Geography 291: Geospatial Analysis with Desktop GIS

Chapter 4

In Chapter 4, I learned how to import, transform, and manage data using a file geodatabase.
I also practiced applying Python expressions and SQL queries to calculate and edit fields, as well as joining tables for efficient analysis.
I found it especially interesting that queries can be used to narrow down suspects in crime data.

 

Chapter 5

This chapter explains how to work with spatial data by learning about geographic coordinate systems, map projections, vector and census data, and how GIS uses location information to analyze and understand spatial phenomena. I was able to follow the steps up to Tutorial 5-4, but in Tutorial 5-5, even though I created and downloaded the Excel file, an error occurred and I couldn’t complete it.

 

Chapter 6

In this chapter, I dissolved block group polygons to create neighborhoods, fire battalions, and divisions, extracted neighborhoods using attributes to form a study area, and used that area to extract features from other layers. I also learned how to calculate street lengths for fire service, which was interesting. I was able to learn this chapter smoothly.

Saving Project Name

 

Project (next to map,insert, analysis, etc tab) → save project as

 

Name Tutorial number Name.aprx

 

Displaying a Map

 

Bookmarks→map of choice

 

Basemaps

 

Basemaps = layers for what you wish to represent (rivers, topography, etc)

 

Contents Pane

 

View + Pane = select contents 

 

Contents = selector for what layers you wish to eliminate and keep 

 

Catalog Pane

 

 View tab → windows group → Catalog Pane

 

Allows for easy access to all project components

 

Export Layer tool

 

Share tab (after project, map, insert, etc under the logo in left top corner) → export layer

 

Saving Images

 

1. On the File Type drop-down menu, click PNG.

 

1. For Name, click the Browse button, browse to save the file to your top, and rename it FQHCAndUrgentCareClinics.png.

 

150. For Resolution, type 150.

 

1. On the Color Depth drop-down menu, click 24-bit True Color.

 

1. Click Export to run the tool.

 

T: 1-2 Navigating Map Display

 

Navigation of Map

 

Map tab→full extent→explore button = center map/info on features

 

Bottom right buttons do things

 

Wheel button Zooms in 

 

Map Back button

 

Map tab→Navigate→ arrows

 

Turing all Feature classes on/off = ctrl on press hold + check box click = on/off for all

 

Bookmarks

 

Bookmarks = zooms to thing you select

 

Creating new bookmarks = bookmarks (navigate) + new bookmark + name

 

Manage bookmarks = bookmarks (navigate) + manage bookmarks

 

Selecting Attributes data = Right clicking + attribute table + select by attribute = where + Name + is equal to + location 

 

Week 4 Pics

 

Chapter 1

• It is important to have a base map so that way it can help orient the users location. 
• When working with layers you can see what order the features are draw in by going to the contents pane. 
• To be able to look at attributes you can look at attribute tables. 
• When using GIS you need to be able to do symbolizing which can help organize different features on the map. 

Chapter 2

• Some different graphic elements that are important on maps are lines. Shaded areas, symbols and text.
• You can shade text to prioritize different letters or numbers. 
• A choropleth map uses colors in polygons to represent number values since it is hard for the human eye to distinguish small changes in graphic elements.
• Dot density maps usually display a total number randomly across a statistical unit. 
• When looking at features on a map you can turn different feature layers off and on using visibility ranges.

 

 

 

Chapter 3

-When you start a layout it starts out blank so you can add one or two maps.

 -When adding maps you can use guide lines to line up the map(s), titles, and keys/legend.

– You can also use layouts that can be exported to show people who do not use Gis and to use in other software if needed. 

– You can also view the same maps on different devices. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 1 – This chapter really focused on just the basics of ArcGIS and learning how to use it. It helped me learn how to navigate basic maps and work with different types of data and tables. This chapter was really helpful in learning how you can incorporate symbols and labels into your maps as well and how you can work with things like 2D and 3D maps. It was overall just a super basic introduction to the technology and mapping.

Chapter 2 – This chapter was more focused on map design and details. So this incorporated those symbols and labels a lot more that we learned about in chapter 1. It also went into more detail on the maps and their features. This chapter also dealt more with the 3D mapping and showed how we can move the map around to look at it in different ways. This chapter also helped in learning how to create dot density diagrams within a map and other custom scales for visibility ranges.

Chapter 3 – This chapter was probably the most in detail with learning how to build maps and charts. This chapter had you start out with the maps that we worked on previously and you had to label them and everything and then you actually share the maps online and build a dashboard that you will do mapping work with. It goes into detail with labeling your dashboard with everything and you include the map, pie chart, table, and bar chart. All of which have the information you need for that specific map and dashboard in general. And you can see all the work on your content on ArcGIS.

Chapter 1

I found this chapter to be the easiest by far. My biggest takeaway from Chapter 1 was the importance of the “contents” tab, and I quickly learned that most functions run through this feature. Another important feature was the “catalog” pane, through which many of the major functions are run. Finally, I realized the importance of using layers and raster layers in the contents pane, how to zoom in and out, as well as how to use attribute tables. Overall, the content in this chapter was pretty straightforward, and I only encountered minor issues when I didn’t read the directions closely enough.

Chapter 2

Chapter 2 was significantly more challenging than Chapter 1, but I found it to be equally as interesting and useful. Some things I found that seemed important were: adding labels and editing text, polygon symbols, and creating pop-ups. I also began to learn the importance of the Symbology pane, how to make a 3D visualization of a map, and how to make a density dot map. I found editing text to be difficult at first, especially adding holo to the edges of the text, but I got the hang of it with a little practice. 

Chapter 3

I found this chapter to be a little harder than Chapter 1, but easier than Chapter 2. Creating bar charts and line graphs was fairly easy, but I found formatting the graphs to the page to be somewhat difficult, especially adding guides to the page, which took me a minute to figure out. I had no problems sharing maps online and creating stories in StoryMaps. 

Chapter 1:

-After installing the software and downloading the tutorial files, I imported the first file and began completing the lessons.

-I learned how to go to a bookmark as well as turn on and off layers by selecting them in the contents page. 

-Switching basemaps allows you to overlay the data onto a variety of map backgrounds which can be useful for focusing on specific features.

-By Changing the layer order in the content pane, you can change which layers appear on top of which others

-You can create, save and export specific layouts for your maps in a variety of formats and settings.

-You can see all the attributes for a data type by using the attributes table, and sort the table by ascending or descending values.

-You can select data using the attributes table and generate summaries using different statistical tools.

-I learned how to change and add symbols signifying the location of various data points, as well as how to label data points.

-I also learned how to view and navigate the 3D map projection, and how to switch between map types using the catalog pane.

 

Chapter 2:

-I learned how to set the color and fill for various features, as well as how to set them based on specific attributes, such as zoning attribute

-By labeling specific features, you can add additional information, in conjunction with using fill colors and borders

-You can also remove these labels for certain features only, or remove those of them that are redundant. 

-By performing a search query, you can narrow down the range of a certain data set based on attribute, and using boolean operators add or reduce the selection using other attributes to select only the desired data.

-I learned how to make choropleth maps to summarize numerical data and display the results as easier to understand heatmaps, as well as how to extrude them using the 3D view.

-Using graduated data points can help show the proportional differences in quantities or sizes between different features of the same type on a map.

-Choropleth maps can also be normalized by using percentages, which can more accurately display certain types of data, and by using dot density maps, multiple attributes can be displayed on one map at the same time, using different color dots for each attribute.

-Finally, visibility ranges can be useful for hiding certain features at different zoom amounts, and altering the detail level based on how much of the map is in view.

Chapter 3:

• I learned how to create custom layouts that can be exported to be used in other softwares, or shown to non GIS users.
• Many arrangements, sizes and styles exist for the layouts, and multiple maps, along with legends and other text can be combined in a single layout.
• Various types of charts can be created as well, to illustrate trends in the data in ways that a map could not.
• Maps can also be shared online to be viewed on a different device or by others.
• I learned about making interactive maps using the storymaps feature, and how you can create dashboards, which allows you to interact with the data in a predetermined way, and build toolkits for specific use cases. (Such as the city debris collection one from the tutorial.)

Chapter 1

This was a good introduction for how to use GIS program. As this was my first time using a software like this, I found it very confusing at first. By time I got to the end of the chapter I was starting to understand how to work the program. The different layers and understanding how they all work was a key point I got from this chapter. The part I found the hardest was probably understanding the hard drive and how to transfer stuff in to start the tutorials.

Chapter 2

This chapter was cool due to how I learned how to kind of categorize things on the map based on what it is and make them different colors. I can make it so I can easily see the spatial differences in a map. This helped me to fully understand the importance of GIS and how it is truly used in the real world. I had a few difficulties with this and learned how to problem solve through the software. My computer kept saying error and so finding the problem and fixing it was a challenge.

Chapter 3

This chapter helped me to figure out how to share the information to an external source and make it understandable without having the GIS knowledge or software at your disposal. This chapter also went the quickest and was the easiest for me. I also struggled with this chapter a little bit as I used my personal laptop instead of the computer lab desktops which switching over, I had to relearn or figure some things out as they appear slightly different on my laptop.

Overall, these three chapters were a very good introduction to the GIS software, and I found it all very intriguing. The book does a very good job of explaining the process and breaking it down step by step.

Week four was all about introducing the program by physically going through several tutorials on how to operate and understand it. I read the preface, chapter 1, chapter 2, and chapter 3 and did the corresponding tutorials with each section. 

Chapter 1:

Chapter one was the beginning of making/using maps on ArcGIS. This is the first time I have done anything like this so there was definitely a learning curve involved but overall this chapter was easy to follow along and understand. A few things this chapter focused on were base maps and layers, navigating the program/controls, attribute data, and symbolizing maps. I really like the format of this book because as someone who is completely new to this, it doesn’t feel overwhelming and everything is laid out in very simple steps.

Chapter 2:

The goal of chapter two is to learn how to design and symbolize thematic maps. It worked through choosing layers and using spatial context in your map. This chapter was a little more difficult for me as it had more content and started to become more complex but overall it was still easy to follow and laid out well. Things that were learned in this chapter included symbolizing qualitative attributes, labeling features and configuring pop ups, filtering with definition queries, creating choropleth maps for quantitative attributes, displaying data using graduated and proportional point symbols, normalizing population maps with custom scales, creating dot density maps, and setting visibility ranges. In section 2.8 I was having trouble with the visibility range and finding “Out Beyond” as an option where only min and max scale were there. This chapter was helpful in seeing how easy it is to read the maps once you understand what you are looking at/what they are representing.

Chapter 3: 

Chapter three focuses on sharing maps beyond ArcGIS users and with people who don’t have advanced GIS or mapping knowledge. This chapter was heavy on using elements in the ArcGIS online browser and showed how to use many of the available features. Things that were learned in this chapter include how to build layouts and charts, sharing maps online, creating a story in ArcGIS StoryMaps, and creating a dashboard in ArcGIS Dashboards. Overall, I thought this chapter was really helpful in showing how what we are learning can be used in real life.

Chapter 1: This chapter was very helpful in learning how to navigate ArcGIS. Something that I thought was super cool was the different base maps that you can use around the individual map. This is super helpful when examining the larger map because it gives you more context on where the map is located in relation to the things. Another thing that I thought was super cool was the ability to layer things and move the layers on top of each other. This makes it easy to only focus on one layer, or layer things in order to display multiple things at once. The chapter also discusses how to display the map with a legend and save it to your computer. This can be used for presenting the information on the map, and can be useful because you can select exactly what you want displayed within the map. I was very surprised by how much information could be included in the map. For example, the chapter shows each specific clinic and provides information on the clinic as well as a link to the clinic’s website. This allows the map viewer to get as much information as possible. Viewing raster data on the map was very useful because it grouped some of the higher poverty areas together and gave me an overall view of the map. Something that I struggled with in this chapter was under the “Work with the fields view of an attribute table” section. I couldn’t figure out how to rename the Alais column in the chart. Another thing that I struggled with was selecting specific clinics and having them show up in the chart. I was not able to find the selection button that allowed me to select each clinic. Learning how to use the symbology was very helpful and definitely something that I will use in the future, especially if symbols start to come together, and I need them to stand out more.

Chapter 2: Overall, I think this chapter was very useful in learning the displays of maps. It aided me in learning how to label specific parts of a map. Something that I thought was interesting was being able to learn how to shut off specific information that I didn’t need when displaying pop-ups. Something that the chapter brought up that I hadn’t previously considered was that shapes and colors make the map easier to read for color blind people. Since this isn’t a problem that I personally have, I never thought about it. I struggled with a few different sections in this chapter. Specifically section 2-4. This section I wasn’t able to originally complete because the neighborhood section in the contents bar didn’t have valid data. Another section I struggled with was 2-8. In this section, I wasn’t able to set the visibility out beyond. Something else that confused me in this chapter was the differences between the different classification methods. While I understood that changing them made a difference, I didn’t understand why the difference was significant to analyzing the data. Something that I thought was super cool and useful was the swipe feature when comparing the male-headed households receiving food stamps and the female-headed households receiving food stamps. The swipe method provided a better way to compare the two maps than just switching back and forth between them.

Chapter 3: This chapter provided me with a lot of useful information. It took me quite a while since I was switching between GIS online and the app, but it provided me with some useful skills. I was able to learn how to format a chart based on certain maps as well as how to label and share that chart with other people. Additionally, I learned how to create a bar chart based on the map to display my data in many different ways. I ran into a few issues with the formatting, but they weren’t huge issues, so I was able to skip past them easily. It was super cool that I was able to access my maps through both online and the app, and that they both provided me with both editing and formatting options. Another useful skill was learning how to create my own story through GIS, which included the different charts and maps that I had previously downloaded. While I can acknowledge the different uses for online vs the app, I prefer the app more. This might be due to the fact that I’m a little bit more used to it, but also due to the number of edits I can make to the map through the app. Towards the end of the chapter, creating my dashboard got a little confusing. While I was able to add all the different elements to my map, they didn’t layer on top of the map like the chapter implied. Instead, they created their own tabs in the dashboard.

Chapter 1

Before even starting chapter 1, I was confused using the hard drive and transferring files but I figured it out after many mistakes. Going in I felt lost but the instructions are pretty clear and I felt better about a lot of basics. It did take me a while to try and navigate where things are and I assume it will just get easier with repetition throughout the semester. This first chapter took me longer to get through  but I think that is to be expected for any first time. I really liked the end of the chapter getting to see the 3-D map to show differences in population density.

       

 

Chapter 2

In chapter two I got to design and symbolize thematic maps. I enjoy every time I get to go to the symbology panel and change the symbols and colors. I find it fun but also it’s cool to see the changes on the map to make patterns more visible. This chapter had a lot to it, but it felt mostly straightforward. I again took a while to navigate where things are and clicked around a bunch to find specific buttons. I thought the 2-6 tutorial was really interesting when I got to swipe over the map and could compare two sets of data. I can see how helpful this software is in the real world. The only problem in this chapter was the 2.4 tutorial data was corrupt so I had to skip over it.

 

Chapter 3

Chapter 3 was all about sharing the maps we make for people who may not have access to ArcGIS Pro or don’t have the skills. I really enjoyed building the 3.1 layout because I like to make posters and such. I had no problems here and liked the finished product. Sharing the maps to ArcGIS online was also pretty easy and straightforward. Creating a story map was also fun, it just took a while. It just took time copying and pasting the correct paragraphs over to the story map. My little problem was that I couldn’t find an option to change the writing style to subheading so I just picked heading 2 or 3  and it seemed to do the job. Tutorial 3.4, creating the dashboard, started off really well for me but then I ran into some issues. For some reason I was having the hardest time to get the map next to the table. When I was supposed to drag the map to the left of the table, it just wasn’t going anywhere. I tried for a while to figure it out but decided it was best to move on. Later on, I also couldn’t find the expand button in the top corner of the map and so I wasn’t able to finish a few steps at the very end of the chapter. My dashboard doesn’t look the way It is supposed to but I tried.