Intro to GIS - Module 5 - XY Point Data and Geocoding

 

The first portion of this week's lab module focused on converting lat/long Degrees, Minutes, Seconds coordinates to Decimal Degrees in order to be better compatible with ArcGIS Pro. This consisted of using an Excel spreadsheet to convert the data and add the data to ArcGIS Pro displaying three known eagle's nests in Santa Rosa County, Florida. Additionally, we projected the data to the Harn State Plane Florida West coordinate system.

The second portion of this lab consisted of obtaining school addresses in Manatee County and preparing them in an Excel spreadsheet for geocoding in ArcGIS Pro. This exercise involved copying data from the Florida Department of Education website and pasting it into an Excel spreadsheet. From here the data needed to be "cleaned up" or parsed into fields including school name, address, city, zip, phone, and the type of institution (high school, university, etc.) After our data was properly parsed in our Excel spreadsheet it was now ready to be geocoded in ArcGIS Pro. Prior to importing our Excel CSV file we downloaded and added some US County and Manatee County road shapefiles from the US Census Bureau website to ArcGIS Pro. The shapefiles were then projected to the Harn State Plane Florida West coordinate system. Using the Select By Attributes tool we created two new feature classes consisting of only Florida counties and Manatee County.

Finally, we added our school location data from our Excel spreadsheet, set up an address locator, and ran our geocoder to geocode all our addresses. I ended up with 5 unmatched addresses. I had to manually look these five locations up using Google/Google Maps and use the "Pick from the Map" tool to place new points. The above screenshot from my ArcGIS Online web map shows my final geocoded map. This map presents various types of schools that exist within Manatee County (with one exception). To view my web map in ArcGIS Online click here.

Intro to GIS - Module 4 - Vector Analysis

This map is the product of the fourth lab module for GIS5050. The main objective of this week's lab exercises was to stress the importance of GIS as an analytical tool and describe the process of how a successful GIS analysis is carried out. The exercises helped to solidify our understanding of numerous GIS analytical concepts and the vocabulary that accompanies them. We then put these concepts into practice through our two lab exercises.

In our initial exercise we learned what a geodatabase is, their attributes, and their purposes followed by looking at key differences between shapefiles and feature classes. The remainder of the first exercise focused on geodatabases and running various queries in order to select desired features. These concepts were carried over and built upon in exercise two.

In exercise two we used various GIS analysis tools to identify suitable camp sites in the De Soto National Forest near Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Our criteria consisted of a specific distance from roads, rivers, lakes, and areas that are not within conservation areas. In order to achieve our objective we used various buffer and overlay tools to get our desired result.

I began creating my map by defining my symbology. I decided that 5 classes seemed to work well and tried to create my intervals with somewhat of an even distribution. I then chose my color scheme which consisted of a set of earthy tones ranging from a light cream beige representing smaller areas to a dark orange/red representing the largest areas. After this, I began creating my layout. I started by establishing my main map frame with the possible campsites map then moved to the inset map. I was able to utilize some data that I found on the MARIS website to use for my inset.  I ran into a little bit of a problem trying to find some data to represent the De Soto National Forest but was able to add two tile packages from ArcGIS Online that worked well. Next, I labeled the roads because I thought it would be imperative for them to be on the map for somebody who was going to use it. I ended by creating my legend and arranging the remainder of the elements to make the map as visually pleasing as possible. Overall, I spent a great deal of time on this lab, but through spending the extra time I was able to better understand the key concepts presented.

Intro to GIS - Module 3 - Data Collections and Map Projections.

 

The third lab module for GIS5050L consisted of two separate exercises. The first portion of the lab consisted of using ArcGIS Field Maps to collect data for our feature class. This feature class was then shared as an editable layer to create a web map in ArcGIS Online. We also learned to share our data as a KML and an ESRI Map Package. The image above shows the data presented in Google Earth by importing the KML files I created through ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro. I enjoyed this exercise because it introduced me to the various limitations and characteristics of the available map outputs that I have been curious about applying to some of my historic preservation/archeological projects.

The second portion of this week's lab consisted of creating a map comparing three different projections with the same data. This exercise introduced us to the Project Tool so that we are now familiar with changing a layer's projection or, rather, creating a new reprojected layer. We also learned how to assign or reproject a raster to ensure it is in the correct coordinate system. This then establishes the correct location for the raster.  Based on the results, it is very apparent that consistent map projections are imperative for accurate data/spatial analysis. I liked how this assignment built on last week's by giving us even more of a chance to make our map our own. I'm looking forward to the concepts introduced in this lab becoming more familiar and clear in the coming weeks.

Intro to GIS - Module 2 - Cartography: Layout and Essential Map Elements

 

This map is the product of the second lab module for GIS5050L. This week's lab was more challenging and time-consuming than our introductory module. This week's module focused on how to create a map layout and add the essential map elements in order to create a professionally looking map that presents accurate data and is aesthetically pleasing to the viewer.

Before we began creating our map, we had to fill out our metadata table to ensure we knew how to document and find our metadata, especially if it is not readily available in the catalog pane. After this, we began the process of creating our two maps from our six shapefiles consisting of an inset map showing Escambia County in an overview of Florida followed by our more detailed map of Escambia County showing the location of the UWF campus.

Once we created our map frames for our layout it was time to add our shapefiles to the UWF Campus Location Map View and clip our data to create new layers that feature only the data we wanted for Escambia County. Next, for the cities we wanted displayed we executed a definition query followed by creating an expression that resulted in a new feature layer containing only the cities of Pensacola and Ferry Pass. In the final sections, we learned about editing symbology, choosing colors, labeling, and adding essential map elements such as titles, a legend, a north arrow, scale bars, data sources, and the cartographer's name.

Overall, I enjoyed this module even though it took me a long time to complete. I am happy with my finished product, but I think I could benefit from revisiting some sections to solidify my understanding of the content.