ARC1 3.0 Jan15 StudentWorkbook

ArcGIS 1: Introduction to GIS
Student Edition
Copyright 2015 Esri

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Course version 3.0. Version release date January 2015.
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Course introduction
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................i
Course goals ...........................................................................................................................................i
Additional resources ..............................................................................................................................ii
Installing the course data ......................................................................................................................ii
Icons used in this workbook .................................................................................................................iii
Understanding the ArcGIS Platform ......................................................................................................iv
The ArcGIS platform

Lesson introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1-1
The ArcGIS platform........................................................................................................................... 1-2
Using GIS............................................................................................................................................ 1-3
Getting to know the ArcGIS platform................................................................................................. 1-5
Components used in this course ........................................................................................................ 1-7
Lesson review ..................................................................................................................................... 1-8
The basics of GIS

What is GIS? ....................................................................................................................................... 2-2
The geographic approach .................................................................................................................. 2-4
What can you do with GIS? ................................................................................................................ 2-5
Think of ways to apply GIS ............................................................................................................... 2-10
Exercise 2: Create and share a map with ArcGIS Online.................................................................. 2-11
Sign in to ArcGIS Online ............................................................................................................ 2-12
Choose a basemap .................................................................................................................... 2-14
Add a data file to your map....................................................................................................... 2-16
Save and share your map........................................................................................................... 2-18
View a classmate's version of the map ...................................................................................... 2-19
(Optional) Locate a user group related to your work or area of interest ................................... 2-20
Lesson review ................................................................................................................................... 2-22
Understanding GIS data

Turning geographic information into GIS data................................................................................... 3-3
GIS data models................................................................................................................................. 3-4
Explore GIS data models in ArcMap .................................................................................................. 3-5
Which data model fits better? ............................................................................................................ 3-7
Working with tables............................................................................................................................ 3-9
Documenting your data ................................................................................................................... 3-10
Exercise 3A: Explore GIS data using ArcMap................................................................................... 3-11
Open ArcMap and create a folder connection .......................................................................... 3-12
View data in a GIS...................................................................................................................... 3-15
Identify various file types ........................................................................................................... 3-15
View an item description ........................................................................................................... 3-17

Correct an error in an item's metadata ...................................................................................... 3-19
Preview a dataset's geography and table.................................................................................. 3-21
Add data to the map ................................................................................................................. 3-22
ArcGIS Online content ..................................................................................................................... 3-24
GIS services and web maps.............................................................................................................. 3-25
Web mapping applications and mobile apps .................................................................................. 3-27
Tools and data from ArcGIS Online.................................................................................................. 3-29
Exercise 3B: Explore GIS content using ArcGIS Online.................................................................... 3-31
Browse ArcGIS Online for web content ..................................................................................... 3-32
Browse ArcGIS Online for desktop content ............................................................................... 3-33
View an item's details ................................................................................................................ 3-35
Examine options for opening ArcGIS Online items ................................................................... 3-36
Lesson review ................................................................................................................................... 3-38
The importance of coordinate systems

What is location? ................................................................................................................................ 4-2
How spatial data stores location ........................................................................................................ 4-4
Geographic coordinate systems......................................................................................................... 4-5
Working with data in different geographic coordinate systems......................................................... 4-7
Projected coordinate systems ............................................................................................................ 4-9
Spatial properties and distortion...................................................................................................... 4-10
Understanding distortion ................................................................................................................. 4-12
Exercise 4: Work with coordinate systems ....................................................................................... 4-13
Identify the coordinate system for a dataset ............................................................................. 4-14
Identify the coordinate system for another dataset ................................................................... 4-17
Identify a dataset with a different coordinate system ................................................................ 4-19
Identify a dataset with an unknown coordinate system ............................................................. 4-24
Assign a coordinate system to a dataset without a spatial reference ........................................ 4-28
Change the coordinate system for a dataset............................................................................. 4-32
Three key concepts .......................................................................................................................... 4-36
Lesson review ................................................................................................................................... 4-37
Acquiring and selecting GIS data

Methods for obtaining GIS data......................................................................................................... 5-2
Accessing GIS data............................................................................................................................. 5-4
Considerations for creating GIS data ................................................................................................. 5-5
Creating data...................................................................................................................................... 5-9
Considerations for choosing GIS data.............................................................................................. 5-10
Evaluating GIS data .......................................................................................................................... 5-13
Exercise 5: Gather and evaluate GIS data........................................................................................ 5-15
Consider the data you need ...................................................................................................... 5-16
ii
Examine the data you have........................................................................................................ 5-16

Add data from another organization ......................................................................................... 5-18
Add data from ArcGIS Online.................................................................................................... 5-21
Transfer files from one geodatabase to another........................................................................ 5-23
Import shapefiles into the geodatabase .................................................................................... 5-26
Lesson review ................................................................................................................................... 5-28
Interacting with a map

Symbology and visualization .............................................................................................................. 6-2
Finding, identifying, and selecting features ....................................................................................... 6-4
Asking questions and getting answers............................................................................................... 6-6
Getting information from a GIS map.................................................................................................. 6-7
Exercise 6A: Explore a map using ArcMap......................................................................................... 6-9
Navigate the map ...................................................................................................................... 6-10
Modify symbology ..................................................................................................................... 6-14
Identify features ......................................................................................................................... 6-17
Find features .............................................................................................................................. 6-21
Export selected features from a file to a geodatabase.............................................................. 6-25
Select features ........................................................................................................................... 6-30
Examine an attribute table......................................................................................................... 6-37
View data change over time ...................................................................................................... 6-38
Exercise 6B: Explore a map using ArcGIS Online............................................................................. 6-41
Navigate the map ...................................................................................................................... 6-42
Modify symbology ..................................................................................................................... 6-44
Identify features ......................................................................................................................... 6-47
Locate addresses and features .................................................................................................. 6-48
Select features and view an attribute table ............................................................................... 6-49
Lesson review ................................................................................................................................... 6-51
Performing spatial analysis

The geographic approach - revisited ................................................................................................. 7-2
Questions you can answer with GIS ................................................................................................... 7-4
What is spatial analysis? ..................................................................................................................... 7-5
Common analysis tasks ...................................................................................................................... 7-7
Perform spatial analysis with common analysis tools ....................................................................... 7-10
Exercise 7: Analyze hurricane storm surge data ............................................................................... 7-13
Open ArcMap and examine the map document ....................................................................... 7-14
Extract features in your area of interest ..................................................................................... 7-14
Identify vulnerable facilities in Lee County ................................................................................ 7-20
Overlay the Cat3 layer with Lee County .................................................................................... 7-25
Identify hospitals close to the storm surge inundation polygon................................................ 7-30
Lesson review ................................................................................................................................... 7-37
iii
Sharing results
The importance of sharing results ...................................................................................................... 8-2
Sharing content through ArcMap ....................................................................................................... 8-3
Sharing content through ArcGIS Online............................................................................................. 8-5
Exercise 8: Share hurricane analysis results ........................................................................................ 8-7
Export the map as a PDF ............................................................................................................. 8-8
Create a map package and upload it to ArcGIS Online ............................................................ 8-19
Create a web map...................................................................................................................... 8-24
Customize map symbology and save the map .......................................................................... 8-32
Create a web mapping application ........................................................................................... 8-34
(Optional) Access the web mapping application on a mobile device ....................................... 8-38
Lesson review ................................................................................................................................... 8-40
Appendixes
Appendix A: Esri data license agreement ..........................................................................................A-0
Appendix B: Suitable projections....................................................................................................... B-1
Appendix C: Course roadmap ...........................................................................................................C-1
Appendix D: Answers to lesson review questions
Lesson 1: The ArcGIS platform ....................................................................................................D-1
Lesson 2: The basics of GIS .........................................................................................................D-2
Lesson 3: Understanding GIS data ..............................................................................................D-3
Lesson 4: The importance of coordinate systems........................................................................D-4
Lesson 5: Acquiring and selecting GIS data ................................................................................D-5
Lesson 6: Interacting with a map .................................................................................................D-6
Lesson 7: Performing spatial analysis...........................................................................................D-7
Lesson 8: Sharing results..............................................................................................................D-8
iv
Introduction
For thousands of years, humans have created and used maps.
Prehistoric man painted maps to communicate danger in the
environment. Explorers studied maps to guide themselves through
unfamiliar territory. Rulers commissioned maps to document the
boundaries of their political empires and to plan for expansion.
Merchants used maps to determine the best trade routes. These static
maps were painted on cave walls, engraved into animal hides,
inscribed on clay tablets, or printed on paper; your ancestors used
them to make informed decisions about the critical choices that
determined their survival or demise.
Today, more and more people carry maps with them wherever they
go. These maps, however, are often digital. With that medium comes
GIS, a system that digitally integrates information about where
something is with information about what it is. ArcGIS is a complete
GIS that harnesses the power of computer technology to help you
analyze increasingly complex problems, model the implementation of
potential solutions, and ultimately share information and resolutions
with others. GIS maps and data can be accessed through GPS units,
laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other mobile devices from just
about anywhere at any time. In the end, the maps created and used
today continue to be as important as they ever wereor perhaps
even more importantto sustaining the earth, our environment, and
ourselves.
This course introduces the fundamental concepts of GIS and the
major functionality contained in ArcGIS software and services.
Throughout the course, you will work with a variety of ArcGIS
components to gather and organize data, create and share maps, and
solve geographic problems with GIS.
Course goals
By the end of this course, you will be able to:
Create and share a GIS map.

Find and organize geographic data and other GIS resources.
Accurately display features on a GIS map and efficiently access
information about them.
Analyze a GIS map to identify where features that meet specific
criteria are located.
Share analysis results so they can be viewed using desktop
applications, websites, and mobile devices.
Additional resources
ArcGIS Resources
www.arcgis.com
This site provides unified access to web-based help, online content,
and technical support.
Esri GIS Dictionary
https://esri.acrolinx-iq.com/termbrowser/translationview.html
This dictionary includes definitions for GIS terms related to geodata,
analysis, GIS modeling and web-based GIS, cartography, and Esri
software.
Installing the course data

Some exercises in this workbook require data. Depending on the
course format, the data is available on a DVD in the back of a printed
workbook or as a data download. To install the data, place the DVD in
your disc drive or double-click the data download and follow the
instructions in the installation wizard. The data will automatically be
installed in the C:\Student folder.
: Some courses use sample scripts or

applications that are supplied either on the DVD or on the
Internet. These samples are provided "AS IS," without
warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including
but not limited to, the implied warranties of
merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or
noninfringement. Esri shall not be liable for any damages
under any theory of law related to the licensee's use of
these samples, even if Esri is advised of the possibility of
such damage.
ii
Icons used in this workbook

Notes point out additional information, exceptions, or special
circumstances that apply to a particular topic or procedure.
Tips provide brief help for performing a task or clarifying concepts.
External resources provide optional, special-interest information

about course topics.
Best practices offer industry or professional guidelines, help set goals

or priorities, and save time.
Estimated times provide guidance on approximately how many

minutes an exercise will take to complete.
Warnings alert you to potential problems or to actions that should be

avoided.
iii
Understanding the ArcGIS Platform

ArcGIS enables employees throughout an organization and the general public to discover, use,
make, and share mapsfrom any device, anywhere, at any time. The platform includes ArcGIS for
Desktop, ArcGIS Online, and ArcGIS for Server.
ArcGIS for Desktop

Where GIS professionals work with apps including ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro to create authoritative
geographic data, maps, tools, and analytical models that can be shared as services. The desktop
apps provide powerful capabilities for spatial analysis, 3D modeling, image management, and
more.
ArcGIS Online
Where knowledge workers, executives, and members of the public collaborate and do self-service
mapping using desktops, tablets, or smartphones. ArcGIS Online includes rich content and
focused apps that add geographic insight to all types of projects.
ArcGIS for Server
Where IT and GIS professionals manage, secure, and share geographic content as services that
can be consumed in desktop, web, and mobile apps. ArcGIS for Server connects with relational
database management systems and supports on-premise, cloud, virtual, and hybrid deployments.
iv
The ArcGIS platform
The ArcGIS platform

Introduction
Key terms
ArcGIS for Desktop
ArcGIS for Mobile
ArcGIS for Server
ArcGIS Online
GIS
Portal for ArcGIS
The ArcGIS platform
People everywhere are familiar with maps and how to use them. Maps
and geography are a common language, communicating and
conveying large amounts of information in an organized,
understandable way. The way people access and use maps has
changed in recent times. In addition to desktop mapping
applications, more and more people use the web, smartphones, and
tablets for a sophisticated range of activities in which they consume
geographic information. Maps available on the web are created and
managed using geographic information systems (GIS). A GIS allows
you to visualize, question, analyze, and interpret data to understand
relationships, patterns, and trends.
The ArcGIS platform is a GIS that enable users to discover, use, make,
and share maps and information that add value to their work. The
ArcGIS platform allows people to use available online maps and data
along with their own geographic data to create information products.
These information products can be accessed through applications
that run on desktop machines, smartphones, or tablets, either within
internal networks or outside an organization's firewall.
Topics covered
The ArcGIS platform
Discoverusemakeshare (The ArcGIS workflow)
Learning objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to:
Explain how the components of the ArcGIS platform work

together.
1-1
LESSON 1
The ArcGIS platform

ArcGIS is a comprehensive platform that enables everyone to work
with and use geographic information to increase efficiencies and
make better decisions. Most people work with geographic
information through maps, not just printed maps, but online
interactive maps that provide insight into an organization's
information, analytical tools, key tasks, and workflows that people use
every day to work more effectively. The ArcGIS platform is available
everywhere using applications that make your maps available on
smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers.
The base of the platform is made up of maps and data hosted on
ArcGIS for Server (known as services) and available online content.
Data and services hosted on ArcGIS for Server can be combined with
available online content to make web maps. Web maps published to
your organization's portal can be accessed through apps from any
device. Your organization can choose to use the cloud capabilities of
ArcGIS Online, or it can use the same portal capabilities within your
organization's firewall using Portal for ArcGIS running on your local
network.
Figure 1.1
The ArcGIS platform
connects apps on all your
devices through a portal
to a wide variety of
content that you and other
ArcGIS users create.
1-2
The ArcGIS platform
Using GIS
Discoverusemakeshare
ArcGIS is a platform for providing mapping, analysis, and data
management, as well as enabling collaboration across an
organization. You can use the platform to discover, use, make, and
share maps from any device, anywhere, anytime.
Your maps and data represent the authoritative inventory of your
assets and resources. You can use maps to analyze and visualize
spatial relationships and determine how those relationships may affect
your organization.
Everyone in your organization can use the ArcGIS platform to discover
where things are, how they relate to each other, and which actions
might be needed based on this locational knowledge. The next
section describes the five most common ways or patterns in which
GIS is used.
The five patterns of GIS
Operational awareness
With ArcGIS, you can monitor and track day-to-day operations across
your organization to support more informed decision making. Factors
such as deliveries, location of staff and vehicles, and weather can
impact your organization's daily activities. Using maps, you can share
and communicate these events throughout your organization and to
your stakeholders.
Planning and analysis
Discover new relationships in your data as you analyze traffic patterns,
weather, demographics, customer locations, and competitor data on
maps and intuitive dashboards. With ArcGIS, you can use your data
and maps for analysis, site selection, route optimization, and
predictive modeling. You can then share the results of your analysis
with others in your organization and external stakeholders.
Asset management
Your organization has assets, people, facilities, and resources that
must be managed. With ArcGIS, you can see a real-time picture of
asset performance, maintenance history, improvement projects, and
inspection plans. ArcGIS integrates with many business systems,
allowing you to track the performance of your organization's assets.
1-3
LESSON 1
Field data collection

With ArcGIS, you can move data to and from the field to any device.
Field crews can view current information and maps to save time and
make better decisions. They can relay information back to you,
making it easy to report problems, respond to work orders, and
update maintenance records.
Public engagement
ArcGIS helps you interact with your customers and achieve
transparency for stakeholders. You can use ArcGIS to create websites
that show where resources are allocated and allow your customers to
interact with you, such as to report graffiti or dangerous road
conditions. Your customers can use your authoritative data and
applications to create maps on any device to help them make better
informed decisions.
Figure 1.2
The five patterns of GIS.
Most GIS-related business
activities fall within one or
cross several of these
patterns.
1-4
The ArcGIS platform
Getting to know the ArcGIS platform

The ArcGIS platform provides ways to connect users by facilitating
and encouraging sharing and collaboration. It is a platform that
anyone can use to work with maps and geographic information.
Figure 1.3
The ArcGIS platform
allows users to access
maps and services via
applications that work on
any device.
ArcGIS is a platform that runs everywhere: on professional desktops,

servers, the cloud, standard web browsers, smartphones, mobile
devices, and tablets. The way you choose to interact with the platform
is based on what you are trying to do.
The ArcGIS platform has a number of key components: ArcGIS for
Desktop, ArcGIS for Server, Portal for ArcGIS, ArcGIS Online, and
1-5
LESSON 1
ArcGIS for Mobile. These components allow ArcGIS to be accessed

through various devices.
Table 1.1
This table lists short
summaries for each of the
major software
components in the ArcGIS
platform.
Product
Description
ArcGIS
for
Desktop
Software used by GIS professionals to compile, use, and

manage geographic information.
ArcGIS
for
Server
Software used by GIS professionals to share resources

created using ArcGIS for Desktop through the web.
Includes Portal for ArcGIS, which provides the
functionality of ArcGIS Online within your organization's
firewall.
ArcGIS
Online
Website used by GIS professionals and anyone interested

in finding, using, sharing, or creating rich, interactive,
intelligent maps and data.
ArcGIS
for
Mobile
Software used by anyone who wants to connect to and

work with ArcGIS using mobile devices, such as the
iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile Devices, and so on.
Throughout this course, you will get hands-on exposure to many

components within the ArcGIS platform. You will finish the course with
a solid introductory understanding of what GIS is and how the ArcGIS
platform can be used to bring GIS to everyone.
1-6
The ArcGIS platform
Components used in this course

The following table lists the ArcGIS platform components you will use
as you progress through this course.
Table 1.2
You will be using ArcGIS
Lesson
for Desktop and ArcGIS

Online. Note that ArcGIS
for Server and ArcGIS for
ArcGIS for
Desktop
ArcGIS
Online
The basics of GIS
Mobile are not used in the

exercises for this course.

Acquiring and selecting data
Sharing results
1-7
LESSON 1
Lesson review
1. ArcGIS is a comprehensive platform that enables everyone to work with and apply
geographic information.
a. True
b. False
2. ArcGIS ______ is a website that can be used by anyone interested in finding, using, sharing, or
creating rich, interactive, intelligent maps.
3. Which ArcGIS platform component is designed to allow GIS professionals to author and
publish maps?
a. ArcGIS for Desktop
b. ArcGIS for Server
c. ArcGIS Online
d. ArcGIS for Mobile
4. Which ArcGIS platform component is designed to allow GIS professionals and anyone to
share GIS resources over the web?
b. ArcGIS for Mobile
c. ArcGIS Online
d. None of the above
5. Which ArcGIS platform component is designed to be used by anyone who wants to
connect to and work with ArcGIS using devices such as the iPhone, Android, Windows
smartphones, tablets, and so on?
b. Applications
c. ArcGIS for Server
d. None of the above
1-8
The basics of GIS
The basics of GIS

Introduction
Key terms
attribute
data
spatial
workflow
You may not realize it, but you benefit from the use of geographic
information systems (GIS) every day. Whether it is the regular delivery
of your morning newspaper, the synchronization of traffic lights on
your way to work, or the convenient location of your favorite
restaurant, GIS likely contributed to making these things a reality. All
over the world, organizations are using GIS to manage the
environment, work more efficiently, provide better customer service,
and save money.
Topics covered
What is GIS?
The geographic approach
What can you do with GIS?
Learning objectives
Explain what a GIS is.

Describe what a GIS can do and how it can be used.
Create, save, and share a map with ArcGIS Online.
2-1
LESSON 2
What is GIS?
GIS stands for geographic information system.
What is "geographic information"?

Traditionally, one may think of maps when answering this question.
While that is a start, geographic information is much more.
Figure 2.1
Maps are just part of what
constitutes "geographic
information."
A GIS integrates spatial and attribute information, storing

information about where something is with information about what
something is. This integrated data is called geographic information.
Figure 2.2
A driver's license is an
example of a GIS
database because it stores
geographic information,
which is descriptive
information about an
object or phenomenon,
combined with
information about its
spatial location.
2-2
The basics of GIS
What are "systems"?

A working GIS integrates five key components involved in managing
and processing geographic information.
Figure 2.3
The five components of a
geographic information
system are hardware,
software, data, people,
and workflows.
Hardware
A GIS operates on a wide range of hardware types, from centralized
computer servers to desktop computers (used in stand-alone or
networked configurations) to handheld mobile devices like
smartphones.
Software
GIS software provides the functions and tools used to store, analyze,
and display geographic information (including a database
management system); tools for the input and manipulation of
geographic data; and tools that support query, analysis, and
visualization of that data.
Data
A GIS is useless without data to map and analyze. A GIS will manage
and integrate geographic information with other data resources and
can even incorporate a database management system (DBMS) to
manage spatial data.
People
GIS technology is of limited value without the people who manage
the system and develop plans for applying it to real-world problems.
GIS users range from technical specialists who use it to design and
maintain the system to those who use it to help them perform their
everyday work.
Workflows
A successful GIS operates according to a well-designed plan and
business rules, which are the models and operating practices (that is,
workflows) unique to each organization.
2-3
LESSON 2
The geographic approach

Just as workflows are an important component of a GIS, it is
important to have a consistent workflow for using a GIS to answer
questions and solve problems. The geographic approach offers a new
way of thinking and problem solving that integrates geographic
information into how people understand and manage the world
around them.
Table 2.1
This table describes the
steps of the geographic
approach to solving
problems with GIS.
2-4
Step
Description
1. Ask a
geographic
question
Develop geographic questions that need to be

answered. These questions attempt to identify how an
object or phenomenon's spatial location affects its
involvement with other features or phenomenon.
2. Acquire
geographic
data
Obtain the geographic data required to answer your

questions.
3. Examine
geographic
data
Create a map of your geographic area and symbolize

data to look for information or patterns that are not
always easy to see on a map.
4. Analyze
geographic
information
Determine a problem-solving approach and perform

GIS analysis.
5. Act on
geographic
knowledge
Develop your message and intended audience; create

visuals, such as maps, to communicate information.
The basics of GIS
What can you do with GIS?

Creating a map with a GIS allows you to visualize spatial information.
This visualization often reveals relationships, patterns, and trends that
provide you with the information required to make more effective and
useful decisions. The following are examples of the kinds of maps you
can create with GIS.
Map locations
Mapping locations allows you to find places that have the features
you are looking for. It also enables you to see patterns in how features
relate to one another geographically.
Figure 2.4
This map shows the major
settlements, roads, rivers,
shorelines, and political
boundaries in the Gulf of
St. Lawrence region in
southeastern Canada.
Record ways you might use locational maps in your work.

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2-5
LESSON 2
Map quantities
People often map quantities to find places that meet a particular
criterion.
Figure 2.5
This map displays the
percentage of people over
the age of 64 by county in
the southwestern United
States in 2010.
Record ways you might use quantitative maps in your work.

______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2-6
The basics of GIS
Find what is inside

By mapping what is inside a specific area, you can monitor what is
happening, identify which features are most likely to be affected, and
take specific action, prioritizing your response.
Figure 2.6
This map shows which
parcels are inside of a
flood zone. Understanding
which parcels are at risk
can help people make
decisions about how to
mitigate that risk.
Record ways you might use maps showing which features are inside
an area or coincident with other features in your work.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2-7
LESSON 2
Find what is nearby

GIS can help you find out what is occurring within a set distance of a
feature by mapping what is nearby.
Figure 2.7
This map shows
shipwrecks near coral reefs
along the southeastern
coast of Florida.
Record ways you might use maps showing which features are within a
specified distance of other features in your work.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2-8
The basics of GIS
Map change
Mapping change in an area may allow you to anticipate future
conditions, identify contributing factors, decide on a course of action,
or evaluate the results of an action or policy.
Figure 2.8
This map shows Mount St.
Helens before and after
the 1980 eruption.
Record ways you might use maps that show changes over time in your
work.
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2-9
LESSON 2
Think of ways to apply GIS

Every object or phenomenon in the physical world can be associated
with a location, and anything that can be associated with a location
can be managed or examined through GIS. You can use GIS to do
many things:
Map where things are.

Determine where there are features that meet certain criteria.
Find the closest feature or location where a particular
phenomenon exists.
Determine how an object or phenomenon has changed at a
particular location over time.
In groups of two or three, brainstorm specific ways that you could use
GIS to solve problems as a member of a particular role. Your instructor
will provide you with a role and an industry on which to focus.
In the blank space, record your thoughts on how someone in the role
to which you have been assigned would apply GIS to their work.
2-10
The basics of GIS
Exercise 2: Create and share a map with ArcGIS

Online
25 minutes
Each year, only a small percentage of people who are eligible to

donate blood actually give. As a result, no matter where you live,
there is rarely enough available blood to consistently meet demand.
The state of Florida is no exception.
In this exercise, you will create a map that will allow prospective
donors throughout Florida to quickly locate blood banks in their
neighborhood.
Figure 2.9
Map of blood banks
throughout the state of
Florida.
In this exercise, you will:
Sign in to ArcGIS Online with an organizational account

provided by your instructor.
Create a map using ArcGIS Online.
Save and share your map.
2-11
LESSON 2
Step 1: Sign in to ArcGIS Online

You will sign in to ArcGIS Online using a course account that is to be used only for training
purposes. Your instructor will provide the account credentials, which you can record here:
User Name: __________________

Password: __________________
Group Name: __________________
a
Open a web browser and browse to trainingservices.maps.arcgis.com.

ArcGIS Online is a dynamic website. The graphics provided in this exercise are for
illustrative purposes and may differ from what you see on screen.
2-12
Click Sign In.
The basics of GIS
On the Sign in to Esri Training Services page, click the option labeled Using Your Course
Account.
The course account is an ArcGIS Online organizational account managed by Esri Training Services
for the attendees of training classes. Any information you may save to a course account will be
automatically deleted after class.
Type in the course account credentials provided by your instructor, and click Sign In.
2-13
LESSON 2
After you sign in with the course account, click Map.
The ArcGIS Online map viewer opens a default map that includes a topographic basemap.
Step 2: Choose a basemap

A basemap serves as a starting point when creating a map with ArcGIS Online. Often, basemaps
depict background reference information, such as landforms, roads, landmarks, and political
boundaries, onto which other geographic information is placed.
2-14
The basics of GIS
Click Basemap.
A menu of basemaps opens.

b
Select one of the basemaps that shows streets and roads.
In the Find Address or Place search field, type Florida.
A list automatically populates with potential matches.
Click the Florida, United States entry.
The map zooms to the state of Florida in the United States.
2-15
LESSON 2
If necessary, close the Location pop-up that opens.
Your map is now centered on the state of Florida. Next, you will add a file of blood bank locations
throughout the state.
Step 3: Add a data file to your map

In this step, you will upload a file from your computer.
a
Click the Add button
In the Add Layer from File dialog box, click Browse.
Browse to C:\Student\ARC1\OnlineFiles, choose FL_BloodBanks.txt, and then click Open.
2-16
, and then choose Add Layer from File.
The basics of GIS
Make sure you choose the FL_BloodBanks.txt file, not the

FL_BloodBanks.txt.xml file.
In the Add Layer from File dialog box, click Import Layer.
If a Location window displays, close it.
Your map now displays the blood banks throughout the state of Florida.
f
Click one of the blood banks.
The attribute information associated with that particular blood bank appears in a pop-up.
g
After viewing the information, close the attribute pop-up.
2-17
LESSON 2
Step 4: Save and share your map

a
Click the Save button
, and then choose Save from the drop-down list.
In the Save Map dialog box, set the following parameters:
For Title, type Florida Blood Banks <first name + last initial>.
For Tags, type ARC1, Florida, blood bank.
Tags are words or short phrases that describe your map. Tags are separated with
commas. "Federal land" is considered one tag, while "Federal, land" is
considered two tags. It is useful to enter tags related to how you would expect
people to search for your map.
For Summary, enter a summary description that describes the map.

For Save in folder, choose the account or subfolder within the account in which you want
to save the map.
Your title will be slightly different, as you will append your first name and last initial so that
you can tell which map belongs to you.
c
Click Save Map.
Now you will share your map.

d
Click the Share button
In the Share dialog box, select the check box for the assigned group name for the class.
2-18
The basics of GIS
Your group name may differ from this graphic.
By sharing your map with the class group, any of your classmates can find your map and view it
because they are all members of the group. Using groups is a great way to share project-related
GIS resources with specific participants.
The Share dialog box also provides a link you can use to share this map with other group
members via email, instant message (IM), Facebook, or Twitter. You could also use this link to
embed the map in a website or create a web application.
f
Close the Share dialog box.
Step 5: View a classmate's version of the map

a
In the ArcGIS Online map viewer window, hover the cursor over Home, and then click Groups.
If you are a member of any groups or organizations, they will be listed here. Notice that you are a
member of one group (which may differ from the graphic).
Click your assigned group name.
2-19
LESSON 2
You should see a list of items created by your class. One of them will be the Florida Blood Banks
map that you created and shared with the group. If no other maps appear, wait a few minutes so
that your classmates can share their versions of the same map.
Choose one of your classmate's maps, and click the drop-down arrow next to the Open link
below the thumbnail image.
Notice that you have a choice to either open the map in the map viewer or in ArcGIS for Desktop.
d
Click the option to Open in Map Viewer.
Spend a few minutes navigating the map and identifying a few of the blood banks.
When you are finished, you can either leave the browser open for the optional step, or close
the browser if you are not continuing to the optional step.
Step 6: (Optional) Locate a user group related to your work or area of

interest
Imagine that you are interested in searching and joining any groups that may be publicly shared in
ArcGIS Online. Sharing a group publicly means that members can be accepted from both inside
and outside of an organization. Here are some examples of when this sharing can be useful:
A contractor is working with a company to collect data.

An organization must share GIS products with certain members of the general public.
Several companies share data with each other to develop an oil field.
a
In ArcGIS Online, hover over the Home link, and click Home from the menu.
To search for groups related to your area of interest, click in the Search box.
2-20
The basics of GIS
A submenu will appear.
Click Search for Groups.
Type a keyword or combination of keywords related to your industry or area of interest, and
then click the Find button
or press Enter. (For example, you could type petroleum.)
You will not initially find any groups because ArcGIS Online will search your organization (Esri
Training Services) by default. To search the broader ArcGIS Online community, you must uncheck
the default option.
e
Uncheck the box next to Only Search in Esri Training Services.
Browse through the list, and click a group that interests you.
The groups you see listed have been shared publicly. Keep in mind that there may be other
groups that have not been shared publicly. For those groups, you would have to be invited by a
group administrator to be able to view it or any content therein.
g
To request membership, click Join This Group.
After you are finished browsing user groups, from the drop-down menu with your account
name, click Sign Out.
Close the web browser.
2-21
LESSON 2
Lesson review
1. Based on your current understanding, how would you define GIS?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. During this lesson, five basic reasons to use GIS were discussed. Which of those five
reasons best matches how you will be using GIS? Provide an example to support your
selection.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2-22

Introduction
Key terms
attribute table
data frame
data model
feature class
geodatabase
GIS service
Before you can work with data in a GIS, the data must be in a digital
format. To represent real-world features digitally, you use a data
model. The data model defines the process used to create abstract
representations of real-world features into a format that the computer
can understand.
In the GIS world, there are two main data models used to represent
features. In this lesson, you will explore these two data models and
some common geographic data formats that are based on each
model. You will also examine how non-spatial tables can be identified
and used in a GIS.
layer
layer package
map document
metadata
Topics covered
GIS data models
Spatial versus nonspatial tables
Using metadata
mobile app
raster data model
shapefile
stand-alone table
vector data model
web map
web mapping
application
3-1
LESSON 3
Learning objectives
Describe different types of GIS data and their uses.

Integrate different types of GIS data.
Access metadata and item descriptions.
3-2
Turning geographic information into GIS data

How does geographic information become GIS data?
Figure 3.1
Geographic information
becomes GIS data when it
is stored in a database.
Geographic information is defined as spatial information combined

with attribute information. GIS data is the representation of
geographic information as digital files in a GIS database. It is this
digital data that can be mapped with a GIS.
Data is gathered by observing and recording information through
various devices, methods, and behaviors. As you record information
available in the real world, you process, organize, and synthesize it as
a collection of digital files in a GIS database. Mapping this data may
provide you with new information and possibly new data.
3-3
LESSON 3
GIS data models

In the GIS world, there are two main data models used to represent
real-world features: the vector data model and the raster data model.
The vector data model represents discrete objects on the surface of
the earth (such as streetlights, roads, and buildings) as point, line, and
polygon (that is, area) features. Discrete objects are those objects that
have well-defined boundaries.
A raster data model represents the surface of the earth as a grid of
equally sized cells. An individual cell represents a portion of the earth,
such as a square meter or a square mile. The raster data model is
often used to represent continuous phenomenon (that is, without
discrete boundaries).
Figure 3.2
The vector data model
represents real-world
features as points, lines,
and polygons, while the
raster data model
represents them as cells of
the same value. Notice
that the shapes of the
raster building, road, and
streetlight do not seem as
similar to the real-world
shapes as the vector
renditions do.
3-4
Explore GIS data models in ArcMap

ArcMap is the ArcGIS for Desktop application designed for querying,
analyzing, editing, and mapping your raster or vector data.
In ArcMap, you work in a map document, adding data (that is, layers)
to data frames. A map document has one or more data frames, and
each data frame represents a separate map. Data frames and the data
they contain are listed in the table of contents.
Figure 3.3
The table of contents
window displays data in
your map organized by
data frame. In this
example, the data frame
contains three vector
layers and a single raster
dataset.
A vector dataset models real-world features as points, lines, and

polygons. The most common types of vector datasets are shapefiles
and geodatabase feature classes. These types of datasets store the
location, shape, and attributes of geographic features with the same
geometry type (such as point, line, or polygon), and the same spatial
reference.
In addition to the geometry, a vector dataset also has an associated
attribute table that stores information describing the real-world
features being modeled. The information contained inside an
attribute table is called attributes. Each point, line, or polygon feature
has attributes associated with it. Features from the same dataset share
the same types of attributes. For example, a vector dataset mapping
street centerlines might have attributes describing the street's name
and how many lanes a street has, as well as the speed limit.
Opening a vector dataset's attribute table allows you to view the
attributes associated with the points, lines, or polygons in that
dataset. Each row in the table represents a single feature in the map.
3-5
LESSON 3
Vector attribute tables have ID and Shape fields by default. The ID

field can be a field named OBJECTID, FID, or OID. This field stores a
unique, system-defined object identifier for each row in the table. The
Shape field stores the geometry, or vector data type.
Figure 3.4
Other than the ID and
Shape fields, all of the
fields in a vector attribute
table are specific to the
dataset.
A raster dataset is represented by a grid of equally sized cells with

numeric values. Cell values may represent codes or qualitative
measures for features in the real world (for example, land-use,
vegetation, or soil type), or they may represent quantitative measures
of a continuous phenomenon (such as temperature, precipitation, soil
pH, or elevation).
Raster datasets do not always have attribute tables. Those that do
typically have cell values that represent or define a class, group,
category, or membership. These attribute tables simply list the cell
values (for example, codes) present in the dataset and how many cells
share each value.
Figure 3.5
A raster value attribute
table often contains only
three fields: OBJECTID,
Value, and Count. The
Value field lists the values
present in the data, while
Count represents the total
number of cells with that
value.
3-6
Which data model fits better?

Both the vector and raster data models are useful for representing
geographic data, but one may be more appropriate than the other
when it comes to representing a particular type of geographic data. In
general, the vector data model is useful for representing features that
have discrete boundaries, while the raster data model is most useful
for representing continuous geographic dataphenomena such as
elevation, precipitation, and temperaturethat do not have
well-defined boundaries and that usually change gradually across a
given area.
Which data model, vector or raster, is more appropriate for each of
the following? If vector, would it be a point, line, or polygon layer?
Explain your answers.
1. Rainfall
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
2. Trees
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3. Office space
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
4. Animal migration paths
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3-7
LESSON 3
5. Police beats
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
6. Fire departments
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
7. Soil pH
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
8. Museums
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
9. Lightning strikes
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
10. Air quality
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
3-8
Working with tables

Each vector dataset has an attribute table, and each of these attribute
tables contains a Shape field that defines it as a spatial table. The
Shape field stores the geometric information for the points, lines, and
polygons. ArcMap uses the information contained in this field to draw
the features on your map.
Stand-alone tables do not include a Shape field, so they are
considered nonspatial tables. These tables are just as important and
useful as spatial tables. For example, these stand-alone nonspatial
tables may contain locational attributes, such as x,y coordinates or
address data.
Nonspatial tables that contain locational attributes in the form of x,y
coordinates can be quickly processed so that the information is
plotted and drawn on your map. This process will create a temporary
event layer from which you can create a shapefile or feature class.
Figure 3.6
Stand-alone tables may
contain spatial data. This
data can be processed to
allow ArcMap to plot the
points on a map.
ArcGIS Help Library:
Tabular data sources
Stand-alone tables may also contain additional attribute information

for features stored in a separate feature class. Working with these
types of stand-alone tables is outside the scope of this class.
3-9
LESSON 3
Documenting your data

Why is it necessary to document your data?
Information that describes data is called metadata. Metadata helps

you better understand a dataset by providing you with information
about what the file and its attribute fields represent, its origin and
intended use, and how accurate and recent it is. It can help you
identify the source of the data and make decisions about its suitability
for a particular scenario.
3-10
30 minutes
Exercise 3A: Explore GIS data using ArcMap

Geographic information can be stored in a wide variety of file types.
These files may be organized in a folder or in a geodatabase. A
geodatabase is a data storage format introduced by Esri for ArcGIS
software. It serves as a specialized container for storing geographic
data, which may include a collection of vector feature classes, raster
datasets, and tables. Understanding how data is stored and
organized, as well as how to identify and get information about your
data by accessing metadata, will help you learn to recognize GIS data
when you see it.
Connect to a database.
Browse through data.
Identify various file types.
View a dataset's item description/metadata.
Correct an error in an item's metadata.
Preview a dataset's geography and table.
Add data to a map.
3-11
LESSON 3
Step 1: Open ArcMap and create a folder connection

In the taskbar at the bottom of your computer screen, click the ArcMap icon
(Alternatively, you can click the Windows Start button and browse to the application, or, in the
Search Programs and Files field, type ArcMap, and then press Enter on your keyboard.)
The ArcMap application opens.
If the Getting Started window opens, click Do Not Show This Dialog in the Future, and
then click Cancel.
You will use ArcMap to browse various datasets and become more familiar with how GIS data is
stored and organized.
3-12
On the Standard toolbar, if necessary, click the Catalog window button
The Catalog window opens.

If you look at the top-right corner of the Catalog window, you will see a pushpin. You can
click the pushpin to change its position. When the pushpin points down
, the Catalog
window is set to remain visible. When the pushpin points to the left
, the Catalog
window is set to collapse to a tab on the right side of the ArcMap application window
when not in use.
c
To keep the Catalog window open, click the Auto-hide pushpin until it points down.
When you work with ArcGIS for Desktop, you work with a catalog of data. ArcMap's Catalog
window is a resizable, dockable window that allows you to browse your data, drag data into your
map, manage data, and create data. The Catalog window provides a tree view of file folders and
geodatabases.
Before you can browse data in ArcGIS for Desktop, you must create a folder connection to it.
3-13
LESSON 3
An initial task in using the Catalog window is to establish a series of connections to

the workspace folders whose content you plan to work with in ArcGIS.
At the top of the Catalog window, click the Connect To Folder button
could right-click Folder Connections and choose Connect To Folder.)
In the Connect To Folder dialog box, click Computer, and then click Local Disk (C:).
Scroll down and click Student, and then click ARC1.
Click OK.
If necessary, in the Catalog window, expand Folder Connections to view the C:\Student\ARC1
folder.
3-14
. (Alternatively, you
Expand C:\Student\ARC1.
Step 2: View data in a GIS

Within the C:\Student\ARC1 folder, you see a Florida folder, an OnlineFiles folder, a Results
folder, and a WilsonNC folder. The Florida folder contains data for the state of Florida. The
WilsonNC folder contains data for the city of Wilson, North Carolina. (It is common to organize
data based on spatial location.) The OnlineFiles folder and the Results folders contain backup files
for data you create or upload to ArcGIS Online.
It is a good idea to organize GIS contents into a set of commonly used workspace
folders. These are file folders on disk used to organize your GIS projects. They can
contain map documents, layer files, geodatabases, raster datasets, tables, and so
on.
Expand the Florida and WilsonNC folders.

1. How many geodatabases are there? (Hint: Look for the geodatabase icon
.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Step 3: Identify various file types

a
Expand the FloridaData.gdb and Wilson.gdb.
Examine the various files inside and outside of these geodatabases.
3-15
LESSON 3
2. Based on the information in the following table, how many feature classes of each type are in
the two geodatabases combined?
Gray-blue icons
Data type
How many are there?
Point feature class
Line feature class
Polygon feature class
Mosaic dataset*
Geodatabase table
*A mosaic dataset is a data model within the geodatabase used to manage a collection of raster datasets
(images).
Collapse the geodatabases and examine the rest of the data in the Florida and WilsonNC
folders.
3. Based on the information in the following table, how many of each file type are in the Florida
and WilsonNC folders combined (but outside the geodatabase)?
Yellow-green icons
Data type
How many are there?
Point shapefile
Line shapefile
Polygon shapefile
Non-geodatabase raster
Non-geodatabase table*
Layer file
*TXT files can contain information that can be interpreted as non-geodatabase tables.
3-16
Step 4: View an item description

The item description is one view of an item's metadata.
a
Expand FloridaData.gdb, right-click the FL_CEMMGT feature class, and choose Item
Description.
The item description opens in a separate window with the Description tab selected. At the top of
the Item Description window, you see the name of the data file and the type of file it is. You also
see a thumbnail (small graphic) of the dataset that shows you what the item's geometry will look
like when added to a map. Below the thumbnail are various fields, such as Summary and
Description, that help identify what the features in the file represent.
3-17
LESSON 3
Read through the metadata available in the item description, and answer the following
questions.
4. Which type of file is this?
______________________________________________________________________________
5. What does this dataset represent?
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Which organization originally created this data? (Hint: Look at the Credits field.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Metadata can be stored in various formats. The Item Description provides some information, but
other metadata formats provide even more. For example, many organizations use the FGDC
CSDGM XML format. This particular file has FGDC-format metadata content associated with it.
c
Click the FGDC Metadata (Read-only) heading at the bottom of the Item Description to see
this information.
Below Entities and Attributes, you see a list of the attribute fields associated with this dataset,
along with the description of what each represents.
7. What does the FIPS attribute field represent?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Learning how to use metadata will help you determine whether the data you have is, in fact, the
data you need.
3-18
Step 5: Correct an error in an item's metadata

a
Near the top of the Item Description window, with the Description tab selected, click Edit.
The Description tab changes to allow you to edit the content listed in the item description.
b
If necessary, in the list on the left, under Overview, click Item Description.
On the right side of the dialog box, scroll down until you find the Summary field.
3-19
LESSON 3
In the Summary field, change the last two words in the summary to read flood inundation
rather than "food inundation."
Click Save, but leave the Item Description window open.
3-20
Step 6: Preview a dataset's geography and table

a
At the top of the Item Description window, click the Preview tab. (Please be patient if it takes a
few seconds for the Preview tab to load.)
The Preview tab defaults to Geography, which allows you to see what the features will look like
when displayed on a map.
3-21
LESSON 3
For Preview, click the drop-down arrow next to Geography and choose Table.
Previewing the table for a dataset allows you to view the attribute table without having to add the
data to the map or open the attribute table.
8. Is this a spatial table or a nonspatial table?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
c
Close the Item Description window when you are finished reviewing the metadata.
Step 7: Add data to the map

a
3-22
In the Catalog window, if necessary, expand FloridaData.gdb.
Click the FL_CEMMGT feature class and drag it into the map display.
The data draws in the map, and the dataset name and symbol display as a layer in the table of
contents.
c
Notice that the features in the map display look just like the thumbnail graphic that was part of
the item description, although the symbol color may differ.
In the table of contents window, right-click the FL_CEMMGT layer and choose Open Attribute
Table.
Notice that the fields you see in the attribute table are the same fields listed and described in the
metadata. If you were uncertain about what a particular attribute field or attribute value
represented, you could look to the metadata to find out.
e
When you are finished reviewing the attribute table, close the Table window.
From the File menu, choose Exit.
When prompted to save the map, choose No.
3-23
LESSON 3
ArcGIS Online content

ArcGIS Online can be used to host various types of GIS content,
including some designed for online use and others designed for
desktop use. Just about any GIS data item can be hosted on ArcGIS
Online. Some of the items shared through ArcGIS Online are
designed to be used on the web, while others are designed to be
used in ArcGIS for Desktop. Certain file types require processing
before they can be published to the cloud.
Figure 3.16
There are five basic kinds
of data items you can work
with on ArcGIS Online:
maps, data layers, data
files, applications, and
tools.
For more information

about the kinds of files
supported by ArcGIS
Online, open the ArcGIS
Online Help and browse
to Adding items >
Supported item types.
3-24
GIS services and web maps

GIS data is often published to ArcGIS Online as GIS services. A GIS
service is a data layer that represents a GIS resource, such as a map, a
raster data file, a feature class, or a connection to a geodatabase. A
GIS service is located on a server and is made available to clients like
ArcGIS for Desktop, iPhone, and web browsers through various
devices. With GIS services, the server stores the resource, hosts the
service, and does the GIS work, sending back a result in a common
format (such as images or text) to the user.
Table 3.3
Some of the most
common types of GIS
services.
Type of
GIS
service
What it does
Map
service
Allows access to the contents of a map on the server as

though the map were stored locally
Feature
service
Allows clients to execute queries to get features and

perform edits that can be applied to the server
Geodata
service
Allows clients to access a geodatabase through a local

area network (LAN) or the Internet
Image
service
Allows access to raster data on the server as though the

image were stored locally
A web map is a GIS map that is designed, implemented, generated,

and delivered on the web. ArcGIS web maps are authored by
choosing a particular basemap and then adding data layers. These
data layers can be GIS services or other GIS data layers.
3-25
LESSON 3
The following earthquake web map combines a number of GIS

services:
An Oceans basemap service from ArcGIS Online.

A population density map service for the world.
A real-time feed of recent seismic events and magnitudes
served as a feature service by the U.S. Geological Survey.
Figure 3.17
An example of a web map
that combines a number
of GIS services.
Web maps are hosted online by Esri. Creating and accessing web
maps does not require any ArcGIS software; all you need is an
Internet connection and a web browser.
3-26
Web mapping applications and mobile apps

Web maps are often shared as web mapping applications or mobile
apps.
A web mapping application tailors the user experience with a web
map, enabling or restricting functionality to allow users to interact
with the map in specific ways.
Figure 3.18
The Horn of Africa
(consisting of Eritrea,
Djibouti, Ethiopia, and
Somalia) has been
experiencing widespread
drought and famine. This
map shows at-risk areas
and pulls in social media
pertaining to this crisis.
You can change the search
terms for YouTube, Flickr,
and Twitter by clicking the
Social tab on the right.
3-27
LESSON 3
A mobile app is a native application that allows you to view, collect,

and update your geographic information on a mobile device (such as
tablets, in-vehicle mounted systems, Windows smartphones, iPhones,
iPads, and Android devices).
Figure 3.19
ArcGIS includes a series of
ready-to-use, configurable
mobile apps. Many of
these can be configured
through the use of web
maps. GIS users author
and share web maps that
can be opened and used
in most ArcGIS clients.
Mobile apps share a few common traits:
Lightweightdesigned to require and consume fewer

resources, such as RAM and disk space.
Configurable using web mapscan encapsulate much of the
information, tools, and user experience, requiring significantly
less custom development for deployment.
Focusedtargeted to the work of specific users and designed
for simplicity and efficiency.
Embeddedmay be designed to embed GIS into a particular
device (for example, embedded into an in-vehicle system).
ArcGIS Online allows you to create, share, and use web mapping
applications, or to download mobile apps that others have shared.
3-28
Tools and data from ArcGIS Online

Both data and tools can be used in web maps and web mapping
applications. They can also be stored, managed, and shared through
ArcGIS Online. However, the supported types are limited in
comparison to what you can use inside of ArcGIS for Desktop.
Data like boundary lines, schools, street centerlines, or customer lists
are stored and accessible through ArcGIS Online as either GIS
services or files, such as a zipped shapefile or layer package (LPK). (A
layer package (<FileName>.lpk) is a special file that includes both the
layer properties and a copy of the data.)
Tools are stored and accessible through ArcGIS Online as special
types of packages and services. Tools provide GIS functionality to a
map or application, such as finding a place or accessing a
geodatabase.
Figure 3.20
These search results
include a layer package, a
desktop application
template, and a map
service.
3-29
Exercise 3B: Explore GIS content using ArcGIS

Online
20 minutes
In this exercise, you will explore data hosted on ArcGIS Online, using
various sorting and searching techniques to locate data. You will also
view the various ways data can be accessed and look at the metadata
for an online file.
Examine ArcGIS Online data.

Explore metadata for ArcGIS Online data.
Figure 3.21
Several web maps
available through ArcGIS
Online.
3-31
LESSON 3
Step 1: Browse ArcGIS Online for web content

a
Open a web browser and go to trainingservices.maps.arcgis.com.
Click Sign In.
When prompted, choose the Using Your Course Account option.
Sign in with your assigned organizational account.
Click Gallery to browse featured web maps and applications available from the Esri Training
Services organization.
The gallery will display content from the Training Services organization. To display content that has
been shared publicly by the Esri user community, you must change the gallery view.
f
Click the link for Esri Featured Content.
3-32
Click Apps, and then click Web to see a list of web applications.
Click the iOS, Android, or Windows link to see the featured mobile applications for any of
those mobile devices.
The graphic example is for Android devices. Your results may differ depending upon which
device category you choose.
Step 2: Browse ArcGIS Online for desktop content

Now you will search for maps of endangered species.
a
In the ArcGIS Online web page, click in the search text box and notice the list of search
options available.
3-33
LESSON 3
Search All Content includes all web content, along with items designed to be viewed or used in
ArcGIS for Desktop.
Ensure that Search All Content is selected, type endangered, and then press Enter.
Because you are signed in to an organizational site (Training Services), the initial results will be for
this organization only. If you want to search the broader ArcGIS Online user community, you must
change this option. Also, if you want to confine the search to ArcGIS for Desktop content, then
you must choose that option.
c
Below the Show panel, check the box to Show ArcGIS Desktop Content (if it is not already
checked).
Uncheck the box that states Only Search in Esri Training Services.
Scroll through the results and, if necessary, click Next at the bottom of the page to view more
results.
Notice that the results now include more than just web maps. You may also see ArcGIS for
Desktop resources like layer packages, map packages, or other data files alongside the ArcGIS
Online resources like web maps, applications, and services.
3-34
The following graphic is just one example. Notice that this item is a web map that was shared by
someone with the user name of esripub4ws.
Step 3: View an item's details

a
Just below the thumbnail for a data item, click Details.

You can choose any data item. The following graphic is just one example.
Every item has a details page that can include metadata for that item, including:
Title
Summary
Thumbnail
Description
Owner
Ratings and comments
Last modified date
Access and use constraints
Size
Credits
Tags
Extent
3-35
LESSON 3
The Details page functions much like item descriptions in ArcGIS for Desktop. Some of the fields
on the page are automatically collected by the website when an item is added (for example, last
modified date and size). Other fields are entered by the owner (for example, tags and title). Some
types of content have additional details. For example, web maps have a Map Contents section
that lists the layers in the map. Notice that the page also includes a section for adding ratings and
comments and links to social media.
Step 4: Examine options for opening ArcGIS Online items

From within the ArcGIS Online website, you can open maps, data, and applications by selecting
an option from the Open menu below an item's thumbnail or by clicking the thumbnail itself. By
default, the item opens in the most appropriate application. Web applications open in a web
browser, web maps open in the ArcGIS Online map viewer or ArcGIS for Desktop, and layer
packages open in ArcGIS for Desktop. If you want, you can override the default by selecting one
of the other options from the drop-down list.
a
On the Details page, below the thumbnail, click the drop-down arrow next to Open.
This list allows you to choose how you want to open the item. The first option listed is the default
and is also the application that the owner used to create the item. The options available on this
list depend on the item type.
b
Click the Back button on your browser window to return to the list of search results.
If necessary, uncheck the option to Only Search in Esri Training Services.
3-36
One at a time, click the Open drop-down arrow for several different file types and compare
the available options.
Below Show, click the Layers option.
Layers in ArcGIS Online are many different types of data.

f
Find an item that is labeled Tiles.

1. What are the options available for opening Tiles?
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Are the options the same for opening a web mapping application and a web map?
______________________________________________________________________________
Sign out of ArcGIS Online, and close the web browser.
3-37
LESSON 3
Lesson review
1. Vector data models real-world features as ______, _____, and ________.
2. The raster data model represents the surface of the earth as a grid of equally sized _____.
3. Both vector and raster data can be stored in a geodatabase.
a. True
b. False
4. You open a table and see that it has no Shape field. What does this indicate?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. Information that describes data in ArcGIS is called ________.

6. How can you determine the use constraints for an item on ArcGIS Online?
a. Download the item to your computer.
b. Open the item's Details page.
c. Contact the item's owner through their user profile.
d. None of the above.
7. Your organization requires a dataset of Australia's historic earthquakes that they can use in
ArcGIS for Desktop. When searching ArcGIS Online for "Australian earthquakes," which of
the following content would satisfy your organization's requirements?
a. Mobile applications
b. Web maps
c. Web mapping applications
d. Layer packages
3-38
Answers to Lesson 3 questions

Which data model fits better? (page 3-7)
1. Rainfall
Raster. Rainfall data is continuous data. Every location of the surface of the earth has a
value for rainfall. There are no discrete boundaries for rainfall, so a raster would be a
more appropriate representation of this phenomenon.
2. Trees
Vector. Trees are discrete entities and would be better represented as either points
(for individual trees) or polygons (for stands, groves, or orchards).
3. Office space
Vector. Office space has discrete boundaries, so it would likely be represented as a
polygon.
4. Animal migration paths
Vector. Animal migration paths are discrete, so they would likely be represented as
lines.
5. Police beats
Vector. Police beats represent areas to which certain police officers are assigned when
patrolling. Because these are discrete areas, they would be polygons.
6. Fire departments
Vector. Depending on the scale of the map, fire departments would either be
represented as points (location only) or polygons (building footprints).
7. Soil pH
Raster. Soil pH is present everywhere there is soil. The range of values is broad, and
the boundaries are indistinct.
8. Museums
Vector. Depending on the scale of the map, museums would be represented by either
points (locations only) or polygons (building footprints).
3-39
LESSON 3
9. Lightning strikes
Vector. Lightning strikes are discrete events and would be represented by points.
10. Air quality
Raster. Air quality measurements are present everywhere. The range of values is
broad, and the boundaries are indistinct.
Exercise 3A: Explore GIS data using ArcMap (page 3-11)

1. How many geodatabases are there? (Hint: Look for the geodatabase icon
.)
There are two geodatabases: one in the Florida folder and one in the WilsonNC
folder.
2. Based on the information in the following table, how many feature classes of each type are
in the two geodatabases combined?
Gray-blue icons
3-40
Data type
How many are there?
Point feature class
Line feature class
Polygon feature class
Mosaic dataset*
Geodatabase table
3. Based on the information in the following table, how many of each file type are in the
Florida and WilsonNC folders combined (but outside the geodatabase)?
Yellow-green icons
Data type
How many are there?
Point shapefile
Line shapefile
Polygon shapefile
Non-geodatabase raster
Non-geodatabase table*
Layer file
4. Which type of file is this?

This dataset is a file geodatabase feature class.
5. What does this dataset represent?
It represents coastal flooding areas in a statewide extent.
6. Which organization originally created this data? (Hint: Look at the Credits field.)
This data was originally compiled by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).
7. What does the FIPS attribute field represent?
This is the standard five-digit State and County Federal Information Processing
Standard (FIPS) code from the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST).
The first two digits represent the state, while the last three digits represent the
county.
3-41
LESSON 3
8. Is this a spatial table or a nonspatial table?

This is a spatial table. It is the attribute table for a vector feature class, and it contains
a Shape field. This indicates that ArcMap knows how to draw the geometry associated
with the features in this dataset.
Exercise 3B: Explore GIS content using ArcGIS Online (page 3-31)
1. What are the options available for opening Tiles?
The options available for this type of file are "Add to Map," "Add to New Map," and
"Open in ArcGIS for Desktop."
2. Are the options the same for opening a web mapping application and a web map?
No. Web mapping applications can be viewed, but web maps can be opened in
multiple applications.
3-42
The importance of coordinate

systems
Introduction
Key terms
absolute location
coordinate system
geographic coordinate
system (GCS)
geographic
transformation
latitude
While a GIS represents reality, it is not reality. To be useful, a GIS map

must accurately represent feature locations. To determine the location
of features in the real world or on a map, you need a reference
systema standard framework for defining location.
In a GIS, the reference systems used to determine feature locations
are called coordinate systems. In this module, you will learn about
different coordinate systems, how they work, and how to change the
coordinate system for a dataset. By better understanding coordinate
systems, you will be able to manage your data in a way that increases
the accuracy of your GIS maps and the work you do with them.
longitude
projected coordinate
system (PCS)
relative location
spatial distortion
Topics covered
Establishing location
Geographic coordinate systems
Projected coordinate systems
Spatial distortion
Learning objectives
Describe the differences between geographic and projected

coordinate systems.
Evaluate the appropriateness of a particular coordinate system
for a project and area of interest.
Change the coordinate system for a dataset.
4-1
LESSON 4
What is location?
When someone asks you where you are, how do you answer
the question?
Relative location
When most people think of location, they think in terms of relating
that location to other known locations or landmarks, such as one
block south of the post office. Relative locations are understandable
because they are relative to known locations. They use known
landmarks, streets, or cities to give people context, but they are
informal and non-standard.
Absolute location
Absolute location represents the definitive location of a place. When
defined by absolute location, places are often described with latitude
and longitude values, which are useful for navigation systems and
map making. Latitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the
north-south position of a point on the earth's surface. Defined as an
angle that ranges from 0 at the equator to 90 (north or south) at the
poles, lines of constant latitude run eastwest as circles parallel to the
equator. Longitude is a geographic coordinate that specifies the
east-west position of a point on the earth's surface. Also defined as an
angular measurement expressed in degrees, lines of longitude range
from 0 at the prime meridian to +180 eastward and -180 westward.
Points with the same longitude lie in lines running from the north pole
to the south pole.
4-2
Figure 4.1
Examples of relative and
absolute locations for
Redlands, California.
1. Which of the locations listed in the previous graphic are considered

relative locations?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
2. Which of the locations listed in the previous graphic are considered
absolute locations?
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
4-3
LESSON 4
How spatial data stores location

While people often use relative locations when describing a location,
ArcMap uses absolute locations to identify a feature's location on the
surface of the earth. In a GIS, the absolute location for any vector
feature is stored as pairs of coordinate values.
Figure 4.2
This simplified example of
a coordinate system
demonstrates how every
point has a single pair of
coordinate values, while
lines and polygons have a
pair for each vertex that
defines their shapes.
The coordinate values are stored as numeric values that relate to the
overall reference system on which they are based. Each pair of values
is valid for that location only in that reference system.
Figure 4.3
The coordinate values for
a feature depend on
where the points that
make it up are in relation
to the origin and on the
units that apply to its
coordinate system.
4-4
Geographic coordinate systems

The pairs of coordinate values that identify a feature on a map are
relative to its geographic coordinate system (GCS)a coordinate
system that uses a three-dimensional spherical model to identify
points or areas on the surface of the earth.
A GCS plots data in latitude and longitude, with units in decimal
degrees or in degrees, minutes, seconds.
Figure 4.4
In a geographic
coordinate system,
measurements are usually
expressed in degrees/
minutes/seconds. A
degree is 1/360th of a
circle. Each degree can be
divided into 60 minutes,
and each minute can be
divided into 60 seconds.
The components of a geographic coordinate system

An angular unit of measure: usually decimal degrees, but may
also be degrees/minutes/seconds.
A prime meridian: the zero value for longitude. (It is not
necessary to define a zero value for latitude, since this is always
the equator.)
A spheroid: the mathematical model that estimates the size and
shape of the earth.
A datum: the collection of known control points that is used to
define the latitude-longitude framework applied to the
spheroid.
4-5
LESSON 4
Datasets that are based on different geographic coordinate systems

may not line up properly. Data in different GCSs will not necessarily
coincide spatially at every latitude-longitude value.
Figure 4.5
In this example, the streets
and lots do not align
because they are based
on different geographic
coordinate systems, or
more specifically, different
datums.
Any spatial data you add to ArcGIS is associated with a particular

GCS, distinguished by its unique set of componentsespecially by its
datum.
These are the most commonly used datums in North America:
North American Datum 1927 (NAD 1927)

North American Datum 1983 (NAD 1983)
World Geodetic Survey 1984 (WGS 1984)
4-6
Working with data in different geographic

coordinate systems
When you work with spatial data in ArcMap, you add datasets as
layers to a data frame. Every geographic dataset you add has a GCS
associated with it, describing the data's latitude-longitude
coordinates.
As you add data to a data frame, ArcMap will attempt to align the
data for you. If the data is in a different GCS than data already present
in the map, you will be prompted to select the appropriate
geographic transformation, which is the systematic conversion
method ArcMap should use to properly convert the coordinates from
one GCS to the other.
When prompted with a Geographic Coordinate Systems

Warning, it is important to properly address it. Failing to do so
will cause alignment issues with your data.
Figure 4.6
Without the appropriate
geographic transformation
applied, the fire hydrants
do not align with the lots.
4-7
LESSON 4
Choosing an appropriate geographic transformation
ArcMap will only choose a

transformation for you
when the transformation is
between NAD 1927 and
NAD 1983. In that case,
ArcMap will default to
NADCON, which is still
incorrect if the data is in
Canada, Alaska, Puerto
Rico, or the Virgin Islands.
4-8
1. Browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\

Documentation and open the geographic_transformations.pdf.
2. Scroll through the list of available transformations until you find
the one that includes the GCSs that you will use to transform
between.
3. Determine which of the available transformations is most
suitable based on its specified area of use.
4. Return to the dialog box and choose the appropriate
transformation.
Projected coordinate systems

While you can represent the earth and its surface features fairly easily
using a globe, a globe is not a practical solution for most applications.
For example, unless your globe is large, it will lack detail and
accuracy. Additionally, you can only see half of the earth's surface at
one time using a globe, you cannot fold a globe or roll it up and take
it with you, and you cannot use a globe to represent geographic
features on your flat computer screen.
Figure 4.7
To convert feature
locations from the
spherical earth to a flat
map, the latitude and
longitude coordinates
from a geographic
coordinate system must
be converted, or
projected, to planar
coordinates.
A projected coordinate system (PCS) is a coordinate system for

identifying locations and measuring features on a flat (map) surface
and in linear units. It consists of lines that intersect at right angles,
forming a grid. PCSs have an origin, an x and a y axis, and a unit for
measuring distance.
The components of a projected coordinate system
Any projected data that

you add to ArcMap, or
that you project within
ArcMap, is associated with
a PCS in addition to its
A GCS serves as the starting point for transforming the

coordinates to a 2D surface.
A linear unit of measure represents units on a planar surface
and is usually meters or feet.
A projection is the mathematical transformation used to convert
from geographic coordinates to planar (projected) coordinates.
underlying GCS.
4-9
LESSON 4
Spatial properties and distortion

The world is more or less round. You cannot make a flat picture of it
without changing some of its proportions. To alleviate this issue, you
must make some things broader or narrower than they really are, or
bigger or smaller, or nearer to some other things or farther away, or
lying in a somewhat different direction. The single most profound fact
about projected coordinate systems is that they distort the world.
The general term for these changes is spatial distortion. Every map
has some. In a map of a small area, distortion may be negligible; in a
map of a large area, it will be significant.
There are four spatial properties subject to distortion in a projected
coordinate system:
If a map preserves two

spatial properties, one of
them is always true
direction.
Figure 4.8
North America shown with
three different projections:
Plate Carree (top left),
Mercator (bottom left),
and North America
Lambert Azimuthal Equal
Area (right).
4-10
Shape
Area
Distance
Direction
Some maps preserve one property, and some preserve two, but none
preserves more than two. Some maps do not preserve any properties
perfectly, but compromise slightly on all of them. No map can
preserve all fouronly a globe can do that.
See Appendix B for a list

of suitable projections for
world maps, single
hemispheres, and
countries, cities, or smaller
Choosing a map projection means choosing your distortion.

Sometimes you stay faithful to one spatial property and betray
another; sometimes you betray all properties a little, but none of
them excessively.
Projections are often organized by type, based on the property they
preserve. The following table lists common types of projections.
areas.
Table 4.1
Common types of
projections and the
properties they preserve.
Type of
projection
Property it preserves
Conformal
Shape, but not area
Equal Area
Area, but not shape
Equidistant
Distance from one or two points to every other point
Azimuthal
Direction from one or two points to every other

point
Gnomonic
Shortest route (distance and direction), but cannot

preserve area
Compromise
None, but minimally distorts all four
4-11
LESSON 4
Understanding distortion
A new data frame adopts the spatial reference of the first layer you
add to it, but you can also change it manually. When you manually
change the projection of a data frame that contains data that is in a
projected coordinate system, all the data in the data frame (and any
new data you add to it) is projected on-the-fly to match the new
projection. No matter which projection your data is in, at least two of
the spatial properties in your map will be distorted. As the projection
changes, the distortion in your map will change.
As your instructor demonstrates how various map projections distort
the spatial property of distance, record the different lengths of the
transatlantic telegraph cable in the following table. The actual
distance has been provided for you.
Table 4.2
Record the distance as
Actual transatlantic cable distance
measured with each of the

projections applied.
1686 nautical
miles
Distance with Mercator projection applied

Distance with Robinson projection applied
Distance with Equidistant Conic projection applied
Distance with Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area
projection applied
The most important part of choosing a map projection for a particular

project or area of interest is simply awareness. You know that every
dataset has a GCS and that some datasets also have a PCS. You also
know that every projection distorts at least two of the four spatial
properties represented in a map. To choose an appropriate projection
or to evaluate the current projection for your project requires an
understanding of the properties that are important to your project.
4-12
45 minutes
Exercise 4: Work with coordinate systems

Part of organizing and evaluating data involves making sure all the
datasets have defined coordinate systems and occasionally
transforming data by reprojecting it to match other datasets. Many
organizations require their data to be in a specific projection.
Identify the spatial reference information for various datasets.

Add data with different coordinate systems to a map document.
Observe how ArcMap projects data on-the-fly.
Define the projection for a dataset with a missing spatial
reference.
Change the coordinate system for a dataset.
4-13
LESSON 4
Step 1: Identify the coordinate system for a dataset

a
Start ArcMap.
If the Catalog window is not displayed, click the Catalog button
If necessary, click the Auto-Hide pushpin button

to keep the Catalog window open. (Hint:
The Catalog window pushpin will point down when it is set to remain open.)
In the Catalog window, below Folder Connections, expand C:\Student\ARC1.
Expand WilsonNC, and then expand Wilson.gdb.
Right-click the Schools feature class and choose Properties.
In the Feature Class Properties dialog box, click the XY Coordinate System tab.
to open it.
1. What is the coordinate system for this data?

______________________________________________________________________________
4-14
2. Is this a geographic coordinate system or a projected coordinate system? How do you

know?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
3. If you answered that the coordinate system is a projected coordinate system, which
projection is associated with this PCS?
______________________________________________________________________________
4. Which property is preserved by this projection? (Hint: Look at the table on page 4-11.)
______________________________________________________________________________
h
Click Cancel to close the Feature Class Properties dialog box.
In the table of contents, right-click the Layers data frame and choose Properties.
In the Data Frame Properties dialog box, click the Coordinate System tab.
5. What is the current coordinate system listed for the Layers data frame?
______________________________________________________________________________
In new map documents, the data frame does not have a coordinate system.
k
Click Cancel to close the Data Frame Properties dialog box.
On the Standard toolbar, click the Add Data button
4-15
LESSON 4
At the top of the dialog box, for Look In, click the drop-down arrow and browse to C:\Student\
ARC1\WilsonNC\Wilson.gdb.
Click Schools, and then click Add to add it to the map.
The Schools features draw on the map, and the Schools layer is added to the table of contents.
o
In the table of contents, right-click the Layers data frame and choose Properties.
Click the Coordinate System tab.

6. What is the data frame's coordinate system?
______________________________________________________________________________
The data frame adopts the coordinate system from the first layer you add to it. Any additional
data you add to the data frame will then be projected on-the-fly to match the data frame's
projection.
q
4-16
Click Cancel to close the Data Frame Properties dialog box without making changes.
Step 2: Identify the coordinate system for another dataset

a
In the Catalog window, within the C:\Student\ARC1\WilsonNC folder, right-click

Wilson_Recareas.shp and choose Properties.
If necessary, click the XY Coordinate System tab.
7. What is the coordinate system for this dataset?

______________________________________________________________________________
8. Is this dataset in a geographic or projected coordinate system?
______________________________________________________________________________
9. How does this dataset's geographic coordinate system compare with the geographic
coordinate system assigned to the Schools feature class?
______________________________________________________________________________
4-17
LESSON 4
10. If you added the Wilson_Recareas shapefile to your map, would you expect it to align
correctly with the Schools layer?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
c
Click Cancel to close the Shapefile Properties dialog box.
On the Standard toolbar, click the Add Data button
At the top of the dialog box, for Look In, click the drop-down arrow and browse to C:\Student\
ARC1\WilsonNC.
Click Wilson_Recareas.shp, and then click Add to add it to the map.
As long as the coordinate systems are defined, ArcMap can automatically project them to match.
This is called projecting on-the-fly.
Projecting on-the-fly does not change the dataset's spatial reference on disk; it only
changes how the layer displays in the map.
4-18
Step 3: Identify a dataset with a different coordinate system

a
In the Catalog window, right-click WilsonCrimes.shp and choose Properties.
In the Shapefile Properties dialog box, click the XY Coordinate System tab.

______________________________________________________________________________
know?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
13. Is the geographic coordinate system the same for this file as it was for the other two
datasets you looked at?
______________________________________________________________________________
4-19
LESSON 4
14. Is the projected coordinate system the same?

______________________________________________________________________________
15. How does this dataset's coordinate system compare with the coordinate system assigned
to the Schools feature class and the Wilson_Recareas.shp?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
16. If you added this shapefile to your map, would you expect it to align correctly with the
other two layers?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
c
From the Catalog window, drag WilsonCrimes.shp into the map.
You are prompted with a Geographic Coordinate Systems Warning. Remember, it is important not
to ignore these messages.
4-20
In this case, there are several geographic transformations available for converting between these
two GCSs (for example, NAD 83 to WGS 84). It is up to you to select the best one.
e
Open Windows Explorer and browse to C:\Program Files (x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop10.3\

Documentation.
Double-click geographic_transformations.pdf to open it in Adobe Reader.
Notice that the transformations are listed in alphabetical order.
On page 29 of the document, find the list of conversions for going from NAD 83 to WGS 84 or
WGS 84 to NAD 83. (Geographic transformations work in either direction, so
NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984 transforms from NAD 83 to WGS 84, as well as from WGS 84 to NAD
83.)
4-21
LESSON 4
17. Which transformation is likely the most appropriate?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
h
Close the Adobe Reader window and Windows Explorer.
In ArcMap, on the Geographic Coordinate Systems Warning message, click Transformations.
Normally, referring to the geographic_transformations.pdf would be sufficient; however, NAD

1983 and WGS 1984 are one of those special cases that require more explanation.
j
In the Geographic Coordinate System Transformations dialog box, click the About Geographic
Transformations link and read through the help document, specifically the section entitled
Converting between NAD 1983 and WGS 1984.
The information here explains whether you should choose NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984_4 or

NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984_5.
k
4-22
Close the help when you are finished.
In the Geographic Coordinate System Transformations dialog box, for Convert from, choose
GCS_WGS_1984, which is the dataset's existing coordinate system.
The "Into" field should automatically be set to GCS_North_American_1983.
This is the GCS of the data frame and the one you are trying to match.
You should never have to change the GCS listed in the Into box on this dialog
box.
For Using, click the drop-down arrow and choose NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984_5.
4-23
LESSON 4
Click OK on this dialog box, and then click Close on the other dialog box.
The data is added to the map, and it aligns with the other two datasets.
As long as a dataset contains a valid GCS, ArcMap can use a geographic transformation to
convert it to match another GCS.
Step 4: Identify a dataset with an unknown coordinate system

When a dataset has an unknown coordinate system, ArcMap does not have a valid reference
system from which to begin. You will look at an example of a shapefile with an unknown
coordinate system next.
In the Catalog window, right-click WilsonLots.shp and choose Properties.
18. In the Shapefile Properties dialog box, what is listed as the current coordinate system?
______________________________________________________________________________
4-24
Seeing the current coordinate system listed as Unknown means that the dataset does not have
any associated information defining where its features should be plotted on the surface of the
earth. The file is unusable without this information. Determining the coordinate system may take
some research; after you know what it should be, you can define it and make the file usable again.
b
Next, you will see what happens when you do not define the coordinate system.
c
Add WilsonLots.shp to the map.
You get an Unknown Spatial Reference warning that explains that the data can be drawn in
ArcMap, but it cannot be projected on-the-fly to match the other datasets. This message is
returned for all data types that can be added to ArcMapincluding geodatabase feature classes,
shapefiles, coverages and CAD data, and supported raster or image formatsand that do not
have a spatial reference.
The terms "coordinate system" and "spatial reference system" can be used
interchangeably. Generally, in ArcGIS, when you use a spatial reference system, this
encompasses both the geographic and projected coordinate systems.
Do not check the "Don't Warn Me Again" boxes at the bottom of the dialog box.
These warnings help alert you to problems in your data that, if left uncorrected, can
seriously compromise the success of your project.
4-25
LESSON 4
Click OK.
The WilsonLots layer now displays in the table of contents but does not draw in your map display.
e
In the table of contents, right-click the WilsonLots layer and choose Zoom To Layer.
Now you can see the layer in the map, but where did the other layers go?
4-26
On the Tools toolbar, click the Full Extent button
The WilsonLots layer draws far away from the rest of the layers.
g
Right-click the WilsonLots layer and choose Remove.
Right-click the WilsonCrimes layer and choose Zoom To Layer.
4-27
LESSON 4
Before you can use WilsonLots, you must define its spatial reference. You will do that in the next
step.
Step 5: Assign a coordinate system to a dataset without a spatial reference

a
At the bottom of the Catalog window, click the Search tab to access the Search window. (If
you do not see the tab, on the Standard toolbar, click the Search button
.)
In the input field, type define projection, and press Enter on your keyboard.
You can also click Maps, Data, or Tools to narrow your search to include only results of that
type.
Results returned in the Search window include three links: one blue, one black, and one green.
The line of blue text is the name, which in this case is the name of a tool. Clicking the blue text
will open the tool. Clicking the black text will open the item's description. Clicking the green text
will open the location where the tool is stored in ArcToolbox, the user interface for accessing and
organizing ArcGIS tools.
c
In the list of results, click Define Projection (Data Management) to open this tool.
In the lower-right corner of the tool dialog box, click Show Help.
Complete the following based on the information provided in the help panel.
4-28
19. This tool __________ the coordinate system information (map projection and datum) stored
with a dataset.
20. The only use for this tool is for datasets that have an _______ or _________ coordinate
system defined.
The Define Projection tool permanently changes the coordinate system metadata for an existing
dataset.
f
In the Define Projection tool dialog box, for Input Dataset or Feature Class, click the Browse
button
.
Browse to C:\Student\ARC1\WilsonNC, click WilsonLots.shp, and then click Add.
After doing some research, you were able to determine that this file is supposed to be in WGS
1984 UTM Zone 18N.
h
In the Define Projection dialog box, for Coordinate System, click the Spatial Reference
Properties button
.
In the Spatial Reference Properties dialog box, click the XY Coordinate System tab (if
necessary).
Expand Projected Coordinate Systems.
Now expand UTM, and then expand WGS 1984.
4-29
LESSON 4
Expand Northern Hemisphere, and then scroll down until you see WGS 1984 UTM Zone 18N.
Click WGS 1984 UTM Zone 18N, and then click OK.
In the Define Projection dialog box, click OK to run the tool.
A progress window displays, notifying you that the tool has completed.
For the purposes of this course, you will not need to review the contents of the progress window.
o
Check the box for Close This Dialog When Completed Successfully.
In the Define Projection dialog box, click Close.
4-30
After the Define Projection tool has finished processing, the WilsonLots layer is added to the table
of contents, and it displays in the map alongside the other layers.
q
If necessary, in the table of contents, click and drag Wilson_Recareas to the bottom of the list.
The Define Projection tool changes the spatial reference information stored in
the metadata. It permanently alters the existing file, but it does not change or
alter the x,y coordinate values. Instead, it only changes the information that
defines the correct location of those x,y coordinate pairs. You should only use
the Define Projection tool to define the coordinate system for a dataset that is
missing its spatial reference, and only when you have been able to accurately
determine the correct coordinate system.
Now that this layer has a defined coordinate system, ArcMap is able to project it on-the-fly and
display it with your other data.
Remember, however, that projecting your data on-the-fly does not actually change the coordinate
system definition for the source data. It temporarily calculates the values to match the data
frame's coordinate system. To permanently change a dataset's coordinate system, you will need
to reproject it using the Project tool. You will do that in the next step.
4-31
LESSON 4
Step 6: Change the coordinate system for a dataset

If necessary, open the Search window.
Hint: Click the tab at the bottom of the Catalog window, or, on the Standard toolbar, click
the Search button
.
In the input field, type project, and then press Enter on your keyboard.
Your results may vary slightly from what is shown in the following graphic.
In the list of results, click Project (Data Management) to open the Project tool.
At the bottom of the Search window, click the Catalog tab to display the Catalog window.
Hint: If you do not see the Catalog tab, click the Catalog window button
toolbar.
on the Standard
From the WilsonNC folder, click and drag WilsonLots.shp into the Input Dataset or Feature
Class field of the Project tool.
The Input Coordinate System field lists WGS_1984_UTM_Zone_18N because this is the
coordinate system that you defined for this dataset in the previous step.
4-32
For Output Dataset or Feature Class, click the Browse button
In the Output Dataset or Feature Class dialog box, browse to C:\Student\ARC1\WilsonNC.
For Name, type WilsonLots2.shp.

Output names cannot have spaces or special characters.
Click Save.
The Project tool creates a new dataset with the specified coordinate system. The original dataset
remains in its current coordinate system.
j
For Output Coordinate System, click the Spatial Reference Properties button
In the Spatial Reference Properties dialog box, expand Projected Coordinate Systems > State
Plane > NAD 1983 (US Feet).
4-33
LESSON 4
Scroll down and click NAD 1983 StatePlane North Carolina FIPS 3200 (US Feet).
Click OK.
In the Project dialog box, click OK to run the tool.
When the tool is finished processing, it adds the data to the map.
4-34
For display purposes, the WilsonLots and WilsonLots2 layers are the same. The data they
reference, however, has different coordinate system definitions.
If you are going to do anything more with your data than simply display it together
(for example, if you are going to be performing analysis of some kind), you should
project all the data into the same coordinate system.
As you might recall, the WilsonCrimes dataset was also in a different PCS. You could project it
using this same process.
o
If you would like, continue exploring the properties of the other datasets within the WilsonNC
folder on your own. When you are finished, from the File menu, choose Exit.
4-35
LESSON 4
Three key concepts

On-the-fly projection
Every feature class has a native coordinate system.

Every data frame also has a coordinate system.
The system is defined by the first layer added.
It can be changed by the user.
Every subsequent layer added is projected (on-the-fly) to match
the coordinate system of the data frame.
The native coordinate system of the data is not changed.
Geographic transformation
On-the-fly projection works when all the layers added to a data

frame have the same underlying geographic coordinate system.
When a layer with a different geographic coordinate system is
added, ArcMap may generate a warning message.
If the message is ignored, ArcMap will try to project the data,
but the alignment may be imperfect.
Choose an appropriate geographic transformation to prevent
alignment problems.
Refer to the C:\Program Files(x86)\ArcGIS\Desktop 10.3\
Documentation\geographic_transformations.pdf document
for guidance.
Use the Project tool to convert one geographic coordinate
system into another.
This tool creates a new feature class with a new native
coordinate system; the original feature class and coordinate
system are preserved.
Unknown coordinate system
On-the-fly projection works when a layer's coordinate system is

known.
When you add a layer with an unknown coordinate system,
ArcMap cannot project it; the result may be gross misalignment.
Fix this problem by defining the coordinate system.
1. Determine the correct coordinate system.
2. Identify the coordinate system with the Define Projection
tool.
This tool adds information identifying the coordinate
system to the existing feature class but does not create
a new feature class.
It is used to update missing or incorrect coordinate
system information.
4-36
Lesson review
1. Some coordinate systems preserve all four properties, while others distort one or more.
a. True
b. False
2. Coordinate systems that are based on a 3D spherical model of the earth are called
__________ coordinate systems. The values in this type of coordinate system are usually
________ and _________.
3. You open a map document to find that the layers do not line up properly. What might this
indicate?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4. _________ coordinate systems are based on a flat 2D surface. The units for these coordinate
systems are generally ____ or ______.
5. You are creating a map that will be used to show population per square kilometer. Which
spatial property should your map projection preserve?
a. Shape
b. Area
c. Distance
d. Direction
6. If you were mapping a flight from Toronto, Canada to Barrow, Alaska, which type of
projection could you use to determine how far the plane would need to fly?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
4-37
LESSON 4

What is location? (page 4-2)
1. Which of the locations listed in the previous graphic are considered relative locations?
Any location that describes the location of a place based on its relative position to any
other place. Based on this example, East of Los Angeles, Near Riverside, Off Interstate
Hwy 10, In the desert, and Southern California would all be relative locations.
2. Which of the locations listed in the previous graphic are considered absolute locations?
The absolute locations include those that refer to an accepted reference system for
describing locations on the surface of the earth. In this example, the absolute
locations include those in latitude and longitude coordinates:
Decimal Degrees: -117.195646, 34.056397
Degrees Minutes Seconds: 117 11' 44.32" W, 34 3' 23.02" N
UTM Zone 11, FIPS 06, and the street address and ZIP Code would also be considered
absolute locations.
Exercise 4: Work with coordinate systems (page 4-13)

1. What is the coordinate system for this data?
NAD_1983_StatePlane_North_Carolina_FIPS_3200_Feet.
know?
This is a projected coordinate system.
There are a number of ways to tell from within this dialog box. For example, in the
Current Coordinate System box at the bottom, a projection is listed. Projections are
components of a projected coordinate system and do not exist as part of a
geographic coordinate system. The name of this coordinate system includes State
Plane, which indicates that this coordinate system is based on a planar surface,
meaning that it is a projected coordinate system. Also, in the upper portion of the
dialog box, if you scroll up, you will see that this coordinate system is included within
the Projected Coordinate Systems folder.
4-38
3. If you answered that the coordinate system is a projected coordinate system, which
projection is associated with this PCS?
The projection is listed as Lambert Conformal Conic.
4. Which property is preserved by this projection? (Hint: Look at the table on page 4-11.)
This projection is conformal, so it preserves shape.
5. What is the current coordinate system listed for the Layers data frame?
No coordinate system is listed.
6. What is the data frame's coordinate system?
The data frame's coordinate system is
NAD_1983_StatePlane_North_Carolina_FIPS_3200_Feet, Lambert Conformal Conic.
GCS_North_American_1983
8. Is this dataset in a geographic or projected coordinate system?
This dataset is in a geographic coordinate system; no projected coordinate system is
listed for this dataset.
9. How does this dataset's geographic coordinate system compare with the geographic
coordinate system assigned to the Schools feature class?
They both have NAD 83 as the geographic coordinate system, but Schools also has a
projected coordinate system.
10. If you added the Wilson_Recareas shapefile to your map, would you expect it to align
correctly with the Schools layer?
Because Wilson_Recareas.shp is not projected, you may not expect it to align.
However, as long as data has a defined GCS and that GCS matches the data frame's,
ArcMap can perform the mathematical calculations necessary to align it to match the
data frame's spatial reference, even if one layer is projected and the other is not.
WGS_1984_UTM_Zone_18N
4-39
LESSON 4
know?
This is a projected coordinate system. There are a number of ways to tell from within
this dialog box. For example, in the Current Coordinate System box at the bottom, a
projection (that is, Transverse Mercator) is listed. Projections are components of a
projected coordinate system and do not exist as part of a geographic coordinate
system. Also, in the upper portion of the dialog box, if you scroll up, you will see that
this coordinate system is listed below Projected.
13. Is the geographic coordinate system the same for this file as it was for the other two
datasets you looked at?
No, the geographic coordinate system for this file is set to WGS 1984. The other two
files used NAD 83.
14. Is the projected coordinate system the same?
No. The projected coordinate system is UTM Zone 18N.
15. How does this dataset's coordinate system compare with the coordinate system assigned
to the Schools feature class and the Wilson_Recareas.shp?
The projected coordinate system is based on a different geographic coordinate
system. Both of the previous files were based on NAD 83, but this one is based on
WGS 84.
16. If you added this shapefile to your map, would you expect it to align correctly with the
other two layers?
Because this dataset is based on a different geographic coordinate system, it has a
different datum and spheroid definition, so you may not expect it to align.
17. Which transformation is likely the most appropriate?
Because the datasets you are working with are in Wilson, North Carolina, in the United
States, you can rule out the NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984 transformations that are listed
for Canada, Alaska, and Hawaii. That leaves you with two to choose from:
NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984_4 and NAD_1983_To_WGS_1984_5.
18. In the Shapefile Properties dialog box, what is listed as the current coordinate system?
The current coordinate system is listed as Unknown.
4-40
19. This tool overwrites the coordinate system information (map projection and datum) stored
with a dataset.
20. The only use for this tool is for datasets that have an unknown or incorrect coordinate
system defined.
4-41
Acquiring and selecting GIS

data
Introduction
Key terms
global positioning
system (GPS)
large-scale
resolution
scale
small-scale
Data is a critical component of a GIS. Without data, a GIS is useless,

but with the wrong data, it can be equally as ineffective. After you
have determined the question you are trying to answer or the
problem you hope to solve with your GIS, you must locate and
evaluate the data you will use to support your endeavor.
Topics covered
Methods of obtaining GIS data
Considerations for choosing data
Learning objectives
Describe potential resources for GIS data.

Locate and select appropriate GIS data.
Organize data in a geodatabase.
5-1
LESSON 5
Methods for obtaining GIS data

Where does your organization's data come from?
There are three ways to obtain geographic data:
Create it.
Purchase it.
Download it for free.
There are many ways to create data. You can scan in an existing map
or download an aerial photograph and digitize (trace) the features in
the map or image. You can collect data using a mobile or global
positioning system (GPS) device or field surveying equipment. You
could conduct surveys or interviews and then manually enter that data
into a database (a typical workflow for collecting census and
demographic data). You can even turn stand-alone tables into
geographic data if they have locational attributes, such as x,y
coordinates or addresses, a technique you saw earlier in this course.
Figure 5.1
There are many sources
for creating or obtaining
GIS data. People use
various methods to gather
data in the field and then
post or share that data
with others.
Before creating data manually, visit the public and private data
vendors that have data that is readily available online. Data can be
5-2
expensive to produce on your own and (in some cases) expensive to

purchase. However, many organizations will readily share their data at
little or no cost to you.
5-3
LESSON 5
Accessing GIS data

Getting data from Esri
ArcGIS Online contains an online collection of data files for public
use, and many Esri software products also come with free data you
can use in your work. To learn more about the data available through
Esri, visit the Esri Data page at www.esri.com/data/find-data.html.
Getting data from other organizations

There are a number of other private, commercial data sources that
collect, process, repackage, and distribute GIS data. Local, state, and
federal government agencies are also major suppliers of GIS data. For
example, publicly available data can be collected from organizations
like the Bureau of the Census, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS),
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as state and
local organizations.
To learn more about publicly available U.S. data, visit the
GeoData.gov website at http://geo.data.gov/geoportal. This website
is managed by the United States Government for the express purpose
of improving access to federal data.
To learn more about publicly available international data, visit the
GeoCommunity website at www.geocomm.com, another GIS portal
site that helps to foster the free and open exchange of geospatial
information, including information for many different countries across
the globe.
When purchasing, downloading, or otherwise collecting data

from any organization (public or private), it is important to
check on restrictions that might apply to the use of that data.
In some cases, copyright and licensing restrictions may limit
the use and redistribution of the information.
5-4
Considerations for creating GIS data

If your search for existing data is not successful, you might consider
creating your own data. Data can be created and edited using tools
available in ArcMap. Before you start creating data, you need to make
some decisions.
Level of detail
If you are marking locations, points are easier to create (one click
each), but they will not necessarily give you the desired detail later
when you map them. For example, when creating a dataset that
shows the location of parks throughout the city, you might choose to
create a point dataset in which each point represents a park. But if
you require more detail, perhaps to map features within each park,
you would want to represent each park as a polygon. Similarly, a river
could be represented by a line feature, or it might be a polygon
feature instead.
Before you create data, consider what you will need to be able
to do with it.
Figure 5.2
Which geometry should
you use to represent the
features you need: points,
lines, or polygons?
Accuracy
Scale is the ratio or relationship between a distance or area on a map
and the corresponding distance or area on the ground. The closer this
ratio is to 1:1, the more accurate the features captured at that scale.
When creating data, consider the scale at which you want your
5-5
LESSON 5
features to be created. What is the scale and resolution (a measure of

the amount of detail) of the imagery you are using as the
background? The image you choose must provide enough detail to
allow you to clearly distinguish the shape of the features that you
want to trace. The scale and resolution of the image significantly
affect the accuracy of the data you create from it.
Your base layer should have a scale that is appropriate for

distinguishing the features to be digitized.
Figure 5.3
A small-scale map may not
provide enough detail for
digitizing contour lines. A
larger scale map provides
more detail and is
therefore more
appropriate for that
purpose.
For digital raster images, the image resolution must be high

enough to determine the shape of the features you want to
digitize.
Figure 5.4
At a 20-foot resolution
(where each pixel
represents 20 feet by 20
feet, or 400 square feet),
digitizing building outlines
is almost impossible, while
at a higher, 2-foot
resolution (where each
pixel represents 4 square
feet), buildings are much
more visible.
5-6
Coordinate system
Does your organization require a standard coordinate system or
commonly used datasets from other agencies that are stored in a
particular coordinate system? If so, it is a good idea to use the same
coordinate system so all the data will align correctly when displayed
together on a map.
Figure 5.5
Different organizations or
projects may require
different coordinate
systems.
Which coordinate system does the reference imagery use? When you
add an image as a background to ArcMap, the data frame's
coordinate system is set to the coordinate system used by the service.
This setting means that if you must use a different coordinate system
for your data, you might experience alignment problems when you
digitize.
Data storage format

Will you store your data as a shapefile, feature class, or something
else? Will you be adding this data to an existing database? Will you
need to share the data with colleagues?
Only after thinking through all the issues and doing any necessary
research are you ready to create data.
For many projects, you have to apply your own local

knowledge of the data you are interested in.
5-7
LESSON 5
Figure 5.6
Knowing how the data will
be used may help
determine how it should
be stored.
5-8
Creating data
There is more than one way to create your own data. One of the most
common is to digitize data by clicking or tracing features on a
reference image. The following workflow is one common way to
create data.
Figure 5.7
This workflow is one way
you can create your own
data.
For example, suppose that you need to be able to show local sports
venues on a map. You have searched, but the data does not seem to
exist anywhere. With just a bit of work, however, you can create this
data yourself.
Depending on how you

set up the new feature
class and ArcMap, it may
be necessary to project
the feature class.
1. Start ArcMap and create a new file geodatabase.

2. Create a new feature class with the appropriate geometry, which
would be polygon in this scenario.
3. Add reference data that includes your area of interest. The
reference data (an image in this case) provides the coordinate
system with which to create new data.
4. Digitize new features in ArcMap and assign attributes to them.
Zoom to the feature.
Use the appropriate construction tool to trace the feature
boundary (for polygons).
Add attributes.
Save your edits.
5. Complete the metadata for your new feature class.
5-9
LESSON 5
Considerations for choosing GIS data

Even when you find the data you need, it may not be beneficial for
your project. Before you use a dataset you have found, you should
investigate it to ascertain that it actually meets your needs.
Figure 5.8
This simplified flowchart
lists the kinds of questions
you might ask when
evaluating data for your
project.
Consider the following factors when you are evaluating data.
Format
ArcGIS Help Library:
About geographic data

formats
If the data you find is not in a format ArcGIS can read, you must
determine if you can convert it. Even if conversion is possible, you
may not have the tools to do the job, or it may not be worth the time
and effort you would spend to do it.
Spatial reference
GIS data must have a defined coordinate system to be used in a
meaningful way. Remember, ArcGIS will allow you to add data with an
undefined coordinate system to your map, but it will not necessarily
draw in the correct coordinate space. Furthermore, any measurements
or analysis you perform with that data will be flawed at best. If you
find data that is not in the coordinate system or the projection you
require, you can transform or project it, as long as it is properly
defined in the first place.
5-10
Source
Not all data is created equal. Some data may be from well-known,
reputable organizations, while other data may be from lesser-known
agencies. When you are unfamiliar with the organization that created
the data or when the origin cannot be readily determined, you should
consider using alternative data from a reliable source.
Metadata
Metadata provides information about the content, quality, condition,
and other characteristics of data. In part, it describes how the
geospatial and attribute data was collected and processed into its
final form, which may help you decide whether it can be used in your
analysis.
Attributes
Depending on the purpose of your project, you may need to ensure
that certain attributes are present in the data you use. For example, if
you are mapping the number of vacant lots in a city, you will need
polygon data that includes an attribute that identifies whether a lot is
vacant or not. In some cases, you can add attributes with information
derived from alternate sources.
Currency
Some of the features and phenomenon mapped with GIS, such as
political boundaries, may change slowly or relatively little over time,
while others, such as weather, change much more frequently. Using
data that is outdated will invalidate your map or analysis results, so it
is critical to use data that is accurate and relevant for the time period
you want to map.
Scale
Features on a map are smaller than the part of the world they
represent; how much smaller depends on the scale of the data. Scale
is the ratio or relationship between a distance or area on a map and
the corresponding distance or area on the ground. It is commonly
expressed as a ratio or fraction, such as 1:24,000 or 1/24,000, which
means that one unit of measure on the map equals 24,000 of the
same unit on earth. When discussing scale, you may hear the terms
small-scale and large-scale.
5-11
LESSON 5
Small-scale data is designed to draw features as smaller and less

detailed; large-scale data draws features as larger and more detailed.
Figure 5.9
In the example on the left,
the airport is drawn as a
point in the small-scale
map. On the right, it is
drawn as a polygon in the
large-scale map.
If you are creating a small-scale map, data that is designed for a larger
scale may not be appropriate or usable. Mixing data of differing
scales in the same map can lead to erroneous or inaccurate results.
Using data that was created at drastically different scales in the same
map may also result in data alignment issues similar to those you
would encounter with data in different geographic coordinate
systems.
When necessary, you can use data with different scales

together, but the scale you use for your map should be no
larger than the smallest scale used in your data.
Use constraints
Access and use constraints, credits, and copyright details are usually
defined by the organization responsible for creating and distributing
the data as a way to control how that data is repurposed by other
organizations. It is important to note if this information restricts the
use of the data for particular purposes, if it requires that the source be
given credit, and so forth. It is often preferable to use data that
explicitly states that there are little to no use limitations.
5-12
Evaluating GIS data

Before you begin a GIS project, ensure that you have the data you
need. The first step in determining the data you require is
determining the question you need to answer or the problem you
want to solve.
After you have identified the question to be answered, perform the
following tasks:
Think about the datasets you require to map the features or

phenomenon involved.
Consider the data model each would likely use and the features
you want to display in your map.
Examine the metadata to determine whether the data has any
use constraints, a defined spatial reference, an appropriate
scale, and the necessary attributes.
5-13
35 minutes
Exercise 5: Gather and evaluate GIS data

The National Hurricane Center in Florida is working with Lee County,
Florida, to perform a hurricane storm surge simulation study.
Specifically, they are planning to analyze the effects of a Category 3
hurricane storm surge inundation on certain vulnerable facilities
(schools, hospitals, day care centers, and nursing homes) in the
county. The results of their analysis will help focus emergency
response initiatives for those facilities. The primary question they want
to answer is, "Which vulnerable facilities are at greatest risk from a
Category 3 storm surge inundation in Lee County?"
In this exercise, you will help gather and evaluate the data required
for this project. You will begin by surveying the data you have to
determine whether it includes the data you need and whether it is
suitable for the project. You will then organize the data in a new
geodatabase that you will create, preparing it for use in a later lesson.
Determine the data required for the project.

Evaluate existing data from your organization.
Add data from other sources.
Combine data in a single geodatabase.
5-15
LESSON 5
Step 1: Consider the data you need

Think about the data you might need to answer the question, "Where are the facilities at greatest
risk from a Category 3 storm surge inundation in Lee County?"
First, you would need data that shows where the storm surge inundation would be for a Category
3 hurricane. You would then need data that represents the boundary of Lee County. You would
also need data mapping the locations of hospitals, schools, day care centers, and nursing homes.
Most maps also require some kind of reference layers that help provide a visual context or
background. For example, you may want to include data that shows the infrastructure in the area,
including major highways and roads, as these will likely be used as evacuation routes. You could
add reference layers like this as separate layers, or you could use a basemap.
Can you think of other data you might need?
Step 2: Examine the data you have

a
Start ArcCatalog.
Expand Folder Connections, and then expand the C:\Student\ARC1 connection.
Expand the Florida folder and the FloridaData geodatabase.
Browse through the contents of the Florida folder and the FloridaData geodatabase to quickly
survey the data you already have.
1. Of the data you need, what do you already have?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5-16
2. Of the data you need, what do you not have?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Hopefully, you identified that you already have data for hospitals, schools, day care centers, and
nursing homes. However, you do not have any data that identifies Florida counties, and you do
not have any data identifying storm surge inundation zones. For the Florida county data, imagine
that you sent an email to a colleague who you believe will be able to help. For the storm surge
areas, imagine that you contacted the National Hurricane Center and are waiting on a return
phone call to tell you if the data can be made available.
While you are waiting, you will continue to go through the data you have.
e
Open the item descriptions for nursing homes, day care centers, schools, and hospitals, and
evaluate each dataset based on the considerations introduced earlier. Examine the spatial
reference information, the scale, and the attributes.
3. Complete the following table. Considerations for the first dataset have been filled out for
you.
5-17
LESSON 5
Considerations
FL_Hospitals
Format
Feature class
Coordinate
system
Albers Conical Equal

Area
Source
Florida Division of
Emergency Management
Metadata
Yes
Attributes
Yes
Current
Yes
Scale
1:50000 - 1:5000000
Use
constraints
OK to use
FloridaSchools
FL_DayCare
Centers.shp
FL_Nursing
Homes.shp
4. Will each of these datasets likely work for your analysis?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Step 3: Add data from another organization

Just in time, an email from the National Hurricane Center has arrived. Attached is a zipped data
file of storm surge polygons (StormSurge.zip).
You have already saved the file to your C:\Student\ARC1\Florida folder.
a
In ArcCatalog, right-click the Florida folder and click Refresh.
Why do you not see the StormSurge.zip file?
5-18
The new file is a zipped data file. ArcGIS for Desktop is designed to allow you to manage GIS
files, but it does not automatically recognize various non-GIS files, such as those with a .zip
extension. You will have to configure ArcCatalog to recognize .zip files.
b
In ArcCatalog, click the Customize menu, and click ArcCatalog Options.
Click the File Types tab.
Click New Type.
In the File Type dialog box, for File Extension, type zip, and then press the Tab key.
If no Description of Type appears, type zip Archive.
Click OK in both open dialog boxes.
Right-click the C:\Student\ARC1 folder and choose Refresh.
Browse to the C:\Student\ARC1\Florida folder.
The StormSurge.zip file should now appear in ArcCatalog.
In the Contents window of ArcCatalog, double-click the StormSurge.zip file.
5-19
LESSON 5
A utility called 7-Zip will automatically open the archive. You will need to direct 7-Zip where to
unzip the archive. Because the ZIP file was located in the C:\Student\ARC1\Florida folder, that is
the default path indicated in the dialog box.
Click the Extract button.
In the Copy dialog box, verify that the Copy to path is set to C:\Student\ARC1\Florida\.
5-20
Click OK.
Close the 7-Zip dialog box.
In ArcCatalog, right-click Florida and click Refresh.
The Storm Surge shapefiles have been extracted and are now visible in ArcCatalog.
p
Exit ArcCatalog.
Step 4: Add data from ArcGIS Online

An email response just came in from your colleague, who has county data for the entire state of
Florida. To easily provide you with a copy of the data, your colleague is going to package the
county data as a layer package and then upload it to ArcGIS Online. You will then be able to log
in to ArcGIS Online and download this layer package.
Remember that a layer package (<FileName>.lpk) is a special file that includes both the layer
properties and a copy of the data. Creating a layer package allows you to save and share
everything about the layerits symbolization, labeling, field properties, and the data with other
ArcGIS for Desktop users. You can add layer packages directly into your maps without needing to
know how to access the database or symbolize the data.
5-21
LESSON 5
While ArcGIS Online can be used to create web maps, it can also be used to share maps, data,
and applications. In this step, you will see how to locate content stored in ArcGIS Online from
inside of ArcMap.
a
Start ArcMap. If necessary, choose a new blank document.
In ArcMap, on the Standard toolbar, click the drop-down arrow next to the Add Data button
, and then choose Add Data From ArcGIS Online.
In the ArcGIS Online Search dialog box, type FL_Counties, and press Enter on your keyboard.
If you see multiple results for FL_Counties, be sure to choose the one uploaded by
EsriTrainingSvc.
5-22
In the FL_Counties box, click Add.
If you are unable to access this file using ArcGIS Online, you can add FL_Counties.lpk to
your map document from the C:\Student\ARC1\OnlineFiles folder.
Now you have the county boundary that you needed, but you still need the storm surge data.
Step 5: Transfer files from one geodatabase to another

In this step, you will create the geodatabase in which you will store the data for this project.
a
In the Catalog window, right-click the Florida folder and click New > File Geodatabase.
A new empty geodatabase is created with the name of New File Geodatabase.
5-23
LESSON 5
Notice that New File Geodatabase.gdb is highlighted and ready for you to rename.
Hint: If it is not ready to rename, right-click the new file geodatabase and choose Rename.
Rename New File Geodatabase to StormSurge, and press Enter.
The StormSurge geodatabase is ready to be populated with data.

You will start by copying FL_Hospitals from FloridaData.gdb to the StormSurge geodatabase.
d
Expand the FloridaData geodatabase.
Right-click FL_Hospitals feature class and choose Copy.
Right-click the StormSurge geodatabase and choose Paste.
In the Data Transfer dialog box, click OK.
After the data transfer process is complete, expand the StormSurge geodatabase.
It now contains a copy of the FL_Hospitals feature class.

You could use this same process to copy FloridaSchools into the new geodatabase, but you will
use a different method.
5-24
In the FloridaData geodatabase, right-click the FloridaSchools feature class and point to
Export.
Notice that you have several options. You could export a single file to a geodatabase, multiple
files to a geodatabase, or feature classes to shapefiles.
j
Choose To Geodatabase (Single).
In the Feature Class to Feature Class dialog box, for Output Location, click the Browse button.
Click StormSurge.gdb to select it, and then click Add.
In the Output Feature Class field, type FL_Schools.
Click OK to run this tool.
Now both of the feature classes are in the new geodatabase. ArcMap also automatically adds the
new layer to the map.
5-25
LESSON 5
Like the method you used to copy and paste the FL_Hospitals feature class, this process copied
the files from one location to the other. Neither process deleted the files from their original
location.
Next, you will use a different method to get shapefiles into your new geodatabase.
Step 6: Import shapefiles into the geodatabase

Right-click the StormSurge geodatabase and choose Import > Feature Class (Multiple).
The Feature Class to Geodatabase (Multiple) dialog box opens.

You are importing shapefiles, but shapefiles are simply non-geodatabase feature classes, so this
tool is valid.
b
Click and drag the Cat3.shp file from the Catalog window into the middle of the Feature Class
to Geodatabase (Multiple) dialog box.
Repeat this process until you have added the other two shapefiles from the Catalog tree:
FL_NursingHomes.shp
FL_DayCareCenters.shp
5-26
Notice that the output geodatabase has been set for you because you initiated the import
process from the StormSurge geodatabase.
Click OK to run the tool.
If necessary, expand the StormSurge geodatabase.
These three shapefiles are now feature classes in your StormSurge geodatabase.
f
5-27
LESSON 5
Lesson review
1. This lesson introduced eight important considerations when evaluating data. List all eight.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. When evaluating data for a project, which of the following considerations allows you to
determine if the data can be redistributed?
a. The source of the data
b. The use constraints
c. The format in which the data is stored
d. The spatial reference information
3. Which of the following methods can you use to get existing data into a geodatabase?
a. Copy and paste it from one geodatabase to another.
b. Import it into the geodatabase.
c. Export it from another location.
d. All of the above.
5-28

Exercise 5: Gather and evaluate GIS data (page 5-15)
1. Of the data you need, what do you already have?
In the Florida folder, you see a point shapefile for nursing homes
(FL_NursingHomes.shp) and one for day care centers (FL_DayCareCenters.shp). In the
FloridaData geodatabase, you see a point feature class for schools and one for
hospitals.
2. Of the data you need, what do you not have?
You see various Florida datasets, but you do not see any data that represents the
counties of Florida, so you will need to find another source for that information. There
is a shapefile called hcane.shp and a feature class called FL_HistHurr, but those files
contain the paths of hurricanes, not the storm surge inundation that often follows
these massive storms. You also have a data file called FL_CEMMGT, which represents
coastal flooding, but it is not the specific Category 3 hurricane storm surge data that
the agency asked for. You still need storm surge inundation data for Florida,
specifically for Lee County.
5-29
LESSON 5
3. Complete the following table. Considerations for the first dataset have been filled out for
you.
Considerations
FL_Hospitals
FloridaSchools
FL_DayCare
Centers.shp
FL_Nursing
Homes.shp
Format
Feature class
Feature class
Shapefile
Shapefile
Coordinate
system
Albers Conical Equal

Area
Albers Conical
Equal Area
Albers
Conical
Equal Area
Albers
Conical
Equal Area
Source
Florida Division of
Emergency
Management
Florida
Geographic
Data Library
Florida
Department
of Children
and
Families
Esri
Metadata
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Attributes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Current
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Scale
1:50000 - 1:5000000
1:50000 1:5000000
1:50000 1:5000000
1:50000 1:5000000
Use
constraints
OK to use
OK to use
OK to use
OK to use
4. Will each of these datasets likely work for your analysis?

Each of these datasets will likely work for the analysis because each dataset has a
defined spatial reference, and they are in a format that ArcGIS for Desktop can read.
They also appear to be in an appropriate scale and have the attributes you would
need.
5-30

Introduction
Key terms
map element
symbology
temporal
Whether you unfold it in the car, spread it out on a table, display it on

a computer screen, or open it on your mobile device, a map provides
a convenient way to access and process geographic information.
Maps are graphical representations that allow you to quickly visualize
real-world features and how they relate to one another. Visual analysis
of a map can reveal patterns in the geographic data that are not
readily available when viewing the data in any other format.
With a GIS map, however, you can interact with a map in ways that
change how the data is displayed, the scale at which it is presented,
which features it displays, the way those features are represented, and
so on. Because attribute information about each feature is stored in a
database, you can also access that information by interacting with the
features in the map. You can search for known features, identify
unknown features, or query the map to find features that meet a
certain criteria.
Topics covered
Visually analyzing a map
Navigating a map
Identifying and querying features
Learning objectives
Identify and find features.

Modify symbology.
Query features by attribute and by location.
Display temporal data.
6-1
LESSON 6
Symbology and visualization

The effectiveness of a map's message depends on several things. For
example, using intuitive symbols or colors makes it easier to identify
the features on the map and to determine how they relate to one
another. Effective symbols take advantage of common associations
that people make, such as blue for water and green for vegetation.
People also make associations based on symbol sizea street drawn
with a thick line is understood to be busier or more important than
one drawn with a thinner line. The more appropriate the symbols are,
the easier it is to properly understand what they represent and find
patterns in your data.
Figure 6.1
Both maps represent the
same data. The map on
the left shows default
symbols, while the map on
the right is drawn with
custom symbols over a
basemap. The basemap
provides contextual data;
the custom symbols make
it easier to interpret the
purpose and message of
the map.
6-2
The set of conventions, rules, or encoding systems that define how

geographic features are represented with symbols on a map is called
symbology. Proper symbology can convey a lot of information about
geographic features, but displaying only features on a mapeven
with symbols that effectively convey their meaningis not always
enough. In fact, most maps will not be useful without at least some
additional information. For example, text may be used to provide a
feature's name or other attribute, or to draw attention to a feature or
an area of interest. In addition, maps may contain map elements,
such as a title, a legend, a north arrow, or a scale bar, that help you
interpret the map and decode its message.
Figure 6.2
This map contains several
map elements, such as a
title and a legend, that
help users understand the
purpose and message of
the map.
6-3
LESSON 6
Finding, identifying, and selecting features

Finding and identifying features
ArcMap allows you to search for features that match particular
attribute values. For example, if you are trying to find the Orange
Grove Elementary School on a map of Florida, you can search all
attribute fields or a specific attribute field for "Orange Grove
Elementary" or just "Orange," and you will get a list of the features
from layers in your map that contain that search string in any of their
attributes.
When you click the map to identify features, ArcMap lists the feature
or features at the location you clicked. Clicking a feature in that result
list allows you to see its attributes, which in turn allows you to quickly
learn more about the feature.
Selecting features
Selecting features allows you to identify or work with a subset of
features on your map. You will most likely work with selected features
when you are querying, exploring, analyzing, or editing data.
Applying a selection lets you specify the features you want to work
with.
There are several ways you can select features. When you use one of
the Selection tools on the Tools toolbar, you can select features with
your pointer by clicking them one at a time or by dragging a box
around them on the map. When you use one of the tools on the
Selection menu, you can also select features based on their location
in relation to other features or based on their attributes. Often, it is
more efficient to select features by attribute before selecting by
location.
6-4
Because most analysis involves selecting features that meet particular

criteria, both attribute and spatial queries are common operations in
GIS analysis.
Figure 6.3
In this map, a particular
interstate was selected
using an attribute query.
Next, a spatial query was
used to find the cities
within 50 miles of the
selected interstate.
Below are some examples of what you can do with a selected set of
features.
Visually analyze the geographic distribution of the selected

features in the map.
Summarize or calculate attribute values only for the selected
features.
Identify an area within a particular distance around the selected
features.
Edit the selected features.
Generate a report containing attributes of the selected features.
Save the selected features as a new map layer that you can
display and symbolize independently.
Export the selected features to a new feature class to use in
other map documents, share with others, or use as input for
other GIS operations.
Attribute and spatial queries are often used in combination. In some
cases, particularly when you want to find features that meet a number
of criteria, you use a series of queries. You can use either an additive
approach, where features are added to the selected set with each
query, or a subtractive approach, where features are removed from
the selected set with each query. The approach you use depends on
your criteria.
6-5
LESSON 6
Asking questions and getting answers

While a GIS analysis may involve visualizing data to identify patterns
and relationships, sometimes looking at a map is not enough. You
may be required to select features that match given criteria. You can
select features by querying (or asking questions of) the GIS database.
The answer to your question is a selected set of features.
To find features that meet specific attribute criteria, you create a
query expression. A query expression is a logical statement consisting
of three parts: a field name (attribute), an operator, and an attribute
value. The following graphic shows the results of the following query
expression.
POP > 200,000
Figure 6.4
Cities with a population
greater than 200,000 are
selected on the map, and
their records are selected
in the layer attribute table.
These features are the
selected set resulting from
the query expression POP
> 200000.
There are two types of GIS queries: attribute and location.

In an attribute query, you select features that have one or more
attribute values that meet a particular criterion. For example, in a city
layer with a population attribute, you could select all the cities with
population greater than 200,000.
In a spatial query, you select features whose location meets particular
conditionsusually in relationship to other features. If you have a
cities layer and a major highways layer, for instance, you could select
all the cities that are within 50 miles of a major highway.
After features are selected, you can work with them. For example, you
can zoom to them or perform another GIS operation on them. A
selected set is temporary, but it can be saved as a separate layer or
exported to a feature class.
6-6
Getting information from a GIS map

When viewing a map in ArcMap, you can change its display to convey
a clearer message, or perhaps to convey a different message
altogether. For example, you can change the symbols used to
represent the features in the map. You can pan the map to change the
map's center, or zoom the map to change its scale. The underlying
data is the same, but with each such change, the map tells a slightly
different story.
ArcMap also allows you to explore and query map data to get the
information you need. For example, you can:
Zoom in and out to change the scale and the level of detail
displayed in the map.
Use the Pan tool to change the center of the map display.
Use the Identify tool to see the attributes of features you click.
Use the Find tool to find places, addresses, route locations, and
features that have a particular attribute.
Hover over features and see a MapTip pop-up with a feature's
name, ID number, or other attribute.
Use the HTML Pop-up tool to access content formatted in
HTML.
Use the Hyperlink tool to open web pages or documents
associated with features.
Use the Select Features tool to select features by clicking them.
Use the Time Slider window to animate the display of features in
a temporal dataset based on a Date field. (Temporal data
contains an attribute that stores a measure of time.)
Use the Measure tool to measure distances and areas on the
map.
1. What must you consider and evaluate before using the Measure tool
to measure distances and areas in a map? Hint: Think about the
importance of coordinate systems.
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
6-7
30 minutes
Exercise 6A: Explore a map using ArcMap

Navigating a map in ArcMap provides you with a variety of ways to
glean information from the data displayed in the map. For example,
you can pan and zoom the map to change the scale, the extent, and
where the map is centered. You can identify features by clicking them
in the map, or by searching for and selecting them based on a known
attribute. You can also select features interactively or by location. A
wealth of information beyond what you can see when simply viewing
a GIS map is available through simple interactions in ArcMap.
Navigate a map in ArcMap.

Modify symbology.
Find and identify features.
Select features.
Examine an attribute table.
View data change over time.
Figure 6.5
Map of Florida counties,
traversed by a 1992
hurricane.
6-9
LESSON 6
Step 1: Navigate the map

a
Start ArcMap.
In the Catalog window, if necessary, expand Folder Connections and C:\Student\ARC1.
In the Florida folder, double-click FL_Hurricane.mxd to open this map document.

You could also open a map document from the File menu by choosing Open and then
browsing to the .mxd file.
The map document opens. The map display is zoomed in to southern Florida.
Make sure that the Tools toolbar is visible.
Hint: If necessary, on the Customize menu, point to Toolbars and make sure that Tools is
checked.
e
On the Tools toolbar, click the Fixed Zoom Out tool

map.
6-10
a couple of times to zoom out on the
Click the Fixed Zoom In tool
once to zoom back in slightly.
The map zooms in and out at a fixed rate, and the level of detail displayed changes as you zoom
in and out.
g
Click the Pan tool
, and then click and drag the map.
Panning allows you to adjust the view of the data by shifting the center of the map.
h
Click the Full Extent button
Clicking the Full Extent button zooms your map to show you all the data in your map. In this case,
the map zooms out to the full extent of the world because the basemap covers the whole world.
6-11
LESSON 6
Click the Zoom In tool
, and then click and drag a box around the United States.
The Zoom In tool allows you to specify the area and extent you want displayed. The Zoom Out
tool works in a similar way.
As you zoom in and out, look at the scale box next to the Add Data button.
Each time you zoom in or out, the scale value of the map changes to reflect the new scale of the
map.
1. The scale of the map is the _____ between ________ on the map and the corresponding
________ on the ground.
6-12
From the drop-down list next to the scale box, choose one of the preset scales.
You can also type a scale into the box.

l
Highlight the current value in the scale box and type 15,000,000, and then press Enter on
your keyboard.
6-13
LESSON 6
The larger the number is, the smaller the representative fraction is (resulting in the features
displaying smaller). Therefore, it is called a small-scale map.
Conversely, the smaller the number is, the larger the representative fraction is (resulting in the
map features displaying larger). This map is a large-scale map.
m
Continue to experiment with the scale box, the zoom tools, and the Pan tool.
Now you will zoom to a specific layer.

n
In the table of contents, right-click FLHurricane92 and choose Zoom To Layer.
The map zooms to the extent covered by the hurricane path.
Step 2: Modify symbology

When you add a layer to a map, ArcMap assigns a default symbol to represent the layer's
features. Because the default symbol will likely not be the one you want, you should know how to
change it.
6-14
The path of the hurricane is not easy to discern with the default symbology, so you will change its
symbol to make it easier to see.
a
In the table of contents, click the symbol for FLHurricane92.
The Symbol Selector dialog box opens.

b
On the right, below Current Symbol, click the drop-down arrow next to Color and choose a
bright red.
6-15
LESSON 6
Increase the width to 2.
Click OK.
The hurricane path is much easier to see now.
6-16
Step 3: Identify features

a
In the table of contents, check the box for FL_Counties to turn the layer on.
On the Tools toolbar, click the Identify tool

hurricane passed through.
, and then click the easternmost county that the
6-17
LESSON 6
The Identify window opens.
When you click a feature with the Identify tool, the Identify window lists the features at the
location you clicked. You can click a feature in the feature list and see its attributes in the bottom
panel.
The default layer to identify features from is the topmost layer. However, by changing the
option at the top of the Identify tool, you can set the Identify tool to provide results for all
layers, visible layers, or selectable layers.
2. Which county is this?
______________________________________________________________________________
6-18
3. What was the population of this county in 2000?

______________________________________________________________________________
In the Identify window, you can also right-click a feature to navigate to it, select it for other
operations, define hyperlinks for it, and so on.
c
If necessary, move the Identify window out of the way so you can see the map display.
In the top portion of the Identify window, right-click the county name, and choose Flash.
The county flashes in the map.

e
Next, right-click the county name and choose Zoom To.
6-19
LESSON 6
The map zooms to Miami-Dade County.
On the Tools toolbar, click the Go Back To Previous Extent button
Leave the Identify window open, and click the westernmost county that the hurricane passed
through.
The information for this feature now displays in the Identify window.
4. What is the name of this county?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
6. Did the population of this county increase or decrease from 2000 to 2010?
______________________________________________________________________________
6-20
The Identify tool is an easy way to identify features for layers in your map.
h
Close the Identify window.
Next, you will use the Find tool to locate a particular county.
Step 4: Find features

a
Click the Find tool
Be patient. It will take some time for the Find dialog box to open.
The Find tool allows you to search for features that match particular attribute values. For example,
if you are trying to find Burundi on a map of the world, you can enter Burundi or just Buru in the
Find tool, and you will get a list of the features from layers in your map that contain that search
string in any of their attributes.
You can also find locations using address matching or linear referencing (a method of storing
locations using relative positions along a measured line), but those methods are outside the scope
of this course.
Refer to the ArcGIS Help Library: Using the Find tool.
b
With the Features tab active, in the Find field, type Lee.
6-21
LESSON 6
As with the Identify tool, you can choose to narrow the search to include only certain layers.
c
Leave In set to <Visible layers>, and leave Search set to All Fields.
You could choose to narrow your search only to a particular layer or to a particular field.
d
Check the box for Find Features That Are Similar to or Contain the Search String.
Click Find.
6-22
All features that match the search string are listed at the bottom of the Find dialog box. In this
case, there is only one feature listedLee from the Florida counties layer.
After the results of Find are displayed, you can navigate to each feature. You can also click an
entry in the results list to flash it on the map (if it is within your map extent), double-click to pan to
it, or right-click to choose from other operations you can apply to your results.
f
If necessary, move the Find dialog box so you can see the map display.
In the results list at the bottom of the Find dialog box, click Lee.
The feature flashes in the map display.

7. Was Lee County likely to have been affected by this particular hurricane? Why or why not?
______________________________________________________________________________
h
In the results list, right-click Lee and examine the options available.
6-23
LESSON 6
From the context menu, choose Select.
Lee County is now highlighted in cyan blue.
6-24
In the results list, right-click Lee and choose Unselect.
Close the Find dialog box.
Next, you will use other methods to select features in your map.
Step 5: Export selected features from a file to a geodatabase

For this particular project, you do not need all the counties in Florida, so you will select and
export only Lee County and the counties next to it.
Next, you will use a tool to select features in your data based on their attributes.
a
From the Selection menu, choose Select By Attributes.
Select By Attributes allows you to provide a query expression that is used to select features that
match the criteria you specify.
b
In the Select By Attributes dialog box, for Layer, choose FL_Counties from the drop-down list.
This is the layer from which you will be selecting features.

c
Make sure that Method is set to Create a New Selection.
The box below Method lists the field names in this layer's attribute table.
You will be selecting a feature (the one that represents Lee County) in the FL_Counties layer
based on its attribute value in the Name field.
d
Double-click "NAME" to add it to the expression in the box below.
Click the equals sign
Click Get Unique Values.
Clicking Get Unique Values allows you to see a list of all the values in the field you have selected,
which, in this case, is the Name field.
g
In the list of county names, scroll down and double-click 'Lee'.
6-25
LESSON 6
The expression should now read "NAME" = 'Lee'.
Click Verify.
Clicking Verify validates your expression, prompting ArcMap to alert you if there is a problem with
the syntax of your query or if your query will return no results.
6-26
In the Verifying Expression pop-up, click OK, and then click OK in the Select By Attributes
dialog box to create the selection.
Now that you have Lee County selected, you will use another method to select the counties that
surround it.
8. Will this selection be based on spatial or attribute information?
______________________________________________________________________________
So far in this step, you have selected a feature based on a particular attribute value. Next, you will
use a tool available in ArcMap to select features in your data based on their location.
j
From the Selection menu, choose Select By Location.
The Select By Location tool allows you to select point, line, or polygon features in one layer that
have a spatial relationship with the features in the same of another layer (for example, are near or
overlap).
k
In the Select By Location dialog box, set the Selection Method to Add to the Currently
Selected Features In.
6-27
LESSON 6
This option will add the features you are selecting (the counties next to Lee) to the single feature
you currently have selected (Lee County).
For Target Layer, check the box for FL_Counties.
The FL_Counties layer is the layer from which you want to select features.
Ensure that Source Layer is also set to FL_Counties.
The FL_Counties layer is the layer you want to use to search for the features. In this case, it
happens to be the same as your target layer.
n
For Spatial Selection Method for Target Layer Features, choose Touch the Boundary of the
Source Layer Feature.
6-28
Click OK.
Now that you have the counties you are interested in selected, in the table of contents,
right-click the FL_Counties layer and choose Data > Export Data.
In the Export Data dialog box, set these parameters:
For Export, choose Selected Features.

For Use the Same Coordinate System As, choose This Layer's Source Data.
For Output Feature Class, click the Browse button
.
r
In the Saving Data dialog box, set these parameters:
Browse to Folder Connections > C:\Student\ARC1\Florida\StormSurge.gdb.

For Name, type LeeCounties.
6-29
LESSON 6
Click Save.
Click OK to run the Export Data tool.
When prompted to add the exported data to the map as a layer, click Yes.
In the table of contents, uncheck the box for the FL_Counties layer to turn it off in the map
display.
Now the only counties that draw are Lee and its surrounding counties.
Your geodatabase is now populated with the data you need for your Category 3 hurricane storm
surge analysis.
Step 6: Select features

a
Click the Clear Selected Features button
Turn off the visibility of LeeCounties, and turn on the visibility of FL_Counties.
6-30
to unselect all selected features.
Choosing this selection option allows you to select features based on their location in relation to
other features.
d
In the Select By Location dialog box, for Selection Method, choose Select Features From.
This drop-down list also provides options for adding to the current selection, removing from the
current selection, and selecting from the current selection.
e
For Target Layer, check the box for FL_Counties.
For Source Layer, make sure that FLHurricane92 is selected.
For Spatial Selection Method for Target Layer Features, in the drop-down list, browse through
the available options.
6-31
LESSON 6
6-32
Choose the option to intersect the source layer feature.
Click OK.
Open the attribute table for the FL_Counties layer.

Hint: In the table of contents, right-click FL_Counties and choose Open Attribute Table.
At the bottom of the Table window, click the Show Selected Records button
9. Which two counties are selected?

______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
l
At the top of the Table window, click the Clear Selection button
Hint: You could also have clicked the Clear Selected Features button
toolbar.
m
on the Tools
Close the Table window.
6-33
LESSON 6
Next, you will create a query expression to select the segments of the hurricane path that exceed
a certain threshold of wind speed.
n
In the Select By Attributes dialog box, for Layer, choose FLHurricane92.
For Method, choose Create a New Selection.
Below Method, you will see a list of field names.

Scroll down through the list and double-click WINDS_MPH.
This action adds "WINDS_MPH" to the query expression box at the bottom of the dialog box.
r
Click the equals button

Unique Values.
to add an equal sign to the expression, and then click Get
This action lists all the unique values present in the WINDS_MPH field.
s
6-34
In the list, double-click 144 to add this value to the query expression.
Make sure that your query expression matches the following graphic.
The query expression tells ArcMap to select features in the FLHurricane92 layer that have a value
of 144 in the WINDS_MPH field.
t
Click Verify.
In the Verifying Expression dialog box, click OK, and then click OK in the Select By Attributes
dialog box to create the selection.
10. Which segments are selected? (Hint: If necessary, right-click the FLHurricane92 layer and
choose Zoom To Layer.)
______________________________________________________________________________
6-35
LESSON 6
The selected segment represents the part of the hurricane path that had winds recorded at 144
miles per hour.
v
Open the attribute table for FLHurricane92.
If necessary, click the Show All Records button

the gray square for any row in the table.
, and then, on the far left of the table, click
Now that the row is selected, notice that the associated feature (hurricane line segment) is also
selected in the map.
y
If necessary, move the Table window out of the way so you can view the selected feature on
the map display.
6-36
Whenever you select features in the map, their associated rows in the attribute table will also be
selected. You can also select rows in the attribute table to see their associated features selected
on the map.
z
, but leave the attribute table open.
Step 7: Examine an attribute table

As you know, the attribute table lists the attributes associated with a feature class. Each row
represents a single feature, which, in this case, is a line segment that makes up a portion of the
hurricane's path.
a
Review the attributes for this feature class.

11. What was the name of this hurricane? (Hint: If necessary, widen the NAME field.)
______________________________________________________________________________
12. When did this hurricane occur?
______________________________________________________________________________
Scroll to the right until you locate the CATEGORY field.
Hurricanes are classified based on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale, which has five categories.
Level 5 hurricanes are the most serious.
13. Which category was this hurricane classified as?
______________________________________________________________________________
6-37
LESSON 6
Right-click the WINDS_MPH field name and choose Sort Descending.
14. What is the range of values recorded for this hurricane path?
______________________________________________________________________________
You can glean a lot of information from the attribute table, especially when viewed with the map
display.
d
Step 8: View data change over time

You can use temporal attributesattributes that store a measure of time for each featureto
create, visualize, and work with time-aware layers. Some examples of time-aware layers include
animal tracking locations, crime events, disease cases, urban growth, weather patterns, storm
tracks, and so on.
As you know, the FLHurricane92 layer has a DATE_ field. This layer has been time-enabled based
on this field. After you have enabled time for a layer, you can use the Time Slider to visualize how
the data changes over time.
a
6-38
On the Tools toolbar, click the Time Slider button
On the Time Slider toolbar, click the Enable Time on Map button
On the far right of the Time Slider, click the Play button
The map displays a time animation that steps through the hurricane features sequentially.
15. Did this hurricane move from east to west or from west to east?
______________________________________________________________________________
You can time-enable any data that has attributes specifically referring to times or dates. Temporal
data may refer to discrete events, such as lightning strikes; moving objects, such as trains; or
repeated observations, such as counts from traffic sensors.
d
Close the Time Slider window.
6-39
30 minutes
Exercise 6B: Explore a map using ArcGIS Online

Part of the power of sharing maps and data is the power of using or
consuming them. Navigating a map in ArcGIS Online is similar to
navigating a map in ArcMap. In this exercise, you will explore an
ArcGIS Online web map using various methods.
Navigate a map in ArcGIS Online.

Modify symbology.
Find and identify features.
Select features.
Examine an attribute table.
Figure 6.39
Several web applications
available to users in
ArcGIS Online.
6-41
LESSON 6
Step 1: Navigate the map

a
Open a web browser and go to trainingservices.maps.arcgis.com.
Click Sign In, and sign in with your assigned course account.
In the search box, type ARC1 AND Marketed Sites Map, and press Enter.
By default, the search is initially confined to the Esri Training Services organization.
d
Uncheck the option to Only Search in Esri Training Services.
From the list of results, locate the Marketed Sites Map published by lucinda_nutrinoenergy.
Click the thumbnail to open the map.

You could also open the web map by clicking the drop-down arrow next to Open and
choosing the most appropriate software application, which, in this case, would be the
ArcGIS Online map viewer.
6-42
Pan and zoom using your mouse pointer and scroll wheel.
You may also use the arrow keys on your keyboard or the navigation buttons on the left
side of your map.
h
Press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard, and drag a box on the map.
Holding Shift and dragging a box allows you to zoom in to a specific area.
i
Examine the options available across the top of the map viewer.
These options allow you to save, share, or print the map, as well as measure features in the map
or browse the map to a predefined extent through bookmarks.
j
Click Measure, and then click Distance
In the Find Area, Length, or Location window, you can change the units by clicking the
drop-down arrow on the right side of the current units.
k
Click one point and then another point in the map to measure the distance between them.
When finished measuring, close the dialog box by clicking the X.
Click Manage Bookmarks
If the web map has bookmarks created, clicking Manage Bookmarks will display a list of
bookmarks that allow you to go to a specific location and scale on the map.
n
To close the Bookmarked Places pop-up, click the X in its upper-right corner.
In the upper-right corner of the map display, click the Show Map Overview button
A thumbnail displays an overview map to help orient you.

p
Click the Hide Map Overview button
to close the overview map.
6-43
LESSON 6
Step 2: Modify symbology

In the table of contents on the left, click the Show Contents of Map button
Most web maps created with ArcGIS Online have one basemap layer and at least one operational
layer.
b
To change the basemap, click the Basemap button and choose another basemap from the
menu provided.
Now you will change the symbols used to display the operational layer.
6-44
Click the drop-down arrow next to Marketed Sites and choose Change Symbols.
The Change Symbols panel allows you to change the renderer used for the symbols, the field that
contains the values to be symbolized, the classification method and number of classes, or the
symbol used to draw the features. You will change the symbol.
d
In the Change Symbols panel, from the Options menu, choose Change All Symbols.
In the Change Symbol dialog box, choose another marker, and then adjust the start and end
sizes, and (if applicable) its color and transparency.
To change the symbol palette, click the drop-down arrow next to Basic and choose another
category.
Choose one of the symbols.
6-45
LESSON 6
Your selections may differ from the following graphic.
Feel free to change the start and end sizes.
Click Apply to see your changes in the map.
When you are satisfied with the changes, click Done.
Zoom in to an area of interest on the map (such as Los Angeles).
Your results may differ from the graphic.
6-46
In the Change Symbols panel, click Done Changing Symbols.
Click the Show Map Legend button
The legend displays the symbols and their associated values for any operational layers in the map.
Step 3: Identify features

a
Click any point feature on the map.
When you click a feature, a results window pops up that lists the feature at the location you
clicked, along with its attributes.
If the feature you click represents multiple locations, you will see a "1 of" in the upper-left corner
of the results window.
6-47
LESSON 6
To see other locations represented by that feature, click the Next Feature button
upper-right corner of the results window.
Close the results window.
in the
Step 4: Locate addresses and features

In an ArcGIS Online web map, you can easily find locations such as addresses, places,
intersections, cities, points of interest, monuments, and geographic entities.
a
Above and to the right of the map display, click in the search box and type Redlands, CA, and
then click the Redlands, California, United States result from the drop-down list.
Your map is automatically zoomed to Redlands, and a Location pop-up window appears at the
location.
b
Close the Location window.
Click the Marketed Site feature at Crafton Hills College (this is the only point in Redlands).
(Hint: If necessary, zoom out until you can see the point.)
6-48
1. Within which of the value ranges listed in the legend do the sales for Crafton Hills College
fit?
______________________________________________________________________________
d
Repeat the search and locate process to answer the following question.
2. There are two marketed sites in Austin, Texas. Which of them is closest to Austin Bergstrom
International Airport?
______________________________________________________________________________
Hint: Not all basemaps may show the airport.
Step 5: Select features and view an attribute table

a
If necessary, zoom out in the map until you can see many point features.
Above the legend, click the Show Contents of Map button
Click the drop-down arrow next to Marketed Sites and choose Show Table.
6-49
LESSON 6
You will now see the attribute table for the layer.
3. How many features are in the Marketed Sites layer?
______________________________________________________________________________
Click any point in the map.
Notice that the point is outlined in cyan blue.

Selecting features on the map also selects the records associated with those features in the table.
Click Table Options and choose Show Selected Records from the drop-down list.
You will now see only the records for currently selected features in the map.
f
Close the table. (Hint: You may need to widen the window until you can see the X in the
upper-right corner of the table pane.)
Close your web browser without saving the map.
6-50
Lesson review
1. List aspects of a map that can affect someone's ability to interpret it properly.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. Using the zoom tools in a map changes which of the following?
a. The level of detail displayed in the map
b. The number of features visible in the map display
c. The map scale
d. All of the above
3. Viewing a dataset's changes over time requires that the dataset be time-enabled.
a. True
b. False
6-51
LESSON 6

Getting information from a GIS map (page 6-7)
1. What must you consider and evaluate before using the Measure tool to measure distances
and areas in a map? Hint: Think about the importance of coordinate systems.
Measurements are only valid if the projection used in the map preserves distance or
area, or if the features you are measuring lie within the area of the map where there is
little to no distortion present.
Exercise 6A: Explore a map using ArcMap (page 6-9)

1. The scale of the map is the ratio between distance on the map and the corresponding
distance on the ground.
2. Which county is this?
The easternmost county is Miami-Dade.
2,253,362
4. What is the name of this county?
The westernmost county is Monroe.
79,589
6. Did the population of this county increase or decrease from 2000 to 2010?
The population decreased by more than 5,000.
7. Was Lee County likely to have been affected by this particular hurricane? Why or why not?
Although it may have suffered some damage from high winds and rain, Lee County is
north of this particular hurricane path.
6-52
8. Will this selection be based on spatial or attribute information?

This selection will be based on spatial information associated with the FL_Counties
layer.
9. Which two counties are selected?
Miami-Dade and Monroe counties are selected. These are the same two counties you
identified earlier and the only two counties in Florida through which this particular
hurricane passed.
10. Which segments are selected? (Hint: If necessary, right-click the FLHurricane92 layer and
choose Zoom To Layer.)
The segment on the far right is selected.
11. What was the name of this hurricane? (Hint: If necessary, widen the NAME field.)
This hurricane was named Andrew.
12. When did this hurricane occur?
This hurricane occurred in late August of 1992.
13. Which category was this hurricane classified as?
The hurricane was a level 4 hurricane, although for one segment, it was listed as a
level 3.
14. What is the range of values recorded for this hurricane path?
The range of miles-per-hour values recorded for winds for this hurricane path was
126-144 miles per hour.
15. Did this hurricane move from east to west or from west to east?
Hurricane Andrew moved from east to west as it crossed Florida.
Exercise 6B: Explore a map using ArcGIS Online (page 6-41)

1. Within which of the value ranges listed in the legend do the sales for Crafton Hills College
fit?
101-1000
6-53
LESSON 6
2. There are two marketed sites in Austin, Texas. Which of them is closest to Austin Bergstrom
International Airport?
Huston Tillotson College
3. How many features are in the Marketed Sites layer?
There are 837 features in this layer.
6-54

Introduction
Key terms
data extraction
geoprocessing
overlay
proximity analysis
spatial analysis
Have you ever looked at a map of crime in your city and tried to
figure out which areas have high crime rates? Have you ever looked at
different types of information, like school locations, parks, and
demographics, and tried to determine the best location to buy a new
home? Whenever you look at a map, you inherently start turning that
map into information by finding patterns, assessing trends, or making
decisions. This process is called spatial analysis, and it is what your
eyes and mind do naturally whenever you look at a map.
Whether it is a statistical analysis to determine whether the patterns
that you see are significant, or an imagery analysis to detect change in
vegetation over time, the spatial analysis tools that are part of the
ArcGIS system empower you to answer questions and make important
decisions using more than a simple visual analysis.
Topics covered
Applying the geographic approach
Geoprocessing and spatial analysis
Common spatial analysis tasks
Learning objectives
Apply the geographic approach to solve a spatial problem.
7-1
LESSON 7
The geographic approach - revisited

The geographic approach, which you learned about earlier in this
course, provides a consistent workflow for answering questions or
solving problems with GIS that can be applied to any problem with a
spatial component. So far, you have focused primarily on the first
three steps. This lesson focuses on the fourth step: analyze
Table 7.1
This table describes the
steps of the geographic
approach to solving
problems with GIS.
Step
Description
1. Ask a
geographic
question
Develop geographic questions that must be answered.

These questions attempt to identify how an object or
phenomenon's spatial location affects it or its
involvement with other features or phenomena.
2. Acquire
geographic
data
Obtain the geographic data you require to answer your

questions.
3. Examine
geographic
data
Create a map of your geographic area and symbolize

data to look for information or patterns that are not
always easy to see on a map.
4. Analyze
geographic
information
Determine a problem-solving approach and perform

GIS analysis.
5. Act on
geographic
knowledge
Develop your message and intended audience; create

visuals, such as maps, to communicate information.
Often, you will be required to repeat steps to refine your analysis. For
example, while examining your data (step 3), you may realize you
need an additional feature class, so you must go back and acquire
another data source (step 2). Perhaps acting on your results (step 5)
leads you to modify the original question (step 1).
GIS analysis does not always accomplish the desired results the first
time through. It is an iterative process: with each successive pass, you
may change the criteria used, the tools used, or the order of the
processes. You may need to take the time to verify results and visually
7-2
analyze the data produced by intermediate steps as well as the final

analysis.
7-3
LESSON 7
Questions you can answer with GIS

Even when you are attempting to solve a larger problem, it can be
broken down into a basic question or a series of questions you are
trying to answer. Generally, those questions will fit into one of the
following categories.
Table 7.2
This table provides a list of
the types of questions you
can answer with GIS and
Category
Question beginning
Example
Condition
What is...? or Which is...?
Which is the highest

mountain peak?
Location
Where is...?
Where is the nearest gas

station?
Trends
What has changed

since...?
or How has __________
changed since...?
How has air quality

changed since electric cars
were introduced
commercially in California?
Patterns
Which spatial patterns

exist...?
Which spatial patterns exist

between land use and
demographics?
Modeling
What if ...?
What if the wind direction

changes as the fire line
moves west?
example questions for

each category.
Can you think of an example of a question for each of the categories

above?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
7-4
What is spatial analysis?

In GIS, the terms "geoprocessing" and "spatial analysis" are often
used interchangeably. However, these two terms, while related to one
another, are different.
Each time you examine the locations, attributes, and relationships
between features in geographic data to address a question or gain
useful knowledge, you are performing spatial analysis. Spatial analysis
extracts or creates new information from geographic data, helping
you solve problems and answer questions about the world around
you.
The part of the geographic approach that involves manipulating data
by running tools to create or extract information is called
geoprocessing. A typical geoprocessing tool performs an essential
operation on geographic datasuch as projecting a dataset from one
map projection to another, adding a field to a table, or creating a
buffer zone around featuresand returns the result of the operation
as an output dataset. ArcGIS includes hundreds of such
geoprocessing tools.
Figure 7.1
A geoprocessing tool
performs an operation on
an input dataset, often
producing an output
dataset.
Of the five steps that make up the geographic approach, only one
(step 4) centers on geoprocessing. During spatial analysis, one or
more geoprocessing tools are run based on the analysis objectives.
GIS users then explore, interpret, and share the results, using them to
draw conclusions and make decisions.
7-5
LESSON 7
Geoprocessing in analyses
In a typical analysis that includes geoprocessing operations, you
would follow the steps below:
1. Determine which geoprocessing tools you need.
2. Determine the order in which you should use the geoprocessing
tools.
3. Locate the first tool and open its dialog box.
4. Enter the tool parameters, including the input and output
datasets.
5. Run the tool.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 for each geoprocessing tool in order.
7. Examine the final output, and repeat some or all of the analysis
steps as needed.
7-6
Common analysis tasks

Geoprocessing tools used for analysis typically fall into three
categories: data extraction, overlay, and proximity.
Data extraction
The process of creating a new subset of features in one feature class
based on the geographic extent of another feature class is named
data extraction. For example, suppose you want to assess street
conditions within Wilson, North Carolina. You have a feature class
representing the streets for the entire county. You also have a feature
class representing the city boundary.
With an operation named Clip, you can use the boundary dataset to
extract (or clip out) the street features that fall within the city limits
into a new dataset. This allows you to isolate the features of interest
for your analysis. Doing so reduces the size of the dataset you are
using, which shortens processing time during future geoprocessing
operations. ArcGIS will not have to consider all the other street
features in the countyjust the ones you have isolated.
Figure 7.2
In a clip operation, a clip
layer is overlaid like a
cookie cutter on top of an
input layer. The input
layer's features (in this
case, streets) are clipped
to the extent of the clip
layer (that is, city
boundary).
Overlay
If the data you require to answer a specific question is contained in
different layers, you can combine (or overlay) the layers to create a
new layer that contains the data from both input layers. For example,
suppose that you have layers of vegetation and soils. To determine
which vegetation types are common with particular soil types, you
could overlay the two layers using an operation named Union. The
7-7
LESSON 7
dataset created by the union operation would contain all the features
and attributes from both layers. You could quickly query the new layer
to determine the relationship between them.
Figure 7.3
A vegetation layer is
overlaid with a soils layer.
The overlay operation
creates a new layer with
features and attributes
from both the vegetation
and soils layers.
7-8
Proximity
A common type of GIS analysis, proximity analysis involves finding
what is near or within a certain distance of one or more features.
Buffer is a common geoprocessing operation used for proximity
analysis. For example, if you want to notify lot owners about a new
bus stop that is within a certain distance of their property, you can use
a buffer operation to find all the lots within that distance. A buffer
creates a zone of a specified distance around one or more features.
Figure 7.4
In this example, a buffer
has been created to
define the area within a
certain distance of the bus
stop.
7-9
LESSON 7
Perform spatial analysis with common analysis

tools
While you can often

visually analyze the spatial
relationships between
features in a map, analysis
tools use mathematical
algorithms to determine
these relationships, taking
into account information
that is not readily available
from a simple visual
assessment.
Figure 7.5
In this scenario, the Clip
tool was used to extract
only those streets that are
within the city boundary.
7-10
The police department in Wilson, North Carolina, wants to help

reduce the number of crimes that occur near schools by increasing
their presence in those areas and by implementing safety programs in
the schoolsbeginning with the schools near where more crimes are
occurring. The first few steps of the geographic approach were
performed for this scenario when the problem of identifying the
schools near where more crimes were occurring was identified and
the data for Wilson, North Carolina, was evaluated and acquired. By
analyzing the data with a combination of common analysis tools, the
police department can identify where to prioritize their efforts.
One of the datasets for this analysis covered a larger geographic
extent than the analysis required. When GIS datasets contain more
data than you need, you can extract only the features you need based
on an attribute or on their location, outputting only the features and
attributes you want to keep as a separate feature class or table.
Creating a new dataset that includes only relevant features can
decrease processing time and streamline your results.
Police were most interested in the geographic extent within 0.25

miles of each school. Creating a buffer to identify the geographic
extent of the quarter-mile distance around the schools helped identify
the area surrounding each school within which crimes would likely
have the most impact on the students.
Figure 7.6
Proximity tools, like the
Buffer tool, can be used to
identify features that are
closest to one another or
calculate the distances
between or around them.
After the quarter-mile buffer around each school was generated, the
police department needed to determine which crimes fell within that
distance. Overlay tools, such as Union and Intersect, can be used to
determine where different types of features coexist in the same area,
providing the ability to combine, erase, modify, or update input
features, writing the output to a new feature class.
Figure 7.7
Using the Intersect tool to
overlay the crimes layer
and the buffer layer made
it easy to identify which
schools had the largest
number of crimes within a
defined radius.
7-11
LESSON 7
7-12
40 minutes
Exercise 7: Analyze hurricane storm surge data

Earlier in this course, you gathered and prepared data for a hurricane
storm surge simulation study conducted by the National Hurricane
Center and Lee County, Florida (schools, hospitals, day care centers,
and nursing homes). In this exercise, you will use that data to analyze
the effects of a Category 3 hurricane storm surge inundation on
certain vulnerable facilities in the county. The results of your analysis
will help focus emergency response initiatives for those facilities. The
primary question you must answer is, "Which vulnerable facilities are
at greatest risk from a Category 3 storm surge inundation in Lee
County?"
Extract features in your area of interest.

Identify vulnerable facilities.
Overlay two layers.
Identify secondary facilities that may be at risk.
Figure 7.8
Map of Lee County
hurricane storm surge
inundation displaying
hospitals, schools, nursing
homes, and day care
centers. This map also
displays one-mile buffers
around hospitals.
7-13
LESSON 7
Step 1: Open ArcMap and examine the map document

a
Start ArcMap and open C:\Student\ARC1\Florida\StormSurge.mxd.
The map displays Lee and the surrounding counties, along with points that represent vulnerable
facilities. The darker shades along the coast represent the higher category storm surge zones.
Step 2: Extract features in your area of interest

You can see that some of the points for the various vulnerable facilities are outside the study area.
7-14
In the table of contents, right-click the FL_Hospitals layer and choose Zoom To Layer.
The map zooms to the extent of the hospitals layer, which covers the entire state of Florida. You
may also notice that the schools, nursing homes, and day care centers also cover the entire state.
You do not need to work with layers that contain many more features than required, so you will
extract only those features that are within your area of interest.
1. Which tool extracts only the features from an input layer that are within the features in
another layer?
______________________________________________________________________________
b
From the Geoprocessing menu, choose the appropriate tool.
In the tool's dialog box, for Input Features, use the drop-down to select FL_Hospitals.
Notice that the Output Feature Class field is automatically set to the ..\Documents\ArcGIS\
Default.gdb geodatabase.
7-15
LESSON 7
So far in this course, you have clicked the Browse button and browsed to another location. In this
exercise, to save time, you will change this default geodatabase setting so the output from all the
tools you run will be set to the StormSurge geodatabase.
d
Click Cancel to close the tool dialog box.
In the Catalog window, right-click StormSurge.gdb and choose Make Default Geodatabase.
Reopen the Clip tool.
In the tool's dialog box, for Input Features, use the drop-down again to select FL_Hospitals.
Set Clip Features to LeeCounties.
Notice that the Output Feature Class field is now set to the C:\Student\ARC1\Florida\
StormSurge.gdb geodatabase.
i
Highlight the default name (at the end of the path in the Output Feature Class input box) and
type FL_HospitalsClip.
In the tool's dialog box, click OK to run the tool.
ArcMap generates the new layer and adds it to the map display.
7-16
Right-click the new FL_HospitalsClip layer and choose Zoom To Layer.
The new layer is symbolized with a default symbol. You will set it to match the current symbol for
the FL_Hospitals layer.
l
Open the layer properties for the FL_HospitalsClip layer.

Hint: Right-click FL_HospitalsClip and choose Properties.
7-17
LESSON 7
Click the Symbology tab.
In the upper-right corner, click Import.
In the Import Symbology dialog box, for Layer, choose FL_Hospitals.
Accept all other defaults.
7-18
In the Import Symbology dialog box, click OK.
Click OK to close the Layer Properties dialog box.
You do not need both hospitals layers, so you will remove the one that contains hospitals
throughout the state.
s
In the table of contents, right-click FL_Hospitals and choose Remove.

Removing a layer from the table of contents does not delete the data on disk; it simply
removes the layer from the map.
Repeat this process for the FL_Schools, FL_NursingHomes, and FL_DayCareCenters layers,
clipping their extent to the boundary of LeeCounties and setting their symbology to match the
original layer. Be sure to remove the original layers after the data has been extracted.
Now that you have reduced the number of features, any geoprocessing you do will be faster.
7-19
LESSON 7
In the table of contents, click and drag the FL_HospitalsClip layer to the top.
Use the Pan tool
to center the map on Lee County as shown in this graphic.
Step 3: Identify vulnerable facilities in Lee County

You want to identify the vulnerable facilities in Lee County.
7-20
In this step, you will select only the storm surge polygons within Lee County. First, you will select
Lee County.
a
In the Select By Attributes dialog box, set these parameters:
For Layer, choose LeeCounties.

For Method, choose Create a New Selection.
In the list of fields, double-click NAME.
Click the equals button
.
Click Get Unique Values.
In the Unique Values list, double-click 'Lee'.
Click Get Unique Values to see the values for the selected field when creating a
query expression. You can type a value in the Go To input box to quickly navigate
this list.
Your query expression should read: NAME = 'Lee'.
Click Verify.
Click OK to close the Verifying Expression dialog box.
In the Select By Attributes dialog box, click OK.
Lee County is now selected.
7-21
LESSON 7
In the table of contents, right-click LeeCounties, point to Selection, and choose Zoom To
Selected Features.
In the Select By Location dialog box, set these parameters:
For Selection Method, choose Select Features From.

In the Target Layers list, check the box for Cat3 and uncheck all other boxes.
For Source Layer, choose LeeCounties, and then, just below LeeCounties, check the box
for Use Selected Features.
For Spatial Selection Method for Target Layer Feature(s), choose Are Within the Source
Layer Feature.
7-22
Ensure that your settings match the following graphic.
Your Select By Location settings tell ArcMap to select features from the Cat3 that are within the
selected features of the LeeCounties layer.
7-23
LESSON 7
Click OK.
Do you notice that not every Cat3 polygon inside Lee County is selected?
The Cat3 polygons are irregularly shaped, so selecting them by location this way does not provide
you with the selection you were looking for. Some of the Cat3 polygons within Lee County are not
selected, perhaps because they extend beyond the county boundary. You want to select all of the
parts of the polygons that are within Lee County.
First, you will unselect the selected features from the Cat3 layer.
k
In the table of contents, right-click the Cat3 layer, point to Selection, and choose Clear
Selected Features.
This action clears only the selected features in the Cat3 layer so that, once again, the only feature
selected in the map is Lee County.
In the next step, you will overlay the Cat3 polygons and the selected Lee County polygon to
create an output that combines the features and attributes of both.
7-24
Step 4: Overlay the Cat3 layer with Lee County

Create a new feature class that includes features constructed from the overlapping portions of Lee
County and the Cat3 layer.
a
From the Geoprocessing menu, choose Intersect.
Click the drop-down arrow for Input Features, and from the list of layers, choose Cat3.
You could also drag the layer from the table of contents into the dialog box.
Repeat this process to add the LeeCounties layer.

Adding the layer from the map ensures that the selected feature (Lee County) will
automatically be used in the Intersect tool. If you had added the Lee Counties feature class
from the Catalog window, all of the counties would be used in the tool.
Notice that the Output Feature Class is automatically set to C:\Student\ARC1\Florida\

StormSurge.gdb because you set StormSurge.gdb as the default geodatabase.
d
Highlight the default name at the end of the Output Feature Class path and type
LeeCat3Intersect.
7-25
LESSON 7
Click OK to run the Intersect tool.
Wait until the new layer (LeeCat3Intersect) appears in the table of contents. Then, on the Tools
toolbar, click the Clear Selected Features button
.
The Clear Selected Features button clears all the selected features in your map.
g
Import the symbology for the LeeCat3Intersect layer using the Cat3 layer.
Hint: Verify that the Value Field is set to Category.
Remove the Cat3 layer from the map.
The new LeeCat3Intersect layer contains features that represent Cat3 polygons that are only
within Lee County. These polygons are the polygons you will use to determine which vulnerable
facilities in Lee County are at risk from a Category 3 storm surge.
Because you used Intersect, the new features include the attributes from both layers.
7-26
Right-click the LeeCat3Intersect layer and choose Open Attribute Table.
When you are finished browsing the attributes, close the attribute table.
Open the Select By Location dialog box.

Hint: From the Selection menu, choose Select By Location.
In the Select By Location dialog box, set the following parameters:

For Target Layers, check the boxes for FL_HospitalsClip, FL_DayCareCentersClip,
FL_NursingHomesClip, and FL_SchoolsClip; uncheck the boxes for all other layers.
For Source Layer, choose LeeCat3Intersect.
For Spatial Selection Method, choose Intersect the Source Layer Feature.
7-27
LESSON 7
Click OK to run the tool.
Right-click the FL_SchoolsClip layer and choose Open Attribute Table.

2. How many schools in Lee County are at risk from a Category 3 hurricane storm surge? (Hint:
Look at the bottom of the Table window.)
______________________________________________________________________________
Opening the attribute table is only one way to determine the number of selected features in a
layer.
o
At the top of the table of contents, click the List By Selection button
The List By Selection button is one of the buttons that allows you to change the way the layers in
your map are listed in the table of contents. It groups layers based on if they are selectable and
have selected features. It also lists the number of selected features in each layer.
7-28
A selectable layer means that features in the layer can be selected using the interactive
selection tools, such as those on the Tools toolbar or the Edit tool (when in an edit session).
3. For each of the following layers, use the List By Selection view to determine how many of
each type of facility are at risk.
Layer name
Number of affected facilities
FL_NursingHomesClip
FL_DayCareCentersClip
FL_HospitalsClip
4. Which type of vulnerable facility has the most features at risk during a Category 3 storm
surge?
______________________________________________________________________________
The FL_HospitalsClip layer has the fewest facilities at risk.
5. List the hospitals that are completely within the storm surge polygon and therefore most at
risk. (Hint: Open the attribute table for the FL_HospitalsClip layer.)
______________________________________________________________________________
These are the facilities that will be given priority during evacuation efforts in the event of a
Category 3 hurricane storm surge in Lee County.
q
Clear the selected features.
At the top of the table of contents, click the List By Drawing Order button
Use List By Drawing Order to author the contents of your map. You can change the
display order of layers on the map, rename or remove layers, and create or manage
group layers.
7-29
LESSON 7
Step 5: Identify hospitals close to the storm surge inundation polygon

Next, you will concentrate your focus on the Lee County hospitals that are at risk from a Category
3 storm surge event. As such, you will turn off the other facility types to make the map easier to
interpret.
Turn off the visibility of the following layers:
FL_NursingHomesClip
FL_SchoolsClip
b
Open the Select by Attributes dialog box, and create a new selection for all the hospitals that
intersect Lee County.
Click OK.
6. What other method could you use to select the hospitals in Lee County?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
7-30
Zoom in to the area that contains the selected Lee County hospitals.
Now you want to know which of these hospitals are within the Category 3 storm surge areas.
Thus, you will select the Category 3 storm surge polygons before determining which hospitals are
at risk.
e
Use Select By Attributes again to select the Category 3 storm surge polygons.
Hint: Use the LeeCat3Intersect layer, as well as the Category attribute.
Notice that some of the Lee County hospitals are not within the Category 3 storm surge polygons,
but they are fairly close to them. While these hospitals may not be required to evacuate because
of flooding, they will likely be at risk of some residual damage or from overcrowding during the
storm. Therefore, you will create a buffer of a mile around each hospital point to identify hospitals
that are likely to be affected based on their proximity to the Category 3 storm surge.
f
From the Geoprocessing menu, choose Buffer.
In the Buffer tool's dialog box, for Input Features, choose FL_HospitalsClip.
Set Output Feature Class to C:\Student\ARC1\Florida\StormSurge.gdb\HospitalBuffers.
7-31
LESSON 7
Set the Distance value to 1 and the units to Miles.
Click OK to run the Buffer tool and create the one-mile buffers around each hospital.
After the HospitalBuffers layer is added to the table of contents, click the symbol for the
HospitalBuffers to open the Symbol Selector.
Choose the Hollow symbol, and click OK.
7-32
With the hollow fill symbol, it will be easier to see if any of the buffers overlap the Category 3
storm surge areas.
Now you will determine which of the hospitals in Lee County may still be at increased risk because
of their proximity to a Category 3 storm surge.
m
Right-click the FL_HospitalsClip layer, point to Selection, and choose Clear Selected Features.
Your Category 3 storm surge polygons should still be selected.
7-33
LESSON 7
In the Select By Location dialog box, perform these tasks:

For Target Layers, check the box for HospitalBuffers, and uncheck the boxes for all other
layers.
For Source Layer, choose LeeCat3Intersect.
For Spatial Selection Method, choose Intersect the Source Layer Feature.
Check the option to Use Selected Features.
7-34
Click OK.
Right-click HospitalBuffers and choose Open Attribute Table.

7. How many hospitals within Lee County are located within a mile from (selected) a Category
3 storm surge polygon? (Hint: Evaluate the selection based on the attribute values in the
County field.)
______________________________________________________________________________
You have identified which vulnerable facilities in Lee County are most at risk from storm surge
inundation during a Category 3 hurricane and hospitals that may become overcrowded during or
shortly after such a storm.
q
In the next lesson, you will learn how to share the results of your analysis.
r
7-35
LESSON 7
When prompted to save the map, choose Yes.
When you finish working on a map, you can save it as a map document. In this case, you are
saving changes to a map document that has already been saved. If the map has not been saved
before, you would need to provide a name and save it into a folder location. ArcMap
automatically appends a file extension (.mxd) to the map document name.
The data displayed on a map is not saved with it. Map layers reference the data sources in
your GIS database.
You will use this map in the next lesson when you learn how to share your results.
7-36
Lesson review
1. List the steps of the geographic approach.
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2. You are creating a city map for delivery drivers, but the streets data you have covers the
entire county. Which tool would allow you to reduce the number of streets features based
on an extent of the city boundary?
a. Buffer
b. Clip
c. Extract
d. Intersect
3. Geoprocessing tools generally perform an operation on geographic data and often return
an output dataset.
a. True
b. False
4. You are looking for places within a mile of a river that are suitable habitats for multiple
species. Which Overlay tool could you use to combine features from multiple layers to
output only those habitats located within the one-mile buffer zone?
a. Union
b. Clip
c. Intersect
d. Buffer
7-37
LESSON 7
5. A tanker truck has crashed on the highway, releasing a cloud of hazardous fumes. You must
quickly create a map that identifies the affected area, a polygon that surrounds the crash
site by five miles in all directions. Which Proximity tool could you use to accomplish this
task?
a. Buffer
b. Clip
c. Intersect
d. Union
7-38

Exercise 7: Analyze hurricane storm surge data (page 7-13)
1. Which tool extracts only the features from an input layer that are within the features in
another layer?
The Clip tool extracts input features that overlay the clip features in another layer.
2. How many schools in Lee County are at risk from a Category 3 hurricane storm surge? (Hint:
Look at the bottom of the Table window.)
There are a total of 42 (out of 254) schools at risk in Lee County.
3. For each of the following layers, use the List By Selection view to determine how many of
each type of facility are at risk.
Layer name
Number of affected facilities
FL_NursingHomesClip
34
13
FL_HospitalsClip
4. Which type of vulnerable facility has the most features at risk during a Category 3 storm
surge?
There are more schools at risk than any other type of vulnerable facility.
5. List the hospitals that are completely within the storm surge polygon and therefore most at
risk. (Hint: Open the attribute table for the FL_HospitalsClip layer.)
Only Cape Coral Hospital is completely within the storm surge polygon.
7-39
LESSON 7
6. What other method could you use to select the hospitals in Lee County?
You could use the Select By Location tool and follow these steps:
1. Select Lee County from the LeeCounties layer.
2. Open Select By Location.
3. Choose to select features from FL HospitalsClip that intersect the source layer
feature of LeeCounties.
4. Make sure to choose to Use Selected Features.
7. How many hospitals within Lee County are located within a mile from (selected) a Category
3 storm surge polygon? (Hint: Evaluate the selection based on the attribute values in the
County field.)
All five of the hospitals in Lee County are located within a mile of the Category 3
storm surge zones.
7-40
Sharing results
Sharing results
Introduction
After you have created a map or performed an analysis to solve a
problem, you can share the results so they can be properly
distributed, interpreted, and applied. In fact, communicating and
sharing your work is often the most rewarding part of GIS.
Although people use GIS for many reasons, one useful way to think of
GIS is as a powerful communication tool. Whether your audience is
the public at large, planners, business executives, elected
government officials, customers, students, or your colleagues at work,
you ultimately want to ensure that the map or analysis results you
produce are provided in a usable format. The ArcGIS platform makes
it easy to communicate and share your work and put powerful maps,
visualizations, and functionality into people's hands without requiring
that they be GIS experts.
You can share the results of your analyses with others in different
ways. The method and format you choose depend on what kind of
information you want to share and the audience you want to share it
with.
Topics covered
Printing and exporting a map
Generating reports and graphs
Sharing results as a map document, map package, web map,
web mapping application, or GIS service
Learning objectives
Choose an appropriate method for sharing a map or analysis

results based on a given scenario.
Apply various methods for sharing a map or analysis results.
8-1
LESSON 8
The importance of sharing results

Why is it important to share results?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
How do members of your organization commonly share maps and
geographic information?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
What are some ways you have seen others outside of your
organization share maps and geographic information?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
8-2
Sharing results
Sharing content through ArcMap

ArcGIS offers a number of ways to share your map and analysis results
through ArcMap, including as reports, charts, graphs, images, printed
map layouts, map series, packages, services, and so on. When
working with data in ArcMap, you can choose to share the content
you create or the results of your analyses with others, whether they
use ArcGIS for Desktop or not. The option you choose depends on
the target audience and the desired delivery method.
Creating reports, charts, and graphs

You can often capture the facts and figures behind your analysis in
reports, charts, and graphs, making them invaluable companions to
the maps you create. Some of the advantages of creating a report,
chart, or graph include:
Effective display of attribute information about map features in a

customizable tabular or graphical format.
Ability to choose which fields from your table you want to
display and how you want to display them.
Option to include these files in your map layout or save it as a
file for distribution.
Printing and exporting your map
You can export your full map image to several industry-standard
graphics interchange files formats, including PDF. The Portable
Document Format (PDF) is:

about printing and
exporting your map, see
the ArcGIS Help Library:
Map export and printing.
A popular graphics file format that supports vector and raster

graphics in a single compact file.
Designed to be consistently viewable and printable across
different platforms.
Commonly used for distributing documents on the web.
Now an official ISO standard for document interchange.
Creating map packages and layer packages
As you work on a map in ArcMap, you can save it as a map document
(or MXD file), which others can open and use if they have ArcGIS for
Desktop and access to the data. Each layer in the map document
references data on disk and is symbolized with either a default symbol
or with a symbol you specify. To share a layer, including its symbology
8-3
LESSON 8
definition, you can save it as a layer (LYR file) or package it as a layer

package (LPK file).
LYR files:
Include a reference to the data on disk and a symbology

definition.
When added to your map, they will draw exactly as they were
saved (as long as you have access to the data referenced by the
layer).
LPK files:

about creating packages,
see the ArcGIS Help
Library: Sharing data
through packaging.
Allow you to package the symbology definition with the data so

users who do not have access to the data storage location can
access the data.
To share an entire map document with ArcGIS for Desktop users who
do not have access to the data server, you can create a map package
(MPK file).
MPK files:
Include a map document (.mxd) and the data referenced by the

map layers packaged into one portable file.
Allow you to share maps that include the symbology of the
source map by uploading the MPK file directly to ArcGIS Online,
saving it locally and emailing it, or making it available on a file
share.
Allow you to document your work because a map package is a
snapshot of the map and the current state of its data.
You can share these file types over the network, by email, and through
ArcGIS Online.
8-4
Sharing results
Sharing content through ArcGIS Online

When you are a part of the ArcGIS Online community, you are
encouraged to share maps, data, tools, and applications if they are
useful to others. You can share content viewable in a web browser, a
mobile device, or desktop viewer. For example, you might want to
share a map that shows your local watershed system or a code sample
you think would be useful to other developers.
If your organization has

highly confidential and
proprietary data, conducts
confidential research, or
has regulated data
restrictions, you may want
to consider Portal for
ArcGIS, which provides
you with the same
collaboration and sharing
tools as ArcGIS Online but
can be deployed behind
your organization's
firewall.
Some files shared through ArcGIS Online originate within ArcMap,

while others originate through ArcGIS Online. In either case, you can
share the content you create with everybody (in other words, make it
public), or, in the cases of proprietary and business-sensitive data, you
can share it only within your organization or to specific groups of
targeted individuals.
Web maps and web applications

You can create a web map using ArcGIS Online. Web maps are
generated in ArcGIS Online, but they can include GIS data you
publish or upload to ArcGIS Online.
Web maps bring your map to the masses, allowing anyone you
choose to access your map through an intranet or the Internet. They
can also be shared and used by ArcGIS for Desktop users. Web maps
do not require anything more than an Internet connection and a web
browser to access your map.
Web mapping applications tailor the user experience with a web
map, enabling or restricting functionality to allow users to interact
with the map in specific ways. They can be easily created from
included templates, some of which are configurable.
8-5
Sharing results
50 minutes
Exercise 8: Share hurricane analysis results

In an earlier lesson, you performed an analysis to identify the
vulnerable facilities at risk of a Category 3 storm surge inundation in
Lee County. In this exercise, you will create various files intended for
different audiences and share them in a variety of ways.
Export your map as a PDF.

Create and share a map package.
Use ArcGIS Online to build a web map.
Share a web map as a web mapping application.
8-7
LESSON 8
Step 1: Export the map as a PDF

The Board of County Commissioners has requested a printable version of the storm surge map.
Therefore, you will finalize the layout of the map and export it to a PDF document.
a
Start ArcMap and open C:\Student\ARC1\Florida\StormSurge.mxd.

This exercise uses the results from the analysis you performed in the previous lesson. If you
were unable to successfully complete that analysis, use the map document and
geodatabase in the C:\Student\ARC1\Results\Lesson07 folder.
Zoom in to Lee County.

Hint: First, zoom to the full extent, and then use the Zoom In tool and draw a box around Lee
County.
Turn on the visibility for all of the facilities:
8-8
FL_NursingHomesClip
FL_SchoolsClip
FL_HospitalsClip
Sharing results
As part of an upcoming meeting, the Board of County Commissioners will present a PDF of your
map. The PDF will be printed and handed out at the meeting.
Before you create a PDF of the map, you are going to prepare the map in layout view.
ArcMap provides two ways to view a map: data view and layout view. Each view allows you to
view and interact with the map, but in different ways. Data view provides a geographic window for
exploring, displaying, querying, editing, and analyzing the data in your map. Layout view allows
you to view your map as it would appear on a printed page.
d
From the View menu, choose Layout View.

You can also switch to layout view by clicking the Layout View button
map display.
just below the
Layout view allows you to see what the map will look like when printed or exported. When you
switch to layout view, the Layout toolbar opens. This toolbar provides tools that let you interact
with the map display in the layout. Layout view also allows you to add elements to your map that
will help map readers properly interpret your map's message.
8-9
LESSON 8
One of the most important elements for many maps is the legend. A legend helps a map reader
interpret the meaning of the symbols used to represent features on the map. Legends consist of
examples of the symbols on the map, with labels containing explanatory text.
You will add a legend to your map.
e
From the Insert menu, choose Legend.
In the Legend Properties dialog box, the map layers are listed on the left, while the legend
items are listed on the right.
Not all layers in a map must be in the legend. In this case, you will only keep certain layers.
Removing layers from the legend does not remove them from the table of contents or from
the map.
8-10
Sharing results
In the Legend Items list on the right, click the HospitalBuffers layer to select it.
After you have the HospitalBuffers layer selected, click the left arrow button
Keep the number of columns in your legend set to 1.
Click Next.
You could provide your legend with a title, but in this case, you will accept the defaults on this
panel and simply click Next.
8-11
LESSON 8
Continue accepting the defaults by clicking Next through the rest of the panels until you get
to the final panel, and then click Finish.
Your legend draws in the center of the map.
8-12
Sharing results
Click and drag the legend to the lower-left corner of the map.
The purpose of a legend is to help map readers understand the symbols in the map. In this case,
the layer names do not clearly represent the content. To make it easier to interpret the symbols,
you will change the layer names.
The legend is dynamic. If you change the layer name or symbol in the map, it will automatically
change in the legend.
m
In the table of contents, click the FL_HospitalsClip layer, and then slowly click it a second time
to make it editable.
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LESSON 8
Type Hospitals, and then press Enter on your keyboard.
The previous graphic is zoomed in much more than your layout to show the legend better.
Notice that the new layer name is immediately reflected in the legend.
o
Repeat this process to rename the layers according to the following table.
Current name
New name
Day Care Centers
FL_NursingHomesClip
Nursing Homes
FL_SchoolsClip
Schools
LeeCat3Intersect
Category 3 Storm Surge
LeeCounties*
Lee County
*Although the LeeCounties layer contains multiple counties, your map is centered on Lee County. For the
purpose of the map, you will change the layer name to Lee County.
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Sharing results
Next, you will add a title to your map.

p
From the Insert menu, choose Title.
ArcMap adds a default title.

q
To change the default title, double-click it to open the Properties dialog box, and make sure
that the Text tab is selected.
Type Lee County Cat 3 Storm Surge Risk.
Click Change Symbol.
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LESSON 8
In the Symbol Selector, click the Bold button
In the Properties dialog box, click OK.
8-16
, and then click OK.
Sharing results
Click the title and drag it above the map display.
There are a number of other elements you could add, such as a north arrow or a scale bar.
Because measuring direction and distance are not primary uses of this map, you will leave it as is.
w
From the File menu, choose Export Map.
8-17
LESSON 8
In the Export Map dialog box, perform these tasks:

For Save as Type, choose PDF.
For File Name, type LeeCountyCat3Map.
8-18
Click Save.
Sharing results
In Windows Explorer, browse to C:\Student\ARC1\Florida and double-click

LeeCountyCat3Map.pdf.
You can now provide this map to the Board of County Commissioners to print and distribute at
their meeting.
aa
When you are finished looking at the map, you may close it, and then exit Windows Explorer.
Step 2: Create a map package and upload it to ArcGIS Online

The Board of County Commissioners wants to share the map document with the Southwest
Florida Regional Planning Council. They have asked you to create a map package that can be
uploaded and shared on ArcGIS Online.
Before packaging a map, enter descriptive information about it in the Map

Document Properties dialog box. This information is built into the package and is
accessible to others when you upload your map package into ArcGIS Online.
From the File menu, choose Map Document Properties.
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LESSON 8
In the Map Document Properties dialog box, set these parameters:
If necessary, provide a short summary and a description for your map.

For Author, type your name.
For Credits, accept the default or leave it blank.
For Tags, type Esri Training Services, ARC1, Florida, storm surge, Category 3,
hurricane, Lee County.
For the purposes of this course, leave Hyperlink Base blank.
Check the box to Store Relative Pathnames to Data Sources.
Relative paths in a map document specify the location of the data contained in the map
document relative to the map document's current location on disk. Because relative paths do not
contain drive names, they enable the map and its associated data to be moved to any disk drive
without the data paths being adjusted for the new location. As long as the same directory
structure is used at the new location, the map will still be able to find its data by traversing the
relative paths.
When delivering documents, toolboxes, and data to another user, you should use
relative paths. Otherwise, the recipient's computer must have the same directory
structure as yours.
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Sharing results
Click OK.
From the File menu, click Share As > Map Package.
The Map Package dialog box opens.

First, you will specify where to save your map packageeither as a file on disk or in your ArcGIS
Online account.
e
Choose Upload Package to My ArcGIS Online Account.
Append your first name plus last initial to the name of the file (example: StormSurge_BobM).
Uncheck the box to Include Enterprise Geodatabase Data Instead of Referencing the Data.
In this case, your map does not include enterprise geodatabase data.
On the left, click Item Description.
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LESSON 8
The information you entered for the Map Document Properties displays on this panel. You could
modify it here if necessary.
In this case, you will add content to the Access and Use Constraints and Credits fields.
i
In the Catalog window, expand the C:\Student\ARC1\OnlineFiles folder.
Double-click AccessUseConstraints.txt to open it.
In the Notepad window, select all the text in the AccessUseConstraints file, and from the Edit
menu, choose Copy.
Exit Notepad.
In the Map Package dialog box, paste the copied text into the Access and Use Constraints
field.
For Credits, if necessary, type Esri.
On the left, click Additional Files.
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Sharing results
If necessary, you could specify Additional Files you wanted to include in the map package. This
option allows you to include other content, such as detailed documentation, reports, graphs, and
so on.
p
Click Sharing.
When prompted to sign in, choose the option to sign in Using Your Course Account, and then
enter the organizational account credentials that the instructor provided.
If the ArcGIS Sign In dialog box is too small, make it larger by dragging the lower-right
corner on the dialog box.
Check the box for Members of These Groups.
Check the box for the group name assigned for your class.
Click Analyze to validate your map for any errors or issues.
A Prepare window will display, with a list of any issues. In this case, there are no errors to address.
After the map is validated, click Share to create your map package.
If prompted to save the map document before creating the map package, choose Yes.
The Packaging window remains open while the map package is being created.
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LESSON 8
After the map package has been created, you will see a message verifying that it has succeeded.
Your map package name will be different.

w
Click OK.
Open a web browser, and type trainingservices.maps.arcgis.com. Remember to choose the

Using Your Course Account option and use your assigned credentials.
Click My Content.
The My Content list now contains your map package. The column to the right indicates that it has
been shared with a group, which is your assigned class group.
This file is now readily accessible for Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council.
Leave ArcMap and the web browser open.
Step 3: Create a web map

In this step, you will use ArcGIS Online to create a web map that shows the hospitals likely to be
affected by a Category 3 storm surge. Additionally, you want to share the resulting web map with
the general public.
a
If necessary, open a web browser and go to trainingservices.maps.arcgis.com, choose the

Using Your Course Account option, and sign in with your assigned credentials.
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Sharing results
illustrative purposes and may differ from what you see on-screen.
b
Click Map.
The first step in creating a web map is to choose a basemap. ArcGIS Online chooses a default one
for you, but you can change it if you want.
To see a gallery of basemaps, click the Basemap button.
c
Either keep the existing basemap, or choose a different one.
In the search window (labeled as Find Address or Place), type Lee County, Florida, and from
the list of possible matches, choose the option that matches Lee County, Florida.
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LESSON 8
Close the pop-up window that indicates the location that was found.
You must import the layer you created when you intersected Lee County with the Category 3
storm surge polygons. You also must add the hospitals in Lee County.
f
Click the Add button, and then choose Add Layer from File.
Read the information in the Add Layer from File dialog box and answer the following question.
1. Which kinds of data files can you import when creating a web map in ArcGIS Online?
______________________________________________________________________________
You will add zipped shapefiles that contain the hospitals in Lee County and the Category 3 storm
surge polygon that you intersected with Lee County.
h
Minimize the ArcGIS Online window and maximize ArcMap.
In the ArcMap table of contents, right-click the Category 3 Storm Surge layer, point to Data,
and choose Export Data.
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Sharing results
In the Export Data dialog box, set the following parameters:
Choose to export all features using the same coordinate system as the layer's source
data.
For Output Feature Class, click the Browse button
.
k
In the Saving Data dialog box, set the following paremeters:
For Look In, browse to the C:\Student\ARC1\OnlineFiles folder.

For Save as Type, choose Shapefile.
Name the file Category3.shp.
Click Save.
On the Export Data dialog box, click OK, and then when prompted to add the data to the
map, choose No.
You are not required to add this data to the map. You only must create the shapefile so you can
zip it and upload it to ArcGIS Online.
m
Open Windows Explorer and browse to C:\Student\ARC1\OnlineFiles.
Notice the Category3 files.

Remember, shapefiles display as a single file in the Catalog window, but when viewed in Windows
Explorer or another file management system, they display as a collection of files. Each file is
distinguished by its file extension.
n
Click the first Category3 file, hold down the Shift key, and click the last Category3 file.
All of the Category3 files should now be selected. Now, you will zip these files.
o
Right-click the group of selected Category3 files and choose 7-Zip > Add to Archive.
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LESSON 8
In the Add to Archive dialog box, set the following parameters:
For Archive Format, choose zip.

For Archive, highlight the default name and type LeeCategory3.zip.
LeeCategory3.zip will be the name of the zipped file you create that you will then upload to
ArcGIS Online.
Accept all other defaults, and click OK.
Before you upload this zipped shapefile, you will create another that includes only the hospitals in
Lee County.
r
In ArcMap, open the attribute table for the Hospitals layer, and then (if necessary) sort the
COUNTY field in Ascending order.
Hint: Right-click COUNTY and choose Sort Ascending.
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Sharing results
Select only the hospitals that are in Lee County.

Hint: Hold the Shift key down on your keyboard while you click the gray square at the far left
of the first row, and then click the gray square at the far left of the last row for which
Lee is the COUNTY value.
All the rows in between the rows you selected should now be selected because you held down
the Shift key.
2. Which selection tool could you have used to make this selection?
______________________________________________________________________________
t
Now that you have made your selection, close the Table window, and then right-click Hospitals
and choose Data > Export Data to open the Export Data dialog box.
Make sure that Export is set to Selected Features.

For Use the Same Coordinate System As, choose This Layer's Source Data.
Click the Browse button
.
u
In the Saving Data dialog box, save the data in the C:\Student\ARC1\OnlineFiles folder as a
shapefile named LeeHospitals.shp.
In the Export Data dialog box, click OK, and then when prompted to add this layer to the
map, choose No.
8-29
LESSON 8
Using the same process you followed to create the zip file for the Category3 shapefile, create
a zipped shapefile for LeeHospitals.
After you have both the LeeHospitals and the Category3 files zipped, you can add them to your
web map.
x
Minimize ArcMap and maximize ArcGIS Online, and then in the Add Layer from File window,
click Browse.
In the File Upload dialog box, browse to the C:\Student\ARC1\OnlineFiles folder, click the
LeeCategory3.zip file you created, and then click Open.
In the Add Layer from File dialog box, click Import Layer to accept the default to Generalize
Features for Web Display.
The zipped shapefile is added to the map.

aa
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If necessary, click the Contents of Map button.
Sharing results
ab
Click the drop-down arrow next to the LeeCategory3 layer and choose Zoom To.
ac
Repeat this process to add the other shapefile.
8-31
LESSON 8
ad
Zoom in or out and pan as necessary to see all five of the Lee County hospitals.
Step 4: Customize map symbology and save the map

Next, you will modify the symbology of your layers to refine the map.
a
Click the drop-down arrow next to the LeeCategory3 layer and choose Change Symbols.
Next to Use, choose Unique Symbols from the drop-down list.
In the To Show list, choose the Category field.
For Colors, select any color scheme that looks good.
Click Apply to use the modified symbology.
Click Done Changing Symbols.
Click the drop-down arrow for LeeHospitals, and choose Change Symbols.
Click the drop-down arrow next to Options, and choose Change Symbol.
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Sharing results
In the Change Symbol dialog box, click the drop-down arrow next to Basic, and choose the
Safety Health group.
Click the hospital symbol as indicated in the following graphic, and increase its size to 30 px.
Click Apply, and then click Done to close the Change Symbol dialog box.
Click Done Changing Symbols.
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LESSON 8
Now that your map is configured, you will save it.

m
Click the Save button, and then click Save As.
For Title, type Lee County Hospitals at Risk <+ first name and last initial>.
Enter the following tags: ARC1, Esri Training Services, Lee County, Florida, hospitals,
storm surge, hurricane.
For Summary, type Lee County hospitals at risk from a category 3 storm surge.
Because you are sharing this web map to everyone in the ArcGIS Online
community, you must ensure that the title has your first name and last initial
appended to it. Otherwise, you will find it difficult to determine that the map
belongs to you.
Click Save Map.
You now have a web map that shows the hospitals in Lee County and their proximity to a
Category 3 storm surge inundation. You could now share this map with the general public as it is,
or you could create a web mapping application.
Step 5: Create a web mapping application

a
8-34
With the Lee County Hospitals at Risk map open, above the map, click Share.
Sharing results
In the Share dialog box, check the boxes for Everyone and for the assigned group (which will
automatically check Esri Training Services and Members of These Groups).
A web mapping application (web app) always contains a web map as the map content. Therefore,
whatever audience you want to share the web app with will require that the embedded web map
is shared with the same (or higher) level of permissions. In other words, if you share a web app
publicly, the embedded web map must also be shared publicly.
Your organization may restrict members from sharing items outside the organization. If this
is the case, users and publishers will not see the option to share content or groups with
Everyone (public). Administrators, however, can choose to share any item in the
organization publicly.
c
Click Make a Web Application.
Clicking Make a Web Application opens a window that displays the web mapping application
templates available through ArcGIS Online. Some of the templates can be configured to further
customize their look and feel.
You want to create an application that allows others to easily view the map on a mobile device.
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LESSON 8
Find the Simple Map Viewer template.
Hint: You may need to check the additional pages of templates.
Pause your pointer over the template thumbnail.
3. What does the Simple Map Viewer template do?

______________________________________________________________________________
4. Is the Simple Map Viewer template configurable?
______________________________________________________________________________
f
Below the thumbnail for the Simple Map Viewer template, click Publish > Publish.
In the Share dialog box, verify that it has accurate information (title, tags, summary), and then
click Save and Publish.
By default, your web application title will be the same as the web map you saved
previously. However, because they are different types of content in ArcGIS Online, that is
allowed.
Click Done in the lower-right area of the web application.

If your browser window is not maximized, you may need to scroll down to see this button.
In the Item Details page, click Edit.
In Edit mode, you can modify the metadata associated with your web mapping application
template by adding or updating the title, summary, description, access and use constraints, and
other properties as necessary.
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Sharing results
Type a description.
In the Access and Use Constraints, copy and paste the text from the C:\Student\ARC1\
OnlineFiles\AccessUseConstraints.txt file.
Finally, you will update the credits.

l
Scroll down, and below Properties, locate the Credits field.
For Credits, type Esri.
After the metadata is complete, click Save to commit your changes and return to the Item
Details page.
Next, you will investigate how you could configure this application before sharing it with the
intended audience.
o
Click Configure App.
A separate window opens, displaying the map with a legend, search tool, and your embedded
web map.
This web mapping application template allows you to make your web map readily available to
anyone with a mobile device. After it is applied, the template will actively adjust the map's layout
8-37
LESSON 8
to the device on which it is viewed, scaling itself and adjusting how elements of the interface
display. Notice that the panel that allows you to configure the application.
5. Which elements can be configured for this template (Simple Map Viewer)?
______________________________________________________________________________
p
When finished, click the Save button and then Done.
Now that you have the metadata and the application set properly, click Share.
Just as you did with the web map on which this application is based, choose to share with
Everyone, as well as the assigned class group.
In the Share dialog box, click OK.
This web mapping application is now available for the general public to access.
t
If you do not intend to perform the optional step, close the web browser and exit ArcMap
without saving any changes.
Step 6: (Optional) Access the web mapping application on a mobile device

If you have a mobile device, you can search for the web application you created previously.
Using your mobile device, open a web browser and go to trainingservices.maps.arcgis.com.
If this page will not load in your web browser, click the link to view the Full Site in your web
browser.
b
In the upper-right area of the page, click the search icon, and from the drop-down list, click
Search for Apps.
Type the title of your web app, and press Enter.
After the result appears, click the Open link associated with the web app item.
The web application will open. If for some reason it does not, try an alternate web browser.
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Sharing results
Experiment with the web mapping application by navigating around it and clicking on any of
the hospitals or storm surge zones.
When finished, close the web browser on your mobile device.
On your computer, close the web browser and exit ArcMap without saving any changes.
8-39
LESSON 8
Lesson review
1. A colleague at another organization has asked you to share a dataset you produced during
one of your recent analyses. You have clearance to share the data, but she needs to have it
display in her map just as it did in yours. Which of the following options will allow you to
send her this single dataset with the symbology preserved?
a. Layer package
b. LYR file
c. Zipped shapefile
d. Map package
2. You have created an ecological map of the United States as a part of your thesis. You would
like to share the map over the Internet, but you do not have permission to provide copies
of the data. Which of the following options will allow you to easily and efficiently share the
map with the general public?
a. Layer package
b. Map package
c. Web map
d. Map document
3. You must share a sensitive map document with another department that does not have
access to the server that it is stored on. You cannot write to their server, and the file and
data are too large to email. Which option allows you to quickly and easily provide them
with the map document and its supporting data?
a. Upload the map document (.mxd file) to ArcGIS Online, which automatically uploads the
data along with it.
b. Create a map package and upload it to ArcGIS Online, sharing it only with your
organization.
c. Create a separate layer package for each of the files so they can rebuild the map
document.
d. Zip the map document and email that.
8-40
Sharing results

Exercise 8: Share hurricane analysis results (page 8-7)
1. Which kinds of data files can you import when creating a web map in ArcGIS Online?
You can import CSV files, shapefiles, and GPX files.
2. Which selection tool could you have used to make this selection?
You could also have used the Select By Attributes tool to make this selection.
3. What does the Simple Map Viewer template do?
This template displays a web map and adapts its layout to the viewing environment
(such as desktop, smartphone, or tablet).
4. Is the Simple Map Viewer template configurable?
Yes.
5. Which elements can be configured for this template (Simple Map Viewer)?
The search tool can be removed, and the web map can be changed to something else.
8-41
Esri data license agreement

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A-1
Appendix A
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A-2
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A-3
Suitable projections
Suitable projections
Table 1: Projections suitable for world maps
Property
Projection
Conformal (maintain shape)
Mercator
Hotine Oblique Mercator
Equal area (maintain area)
Mollweide
Goode's Homolosine
Eckert IV & VI
Equidistant (maintain distance)
Azimuthal Equidistant
Equidistant Cylindrical
Straight lines of direction
Mercator
Compromise
Winkel Tripel
Miller Cylindrical
Robinson
B-1
Appendix B
Table 2: Projections suitable for a

hemisphere
Property
Projection
Conformal
Stereographic
Equal area
Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area
Equidistant
Azimuthal Equidistant
Compromise
Vertical Perspective
Table 3: Projections suitable for a country, city, or smaller area

Area of interest
Directional extent
Property
Projection
Near equator
East-west
Conformal
Equal area
Mercator
Cylindrical Equal Area
Conformal
Equal area
Lambert Conformal
Mid-latitudes or polar
regions
Oriented along a meridian
North-south
Conformal
Equal area
Transverse Mercator
Cylindrical Equal Area
Anywhere
Oblique
Conformal
Equal area
Hotine Oblique
Similar in all
directions
Conformal
Equal area
Stereographic
Lambert Azimuthal
Any directional
extent
Equidistant
Compromise
Equidistant Conic
Vertical Perspective
Table 8.4
B-2
Conic
Albers
Mercator
Lambert Azimuthal
Course roadmap
Course roadmap
This course is one of the foundational courses for a wide variety of Esri course offerings. The path
you take after having completed the foundational courses depends on the role you play within
your organization and the tasks you perform most frequently.
The courses listed are just a fraction of the total number of courses offered by Esri. For more
information about Esri Training, visit www.esri.com/training.
C-1
Answers to lesson review questions
Answers to lesson review questions

Lesson 1: The ArcGIS platform (page 1-8)
1. ArcGIS is a comprehensive platform that enables everyone to work with and apply
a. True
2. ArcGIS Online is a website that can be used by anyone interested in finding, using, sharing,
or creating rich, interactive, intelligent maps.
3. Which ArcGIS platform component is designed to allow GIS professionals to author and
publish maps?
4. Which ArcGIS platform component is designed to allow GIS professionals and anyone to
share GIS resources over the web?
c. ArcGIS Online
5. Which ArcGIS platform component is designed to be used by anyone who wants to
connect to and work with ArcGIS using devices such as the iPhone, Android, Windows
smartphones, tablets, and so on?
b. Applications
D-1
Appendix D
Lesson 2: The basics of GIS (page 2-22)

1. Based on your current understanding, how would you define GIS?
A GIS integrates five key components (people, hardware, software, data, and
workflows) as a system used to manage, process, and display spatial and attribute
information for features and phenomenon in the physical world. The combined spatial
and attribute data is called geographic information.
2. During this lesson, five basic reasons to use GIS were discussed. Which of those five
reasons best matches how you will be using GIS? Provide an example to support your
selection.
The reasons to use a GIS are nearly as infinite as the features and phenomenon you
can map, although the questions you are asking or problems you are trying to solve
can generally be sorted into common categories. For example, you may be interested
in mapping where things are, such as customer addresses, newly opened franchise
locations, polar bear sightings, or streetlights throughout the city. Or perhaps you
want to create maps that show where there are more of a particular feature or
phenomenon or where the concentration is greatest. You might also map the
relationship between features to show which features are nearest to, within, outside,
or adjacent to other features.
D-2
Lesson 3: Understanding GIS data
Lesson 3: Understanding GIS data (page 3-38)

1. Vector data models real-world features as points, lines, and polygons.
2. The raster data model represents the surface of the earth as a grid of equally sized cells.
3. Both vector and raster data can be stored in a geodatabase.
a. True
4. You open a table and see that it has no Shape field. What does this indicate?
A table without a Shape field indicates that it is a stand-alone table. If the table
contains spatial data, you may be able to convert the table to a feature class or
shapefile, which can be drawn on a map.
5. Information that describes data in ArcGIS is called metadata.
6. How can you determine the use constraints for an item on ArcGIS Online?
b. Open the item's Details page.
7. Your organization requires a dataset of Australia's historic earthquakes that they can use in
ArcGIS for Desktop. When searching ArcGIS Online for "Australian earthquakes," which of
the following content would satisfy your organization's requirements?
d. Layer packages
D-3
Appendix D
Lesson 4: The importance of coordinate systems (page 4-37)

1. Some coordinate systems preserve all four properties, while others distort one or more.
b. False
2. Coordinate systems that are based on a 3D spherical model of the earth are called
geographic coordinate systems. The values in this type of coordinate system are usually
latitude and longitude.
3. You open a map document to find that the layers do not line up properly. What might this
indicate?
One of the reasons that the layers in your map do not line up properly may be that
they have different GCSs. As each layer is added, ArcMap will check to see whether its
geographic coordinate system matches the rest of the data in the data frame. If it
does not, ArcMap will prompt you to select an appropriate geographic
transformation. Failing to apply an appropriate transformation will cause the data to
be misaligned.
4. Projected coordinate systems are based on a flat 2D surface. The units for these coordinate
systems are generally feet or meters.
5. You are creating a map that will be used to show population per square kilometer. Which
spatial property should your map projection preserve?
b. Area
6. If you were mapping a flight from Toronto, Canada to Barrow, Alaska, which type of
projection could you use to determine how far the plane would need to fly?
You could use an equidistant projection, as this would accurately measure distance
from one or two points to any other point.
D-4
Lesson 5: Acquiring and selecting GIS data
Lesson 5: Acquiring and selecting GIS data (page 5-28)

1. This lesson introduced eight important considerations when evaluating data. List all eight.
Format, spatial reference, source, metadata, attributes, currency, scale, and use
constraints.
2. When evaluating data for a project, which of the following considerations allows you to
determine if the data can be redistributed?
b. The use constraints
3. Which of the following methods can you use to get existing data into a geodatabase?
d. All of the above.
D-5
Appendix D
Lesson 6: Interacting with a map (page 6-51)

1. List aspects of a map that can affect someone's ability to interpret it properly.
The symbols in a map should be intuitive and follow standard conventions for map
making (for example, water should be blue). By default, ArcMap assigns a random
color and a standard symbol to each layer you add to map. When symbols more
closely match the features they represent, it is instantly easier to decipher the
message of the map. Adding elements to your map, such as a legend and a title, can
also help convey the map's message.
2. Using the zoom tools in a map changes which of the following?
d. All of the above
3. Viewing a dataset's changes over time requires that the dataset be time-enabled.
a. True
D-6
Lesson 7: Performing spatial analysis
Lesson 7: Performing spatial analysis (page 7-37)

1. List the steps of the geographic approach.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Ask a geographic question.

Acquire geographic data.
Examine geographic data.
Analyze geographic information.
Act on geographic knowledge.
2. You are creating a city map for delivery drivers, but the streets data you have covers the
entire county. Which tool would allow you to reduce the number of streets features based
on an extent of the city boundary?
b. Clip
3. Geoprocessing tools generally perform an operation on geographic data and often return
an output dataset.
a. True
4. You are looking for places within a mile of a river that are suitable habitats for multiple
species. Which Overlay tool could you use to combine features from multiple layers to
output only those habitats located within the one-mile buffer zone?
c. Intersect
5. A tanker truck has crashed on the highway, releasing a cloud of hazardous fumes. You must
quickly create a map that identifies the affected area, a polygon that surrounds the crash
site by five miles in all directions. Which Proximity tool could you use to accomplish this
task?
a. Buffer
D-7
Appendix D
Lesson 8: Sharing results (page 8-40)

1. A colleague at another organization has asked you to share a dataset you produced during
one of your recent analyses. You have clearance to share the data, but she needs to have it
display in her map just as it did in yours. Which of the following options will allow you to
send her this single dataset with the symbology preserved?
a. Layer package
2. You have created an ecological map of the United States as a part of your thesis. You would
like to share the map over the Internet, but you do not have permission to provide copies
of the data. Which of the following options will allow you to easily and efficiently share the
map with the general public?
c. Web map
3. You must share a sensitive map document with another department that does not have
access to the server that it is stored on. You cannot write to their server, and the file and
data are too large to email. Which option allows you to quickly and easily provide them
with the map document and its supporting data?
b. Create a map package and upload it to ArcGIS Online, sharing it only with your
organization.
D-8

ARC1 3.0 Jan15 StudentWorkbook

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ArcGIS 1: Introduction to GIS

Copyright 2015 Esri

US Government Restricted/Limited Rights

The ArcGIS platform

The basics of GIS

Understanding GIS data

View an item description ........................................................................................................... 3-17

The importance of coordinate systems

Acquiring and selecting GIS data

Examine the data you have........................................................................................................ 5-16

Interacting with a map

Performing spatial analysis

Create and share a GIS map.

Installing the course data

: Some courses use sample scripts or

Icons used in this workbook

Tips provide brief help for performing a task or clarifying concepts.

External resources provide optional, special-interest information

Best practices offer industry or professional guidelines, help set goals

Estimated times provide guidance on approximately how many

Warnings alert you to potential problems or to actions that should be

Understanding the ArcGIS Platform

ArcGIS for Desktop

The ArcGIS platform

The ArcGIS platform

Explain how the components of the ArcGIS platform work

The ArcGIS platform

The ArcGIS platform

The five patterns of GIS

Field data collection

The ArcGIS platform

Getting to know the ArcGIS platform

ArcGIS is a platform that runs everywhere: on professional desktops,

ArcGIS for Mobile. These components allow ArcGIS to be accessed

Software used by GIS professionals to compile, use, and

Software used by GIS professionals to share resources

Website used by GIS professionals and anyone interested

Software used by anyone who wants to connect to and

Throughout this course, you will get hands-on exposure to many

The ArcGIS platform

Components used in this course

for Desktop and ArcGIS

The basics of GIS

Mobile are not used in the

Understanding GIS data

The basics of GIS

The basics of GIS

Explain what a GIS is.

What is "geographic information"?

A GIS integrates spatial and attribute information, storing

The basics of GIS

What are "systems"?

The geographic approach

Develop geographic questions that need to be

Obtain the geographic data required to answer your

Create a map of your geographic area and symbolize

Determine a problem-solving approach and perform

Develop your message and intended audience; create

The basics of GIS

What can you do with GIS?

Record ways you might use locational maps in your work.

Record ways you might use quantitative maps in your work.

The basics of GIS

Find what is inside