Lab 9: Map Layout Export Animation

 Above is a gif image of my choropleth maps. To create this, I exported all my maps from ArcMap into JPG files and then uploaded them to a gif image creator. This made my map presentable in a different kind of way that just a stagnant image. This is obviously more effective as an online resource because you can put a gif on a regular poster (yet), but I like that at least on here I can have an animated version of my maps. I personally think it is a very cool yield from this semesters work on this project.

Below are some examples of the other maps I made. The top one is a dot density map in which one green dot represents 1000 people in that county. The middle is a graduated symbol map, in which the different sized blue circles represent the raw population data rather than the percent change of population between decades. The bottom is a proportional symbol map in which once again raw population data is shown by different sized red circles.

Lab 8: Data Classification & and Map Production

For my Choropleth Map, I used an equal interval classification method for the most part. My classes are all 20% (i.e. 1-20%, 21-40%, etc) except for the first and last classes which include outliers such as a very negative percent change in population or a very positive percent change in population. I believe that this method of classification works the best for multiple reasons. One, because it is very uniform and easy to understand. Two, because most of the data falls withing the middle, uniform classes making more of my data accurately represented than if I accommodated the outliers more in my classes.

For my graduated symbol maps, I kept the classification that ArcMap generated because the classes were very specific and there was far to much variability in data to make overall effective classes.

For my proportional symbol maps, I changed the classes to numbers that would have distinguishable sizes with them. I did not want any of the symbols to be of too similar size, otherwise people may have had trouble distinguishing between them. I did, once again, accommodate the largest amount of data, excluding the outliers, because this way would represent more of my data more accurately.

For my dot density maps, I chose each dot to represent 1000 people. This, in my opinion, was the best way to keep the same class from 1900-2015 as well as most effectively show the data. The years where this was least effective was the later years because some counties are just completely green because the dot density is so high. Earlier years, however, have a manageable amount of dots and most data is very understandable.

On my Choropleth Maps, I chose my color ramp to be a very faint pink leading up to a very deep red. I believe that this color ramp works best because the different tones are very easily distinguishable from each other, more so than a yellow to red ramp where you have different tones of different colors. I also believe this ramp was the best one to choose because sticking with shades of red makes it more uniform and very easily understandable, with clear distinctions between each of the tones.

For my graduated symbol maps, I chose a solid blue color for my symbols as well as sizes to distinguish the different number of people per county in each of my states. The blue is easy to see and the sizes are easily distinguishable.

For my proportional symbol maps, I chose symbol of varying sizes that are easily distinguishable from one another and a deep red that is very easy to see for each of the symbols.

For my dot density maps, I chose a green dot, each representing 1000 people, for my symbol. This is very easy to see and the number of people each dot represents, for the most part, keeps the data easily understandable for the average person.

Lab 7: Joining Data in ArcMap

Above is a map of the United States divided into counties of each state. Highlighted purple are Arizona and Colorado, the two states that I am collecting data for. Highlighted red are the three states I chose to include to reference the location of my two states on a smaller scale.

Above is a map of Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico. As mentioned above, my two states, Colorado and Arizona, are highlighted in purple to show that these are the two states that I am gathering data for. Again, the red states are simply for reference.

Above is a map of my two states separated into counties which I have collected population data for. In this lab, I have imported my gathered population data for every census year since 1900 into ArcMap and calculated population change between each of those years.

For my projection, I chose Albers Equal Area Conic projection based on the USGS. This projection is widely used to represent the United States of America It is hard to tell what it looks like from my small scale maps, so here is a picture of what North America looks like in this specific projection:

According to the ArcGIS website, "This conic projection uses two standard parallels to reduce some of the distortion of a projection with one standard parallel. Although neither shape nor linear scale is truly correct, the distortion of these properties is minimized in the region between the standard parallels. This projection is best suited for land masses extending in an east-to-west orientation rather than those lying north to south."

Definitions

.xls File- denotes that the file is an excel file.

Select by Attributes- This is a function in ArcMap that allows the user to highlight specific areas based on what they need out of a certain source of data. For example, we did not need the entire US map for our individual states, so we highlighted our specific states from the select by attributes menu and created a new layer from that containing only our select states.

Query- Query expressions are used in ArcGIS to select a subset of features and table records.

Field & Record- In ArcGIS, rows are known as records and columns are referred to as fields.

Attributes- Specific coding in the Select by Attributes menu that tells ArcaMap to perform a specific function, such as highlighting specific states.

Relational Database- a series of standard database tables, column types, indexes, and other database objects

Join Function- Allows you to, Through a common field, associate records in one table with records in another table.

Field Calculator- Allows you to perform a function similar to excel that will calculate the relationship between selected fields using different math functions understood by ArcMap.

Lab 6: Intro to ArcGIS

Above is the world map that I made in the first part of Lab 6. It is a world map that shows Terrestrial Biomes, Water Bodies, and boundaries of all the countries.

Above are my two maps which show population by zip code in the state of Colorado. I created two custom color scales for these maps, one green and one red. The maps also include an Interstate Highway overlay as well as other highways and less major roads. It also shows mountain peaks, which I thought would be interesting to include to show how the geographic location of the mountains may affect population as well as placement of the many roadways.

The Document Map is a separate display that helps you navigate through a long Word document and access different parts of it.

The Table of Contents is a list of titles of the parts of a book or document, organized in the order in which the parts appear.

A Data Frame is used for storing data tables.

Map Layers reference a dataset and specify how that dataset is portrayed using symbols and text labels.

An Attribute Table corresponds to a certain zone of cells having the same value.

Using ArcGIS was very interesting. This was my first experience and I certainly have much to say. First of all, the amount of data that application has is incredible. Absolutely everything relevant about the world is on there. Any one could use the application and know exactly what they need to. That said, it could take them a while depending. Since everyone in my class was using it at the same time, the application ran very slowly and made a lot of tasks particularly difficult. That said, though it took a while, the end results were really cool. I was really excited to finally have actually made a map and I am even more excited to make my own map with the data we spent so long collecting.

Upon visiting the ESRI website, I took particular interest in the Sustainable Architecture section. I opened an article that talked about how the Republic of Singapore is using ArcGIS to explore different options for sustainable infrastructure for future construction in their cities. This is a topic that I have spent a lot of time researching not only in college but in high school as well. I actually almost went to school for sustainable architecture, but ultimately decided against it.

I also took interest in the Environmental Management section, where I found an article that talks about how Italy uses ArcGIS to monitor the amount of hazardous materials released after an earthquake. Truth be told, my family comes from Italy so I had a sort of bias on which article to pick, but it turned out to be very interesting. Using ArcGIS, the Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research was able to assist the Italy Department of Civil Protection for emergency response activities by helping prevent or manage any potential loss of containment of dangerous substances from industrial plants in the area hit by the earthquake.

In summation, I found it very interesting that ArcGIS could be used in so many ways. ArcGIS is so much more than an application to make maps, it can be used to do so much more.

Lab 5: Processing Data

FIPS stands for Federal Information Processing Standards. According to the National Weather Service, FIPS are "5-digit codes that are assigned to each county. The first two digits are for the State and the last three identify the County, or county equivalent. So, each State has its own 2-digit number, and each County within the state has its own 3-digit number, which are combined into a 5-digit number to uniquely identify every US county. For Example: Georgia's state number is 13, and Bryan county, GA is 029, so Bryan county's FIPS code is 13029. FIPS Codes are easier to handle in information systems than are county and state names." (NWS) FIPS codes are used in emergency situations by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. They determine geographic locations for different parts of each state so that emergency alert systems can be the most effective in case of a natural disaster. These alert systems override radios and televisions so that in an emergency, the entire area in danger will know what is going on. The FIPS code can also be used to locate different sets of data for the same, in this case, county. In example, one FIPS code can relate to different populations for different years. During this lab, I did not panic. Minor frustration, certainly, but panic, absolutely not. This lab, though relatively straight forward, was very frustrating. Processing all of this data was nothing short of extremely tedious. Excel has a lot of changes that need to be made as far as how copying and pasting data should work and as far as deleting things should work. Even functions that should be considered very basic are tricky with excel. That said, after a lot of time put into this lab both inside and outside the classroom, I was able to concisely compile all of my data into a few excel sheets that organized all the population data for every county every ten years from 1900 to 2010 as well as a population estimate for the year 2015 for both the states of Arizona and Colorado. Thus far, we have been working with a lot of numbers and a lot of raw data, so I am looking forward to when all of this tedious work will pay off and I will finally get to make a map and thus have something tangible for me to show for my work. If I had a really big project such as doing this for all 50 of the states, I would need an appropriate payment for my work because that would take forever. And though the results would likely be very interesting, seeing the whole country mapped out by population, time is money and I would not want to waste my time unless there was some payout afterwards. To be honest, I would rather be the guy that goes out and gets all of the data through fieldwork, or the guy who is given the organized data and gets to make a map out of it. Right now in this lab, we are acting as that middle man who has to do all the organizing and I cannot wait to get out of this stage. Sources for FIPS info: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/mirs/public/prods/maps/cnty_fips_def.htm http://www.nws.noaa.gov/nwr/info/nwrsame.html

Colorado & Arizona Google Map Mashup

My Google Map Mashup contains many relevant places in both of my states (Colorado & Arizona). Each place has a pin which, when clicked on, gives a few general facts about each place, a picture of the place, and website relevant to the place. I have attached an example below for my pin for Boulder Colorado:

My HTML Post

I used HTML to create this post

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