Geography 291: Geospatial Analysis with Desktop GIS

Chapter 1

• A feature class is a building block for displaying geographic features on a map. Feature classes are vector data and have corresponding attributes for each feature.
• A Raster dataset is a major type of spatial data. A raster is an image made up of pixels- a common example is satellite imagery.
• A file geodatabase is a folder with the extension.gdb that stores feature classes, raster datasets, and other files. 
• A project is a file with the extension.aprx that contains one or more maps and related items.
• This tutorial was quite easy to follow, as long as I didn’t try to read too many steps at a time. This can get easily overwhelming, especially since I have never been very good with computers. Surprisingly, the step I struggled most with was exporting, although I’m not quite sure what I did wrong on my first attempt.
• Seeing the map and layers visually helped me better understand how GIS can be used for analysis. While I still don’t fully understand the process for making these maps, it’s definitely helpful to be able to pull them up and look at each layer of data
• Overall, this tutorial was quite easy to follow. However, some of the technical terms, while sort of explained, felt unapproachable to someone with little technical experience/ knowledge.
• In 1.4, I ran into an error and was unable to open the 3D map.

 

Chapter 2
2.1- I found that in this tutorial, some instructions were left out or incorrectly written, making it a bit difficult to follow along without help from another.However, the content itself wasn’t difficult.
2.2- This chapter was pretty easy to follow, although I have a habit of forgetting how to do something 30 seconds after being shown, so I managed to get through most of the tutorial without having the labels applied. Anyways, I figured it out in the end
2.3- This tutorial was a lot easier than I thought it would be initially, and only took a few minutes to do. However, I think some things in the textbook could be worded better.
2.4- I received an error message stating that I did not have a valid data source on step two and was unable to complete the tutorial.
2.5-This one was super easy and I was able to complete it in a few minutes. I’m beginning to have a better grasp on using the program.
2.6- This one was actually a lot of fun. I’ve grown more comfortable with the software, and being able to see the various layers at ease was really interesting.
2.7- This map was very interesting to analyze, and the first where I’ve really focused on the patterns being revealed.
2.8 This one was very fun to complete, and it was really cool seeing immediate results from my work.

 

Chapter 3
3.1- I followed the instructions, but for some reason, the Arts Employment map would not load in. I am unsure of what caused this error.
3.2- For some reason, the sharing feature was simply not working. The buttons it wanted me to press were fully grayed out, even though I followed all prior instructions. I am unsure if this is my fault, or an error in the program.
3.3- This tutorial just fully does not exist in my files, and I am unsure as to why.
3.4- I was able to successfully log into ArcGis online, but the sharing feature is still not working for me. Am unsure as to why, but I was unable to complete this tutorial.
Overall, this chapter was full of errors and I was unable to complete most of it.

Chapter 1

This chapter of tutorials helped me understand the foundational concepts needed to use ArcPro easily. I found the information I learned in this chapter useful in establishing the basics for navigating ArcPro for the upcoming chapters. Overall I gained a solid introduction to ArcGIS, learned how to navigate maps, worked with tables of attribute data, got an introduction to symbolizing and labeling maps, and worked with 2D and 3D maps. My favorite part was the 3D map.

Chapter 2 

This chapter had a lot of tutorials but I liked how quick they were. Here, I learned how to symbolize maps using qualitative attributes and then add labels to them, as well as how to use definition queries to create a subset of map features. The chapter also taught me how to symbolize maps using quantitative attributes, understand 3D scenes, and symbolize maps using graduated and proportional point symbols. It was also interesting to see how normalized maps are created with custom scales, how dot density maps are created, and how to add visibility ranges for interactive map use.  The only hard part about this chapter was finding the bookmarks it told the user to zoom in on in some steps. I had to keep googling parts of New York because the book just assumed I knew where West Village and Lower Manhattan were. I also really liked how colorful the maps were.

Chapter 3 

Although this felt like the longest chapter, I found this one interesting because of how it used ArcGIS online. Making the interactive reports and maps was fun. This chapter taught me how to build map layouts and charts, as well as how to share, use Map Viewer, and create and use Storymaps and Dashboards all in ArcGIS Online. 

Chapter 1- 

This chapter was doable. Starting off was a little rocky but once I got the map pulled up, I was able to start going through the experiments. The first tutorial was really helpful with orienting myself with the main pages in ArcGis Pro. I was able to do most parts of this chapter. 

Chapter 2- 

There were a few times in this chapter where I just got stuck and couldn’t finish the tutorial because I couldn’t find the button. Google helped a little. Especially in tutorial 5 of chapter 4, I couldn’t find the template symbol. But overall, I got most of the tutorials done, they just might be missing a few things. For tutorial 6, when I entered the value of 0.02 or 0.04, it would delete that column and I didn’t know how to stop it from doing that. I manually changed the percentages on the left side of the screen. 

Chapter 3- 

I successfully shared the two maps for tutorial two. But the first tutorial was kind of confusing and challenging. I got the maps labeled but couldn’t find the button for the bar graph. I tried googling and searching on ArcGis on the command search but still couldn’t find it. 

Chapter 1

1-1 This was a good introduction to navigation the Arc program. As someone who isn’t very technologically inclined it was difficult at first, but I think the book did a surprisingly good job at being clear in instructions. It was neat learning some of the basic features and I felt like I was learning a lot pretty quickly. The only issue I had was figuring out how to add a buffer, as my buffers were white and opaque, which made half of my map appear as missing.

1-2 The second project was much easier to me than the first, most likely because I was getting used to the controls and learning from a book rather than a video or live instruction. I liked seeing the raster layer and navigating the map to see different information and views. I could easily see the bookmarking being a useful feature when working on a project.

1-3 I had several issues come up where I got stuck, but was able to work through it after re-reading the book a few times. The information in the tutorial was very helpful and I could see how bringing up the statistics for something such as population density could be a useful feature.

1-4 The text symbol section took me a little bit to find (I was expecting it to fall under ‘symbology’ like in the previous step) but once I did locate it, it was pretty simple to adjust.The 3-D feature was also something completely different but very cool.

Chapter 2

2-1 This section was pretty short and straightforward compared to the others. I thought that adjusting the colors was sort of fun and helpful at the same time. It made the map look organized and easier to read.

2-2 The zone labelling took me a few minutes to figure out, as I was looking for the labelling option on the ‘content’ tab on the left when in reality it was on the top. After I figured this out, though, everything else went relatively smoothly. The labelling features make map reading super easy, clean-looking, and pleasing to the eye.

2-3 I found this tutorial to be pretty easy enough to follow. In fact, reading and completing the symbology section made me realize a mistake that I made in a previous tutorial and I could tell exactly where I went wrong. The only part that I got confused on in this tutorial was what a ‘ground feature’ was and how to make ManhattanStreets one, but otherwise I think it went well.

2-4 This tutorial started a bit strangely, as I had to ‘repair a layer’s data’, which wasn’t referred to in the books, However, it was a fairly simple fix, I just had to open the file for ‘neighborhoods’ for it to repair itself. The rest of the tutorial went flawlessly- the 3-D map was super cool and I could see it being very practical for emphasizing a pattern with visuals.

2-5 The use of graduated and proportional symbols in the symbology panel was a change from what we’ve been using. I think it’s pretty simple to navigate and can have a very cool and useful result.

2-6 I had a little bit of an issue with the rounding on this tutorial. I was able to put ‘decimal places= 0’ for the display on the contents panel, but the histogram under the symbology panel did not round at all, contrary to what the book states is supposed to happen. Interestingly enough, I had no issue with entering the upper values for the manual interval classes and histogram. The ‘swipe’ feature to reveal an underlying layer is pretty neat; I could see it being useful for presentations or just dramatic effect.

2-7 I noticed that the book is providing fewer and fewer steps for certain processes, such as opening and adjusting symbology. I haven’t had an issue with this, which shows that I’ve learned quite a bit, which is nice to think about. This tutorial was super quick and a simple introduction to dot-density maps, which are great visual tools.

2-8 This tutorial was pretty straightforward and easy for me to execute. It actually helped me understand why my labelling was acting strange in one of the earlier tutorials

Chapter 3

3-1  This tutorial was a bit of a change of pace from the map-making, so it presented a bit more difficulty for me. I was unable to find the ‘catalog’ pane and therefore unable to save the maps as a file. I also had an issue where each individual part of the legend had the bold word ‘legend’ above it instead of just at the top of each map’s whole legend, as is showed in the textbook. Fortunately, I did find creating the chart to be simple enough and was able to do so without any major issues.

3-2 This tutorial was a bit difficult for me because I could not locate the ‘MapSharing.pdf’ or even the file explorer that was supposed to contain it. However, I was able to successfully share the maps and continue the rest of the steps listed in the tutorial on my personal computer using the arcGIS website.

3-3 I quickly realized while working on this tutorial that I was supposed to open the PDF from 3-2 externally, which helps me understand how to avoid repeating the mistake. The whole create a story feature seems really cool. It’s very easy to navigate and is a clean way to present information.

3-4 This tutorial was pretty simple and I completed it without any major issues. The only note/concern I had was in the very last step, creating a menu for the dashboard, I had no ‘menu’ option after I clicked ‘add element’, which was a little confusing.

1.1 This was a good tutorial and I was glad to discover arcGIS is very similar to other programs I’ve used in terms of basic navigation and UI design, so it all felt pretty familiar.

1.2 Standard stuff, moving around the map, making different layers visible at different levels, pop-up windows and some very basic SQL.

1.3 More in depth info about using and manipulating attribute tables, fields of view for attribute data, and using the Statistics tool.

1.4 Symbols are fun! Learned how to change symbols and colors with the symbol window. Learned how to alter labels and add feature classes to the map. 3D maps are so cool. I love this.

 

2.1 Changing symbol colors, outlines etc. Learned how to change feature colors using unique values to make maps easier to understand.

2.2 Learned how to change label properties, use the conflict resolution tool to prevent overlaps, and edit/ remove pop-up windows for each layer.

2.3 Learned how to make a sub selection of data in a feature layer using SQL and changed the symbology to be more legible.

2.4 Was corrupted, did not work.

2.5  Learned how to analyze data to create symbology that displays the overlap between 2 sets of data.

2.6 Learned how to make normalized population maps and show multiple overlapping layers without turning one off.

2.7 Learned how to create a dot density map and alter the dot size and characteristics.

2.8 Learned how to set the visibility for different zoom levels on individual layers.

3.1 All of the chapter 3 files were corrupted except for 3.3 which was missing. Redownloading the files did not fix this.

Chapter 1

1.1: It took me a long time to figure out how to get the program up and running.

1.2: I am still trying to figure out how to navigate the program but the book and slides are slowly helping.

1.3: The tutorial mainly focuses on how to use the attribute table and the summary statistics tool.

1.4: I was having issues with the 3d model and being able to see it but I believe other people were going through the same issue

Chapter 2

2.1: Still getting used to GIS and how it operates. Learning to display polygons. 

2.2: Learned how to use pop ups, remove duplicate labels, and label features.

2.3: This section was easy to understand, the street icons made it very crowded.

2.4: This section was corrupt and I was unable to display the contents for the neighborhood.

2.5: I was having trouble with this section and figuring out how to have the icons appear. 

2.6:  I was having an issue changing the percentages on this section by doing it manually, I must not be noticing something but I got it as close as I could.

2.7: Was easy to navigate.

2.8: I am not really sure what this section was asking me to do but I believe I completed it, it can also be due to the fact that navigating the west village and lower manhattan seemed like an issue.

Chapter 3

3.1: I was having issues with this one, the top map kept disappearing and I am not sure what I did wrong.

3.2: This section was the easiest one out of the chapter.

3.3: I do not have tutorial 3.3, I downloaded the folder twice and it did not appear. 

3.4: This was the hardest section to do

.

Chapter 1:

Tutorial 1-1

• This tutorial served as a great introduction for learning how to navigate ArcGIS Pro. I learned how to set up projects for future use, save a project into an .aptx file, and add and remove a basemap.

Tutorial 1-2

• Learned how to use a pop up window, zoom in feature, zoom in to raster feature class, bookmarks, and search for a feature.
• 

Tutorial 1-3

• Learned how to work with attribute data, open a table, work with the fields view of an attribute table, select records and features of a map feature class, and obtain summary statistics.
• All attributes are those provided by a Census Bureau. You can change the order, names, and display names of attributes.
• 

Tutorial 1-4: This tutorial popped up with an error, so I wasn’t able to complete it

Chapter 2:

Tutorial 2-1

• Learned how to symbolize qualitative attributes and display polygons using unique value symbols
• 

Tutorial 2-2

• Learned how to label features and configure pop-ups, change label properties, remove duplicate labels, and manage pop-ups

Tutorial 2-3

• Learned how to filter with definition queries, create a definition query, and symbolize figure and ground features. 

Tutorial 2-4: 

• The layer that this tutorial wanted me to use said that it did not have a valid data source so I imported the neighborhood data set to fix this issue. Learned how to create choropleth maps for quantitative attributes, create a choropleth map, and extrude a 3D choropleth map.

Tutorial 2-5

• Learned how to display data using graduated and proportional point symbols and create a map of graduated-size points

Tutorial 2-6

• Learned how to normalize populations maps with custom scales, create a choropleth map with normalized population and custom scale, and import symbology and use swipe to compare features

Tutorial 2-7

• Learned how to create dot density map

Tutorial 2-8

• Learned how to set visibility ranges for labels and feature layers

Chapter 3:

Tutorial 3-1

• Learned how to build layout and charts, create a layout and add maps to it, resize and place maps, add guides and snap maps to the guides, insert legends, insert text, and create charts

Tutorial 3-2

• Learned how to share maps online, set properties online, share maps in ArcGIS Online, Use map viewer in ArcGIS online, change the style of a layer, and configure pop-ups

Tutorial 3-3

• Learned how to create a story in ArcGIS online, add blocks to the introduction, add a sidecar block with a map, add content for the left panel of the map, enable navigation, add credits, and previous and publish a map

Tutorial 3-4 

• Learned how to create a dashboard in ArcGIS Dashboards, add a map element to the dashboard, add a table element, adjust the dashboard, add a serial (bar) chart, add interactions to the dashboard, and finish a dashboard

 

*for some reason all of my other screenshots have disappeared, so unfortunately this is all that I could provide.

Chapter 1

1.1

Right off the bat, I like how straightforward the directions are. Though, there could be a bit more detail with where to save files… but, I understand the book may not be written to save files to hard drives.

1.2

I really appreciate how the book first tells you what tab to go to, then group, then the individual features. It makes it a lot easier to navigate things. Learning how to zoom in and out seemed a bit silly to me, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to go over that. 

1.3

I was very surprised at how many “tools” there were in the “toolbox.”

1.4

I ran into a problem in this section… when trying to open the 3D map, I got an error that said “failed to open map view.” I couldn’t figure out how to troubleshoot this so I just read the rest of the tutorial and moved onto the next section.

 

Chapter 2

2.1

Starting off chapter 2, it was refreshing to see a map other than Pennsylvania… It was getting old. It is interesting to see a map that requires a lot of zooming in to distinguish features.

2.2

This section took me two tries to get down. On my first try, my labeling got all messed up and I restarted from scratch. On my second try, I found it a lot easier. I think I was just rushing through the first time.

2.3 

This section was pretty straightforward and didn’t give me any issues. I liked experimenting with the street width and color just because it’s so detailed and can easily get overcrowded.

2.4 

I had to skip this section as well because it was not opening for me. I made sure to read the tutorial in the book though.

2.5

Chapter 2, tutorial 5 was a very straightforward section. I was overwhelmed initially when the under 18 symbols were so big but it was an easy fix.

2.6

Using the swipe feature to reveal the map underneath was very cool.

2.7

This section really explained why values of certain things are important when considering how detailed you want to be.

2.8

When I first opened this map and zoomed in and out, I noticed how cluttered the school symbols became when I zoomed out a lot, so it was nice that we fixed this in step 3.

Chapter 3

3.1

I enjoyed making the chart in 3.1. It felt like a very advanced version of making charts with google sheets in high school.

3.2

It was very cool to be able to “publish” what I was doing on Arc online. When I was trying to change the symbol color online, I couldn’t do it. I wasn’t seeing a color option like the tutorial said.

3.3

Learning how to publish work in 3.3 was pretty tedious and I was anxious for it to be over. It was pretty cool though.

3.4

3.4 was also a pretty tedious section and I am glad to be done with it.

 

 

 

Ch 1

1.1:  It took me a little bit to sort everything out as I have not used an application like this before, so getting everything started was a little shaky for me. 

1.2: I had a rough time figuring everything out, but after a while things started coming together.

1.3: Being someone that doesn’t understand numbers very well, I had to figure out what the numbers all meant (including some google searches to help me find out what the numbers mean). That was not a fun time, BUT, I’m hoping that’ll change later on once I get the full gist of it.

1.4: I was not able to see a 3D version. Others seemed to have this issue too, so that eases my mind to know I’m not missing something or doing something wrong!

Ch 2

2.1: I’m not sure if I did this 100% correctly. I understand how to change the colors, but the symbol names don’t seem to totally match what’s in the book.

2.2: It took me a bit to find where all the tabs were. I had to go back a few times to figure out how to toggle layers to see where everything is.

2.3: This step was a little unclear to me. I’m not sure if the software didn’t match up here, but I couldn’t find all the tabs.

2.4: This 3D part worked, so I’m not sure why the 3D part 1.4 didn’t. This map looked pretty cool.

2.5: I couldn’t figure out how to get the circle symbol icons to come up. The color gradient worked just fine, but I couldn’t get the circles.

2.6: I got through this part just fine, but I’m not understanding what information it’s trying to tell me. I see the labels and the differences on the map, but I feel like the differences between the two datasets were a little off. 

2.7: This part I understood and got through with ease. This information is easier to read.

2.8: I did everything right here except for the neighborhood labels. I didn’t see what the book was telling me to click on in the application.

Ch. 3

3.1: I got a little lost with the two maps and which one was supposed to be which (it said one of them twice on the application, which ever the green map pop up was). I got the heights right and had to figure out how to make the text bigger.

3.2: I logged in and figured out the site. I took a little while,to navigate the site, but got a hang of it eventually.

3.3: I struggled a bit with finding where I needed to go on the website. I didn’t really understand how this section was supposed to work.

3.4: I couldn’t find the dashboard thing like the book says. I got the map up, but some things the book said didn’t add up with what I was doing.

Chapter 1

• 1.1: Took forever to get things up and running, granted I can barely work a calculator, let alone a computer. Once things did work though, the introduction was simple and didn’t take long to finish.
• 1.2: Seeing the different variations and attributes are interesting, but it takes a long time to actually get there and get the different options selected or deselected.
• 1.3: While I do like to be able to see where the data comes from, there’s a lot of information and it takes a considerable amount of time to navigate through everything to get to the right thing.
• 1.4: The 3D view and different symbols/colors for different areas are interesting, though figuring out how to vertically rotate the 3D view was a challenge.   

Chapter 2

• 2.1: Changing the colors and the different options on the palette are cool, although the end result did not entirely look like the picture in the book.
• 2.2: Section teaches how to label features and change labels. I was not certain I did it right though as no name popped up over the West Village area.
• 2.3: Slightly more time consuming than the others as changing from tab to tab to change color and symbol is fairly tedious
• 2.4: Initially broken at first as the neighborhood content section was corrupted and had to be repaired. Was also unclear in asking to move the one tab above the 3D section and not on top of it instead.
• 2.5: A short section but it did not work. There was no template section nor an area in which I could choose different shapes from as there was prior.
• 2.6: I suppose learning how to import layers is going to be important at some point. Splitting between the two layers was interesting to see though.
• 2.7: Short so not much to say for this one other than that there is something inherently satisfying about dot graphs.
• 2.8: Short but a little confusing as I thought for a minute I had done the same thing twice in a row

Chapter 3

 

• 3.1: This one was a struggle to get through. Trying to get parts of maps and labels to snap to an axis was difficult, and a lot of different tabs to navigate through.
• 3.2: Now I’m even slightly more confused. Took me some time to figure out how to share it, but doing stuff on WebGIS rather than the actual program.
• 3.3: Took an extremely long time to do, and I’m not very confident in having my work shared online for all to see.
• 3.4: Shorter and a bit more clear in what it wanted, but halfway through I got stuck with the dashboard as I was unable to find the option to delete x and y value fields.