Geography 291: Geospatial Analysis with Desktop GIS

Ch 7: This chapter focused a lot on how to move, rotate and readjust the shape of certain images. Which reminded me of photoshop and other editing apps used for pictures. In tutorial 7-1., I learned how to move images and make them fit to their corresponding guidelines. At first I struggled with being able to move the selected item, but the book was a great reference to solve my problem. I also struggled with creating polygons in the first part of 7-3., but everything else was fine afterwards. Throughout this chapter, I learned the importance of understanding coordinates and adjusting figures on the GIS maps. Especially when the data is being used to plan or rework an area such as remodeling an old building. Both on the exterior and interior, which is one of the key takeaways I learned from this chapter. For example in tutorial 7-4., I had to analyze the inside space of the Hamburg’s Hall academic building. This activity helped me understand how GIS can be used for interior remodeling or data collection, depending on the research. I believe this is an interesting way to use this technology because it can help architects, engineers or people who use a building to work on ways to improve it. I wonder if this tool is used for any construction or remodeling project on OWU campus. For example, I heard that there is a future solar panel project on campus so I wonder if they used GIS for any planning? Nonetheless, I enjoyed learning how to readjust figures and how GIS can be used for modeling and not just statistical data analysis. This will make the software more fun and interesting to utilize.

Ch 8: This chapter emphasized the tool for geocoding on GIS. I was surprised to see that the introduction was long and how many mistakes have been made with the geocode. One of the major errors of this  process is the misinformation it can create. The introduction mentioned that geocode can interpret misspelled words which can convey inaccurate data. Even though there has been software to solve this problem, it can still be challenging to accurately obtain results. Additionally, I was also surprised to see that this was a short chapter and that there were not a lot of tutorials for geocoding. As the name suggests, these tutorials reminded me a lot about programming because I had to input a lot of information in order to run the feature. In programming, I know that one has to also input specific data and values to obtain the results they want. Another aspect of this tutorial that I noticed was the common use of Pennsylvania as an example. I previously mentioned this in another post, but I am still surprised that New York and Pennsylvania are the main locations we use for these tutorials. I wonder if that was set up so that it would make the data and tutorials easier to understand, or is it just a coincidence? I wonder if in the future tutorials a western state will be mentioned, because I do not recall one being mentioned. Regardless, I enjoyed learning about geocoding and how information learned from the tutorials can be applied on any GIS software.

Ch 9:  Finally, the final chapter of this week’s tutorial focused on spatial analytical methods of the GIS software, such as buffers. This reminded me of a previous tutorial where it also focused on how to create and apply buffers on the software. However, this chapter focused on the different methods of spatial data so the section was broad and less focused on buffers. It was interesting to see how the distance of buffers can visually change the map. For example, in tutorials 9-1., to 9-4., exemplifies how buffers change the map through colors and shapes. Such as in 9-3., where the buffers added color to the map while representing different data in specific areas. This was also used for the other tools such as the data cluster and network analysis to define certain features and areas. I remember that Schuurman described his concern for misinterpreting data from GIS because everyone has a different perspective. Especially if the data does not use a legend to explain the difference between each color. I wonder if some people would prefer aesthetically pleasing visuals on the map instead of practicality. I know some people are more creative than others so would they have a preference on the colors used for representing the data? Perhaps there should be a guideline on how the colors should be interpreted when using GIS. This question may be out of topic, but it was something that I was curious about after following the tutorial and noticing the different colors used. I really enjoyed this week’s tutorial and I hope to keep improving my GIS and technical skills. 

Chapter Six 

 This chapter taught us the Geopreocessing tools. I learned to edit and create polygon features. My favorite part was moving the buildings around. I used CAD drawings to adjust various features. I think the best part of this chapter is that it didn’t feel like I was just following steps, but could see a real purpose. These tools would be great to update maps but also to see how particular features could fit into existing places. For example, if I wanted to look at laying new pathways through the campus, this would be a really helpful way to do it. 

Chapter 8

I practiced geocoding. I learned the main components of geocoding. When reading the introduction to this chapter I learned that there is an algorithm to help with spelling errors. A score is provided when a search is run and has penalty points for problems. This helps to select the best candidate according to what was searched for. This made me wonder if this is how Google Maps looks for the closest match when a misspelling is given. For example I live on County Road 11. Further down the road, the name changes. However, in Google Maps, they suggest the name of the road, further down (actually a different county), as the intended address. It also makes me wonder how this gets corrected. 

Chapter 9

In this chapter I learned how to apply the spatial analysis tools for real world applications. Buffers and multiple-ring buggers are used to measure proximity. I was able to create service areas. I used ArcGis Network Analyst to locate places with constraints and observe patterns. 

Chapter 7:

Chapter seven focuses on creating polygon features, digitize point features, using cartography tools to smooth features, CAD drawings, and spatially adjusting features. Tutorial 7-1 has you edit polygon features to select a specific university building. It has you do this feature to multiple different buildings, with complex shapes and sizes. Into 7-2, the focus is on adding a feature class to polygons. Adding a feature class allows for a select tool along the contents pane that can be clicked on and off for each item you want highlighted. In this chapter it focuses on parking lots. The parking lot highlighted below in red was relatively simple. The only slight issue I had was finding how to make the background color transparent. Into the next steps, it showed us how to remove buildings as the map is updated. One thing I noticed about this specific map was it had been further updated since the book and there was another building still labeled that needed deleted. I went ahead and also deleted that one to get the most accurate map, as well as some more practice. Overall, I have noticed multiple times this semester that many steps are not accurate to the book and the wording has changed, or the map within the software. This has lead to multiple moments of confusion for me using the GIS software. The final step of this tutorial was to outline the main campus portion using snapping. The snapping feature was much easier than the previous selecting, and made the shape much more accurate. This was helpful for the next steps when it had you take the measurements. The next few tutorials were very similar with outlining different buildings and landmarks in different circumstances. This chapter was extremely helpful to learn more about the special features of GIS.

Chapter 8:

Chapter eight focuses on learning about geocoding. This includes geocoding zip codes and addresses using streets. The tutorial I did for this chapter was 8-1, however this one took a lot of time and gave me multiple difficulties. The first step was building a zip code locator. I was able to do this, but I was confused on the next few steps when it was having us fix certain zip codes. I was able to get the red circles and view the tables and the data pretty easily, which was helpful in this long tutorial. I also was able to symbolize the dot very easily, this step has been used in almost all of our GIS chapter so far. While I had confusion in the unmatched zip codes, I was able to figure it out. I think the reason some step similar to these has given me confusion over the semester is due to the chapter not clearly explaining the reason behind these steps and what it is really used for. However, the book continues to have clear explanations over. The next few steps had us using the same tutorial data, but showing it on different base maps. I liked looking at the separate maps it allows us to use, it was very interesting. The final step was symbolizing using the Collect Events tool. This gave me a lot of trouble this tutorial. I opened up the tool like it said, and attempted to type everything the book states, however the book options were not available and kept failing when I tried to run them. I messed around and used the provided options of what I thought it would be, but each time it would fail and say the folder was wrong. This was another instance I found when the book was not accurate to the computer, and do to not having a full grasp of the technology I did not know how to figure it out on my own.

Chapter 9:

This was the final chapter of this week, and entered the third part of the book that focuses applying more advanced GIS technologies. Chapter nine’s focus was spatial analysis and shows us how to use buffers, multiple-ring buffers, create service areas of facilities, and preform cluster analysis. I focused on Tutorial 9-1 for this chapter. The focus of this tutorial was using buffers for proximity analysis. It starts by showing us how to use the Pairwise Buffer tool, which allows us to find what is in proximity to the feature being buffered. For this one, it has us create a buffer around the pools in Pittsburg. I had no trouble in the first step and was able to create the blue buffer pictured below. This was a really cool feature and made it really easy to visualize where all the pools are. It then had us use block centroids to sum the number of youths. This opened up the teal circles and the graph pictured below. I also had no trouble with this step. For the Your Turn portion of this tutorial, it asked to create a mile buffer around the pools. I attempted this by adding the same commands, but changing Distance to 1 U.S. Survey Mile. This created a new and larger buffer around the blue circles. However, the buffer looked much different from the picture and took up more space which makes me wonder what the correct measurements would be or if anything else needed changed. It moves on and shows us how to create multiple ring buffers using the same data. Overall, this chapter was relatively simple compared to the last chapter.

Chapter 7:

I found this chapter really fun, especially during the sections on creating, deleting and smoothing polygon features. I feel like this specific part of the textbook will be extremely helpful to me for the final portion of the course as I apply what I’ve learned in imaginary GIS applications. This chapter leaned more towards manipulating and creating your own data points and polygons rather than working on ones we’ve been given thus far. While being one of the shorter chapters, I feel like this is the one I will be applying the most.

 

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Chapter 8:

Chapter 8 was also one of the shortest chapters we have had to do for the course, and it provided a lot of useful information about geocoding (a GIS process that matches location fields in tabular data to corresponding fields in existing feature classes) using zip codes. It also gave a step-by-step guide on how to geocode using street addresses using the sample data we were given. A key step in this process is knowing how to use the Geoprocessing tool on different data layers, which the textbook explained in great detail. I will be referring to this chapter a lot in the future, not just during the final but in my other courses that require a base level understanding of GIS.

 

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Chapter 9:

I found this chapter extremely interesting, as it gave me a lot of the base level information I will need to complete the Final for this course. It explained how to create and use buffers for proximity analysis, as well as how to use multi-ring buffers. Buffers can be very useful to policy-makers when they want to visualize the number of people who could be affected by a specific policy, as well as estimating travel distance or time on a street network. Learning to use the Pairwise Buffer tool, the Multivariate Clustering tool and how to perform Network Analyses was very helpful to me, and I will be applying a lot of this knowledge in my Final.

Chapter 7

This was my favorite chapter!

I have to admit, the idea of creating features within the software was something I one hundred percent expected to be brought up way earlier. Although I do not understand its placement I found the activities in this chapter to be rather fun and rewarding. The whole thing was reminding me of a course I took in High School about using Autodesk Inventor and I was very easily able to apply what I have learned from then to this.

The different selections necessary to execute the activities were far less impressive. It seemed that after moving/adjusting the polygons, I had to click like three things in three different toolbars to get back to the standard “click and move” function. This was highly annoying, but not nearly as bad as the ways to edit the properties of the polygons themselves. I would have appreciated a much more simpler form of  changing the names of these campus buildings to something vaguely funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 8

Very short chapter with very little in my opinion to write home about. (Ironically, I am writing about it.)

Chapter eight mainly had tutorials on how to mark different postal codes and street addresses within the map software using the examples of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. Despite how short the chapter was, I found the methods used in the books to be rather finicky and many times it made references to toolbars or menus that I swear to god I have never heard of before and to which the search/help function on ARCGISPRO gave little help on.

Chapter 9

Final chapter!

I was very much so intimidated going into this chapter as the textbook labeled this as an “advanced application” or something like that but frankly, it was not all that bad. It was a pretty average chapter all things concerned. Chapter nine just discussed proximity analysis and how to use buffers and other maps to cross reference data with it. The example in particular used locations of town pools as well as locations of possible customers to the pools.

GIS Tutorial for ArcGIS Pro: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 focuses a lot on how to create, move, and edit different shapes, features, and buildings. The part that I enjoyed learning about the most was how to move the vertices on different buildings, and how to construct them in a way that makes a new shape. Going through Tutorial 7-1 was a little confusing at first because it had me using some new tools that I hadn’t used before. It focused on doing renovations for a new and improved campus center on a college campus. 

Tutorial 7-1 had me working through different polygons, cartography tools, and learning how to spatially adjust different features. Like I mentioned before, it was a little confusing to me at first. One of the main questions I had coming out of this chapter was physically selecting the buildings for rotating/moving the polygons. I think I messed up somewhere along the way because it just kept making the whole building blue when I clicked on it. I basically just had to retrace my steps through that part of the process and then it worked. After that, learning about how to move features and split the buildings was neat! I liked using the Geoprocessing tools and the Attribute Tables in order to change different aspects of the map. 

The tutorials continued with learning how to use the different cartography tools, creating physical polygon features on a map, and viewing layers on a CAD drawing. I liked how this chapter used a lot of different tools and taught me how to search for different things as well. The World Imagery database was also cool to look at; I liked how it showed the buildings on CMU’s campus as transparent. I think the part I found most useful about this chapter was the cartography tools, and I think that I will be using those on my final project. I have attached three screenshots of my work throughout this chapter. 

GIS Tutorial for ArcGIS Pro: Chapter 8

Moving on through Chapter 8 showed me that I had to read the beginning of the chapter slowly in order to comprehend everything. There was a lot of data and information that we had to go through, and reading the beginning part was especially helpful for this particular chapter. The tutorials themselves did not take long, but there was a lot to understand beforehand. I do think knowing about streets and addresses from the previous chapters definitely helped my understanding. For these tutorials, we focused on different Pennsylvania zip codes and addresses, and how to manipulate them using the Create Locator tool. 

Tutorial 8-1 had a lot of emphasis on sorting by zip code based on an arts event. I liked this part of the chapter because it allowed me to fix the data on the Create Locator tool. This tool became incredibly useful, and I liked how I was able to do the “Your Turn” and experiment with it. I do think that I had issues with sorting the Status on the Attribute Table, because I did not get the same results at first. However, I was able to go back and fix it pretty easily. The Matched and Unmatched areas were slightly hard to understand and work with for me. The collecting events went well and I thought that was neat!

This chapter had me doing a lot of different data analyses with a lot of different tools. I liked that because I feel like I have a good grasp on where everything is located, which will be helpful for my future project. Matching the street numbers and addresses was useful, but I do not think I will end up needing that for my project. I am interested in how we can create different layers, colors, and still be able to see the data through those things. We have already covered this in different chapters, but it’s one of the things I am most interested in. I have attached screenshots of my work throughout this chapter. 

GIS Tutorial for ArcGIS Pro: Chapter 9

I’m going to be honest here, I thought the buffers were so cool. I loved making them bigger or smaller depending on what radius was needed, and it was just very neat to see on the map. ArcGIS Network Analysis was the biggest aspect I took away from this chapter, because it allowed me to locate facilities without too much extra work. I also liked how these tutorials were not super long, but they were definitely in-depth and showed me how to use the tools needed. It also gave me a good idea of how I could go back and re-do my work if needed. 

Tutorial 9-1 and 9-2 were my favorites out of this chapter. Like I said, I enjoyed looking at the buffers and how they were affected by different data. However, a big question I had throughout this involved the ages of the pool use. I am just curious to know what the map would look like with maybe a different range, or even with a different data set. It would definitely be different for adults, and I was thinking about my project while using this tool. I would be able to use this for any kind of wildlife hotspot, depending on what I plan to create. We also had to use the Select By Location tool, which I used in chapter 7 as well to select the polygons on different buildings. I had a little trouble selecting the actual features because I clicked in the wrong place. 

Overall, I think this chapter was the most fun and useful for me. It was neat in Tutorial 9-3 that I was able to look at the different travel times and examine which ones were ideal or not. The Properties feature on each map has been very useful, and I feel like we spend a lot of time using those tools. It also taught me how to make graphs based on maps and tables, while using the Network Analysis tool. The Your Turn sections are useful because they actually allow me to try it with minimal instruction! Overall, this section wasn’t too confusing and I enjoyed it. I have attached screenshots of my work throughout this chapter. 

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 mostly involved working with the attribute tables and understanding how the data is stored inside the file geo database. Before this chapter, I did not fully comprehend the extent to which GIS works with tables and data. As I opened the attribute tables as part of the tutorials, I realized that every feature on the map has rows and columns attached to it. This made me comprehend that the map is only half the work; the data that is associated with it is just as important. As part of the tutorials, I got to work with the attribute tables to sort the fields, view different columns, and comprehend the meaning of each field. I also got to work with the Select By Attributes tool to select data based on different criteria. The SQL statements were new to me. I had to ensure that I spelled the fields correctly and entered the correct value. If I made a small mistake, nothing would be selected. As I got to select different things like burglaries that occurred in a particular month, I realized the extent to which attribute queries are powerful. I also got to work with the field calculator and exporting the tables. I was a bit confused as I had to work with different tools that had similar names. I was not always sure which tool to use. I had to try it a few times before getting it right. The “Your Turn” sections were a bit difficult as the instructions were not as detailed. As part of Chapter 4, I realized that GIS is not all about working with the maps. It is also about working with the data that is associated with the maps.

Chapter 5

Chapter 5 dealt with map projections and coordinate systems. I didn’t quite grasp the significance of map projections at first. However, once I started experimenting with different map projections using ArcGIS Pro, I understood how a map changes depending on its projection. I realized that it would be impossible to accurately depict the Earth on a flat surface. I learned about various world projections too as well as those commonly used in the United States. I utilized the Map Properties window to learn about coordinate systems. I learned that coordinate systems play a crucial role in displaying data. In this chapter, I also learned about how to add a vector layer and work with tables. I had to learn how to add data to ArcGIS Pro, making sure that I had done it correctly. I realized that if I had not organized my files well, I would be in a worse position. I learned about how to work with tables, as well as how to join tables to spatial data. I learned that this chapter was conceptual and that map projections are not just something you select and forget. I learned that they play a crucial role in how you view your maps. Another part of the chapter in this section that stood out to me was the ability of the different layers to appear together even if they were originally given a different coordinate system. I learned that even though the program can automatically change the data display in the map, it does not mean that everything is lined up correctly. This made me realize that I need to be more aware of the properties of the different layers rather than assuming they will automatically match. Another thing that stood out in the chapter was the importance of the projection depending on the size of the area that the map covers. A world map and a city map cannot be the same projection if accuracy is a priority.

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 dealt with various tools that are utilized to alter or change spatial data. I learned about various tools such as Clip, Extract, Merge, and Dissolve. With the tutorials, I learned how to choose a certain area and then use the Clip tool to create a new layer that only includes data within the boundaries of the area. It took a few attempts to get it right because sometimes I would choose the wrong input or save the wrong output in the wrong location. Once the error was corrected and the tool was executed correctly, it was nice to see the new layer appear. Another tool I got to work with was the Dissolve tool, which allows features to be combined based on shared information. This reminded me of Chapter 4 because the attribute data plays a part in the combination of the features. If the data is different, they will not be able to be dissolved together. The “Your Turn” sections were a little more independent, and I had to really think about what the tool was doing instead of just following the instructions. Although I did receive some error messages, they were mostly because of a mistake that I had made. Chapter 6 taught me about the ability of GIS to transform data, not just display it. It made me feel comfortable using the geo processing tools in ArcGIS Pro. The other thing I noticed in this chapter is that it is essential to be careful about where you save the output. I noticed a few times that I had saved a new layer in the wrong place, which would later be hard to find. I realized that it is as important to be organized as it is to be able to run a tool successfully. I also began to understand that most of my errors were not because the tool was hard to work with, but because I had made small mistakes. I learned to be patient with this tool as I read this chapter.

Chapter 4:

This was a difficult chapter for me to navigate, and it took me a while to fully understand what parts of the tutorial would ask of me. I was constantly going back and having to retrace my steps in the 4-2 tutorial, but it was cool to learn how to use the tables more, and this chapter definitely made me feel much more confident in understanding specifics like attribute tables and SQL queries. The repetition is very helpful. I had a few issues with the “tracts” area, calculating them and sorting parts. I googled a few parts of it and seemed to get back on track, though.

Chapter 5:

This chapter went much faster for me; a lot of it was simple configurations of maps. It was really repetitive, and the tutorials went by really fast, but it was still cool to do. 5.1 and 5.2 were quick, doing simple map projections, and the your turn sections made sense. 5.4 and 5.5 took me a bit longer; there were simply some parts where it would ask me to click something that wasnt there because I had skipped over a part by accident, or the files would get a bit confusing to look at, and I’d have to back track. In 5.5, I took some time trying to add data to my map, for some reason, it wouldn’t load for me, and I had to try and figure out why it wouldn’t show up. My add join tool was also acting up, but I was able to work around it. There was lots of inputting data in this section, so I feel a lot more comfortable with doing the inputs and outputs now. My map didn’t come out exactly like how the tutorial looks, but I think I still did most of it correctly. In 5.6, I had trouble because I accidentally pressed USA NLCD annual Land Cover instead of legacy, and it messed up my whole map, so it’s definitely important to pay close attention to each title you press, even if they’re similar. I got a good grasp on census data, too.

Chapter 6:

I liked this chapter and its tutorials; it was very easy to follow and use the search bar to complete things and follow along with every part it asked for. The geoprocessing sections helped me a lot since I was confused on that a bit in the last chapter. I liked that these tutorials were quicker to follow, but I wish there were longer “your turn” sections to help me apply what I learned. I only got a bit lost with the whole Tabulate Intersection part at the end of 6, but it was really helpful to learn through these chapters and apply new data to things.

Chapter 4: File Geodatabases

Chapter 4 focused on working with file geodatabases and managing attribute data within ArcGIS Pro. I learned that a file geodatabase acts as a container that stores feature classes and tables in an organized way. It is more efficient than simply storing shapefiles in folders because it keeps related datasets structured together. This chapter felt more technical than earlier ones, but I can see how important it is for long-term data management.

One of the main skills I practiced was carrying out attribute queries using SQL. Writing expressions in the Select By Attributes tool required precision. If I missed parentheses or used the wrong operator, the query would not run correctly. It reminded me of coding because everything has to be exact. Once I understood the structure better, it became easier to filter specific crime incidents and visualize patterns on the map.

I found the crime data analysis especially interesting. It made me think about how GIS can be used in public safety and urban planning. However, I still want to strengthen my understanding of SQL beyond just following tutorial steps. Overall, this chapter helped me understand how spatial features connect to tabular data behind the scenes.

Chapter 5: Spatial Data

Chapter 5 focused on spatial data and coordinate systems. I learned the difference between geographic coordinate systems (latitude and longitude) and projected coordinate systems, which transform the earth onto a flat surface. Changing projections in ArcGIS Pro helped me see how maps can look very different depending on which system is used.

The world projection exercises were interesting because they showed that every projection has some level of distortion. There is no perfect projection — it depends on what you are trying to preserve, such as area or shape. I also learned more about shapefiles and how they are made up of multiple components (.shp, .dbf, .shx). Understanding this helped clarify why datasets sometimes fail to load properly.

Working with Census TIGER data was one of the more practical parts of the chapter. Downloading and importing external spatial data showed how GIS integrates multiple data sources. This chapter helped me better understand how spatial data is structured and why projections matter for analysis accuracy.

Chapter 6: Geoprocessing

Chapter 6 focused on geoprocessing tools and spatial analysis. This chapter felt more applied compared to the previous ones. I used tools such as Pairwise Dissolve, Intersect, Clip, and Union to manipulate spatial layers. Dissolving block groups into neighborhoods using summary statistics helped me understand how data can be aggregated meaningfully.

I found Select By Location particularly interesting because it selects features based on spatial relationships rather than attribute values. This reinforced that GIS analysis is both spatial and statistical. The exercise involving populations with disabilities and fire company boundaries stood out to me because it showed how GIS can support emergency response planning and equitable resource distribution.

At the beginning of the semester, I did not fully understand what geoprocessing meant. Now I feel much more comfortable navigating the toolbox and using different tools together. While I still rely on the search bar sometimes, my confidence with the software has definitely improved.

Chapter 4:

An accidental benefit of this chapter was becoming more familiar with my file explorer. I had to restart Tutorial 4-1 because I was struggling a bit to create filepaths, but I got the hang of it after a bit. This chapter also helped me get a lot better at working with attribute tables. It’s becoming more intuitive, and I’m beginning to sense patterns and use keyboard shortcuts. 🙂

In Tutorial 4-5, I was intrigued by what the tutorial meant when it said we wanted to calculate central points instead of centroids. After doing a quick internet search, I realized that it is important for tracts of irregular shape. In some cases, the technical “centroid” of an irregular shape might fall outside of the boundaries of the shape. Therefore, opting to choose a “central point” that looks good visually is accurate enough for this map. I followed through with the central points method that the tutorial suggested, but out of curiosity I tested what would happen if I left these dots as centroids.

Figure 4.1: Graduated Symbols Map of Burglaries by Neighborhoods–as displayed by centroid points. Notice the dots circled in green are located on tract lines or in a completely different tract from the one they are representing. This is why we select the “Inside” option to display general, more visually intuitive central points.

Figure 4.2: Pittsburgh Serious Crimes Summer 2015. I changed the symbol shape for each type of crime, which makes the map a bit more visually intuitive.

Personally, I think the map in Figure 4.2 still looks a little clunky. For the purpose of the tutorial and for noticing general trends it’s fine, but if I were to use this map to discuss trends, I might create sub-symbols (especially for Larceny-Theft crimes) or summarize the data with graduated colors or even numerical values.

Chapter 5:

I enjoyed the beginning of this chapter. As the tutorial walked me through how to import files to the geodatabase, navigate my file explorer, and convert files into various formats, I did ok.

The first few tutorials dealing with map and coordinate system projections were kinda boring. I understand why maintaining a consistent map projection is important, but to be honest, I felt like it was a lot of repetitive work to change projection status for every layer. On the county/regional level it’s not really necessary, but I did realize just how crucial this extra check is when looking at a national or global map.

Figure 5.1: New York School Districts (light gray outline) and Libraries (green dots).

As the chapter went on, I began to have some trouble completing the tutorials. I guess all of the file downloading and transferring was not super intuitive to me. There were several times when I realized that I had completed a previous step incorrectly and had to retrace my steps. In particular, I had a bit of trouble figuring out the Add Join feature during Tutorial 5-5. I don’t think my join worked completely, because I could not transfer the tracts data correctly, so my choropleth maps were a little off. However, from looking at the maps in the tutorial, it appears that men bike to work around Minneapolis from a larger radius than women.

Figure 5.2: Hennepin County Land Use. I notice that the (south)eastern portion of the county is mostly developed land (because of the proximity to the city of Minneapolis) while the western portion of the county is more cropland and water.

I hope to further develop the skills that I began to learn in this chapter. I think being able to import my own data from websites like those used in the tutorials will be crucial to any personal work I might do with GIS.

Chapter 6:

Thankfully, this chapter *did* help me improve the skills that were troubling me last chapter. This section focused on geoprocessing, and I spent a lot of time working with merging, clipping, and uniting to analyze spatial data patterns. I’m getting a lot better at working with filepaths, and I’m anticipating patterns when it comes to determining input fields and other criteria while running tools. All of the processes I learned in this chapter seem super useful!

Figure 6.1: Manhattan Streets clipped to fit within the Upper West Side tract. The Clip tool seems super helpful with geoprocessing techniques when different layers don’t automatically coincide with each other.

Figure 6.2: Upper West Side Manhattan Fire Company Service Areas (black outline) overlaid on Tracts (graduated colors). Yellow-highlighted numbers indicate the amount of disabled people in each tract, but because the tracts do not align with the fire company service polygons, more processing has to be done to determine the amount of disabled people in each tract.

As mentioned in the tutorial, the neighborhood tracts and areas each fire company serves do not line up perfectly. That means that some tracts will be split in terms of service, so just from looking at the map we cannot determine exactly how many disabled people are served by each fire company. However, by running Summary Statistics, I was able to determine this. The results are shown in the attribute table in Figure 6.2.