Lab 5 Terms

Finally, I am home, and now I can finish my lab 5 terms. Boring yes, but hey, the big guy wanted it . so all of you others reading this, then just ignore it.

Anyway…

.DBF / Dbase File- A very old type of file that works well with Excel or other spreadsheet programs.

Select by Attributes- This allows me to select a feature from the map by a common attribute. For example, when looking at a map of the United States that shows all of the active passanger train stations around the country, I can ask ArcGIS to select all of the train stations that are in the MidWest by using the “select by attribute” feature.

Query- Once selection  by attributes, a window pops up and asks you for queries. In the example above with the train stations, I may ask it to select the stations by selecting the following phrases: “STATE_NAME” = ‘Ohio’ OR “STATE_NAME” = ‘Illinois’ OR “STATE_NAME” = ‘Indiana’ etc. Then the query would go back to the map and highlight all of the active passanger train stations in those states.

Fields (In  a table)- I am not too familiar with what this term means along with records in a table. But I can make an educated guess that when opening up an attributes table in ArcGIS, the columns (vertical) are considered fields, since each column has its own label such as name, FIPS, location, etc.

Records (In a table)- As mentioned above, I am not too fmailiar with this term. But, I can guess that it means all of the actual records (horizontal) in the table.

Attributes- I sort of confused myself with this and records in a table. I found it hard to really distinguish one term from the other. Overall, I can guess that attributes can be linked to the features they represent.

Relational Database- This is data that can relate to one another by similar attributes.

Join Function- This allows me to combine data into the attributes table only if the fields match.

Monitor Fire- Ummm..I’m assuming that Dr. Krygier wasn’t really serious about this one. But I hope it never happens to me.

Calculate/Field Calculator- This feature is familiar to me because I have used it in Excel before. Basically, this allows me to create a mathmatical equation where I use one or more fields in the data to create another field as a result.

 

There you go.

Learning New Things with ArcGIS

Creating Multiple Buffers

I knew how to create one buffer at a time, but I found out that this tool enables me to create a buffer for multiple points at once, but only for one layer at a time. And with one layer, I can create as many buffers as I need to.

In the map above, I used Delaware County Data from Delaware County, Ohio.

In the map, you can see several little points throughout the county, especially concentrated in the north. These are locally historic buildings and the buffers I created are not based on other data. I made up a situation that within each buffer of each point, that would be the area of growth. For example, take any point on the map. At that point, there are 4 different shades of blue. The darkest shade of blue shows the most likely area of early buildings from around the same time as the point in question. Then, the lighter shade of blue which extends further out from the point are possibly developed later than the point, and so on and so forth.

Selecting by Location

Ever since I have been using ArcGIS, I have always been selecting by attribute. And now I figured out how to select by location. This enables me to select features/layers that interact with another layer.

In the map above, you may not be able to tell what I did, but I only used two layers for this map. The first layer is of school districts within the county, and the second layer is of townships in the county. Then, selecting by location, I asked the software to select all of the townships that share a border with a school district line. However, every township border shared at least one side with a school district. I thought that there would at least be one township entirely in the middle or surrounded by one school district, but from the map above, that isn’t true.

Exploring ESRI.com

www.esri.com

So, before I get into talking about this amazing, addictive, eye-catching website, let me first talk about my initial thoughts of ArcGIS.

This is my second blog that I currently update. The first blog is through wordpress, and although it is titled “Bobby St. Clair’s Blog” it is all about my experiences through my Geography 355 course “GIS”. In that blog I talked about the projects that I completed using the ESRI ArcGIS software. So many of you who are familiar with that blog know that I know what ArcGIS is and how I feel about it.

BUT, if this blog is the first that you’ve read of mine, and you aren’t Dr. Krygier, then I guess that I am obliged to tell you about ArcGIS…once more (stop wasting your time reading my blog if you aren’t Dr. Krygier! ha ha, joking)

Anyway, I think that ArcGIS is a fantastic software which allows me to produce these amazing maps (in order to get that “A” I want in my class ). ArcGIS has so many different ways to produce hundreds, maybe even thousands of different maps.

Last year, when I was first introduced to ArcGIS, I thought that it was the most confusing computer software that I could ever learn to use. I became frustrated at times and even scared that since I am a Geography major, that I still couldn’t figure out this software. But as they say, practice makes perfect…but minus the perfect part. I still am learning much more about this 5-star software even today as I am working on creating a map that shows population change in Washington and Oregon.

And now on to exploring ESRI.com………

So, two things I found interesting on the website? Hmmm…

1. Disaster Response and Assistance

Really? Shouldn’t the government that we pay so well already have this software handy? Anyway, I saw that ESRI provides the government and other organizations with this service. This helps those organizations with things like data imagery, projections, consulting, and tech support. Below the description,  it asked you to click on one of the links to request assistance with one of the following: Earthquake, flood, hurricane, and wildfire.

2. 2010 ESRI International User Conference

They actually have these?? Apparently so, in San Diego. Supposedly this is where thousands of people gather to share ideas and projects using ArcGIS. Not only can people just visit, but they can also share their work by submitting to ESRI, and can present it at the conference. What FUN! (…maybe?)

Lab 4 ArcGIS Terms

Map Document- A “Map Document” is a non-text document, containing a map of some sort, where ArcGIS software is used to create it.

Table of Contents- This is not what most people expect a “table of contents” to be. In a book, the table of contents tell the reader ahead of time, what is contained within the pages of the book, such as chapter and title with page number. However, with ArcGIS softare that we are using in this Geography course, the table of contents tell us what is in the map that we have created on our own. And in the table of contents, we can at any time change what it says, by adding new data layers, renaming data, or creating new layers from whatever selections we have made.

Data Frame- This selection allows me to create new maps from the same window of the previous map, without having to open up another window for ArcGIS. For example, I can have one map of the United States population change from 1800-1900, and create a new “data frame” and from that new frame create another map of United Kingdom’s population change from 1800-1900.

Map Layer- This allows me to add on to the map that I am creating using the ArcGIS software. With the click of a button, I can add population change, show the location of public buildings, show the interstate highways around the US, etc. Literally hundreds of layers can be added to create the most elaborate map yet, although that file would be HUMONGOUS.

Attribute Table- This is a table of the details of a selected attribute such as rivers, lakes, highways, counties, cities, etc. If I were to open up an attribute table of volcanoes in Washington State and Oregon, then the table would display details such as name of volcano, elevation, type of volcano, and status. River attribute table in the United States would show state of origin, length, name, etc.

Lab Log 3 (Lab 4)

So, our next lab (Lab 4) requires us to use ESRI’s Arc GIS Software to create three maps in order to become familiar with the software.

The first map I created was of the continental United States.

The map above shows countries with highest population with the darkest shade of blue, and the countries with the smallest population with the lighest shade of blue.

The map above is of Oregon and Washington State.

This map was created using the ESRI ArcGIS software as one of my maps for Lab 4. In this map I decided to include two layers (besides the county layer). The first layer I added is of major airports in the two states. The second layer is of Interstate Highways only in the two states.

Together, these two layers showed something interesting that I haven’t really noticed before. And that is, most major airports, such as Spokane International, Seattle, Protland, and Tri-City, are all along the Interstate Highways. This makes it easy for motorists to travel to and from the airports.

The larger airports are represented by a larger symbol (airplane).

In the map above, I decided to keep the Interstate Highway layer. But the other two layers add nicely to the interstate highway layer. One of the layers contains the major cities around the two states. At first the cities were broken into 5 classes based on population range. However, my intention was to see which and how many major cities are situated relatively close to the volcanoes in red (third layer), therefore, I combined the classes into just two. The cities with less than 177,000 are represented with a gray dot. Cities with more than 177,000 are represented with a large black dot.

With most major cities situated along the interstate highways and west of most volcanoes, if a volcanic eruption were to ever occur, most people (maybe) would safely and easily drive south on the interstate highways.

Lab Log 2

For Lab #2, we had to complete certain web pages to a point that shows we are progressing through the project. Since my last in-class presentation, I changed the background color on some of the web pages, I added some basic state facts about Washington and Oregon, and I added my Oregon Google Map Mashup.

However, when uploading the finished Oregon Map Mashup to the website, the old copy of the web page without the map was cached by the server. Everytime I tried to pull the new page, it would only display the old copy. After several different attempts on solving the problem, the server finally “gave up” and served the correct updated page. I guess I just needed to wait a bit longer.

Lab Log 1

Lab Log

Yahoo Directory à U.S Census Bureau Path:

Government à Statistics à UnitedStates@ à CensusBureau@ à U.S Bureau of the Census

Directory Search/U.S Census Bureau

Using this internet site to locate the needed data on certain areas, states, counties, cities, etc. was almost too easy. On the right side of the home page of the U.S Census Bureau was a box for anyone to type in a location to find out the population and any other related data such as housing costs, median income, people per square mile, and other detailed information on the link to the fact sheet.

Not only does it display population information, the website also can display links to other maps that may show things such as boundary lines that can be used for GIS. And besides maps, if someone was was dying to learn about government expenditures, they can research some of that information through a link provided by the website.

Keyword Search

Usually, I never use the first results when researching because the first result is often not what I’m looking for! However, when it comes to data collected by the United States government, the first result is always the best and most resourceful. When I wanted to look for historical census data, the first result (using Google.com) took me to a special link on the U.S Census Bureau’s website. Then within the special page, I had to choose exactly what kind of historic data I needed. And to my astonishment, I again found great resourcefulness in the first result provided by the U.S Census Bureau site! What luck!

When I browsed through that PDF file, it provided me with the exact and simple information that I needed for this project. I was expecting to find tons of data, and having to sort through the ones that I needed. But fortunately, everything was compiled into one simple chart with population by decade, then percent and number in population change, and the land area that the U.S totaled through those several decades. Great resource simply laid out.

Now, when trying to find the population change by state and/or county, I easily found those data through the same website, the U.S Census Bureau. Not too much different from the previous results I explained, the data was given in easy to read charts/tables.

Documenting Data Sources and other Information

- Washington State -

- County Population – “Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990”

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/wa190090.txt>

- State Population – “Total Population for Washington State”

<http://www.ofm.wa.gov/databook/population/pt01.asp>

- 2000 Census – **This information is INCLUDED in the link provided ABOVE**

- 2000> Population Estimates – “Estimates for the Resident Population”

<http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=uspopulation&met=population&idim=state:53000&q=washington+population+estimates>

- Oregon State -

- County Population – “Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990”

<http://www.census.gov/population/www/censusdata/cencounts/files/or190090.txt>

- State Population – “Resident Population of States”

<http://txsdc.utsa.edu/txdata/apport/hist_a.php>

- 2000 Census – ** This information is INCLUDED in the link provided ABOVE**

- 2000> Population Estimates – “Estimates of the Resident Population”

<http://www.google.com/publicdata?ds=uspopulation&met=population&idim=state:41000&q=Oregon+population+estimates>

Sources on Washington

- Wikipedia.org

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington>

- Infoplease.com

<http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0861870.html>

- WA Office of Financial Management

<http://www.ofm.wa.gov/news/release/2009/090629.asp>

Sources on Oregon

- Wikipedia.org

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oregon>

- Oregon Labor Market Information Systems

<http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/ArticleReader?itemid=00006454>

- Population Brief

<http://wrdc.usu.edu/files/uploads/Population/Oregon_WEB.pdf>

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