G 424/524GIS for the Natural Sciences
D. Percy
e-mail: percyd@pdx.edu

Assignment 1

Creating a location map and adding data.

Imagine that you have collected a set of data on landslides in the Portland metropolitan area and need to produce a location map and do a visual analysis of the landslide intensity. You will find basic "basemap" materials in the ESRI data set, and use this landslide file to plot the distribution and volume of landslides resulting from the 96/97 storm event. Here is a copy of the report that accompanied the data set. Below are the instructions to complete the task. On the second time through, you should try doing it without looking at at my detailed instructions which appear in parentheses.

 

  1. Download the data file.
  2. Open ArcGIS.
  3. From the Tools menu, choose Add XY data. Find your file, choose the spreadsheet named "DATABASE" and choose the appropriate columns for X and Y. Edit the Coordinate System to:
    Geographic->North America->North American Datum 1983
  4. Rt-click on the Events object in the TOC, choose Data->Export Data, and call your new shapefile something like Landslides. Be sure to pay attention to where it is saved!
  5. Add the States and Counties themes from the Esri/Esridata/US directory (either on the C: drive or on the network drive)
  6. Create a new coverage of just Oregon by using the Select Features Tool (turn on Tools if necessary, see graphic at bottom of page for tool descriptions), selecting Oregon and then Exporting (right-click on layer, Data -> Export, save it to your h: drive as Oregon.shp).
  7. Similarly limit the counties, save as ls_counties.shp or something similar.
  8. Use Graduated Symbols to show which landslides had the largest volumes (right click on layer, layer properties, symbolize, quantities, graduated symbols, choose the volume field). Play with other ways of changing how your landslides are symbolized.
  9. Sort the attribute table to find the largest landslide by volume (right-click layer, Open Attribute table, right click volume field, choose sort descending)
  10. Using the tools at the bottom of the screen, label the largest landslide. Those callout boxes are kind of cool for this.
  11. Create a Layout showing landslide volumes resulting from the 1996/97 storm events.
    1. Insert a new Data Frame (from the Insert menu) and copy just the Oregon and Counties layers there.
    2. In your first frame turn on just your landslides and the counties.
    3. Click the layout button on the bottom of the screen to get into Layout mode. Notice how your two sets of tools interact with the map now.
    4. Use File->page layout to turn the page sideways (landscape)
    5. Insert scale bar, legend and north arrow elements
    6. Change the Data Frame coordinate system to something that looks better (projected, not geographic)
    7. Drag the various elements around on the screen to achieve an aesthetically pleasing figure that would be used as a location map in a report or article.
       
  12. Export map as a PNG

  13. Start over and DO IT AGAIN!

 

updated: January 15, 2009