisualization tools to better engage students in the classroom. Robert earned a PhD in Geography with a minor in ecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

This piece of content is no longer being maintained and may reference events in the past or product features that have changed.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Center for Geospatial Analysis at William & Mary<\/span> (CGA), as a non-departmental campus support unit, has a mission of providing high-quality geospatial education to students across all disciplines on campus. Not being tied to a specific department affords us the opportunity and flexibility to find innovative and creative ways to teach GIS at both the introductory and advanced levels. This semester, after developing a geographic information system (GIS) of Middle Earth, I introduced a GIS & Middle Earth course into our curriculum. <\/span><\/p>\n

The motivation for developing a GIS of Middle Earth – and subsequently a GIS and Middle Earth course – really grew out of a love for the original books and the Peter Jackson series of movies. As a tradition, my family and I typically watch the movies from start to finish once a year. During a recent viewing I started to wonder if Frodo took the best path from the Shire to Middle Earth and it dawned on me that, with the right GIS layers, we could run a least cost path analysis to see if there could have been a better route. This idea launched an effort to build a GIS of Middle Earth. Three years later, we have an extensive list of layers, including a 50 meter elevation model, roads, rivers, realms and many others. With the GIS built, I felt it was time to put the analysis in the hands of students, adding GIS & Middle Earth to our curriculum.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":509092,"id":509092,"title":"The Most Dangerous Places in Middle Eartg","filename":"FinalCostLayer.png","filesize":198869,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/mapping\/mapping-a-better-route-from-the-shire-to-mount-doom\/finalcostlayer","alt":"A map showing hotspots of threats and costly areas to travel through in Middle Earth","author":"9232","description":"","caption":"Did Frodo take the best path to destroy the One Ring? Students were tasked with answering this question with the help of maps and GIS","name":"finalcostlayer","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":508822,"date":"2019-05-16 13:56:59","modified":"2019-05-16 13:59:10","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":613,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer.png","medium-width":341,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":588,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer.png","large-width":800,"large-height":613,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer.png","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":613,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer.png","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":613,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer-607x465.png","card_image-width":607,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/FinalCostLayer.png","wide_image-width":800,"wide_image-height":613}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/wm-gis.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/Cascade\/index.html?appid=597df97563c74963a73a9d49be01db6d"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

The goal of this \u00a0project-based, advanced GIS course was to answer the question: did Frodo take the right path to destroy the One Ring? This goal could be broken down into two objectives: First, to build skills and confidence in the students\u2019 abilities to answer questions using spatial data<\/a>. Through readings, discussions, lab work, and long-term projects, students gained a deeper understanding of the tools and techniques for spatial analysis. Second, students were challenged to apply their GIS experience to identify the best path from the Shire to Mount Doom. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Creating the necessary layers<\/h3>\n

Students worked in teams of three or four to develop the cost layer needed to run the least cost path analysis. Each team was required to develop a minimum of three threat layers and three cost of travel layers that were combined, using a weighted sum analysis, into the final cost layer. \u00a0Example threat layers included proximity to orcs, danger level in different realms, and\u2014my favorite\u2014likelihood of being seen by Sauron based on a viewshed analysis. Cost to travel layers included the slope and ruggedness of the terrain, ease of travel across different land cover types and width of rivers based on derived stream order.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":508882,"id":508882,"title":"Sauron's view","filename":"EyeOfSauron.jpg","filesize":102346,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/mapping\/mapping-a-better-route-from-the-shire-to-mount-doom\/eyeofsauron","alt":"A map of Middle Earth showing large swaths of safe areas alongside patches that are visible to Sauron's eye","author":"9232","description":"","caption":"Students used viewshed analysis in ArcGIS to map the places in Middle Earth that Sauron could see.","name":"eyeofsauron","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":508822,"date":"2019-05-16 13:23:06","modified":"2019-05-16 13:27:55","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":618,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron.jpg","medium-width":338,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":593,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":618,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":618,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":618,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron-602x465.jpg","card_image-width":602,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/EyeOfSauron.jpg","wide_image-width":800,"wide_image-height":618}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/wm-gis.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/Cascade\/index.html?appid=f93c880db4d246788c2c5bc671565252"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

Along with the team work to develop the cost layer, I introduced advanced GIS topics that I thought might aid their analysis. These included the viewshed analysis tool, zonal statistics and the <\/span>summed Point Influence tool<\/span><\/a> (SPI). \u00a0For those not familiar, SPI was originally developed by Kim Fisher (of <\/span>Wildlife Conservation Society)<\/span><\/a> and Karl Didier (of <\/span>Rainforest Trust<\/span><\/a>) to model the impact of hunters on natural areas. In addition, each student was required to present a tool of the day, where they introduced one new tool from the ArcToolbox and explain how it might be useful in their analysis.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Calculating and communicating the final results<\/h3>\n

With the cost layer developed, teams then calculated the least cost path between the Shire and Mount Doom. They were allowed to throw the story narrative away and compute the best path directly between the two locations, or they could use parts of the original story to drive their final analysis. For instance, one team decided it was important for Frodo to go from the Shire to Rivendell in order to meet other companions and restock on supplies.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":509002,"id":509002,"title":"Cost Surfaces in Middle Earth","filename":"Banner.png","filesize":67872,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/story-maps\/mapping\/mapping-a-better-route-from-the-shire-to-mount-doom\/banner-54","alt":"A set of small multiple maps revealing different cost layers for Middle Earth","author":"9232","description":"","caption":"Students were required to create multiple threat and cost layers for Middle Earth, on which they based their analyses","name":"banner-54","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":508822,"date":"2019-05-16 13:44:47","modified":"2019-05-16 13:47:48","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":244,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":142,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":234,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","large-width":800,"large-height":244,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":244,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":244,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","card_image-width":800,"card_image-height":244,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Banner.png","wide_image-width":800,"wide_image-height":244}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/wm-gis.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/Cascade\/index.html?appid=27def43145a84b208b857eff66eb7e7a"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

 <\/p>\n

The final step for each team was to develop a story map describing their analysis. We have been using <\/span>Esri Story Maps<\/span><\/a> for final presentations in many of our classes for a number of reasons. First, we want students to learn how to develop story maps as a better way to share their place-based research. Second, story map templates, especially Story Map Cascade, allow students to be more creative in their final presentations and, frankly, students find them more fun to develop when compared to standard presentation tools. Finally, for this class, I wanted students to embrace the idea of telling a story, since the whole analysis was derived from wonderful storytelling by Tolkien. To that effect, I set a minimum amount of requirements and instructed the students to embrace the idea of telling the story of their research\u2014the results did not disappoint:<\/span><\/p>\n