Overview of ArcGIS

PROCESS SUMMARY

1.     Opened World_Countries shapefile

2.     Saved .mxd file under my initials

3.     Opened attribute table, sorted ascending by country name.

4.     Selected Dominican Republic, closed attribute table.

5.     Zoomed out, deselected Dominican Republic, and selected island features by rectangle.

6.     Opened attribute table, clicked on button to show selected features.

7.     Cleared selected features.

8.     Used Identify tool to click on Venezuela.

9.     Used Find tool to find country of Andorra.

10. Used Find tool to find the country with the ISO_NUM of 833.

11. Used the Go to XY tool to zoom to 89 degrees West Longitude and 14 degrees North Latitude (El Salvador).

12. Selected the Measure tool and measured countries east to west length.

13. Zoomed to full extent, and added point layer Cities to ArcMap.

14. Changed the symbol for Cities to a black square, size 2.

15. Changed symbology controls for World_Countries.  Fields: POP2007, number of classes: 7, and changed color ramp.

16. Changed background of map to blue.

17. Switched to layout view.

18. Changed page to landscape view to better fit data.

19. Inserted neat line, north arrow, legend, scale bar and scale text.

20. Changed labels on Legend.

21. Inserted my name and data source.

22. Exported map as JPG.

Bad map vs. Good map

BAD MAP!

Map generated July 4, 2009.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/stratosphere/uv_index/gif_files/uvi_usa_f1_wmo.gif will give you a map for today.

The UV index is an international standard measurement of the strength of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun, used as a forecasting tool for the public to help protect against UV overexposure. The index is an open-ended linear scale, with an index of 10 corresponding to midday sun on a clear-sky day.  Higher index values represent a higher risk of skin damage from UV exposure.

This is a bad map because of the color scheme chosen.  The steps can be hard to distinguish, and the rainbow order is misleading.  One might expect the bright orange to red areas to represent the areas with the highest UV radiation levels, instead of less than midday sun intensity.  Further, when the World Health Organization (WHO) standardized the UV index, they suggested standard colors and graphics for printed media, which are not used here.

GOOD MAP!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Somalian_Piracy_Threat_Map_2010.png

Aside from the typo (Ethiopia), I like this map. The proportional symbols for major ports and trade routes are simple (even if Singapore is a little distracting) and give just the right amount of geographical information. The expanding range of pirate attacks shown in gradational bands by year captures the chronology of data.

Getting Started with ArcGIS

Deliverable 1

Opened file tourism.mxd

Followed tutorial instructions for activating different data frames

Activated San Diego data frame, and zoomed in. Manually changed scale to 1:50000

Panned across map and centered

Activated bookmark on San Diego City to reset the map, and changed to data view from layout view.

Selected hotels on table of contents to make hotels display on map

Activated label features on hotels

Selected find tool and searched for Marriott

Used flash feature to find Marriott Suites hotel

Used Identify tool to select Marriott Hotel and Marina and to view phone number in Indentify window

Checked Major Attractions in table of contents, and viewed attributes table for Major attractions

Identified and selected Seaport Village

Selected measure tool, set distance to miles

Measured from Marriott Hotel and Marina to Seaport Village

Measured from Marriott Hotel and Marina to closest trolley stop on map

Cleared selected features

Used bookmark feature to reset map view

Unchecked major roads in the table of contents

Selected major attractions in the table of contents and selected feature label

Used identify tool on trolley stops near Qualcomm Stadium

Zoomed in on San Diego Zoo, unchecked surface streets in table of contents

Selected hyperlink for the zoo and examined the website in a new window

Saved map to H: drive

Selected layout view

Added name and date

Added data source

Exported map as jpg.

Deliverable 2

Opened youthcenter.mxd

Opened attribute table for Census Block 2000 and Youth Population layer

Viewed demographic information for AGE_5_17

Closed attribute table

Deactivated Youth Population and activated City Zones

Selected City Zones and zoomed to layer

Opened City Zones attribute table

Located LU_ABV data field

Closed table window

Selected Geoprocessing and chose Union

Added input feature City Zones

Added input feature Census Blocks 2000

Selected LearnArcGIS10\Start\YouthCenter.gdb for output feature class, and save as zones_Union

Selected zones_Union and zoomed to layer

Selected zones_Union and opened attribute table, making sure both LU_ABV and AGE_5_17 were in table

Selected selection menu and selected attributes

“create new selection in method” field

“LU_ABV”=’RES’, apply

Select zones_Union and zoomed to features

Selected select by attributes and chose select from current selection

Deleted previous expression from box

“AGE_5_17”>=75, apply

Selected full extent tool

Moved available building layer to top of list

Checked Available Buildings in table of contents

Opened selection menu and picked select by location

Selected select features from, available buildings, completely within selected features and zones_Union layer

A result of 6 building appeared on the map

Unchecked zones_Union layer

Added title

Added neatline

Adjusted zoom

Added legend, north arrow, and scale

Added name and date

Added data source

Exported map as .JPG

Own Your Map! exercise

Process summary:

1. Downloaded OwnYourMap zip file from repository drive to own home drive.
2. Opened OwnYourMap.mxd file in ArcMap, and saved copy under my initials.
3. Changed page orientation to landscape because that fit the data better.
4. Added a Neatline; I picked a double line, with a gap of 10.
5. Fit data to page size.
6. Added title ("Florida Cities," Arial font, size 46, shadowed with 1.000 x and y offset, character spacing of 20).
7. Added legend, and renamed labels from filenames.
8. Added North arrow and graphic scale (division units changed to miles, with 25 mile increments.)
9. Added my name and date.
10. Viewed catalog window for data sources, and added to map.
11. Exported map as JPG.