OT....Let's see if we can bust the oil companies

[jeepguy553]

Cross posted on the BustedJeep.com OT Forum, JU CJ Forum and in JU OT (eDodgeball)...
This is probably gonna get moved or locked.
Anyone wanna help me look into gas prices?
I am looking into doing a little weekend study on gas proces here in the Corpus Christi area. The study will involve GPS, geographic information systems, and data such as demographics of a particular area, chain store names, proximity to a refinery, and gas prices. I want to try to tie fuel procing to demographics such as average income of a particular area and maybe even predominant ethnicity. I have noticed some troubling trends in the last several months.
How does this relate to CJ Tech...well...I can reach pretty far out there and tell you that it DIRECTLY impacts your ability to drive your CJ. If you can't afford the gasoline, you can't drive it...plain and simple.
So, if you want to get involved in this, here's what I need from you.
1.) GPS coordinates of each gas station surveyed and its ZIP code. Please don't send me LAT/LONG coordinates as they are a PITA to input into the GIS. I need coordinates in UTM with the UTM zone as well.
2.) Price of fuel at each gas station. Break the proces down by gasoline grade if you can.
3.) Demographic information for that area IF YOU CAN GET IT. If not, I can probably find it on the internet.
4.) Predominant type of vehicle seen at a particular station at the time that you surveyed it.
5.) Any other observations that you make that you feel may be pertinent to the overall study data.
I will try to analyze the data using research-type statistics. If you can put the data into an Excel spreadsheet or a Access database, it would be most helpful. Also, if you can get information pertaining to transportation costs for gasoline in your area, that might be important as a scaling factor.
Thanks!!!

[Mudrat]

Been thinking about getting a GPS :?

You're looking as one heck of a project there guy.

Mudrat

[jeepguy553]

I have my own GPS...it is a Lowrance iFinder. I like it. It isn't the one I'll be using though. The one I am gonna use is a $3500 Trimble Navigation GeoExplorer 3. It is a resource-grade GPS datalogger that is used in a LOT of different applications in the natural resource field. I was certified by the State of Texas to collect and submit GPS/GIS data for natural resource studies. The actual mapping part will be pretty simple. The statistical analysis of the data is gonna be a little hairy.
The Geo 3 will allow me to interact directly with my GIS software, ArcView GIS 3.3. I can export the data I collect with the Geo 3 directly to an ArcView shapefile format and then layer it directly over satellite imagery. I also have a set of data that provides fairly current demographic data based on the 2000 Census. It is organized in such a manner that I can query the database for a particular point or ZIP code and it will tell me exactly what data was recorded for that area in the last census...and it can all be layered on top of the satellite imagery.

[Mudrat]

This will be an interesting project ... mapping to centimeter level! With your overlay program and access(?) to LANDSAT or GEOSAT imagry - outta be way cool!

Pat

[fuzz401]

ken the only thing that might happen to this post is being moved there has only ont time we got hacked and it was deleated

[jeepguy553]

Fuzz, the JU mods already moved and locked it after I posted it in the CJ Forum. It is still alive in the eDodgeball forum on JU. I piggybacked it with another thread on gas prices. I was just afraid that it would be way too OT to be allowed to stay where I posted it.
If anyone can come up with meaningful data from your specific location, I would appreciate it. I sincerely think I can rattle a few cans here. That's what scientists are supposed to do and I am after all a scientist. I won't make any suggestions on how to fix it or what should be done...I'll simply present the data in a scientific format and use the data analysis to draw valid, reproducible conclusions about the data.
The imagery I will use is available from the USGS, but you have to have something that can view 1-meter digital orthographic quarter quadrangle images. These things are zoomable and often contain data about the picture called metadata. This is imbedded in the image coding through a linked database...georeferenced data is the technical term.

[Mudrat]

The imagery I will use is available from the USGS, but you have to have something that can view 1-meter digital orthographic quarter quadrangle images. These things are zoomable and often contain data about the picture called metadata.

Scary thing is, I understood that!!! :shock:

Mudrat :?:

[jeepguy553]

GIS is a technology that can be implemented into just about anything. Police departments use it, biologists use it, city governments use it. It allows visualization of data with reference to a given geographic area or formation. I am by no means an expert in it. I am simply a biologist that has learned something over the course of my education and I have learned how to adapt it to just about anything I need.

[pyagid]

1.) GPS coordinates of each gas station surveyed and its ZIP code. Please don't send me LAT/LONG coordinates as they are a PITA to input into the GIS. I need coordinates in UTM with the UTM zone as well.
2.) Price of fuel at each gas station. Break the proces down by gasoline grade if you can.
3.) Demographic information for that area IF YOU CAN GET IT. If not, I can probably find it on the internet.
4.) Predominant type of vehicle seen at a particular station at the time that you surveyed it.
5.) Any other observations that you make that you feel may be pertinent to the overall study data.
I will try to analyze the data using research-type statistics. If you can put the data into an Excel spreadsheet or a Access database, it would be most helpful. Also, if you can get information pertaining to transportation costs for gasoline in your area, that might be important as a scaling factor.
Thanks!!!

ok so for example and your research I just turned on my GPS to get the coordinates and there is a shell gas station across the street. That i could see. GOt demographics of the internerd. But put into and excel spread sheet is this what you would be looking for?
1)
i am at
18 689863E
4623831N
zip code is 06110

2)
The shell gas station across teh street has gas prices as follows
1.99
2.09
2.19

3)
Distribution Area Demographics


Businesses

5,349


Top Five Industries by # of Employees


Services 31, 891
Retail Trade 15, 188
Manufacturing 9, 764
Insurance Carriers 6,971
Construction 3,287

Consumer (Population) 126,265
Households 49, 615
Average Household Income $106, 700
Median Age 42


Education
(Percentage of Population 25 or Older)


Did Not Finish High School 10%
Finished High School Only 20%
Completed 1 to 3 Years College 22%
Completed 4 or More Years of College 48%


Age Group Distribution
(Percentage of Population)


0-4 5%
5-14 12%
15-17 4%
18-24 8%
25-34 12%
35-44 14%
45-54 16%
55-64 11%
65 and over 18%

4) A good mix of SUV's and sedans, Older american cars

5) also right off a highway exit so it is a fairly high traffic area

[jeepguy553]

PERFECT! The GPS coordinates are exactly what I need. You are in zone 18N at coordinates 689863E (meters east of the zone 18 meridian line) and 4623831N (meters north of the equator).
Tell ya what, if you make columns of that data and put it in column by column, it will be just right. I can get it into the GIS just like that and the coordinates make it EASY to lay over the quarter quads.
Thanks! Keep it coming. You can email it to me at kgaines@kestrel.tamucc.edu
EDIT: If you can find any ethnicity data, that would help too, but I may be able to find that already embedded in some data that comes bundled with ArcView GIS.

[jeepguy553]

Your ZIP comes back as W Hartford, CT. Is that right? That is what ArcView has

[pyagid]

Your ZIP comes back as W Hartford, CT. Is that right? That is what ArcView has

Yeah that is correct... I will also see if i could find ethnicity data

[jeepguy553]

I went today and found a few stations with obvious disparities just for a start on where to go this weekend. I can name stations less than 4 miles apart with as much as a 5 cent difference in the price of 87-octane crap.