Week 4 Lab- Sharing GIS

-
Purpose of lab: Create a "Top 10" list, map the data compiled from scratch, then share content via ArcGIS Online, and Google Earth.

 For starters, usually we only need access for MS Word and ArcMap. The following items were necessary for this particular lab.:

  • ArcMap
  • Excel (or Google Spreadsheets)
  • MS Word
  • arcgis.com account
  • Google Earth


 I enjoy going on hiking adventures from time to time with loved ones and have been fortunate enough to visit a decent number of locations in my home state. California is huge though, I'm sure there's plenty I have not heard of yet. With that in mind,  I decided to go with top hiking spots in California using information off exploretheusa.com for my "Top 10" list. Residents can be very territorial here when expressing benefits of particular regions. So I tried to select a list that seemed balanced and included locations throughout the state.

 Next we gathered specific data about these 10 locations: Rank, Name, Address, State, Zip, Image URL. Google Maps is a great tool for this information in case it is not immediately provided in the source. I have to admit that I came across an issue of not finding a Zip code for one of my sites. Google Maps still provides coordinates for such locations. But I wonder, what is the best thing to do in this scenario?
I resolved to using the closest Zip code related to my site because I knew it was part of the same National Park.

 Next was geocoding the data gathered by implementing it to a blank map in ArcGIS Online. Then we had to implement the data in a new map in ArcMap. This portion of the lab was a bit tricky since it's new territory and involved going back and forth between the two programs. In the end, ArcGIS Online was very user friendly the more I used it and learned of ways to share content.

 My ArcGIS Online map: http://arcg.is/2cYxfAV



The last part required to create a map package to share on ArcGIS Online and then export the data layer as a KML file to open in Google Earth. This was my first time making and implementing data layers to ArcGIS Online and Google Earth. The symbol color could have definitely use another pass, looking back.

It was very rewarding seeing my small set of data come to life in ArcGIS Online and Google Earth. Not to mention realizing it's not as difficult getting information together after all.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GIS5100 Week10: Final Project

-
Image
My final project was dedicated to finding suitable areas for a new Elementary School site in Riverside County, California. I started out by compiling 5 pieces of key datasets: County Assessor parcel data, California Schools, Fault zones, Roads, and Public sites. First I performed euclidean distance analyses on four of them in order to produce zonal raster for preferred areas. A weighted analysis based on prioritizing safety shows that ideal areas fall within Hemet, Menifee, and Palm Springs Unified School Districts. Final analysis results show how active school sites are distributed, where all vacant parcels of at least 5 Acres or more lie, and recommended areas for a new school site. The two circled were determined to be the most suitable after analyzing results from weighted overlay analyses and locations of parcels. Additional setbacks are anticipated as more conditions are implemented to the list of mandatory criteria needed to finalize parcels. Looking b
Read more

Module 5- Analytics

-
Image
Now that we've developed a basic comprehension of color themes, labeling, and typography. This week we dived into creating an infographic using data based on the County Health Rankings data from 2018. This is my very first attempt at an infographic, I don’t think it turned out very well. But I learned a lot overall on how to think more artistically, which is not common. I thought about color themes, placement of data, and amount of information to include and in what format (chart, text, map?). It gave me a lot of ideas on how to tackle the next infographic. Another thing I considered was visual balance by seeing how things looked like when aligned with certain ways and combinations. Given more time and tools on this assignment, I would take advantage of software such as Photoshop to include a fun background that compliments the information supplied via ArcGIS Pro.
Read more

Module 3- Terrain Visualization

-
Image
In this week's module, we covered various terrain visualization techniques, including contour lines, hillshade manipulation, and the use of digital elevation models (DEM) on a 2-dimensional surface. The main exercise required to overlay a land cover layer of Yellowstone over an elevation raster layer. Seen below is my final result. On the left is land cover, with some transparency, over a traditional hillshade effect. I selected a traditional effect because it best represented land cover features. On the right is the elevation with a multispectral hillshade effect.  I went through a few color ramps to test which best complemented this DEM's physical features. I also went ahead and grouped many of the original land cover features into Pine Trees, Douglas Firs, etc. in order to generalize the different types of tree types. As for the map layout, at first I only had a single map frame and tested ways to represent elevation alongside land cover since I would otherwise have to mak
Read more