Eddie's GIS Blog

This week I was mostly flying solo! It was a little intimidating to search through the two databases to find the data I needed. I wasn't always sure what data I needed or what data I would get when I downloaded it. The public land was the most difficult, everything that I found was way more detailed than what I needed. Eventually after changing my search a few times, I found a general public land file. I thought the projections were going to be difficult, but they were not too bad. It helps to have something with your target projection in ArcMap as you reproject because you can use the "Layer" folder in the tool to pick a projections that is already being used in the map. That way you do not have to root around looking for the projection. This project turned out to by way more interesting and way less frustrating that I expected. Here is what I was able to whip up this past week.

This week was busy. I was collecting data like Harry Potter collecting Horcruxes. Finding the data is only half the problem, it was mainly just searching two websites, you then have to make sure all the coordinate systems agree with each other. This can be time consuming. When reprojecting data, it works best in a new ArcMap page, just in case something goes wrong. Which reminds me, sometimes things go wrong, and the best way to fix it is to close the map completely and then try again. Some signs of something going wrong while reprojecting include: Looking at the scale and making sure it makes sense (like 1:40,000) 1:2.5 is a bad sign Looking at the coordinate of the cursor in the bottom right hand corner and making sure it updates as you move the mouse around. Also I really liked converting the minutes and seconds to the X/Y coordinates. Next week is the midterm lab, and it takes two weeks! Wish me luck!

This week was a busy one! We started looking into map projections and what the slight differences are between them. The short story is: there are slight differences between each projections, some things will be smaller and some will be bigger depending on what projection you are using. What's the correct projection? Who knows! It would change based on what the range of your map will be, what the project calls for (if you're making a map for someone) or even personal preference. One of my questions was also answered: what to do if someone does not have all of the data it needs. I had to add something that did not have a coordinate system defined. The good news is that it can be assigned in ArcGIS. The bad news is that it is basically a guessing game. Overall, this was a very enlightening week and I look forward to the rest of the projections lesson. Here's a neat map that compares three different projections.

No picture this week, only a link to my map: http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=5708de30779a4a3694760c2933bafe48 This week I played around with different ways to share maps as well as making my own data. I came up with the Top Ten Things to Do in Orlando, seeing as I have lived here for more than 20 years, I feel that I am some sort of an expert. After coming up with the list, I added the most important information to an excel spreadsheet and then uploaded that to ArcGIS online. I was pretty surprised to see there wasn't any other special program to make the data I needed for a map. To share the data, I practiced exporting to ArcGIS Online, making map packages, and creating a google earth map. The google earth map was my favorite and it seems like a solid choice to use when giving something to someone who isn't familiar with GIS. Overall, this was a great week that answered my biggest question: how do you make points on a map if no one else has ever done it....

This was a pretty big week: I made three maps! It was actually really easy to make three different maps once the base layer was made. I saw the ArcCatalog this week and it was much easier to look through the metadata for the files in ArcCatalog as opposed to right-clicking each of the files in the table of contents and finding the data there. I had some trouble with labels, they were sometimes hard to read or they made the map feel cluttered, at least to me. There was a part in this lab where there were limited directions and I was on my own. After double left clicking and right clicking some things, I was able to set up the map; time will tell if I set it up correctly, but it was set up. I liked being able to stretch my wings a little and figure out how to set up the elevation on my own. It was really satisfying to find all of the settings on my own. Here are the maps that I worked so hard to make.

This week was a real whirlwind! After figuring out that I was getting my data from the wrong place, I was able to make this week's map. I thought it was really cool making the insert map! This product almost looks professional! There were lots of little details when it came to changing symbols and labels: some things you have to double click and some things you have to right click. After navigating through all of that, I was able to get all of the essential map elements. All-in-all, the big parts: making the insert map, adding the data, and arranging the elements was easy; formatting all of the small details was the most tricky part, but after reading the manual and clicking around everything seems to have come together. Excluding the hurricane, this was a great week, and I am looking forward to week three!

Week 1: ArcGIS Overview Lab This project was a real treat for someone who enjoys poking around new programs and figuring them out. The directions for the lab were straight forward and made making the map super easy. If I ever got stuck there was a handy screen shot to guide me. The program seems pretty easy to pick up: the controls are right on the tool bar and you don't have to hunt, the names of the tools are pretty self explanatory, and there are multiple ways of getting help. This map seems pretty simple. The data was collected from the USGS, and it shows the world, compares the populations of all of the countries and shows where some major cities are. I am really looking forward to the next project!