Monday, November 29, 2010

Lab #10: Data Entry

I. Read Bolstad Chapter 4 and answer the following questions based on the reading and lecture.  
1.  Would you have more problems with feature generalization and omission in large or small scale maps? Why?
Large Scale because when zoomed in more a map needs more detail. Generalization and omission doesn't give detail.

2. What is snapping in the context of digitizing? Why is snapping important (i.e. what does it help avoid)?
Snapping is automatically setting nearby points to have the same coordinates and it is important because it helps avoid overshoots and undershoots.
3. What is COGO and how does it relate to coordinate surveying?
Coordinate Geometry is the spatial data that consists of a starting point with a list of directions and distances to other stations. COGO brings spatial data into an earth based map coordinate system.
II.
EXERCISE A
3.a) What is the feature class type (point, line or poly) for Springs? Point




EXERCISE B




STEP 2: Build an Address Locator and Geocode an address table.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Lab 9b: More Practice with Spatial Analysis

1. How many counties does the State of Iowa contain? (1 pt)
 99
2. Which county in Georgia contains the largest number of people, as of the year 2001? (1 pt)
 Fulton
3. How many cities, with populations between 10,000 and 49,000, are located within the State of Washington? (1 pt)
 31
4. How many miles long are all of the interstates in Los Angeles County? (1 pt)
 41055. Simplify the UrbanBoundaries feature class so that only the urban areas of Los Angeles County are visible (Hint: you must use one of the overlay functions). Create a new feature class and save it into the LosAngeles dataset using the name LA_Urban. Include a screenshot of this new layer with your assignment. (2 pts)
 




6. How many acres of urban area lie within Los Angeles County, based upon your results from question #5? ( 1 pt)
1,441,652.796875


8. Create a layer displaying the provinces of Canada using the data provided to you in the Canada feature dataset. Save this new layer under the Canada feature dataset using the name Provinces. Include a screenshot of this new layer with your assignment. (2 pts)



9. Which Native American Indian Reservations lie within 75 miles of the City of Thurso in Canada? (1 pt)
Kitigan Zibi Indian Reserve and Akwesasne Indian Reserve 15

7. How many zip codes have their centroid in Los Angeles County? (1 pt)
522
10. Open your final and complete geodatabase in ArcCatalog. Make sure all of the feature datasets and feature classes are viewable. Capture a screenshot of the geodatabase and include this screenshot with your assignment. (1 pt) 



Post your answers to your blog by
Monday, November 8th, 2010. (Note: The quiz on Monday the 8th will cover all information through Lab 9b.)

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Lab #9a: Introduction to Spatial Analysis

I. Read Bolstad Chapter 9 (pages 295-306 only) and answer the following questions based on reading and lecture.

1. What is spatial scope and what are the three types?
The extent or area of the input data that are used in determining the values at output locations. The Three types are Local Operation, Neighborhood Operation, and Global Operations

2. What are the two types of Algebra used in queries?  Give an example of each.
Set Algebra: <, >, =. Ex. State=California
Boolean Algebra: And, Or, Not. Ex. A OR B

3. What are the different types of spatial selection operations?
By Attributes - Set Algebra and Boolean Algebra
By Spatial Characteristics - Adjacency and Containment

II. AFTER completing Ormsby Chapters 10 & 11, complete the following exercise.

4.   Is there a feature dataset in the geodatabase? Yes

5.   What features classes are present? PtDumeQuad, Vegetation, Wetlands, Wetlands_Project.

III. Exercise 1:

6.   How many features (records) exist in the Vegetation feature class in the Lab9aData.mdb geodatabase? 10896

7.   How many features (records) exist in the new VegCov feature class after running the dissolve operation?
   9  

8.   How many features (records) exist in the new “VegCov_Clip” feature class? 8

IV. Exercise 2: Generate a layer of Riverine wetlands that fall in the Point Dume quad. 

9.   How many wetland features (records) were selected? 383

10.   How many features (records) were selected? 117


 
Due: Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Lab #8: Database Management & Queries

I. Read Bolstad Chapter 8 and answer the following questions. 


1. What are the primary functions of a database management system? 
Prevent redundancy, increase data quality and independence, create centralized control and allow multiple users.


2. What is a one-to-one relationship between tables? A many-to-one? 
One-to-one is when one row in one table is linked to only one row from another table and one-to-many is when one row in one table is linked to many rows in another table.


3. Why are relational databases so popular (i.e. what are the benefits)?
They allow ad hoc requests/queries of the database, links are not preset, data is stored in separate tables and combined when needed for a query or report.


II. AFTER completing Ormsby Chapters 8 & 9, complete the following exercise.
4. 
a. What is the Data Type of the LAND_USE field in the Landuse feature class?
Text/String

b. What is the Data Type of the LAND_USE field in the LanduseInfo.dbf table?
Text/String

5.
a. Join the LanduseInfo.dbf file TO the Landuse feature class. Explore the table. What are the new fields that have been joined (appended)?
objectid1, Land_use, LU_DESCRIP, LU_GENERAL, LU_TYPE, SqMiles, Acres, Shape_Leng, Shape_Area.

e. How many total acres of Open Lands (including Open Land Uses) exist in this new feature class? 92236.77acres




Due: Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Monday, October 25, 2010

Lab #7: Map Design & Text

Part 1: Complete Ormsby Chapters 7, 18 & 19 and answer the following questions.

I. Chapter 7
1. The information used for dynamic labels comes from where?
The layer Information

2. You are making a map of Los Angeles and have a point layer that shows all the cities in the region. However, you want to show city names for only 3 cities. What is the most efficient way to achieve this?
Clicking on the A in the drawing toolbar and selecting the label button. Then click on what you want labeled and the label will pop up.

3. Can you manually adjust the position of dynamic labels?
Yes, click on the label and drag.

4. Which tool needs to be selected to adjust graphics?
The select elements arrow from the drawing toolbar.

5. What are the two annotation types?
Geodatabase Annotation and Map Document Annotation

II. Chapter 18
1. You can create your own ArcMap templates.
a. True
b. False

2. If you create a map based on an ArcMap template file (.mxt), can you save it as an .mxd file?
Yes

3. Describe two different ways you can access map templates.
One way is when ArcMap opens select the 'A template' option and click OK. The other way is to select the change layout which is the far right button in the Layout toolbox.

4. You are adding five point graphics to your map. Instead of having to change the properties for each one after you add it, you want to set the default point symbol to a size 12 purple star. How do you do this?
Double click on the symbol and select the star icon and change the color in the color box to purple.


5. Describe two different ways you can change the color of a graphic circle.
One way is to go to properties in the layer and in teh sybols tab select the symbol and change the color or double click on the circle in the table of contents and change the color there.

III. Chapter 19
1. What is the first thing you should always do before setting up your map layout?
First thing to do is set the orientation of the paper to either landscape or letter by selecting File>Page Setup

2. Why is the scale different in the data view versus the layout view?
The data view is used to edit so it lets you zoom in and out without changing it in the final product (data view).

3. What are three customization options available for the scale bar?
1. Division Value 2. Number of divisions 3. Division Units

4. Why is it important to use the 1:1(Zoom to 100%) button?
It makes it possible to always view the whole picture instead which makes it easier to evaluate and edit the layout view.

5. Explain how a graphic added to your data view would respond differently compared to a graphic added to the layout view when navigating around your map.
It is connected to the map in data view so when you go to layout view the graphic will not move seperately; it is connected to the map you put it in in data view. Where if you add a picture in layout view it is able to move around by itself.

Part 2.

Q1: Choropleth maps are a type of thematic map. Define what we mean by a choropleth map.
 Data with numeric data is put into groups and shaded to show the differences and to the eye can show the larger numbered data compared to the smaller numbered data through differnet color shades.

Q2: Read about layer files in the ArcGIS Desktop Help. Describe their benefits.
References geographic data stored on disk and references data supported by ArcCatalog. This is one of the main benefits because layer files can read almost any source which is very helpful. Layer files are said to be "cartographic view of your geographic data."

Q3: How do layer files differ from layer packages?
Layer files reference geographic data stored on disk and reference most data sources. Where  Layer packages is a ready-to-use file containing one map and its data.

 Q4: What is the population of City of Long Beach for the year 2000?
461,522

Q5: What is the population for the City of Los Angeles in 2000?
3,694,820

Q6: Using the ArcGIS Desktop Help, describe the three types of hyperlinks that can be created.
 
Document-this kind will send you to a document, Univorm Resource Locator (URL)-will launch a browser and send you to a web site, and Macro-lets you customize hyperlink behavior.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Lab #6: Symbolization and Classification

I. Complete Ormsby Chapters 5 & 6 and answer the following questions.


1. In your own words, describe how symbology can be influenced by scale.
Symbology is only effective depending on the scale. A small scale map can't contain every detail so if there is lots of symbology used it will keep just clutter the map which makes a useless map.

2. What are two ways (one direct and one indirect) to access a layers symbol colors so that they can be changed?

One way is to right click to open a color scheme table. The other way is to left click which opens the symbol selector window.

3. How would you access the graduated symbols classification option?
Double click on the layer wanted for accessing the Graduated Symbols and select the Symbology tab and under the Show box select Quantities and that is where you will find Graduated Symbols.

4. What are 5 other symbology styles (in addition to ‘Conservation’) that are available to customize your features?
3D Buildings, 3D Trees, Civic, Public Signs and Weather

5. How could you permanently save layer symbology for use later on?
Right click on the layer and select the Save As Layer File and then choose a place and name the file.

6. How can pyramids help raster data display faster?
Pyramids make raster data display faster by using less resolution when zoomed out and more resolution as you zoom in which makes it much easier for ArcGIS to draw.

7. How could you quickly and temporarily change a layer name to aid display in the Table of Contents?
Double click on the layer and click the Generals tab and type the new name in the Layer Name box.

8. What is normalization?
Give an example of when it would be used. "Dividing one attribute by another to find the ratio between them. If you normalize the population by income it gives you income per capita." 

9. How could dot density maps be misleading?
The distribution of dots can be random which gives the impression of where something (whatever the dot's representing) is located when that might not be the actual location.
II. AFTER

Due Wednesday, October 6th, 2010.

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Lab#5: Data Sources and Management

I. Answer the following questions based on Bolstad Chapter 7 and lecture.
1. What are some advantages and disadvantages of using digital spatial data?
Advantages: Provides service information on "safety, health, transportation, water and energy." Required for disaster planning and management, national defense, infrastructure development and maintenance and government functions. Also pre-made data means you don't need to waste time making it. Disadvantages: Different governments specify different projections, data variables and attributes or have different requirements for survey accuracy or measurement units.
2. What are the most important questions you must ask before using already-developed spatial data?
Who Produced the Data? What requirements were used in creating the data? Is the data large or small scale? Does the data have what I need?
3. How do DOQs differ from regular photographs?
DOQ's are photos that have been altered to correctly represent an area or put it into a correct scale. Instead of leaving a raw photo that isn't spatially accurate. 
4. Choose three existing data sets and describe who produces them, what the source materials are and what they contain.
(1) Global Map. Produced by: Global Spatial Dataset Infrastructure. Source Material: Many countries contribute in giving information to make this data set. Contains: Boundaries, elevation, land cover and drainage. (2) National Hydrologic Data. Produced by: EPA and USGS. Source Material: USGS digital line graph data and EPA river data. Contains: Natural occurring and built features concerning water bodies (streams, dams, lakes) (3) National Atlas. Produced by: USGS. Source Material: 20 federal agencies. Contains: Political boundaries, environmental features, climate, history, biology, natural hazards.
5. What is the difference between DEMs and NEDs?
DEMs or Digital Elevation Models are raster data and have course resolution. They cover small areas with fixed boundaries that, if a larger area is needed, they have to be pasted together. NEDs (National Elevation Dataset) on the other hand are the highest resolution and seamless. Since DEMs came around they have removed the errors from the DEMs.

II. Step through the following instructions and answer any associated questions.
2.
 a) Basemap and Hydrology
b-c) NHDFlowline (line), NHDPoint (point), NHDWaterbody (polygon), Watersheds (polygon)

3.
a) Vector
b)SHP
c)yes
d)ArcGIS Geodatabase
e) yes
f) Hydrology, US, Artificial Path
g) Earth Science Information Center, USGS

4. a) Yes

6. b) 34118-B5

7. Black and White

12. Red exclamation point and gray checkmark