ESRI ArcGIS
West Hills College
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Course Introduction
• You benefit from GIS software every day
– Regular delivery of your morning newspaper
– Synchronization of traffic lights
– Convenient location of your favorite park
• All over the world, organizations are
using GIS to
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Manage the environment
Work more efficiently
Provide better customer service
Save money
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Course Introduction
• This course introduces the fundamental concepts
of GIS and the major functionality contained in
ArcGIS® Desktop software.
• In the interactive course exercises, you will work
with a variety of ArcGIS tools as you learn how to
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create maps
find information
create and edit geographic data
solve a variety of geographic problems
• By the end of this course, you should feel
comfortable working with ArcGIS Desktop
software on your own
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Learning Objectives
• Explore a GIS map and get information about
map features
• Preview geographic data and metadata
• Add data to a map
• Describe the structure of a GIS map
• Explain how a GIS represents real-world objects
• Change the way features are drawn on a map
• Access feature information in different ways
• Describe spatial relationships of map features
• Describe how GIS can be used to solve problems
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ArcGIS
• In a GIS, data about real-world objects is linked to an
onscreen map.
• Geographic features are drawn quickly and can be
displayed using different information in the database.
• ArcGIS® is the name of the family of ESRI's software
solution programs.
• While the depth of functionality in ArcGIS is tremendous,
as you'll see, it takes a friendly approach to GIS with
easy-to-use tools that help you through the most
complicated of tasks.
• This module provides an overview of basic GIS concepts
and standard ArcGIS functions, while remaining modules
provide more in-depth information.
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Exploring a GIS Map
• What's the difference between a GIS map and a static
paper or electronic map?
– GIS maps are dynamic.
• While you can look at a static map and see where
features are located and even measure approximate
distances between them, you can't do much more than
that.
• With a GIS map, however, you are in charge.
– You can zoom in and out to see different areas with more
or less detail
– You can decide what features you want to see and how
they are symbolized
– Most importantly, you can access a database of
information about all the features shown on the map
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Exploring ArcGIS Desktop
• ArcGIS Desktop is a
scalable product
that includes three
license levels
– ArcView®
– ArcEditor™
– ArcInfo®
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Exploring ArcGIS Desktop
• All three software products look and work the
same
– They differ only in how much they can do.
• ArcEditor does more than ArcView, and
ArcInfo does more than ArcEditor.
• This course teaches ArcView, but
– everything you learn applies to all three products
– and you can complete all course exercises using
any of the three.
• All ArcGIS Desktop products can share the
same map documents and data.
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Exploring ArcGIS Desktop
• Each ArcGIS Desktop product includes two
applications: ArcMap and ArcCatalog™.
• ArcMap
– The application you work with to explore and analyze
data and make maps
• ArcCatalog
– The application you work with to manage data
• ArcToolbox™
– An integrated application that contains many tools
for GIS tasks.
• You can access ArcToolbox from both ArcMap
and ArcCatalog.
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Excercise
• Plan a Trip to San Diego
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How is a GIS Map Organized?
• A GIS map consists of one or more
data frames
• A data frame contains a collection of
thematic layers.
• Layers, in turn, contain a collection of
features that represent real-world
objects.
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How is a GIS Map Organized?
• On a GIS map, features have a
location, shape, and a symbol.
• Features grouped into a layer have the
same shape and characteristics and
are located within the same
geographic extent.
• To make a GIS map, you can add as
many layers as you want.
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How is a GIS Map Organized?
• These four layers might be
used by a city government
to create a GIS map.
• The layers all contain
features located within the
city's boundaries, but each
one represents a distinct
"theme."
• The layers are drawn on top
of each other to create an
informative GIS map.
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Representing the Real World
• In the real world, geographic objects
have a wide variety of shapes.
• In a GIS map, geographic objects are
primarily represented as point, line,
and polygon features.
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Representing the Real World
• In this map of South America
– Countries are represented as
polygons
– Rivers are represented as lines
– Cities are points
• Each feature shape has its own
unique set of characteristics.
– The geometry type used to
represent an object depends on
the amount of detail that needs to
be shown
– The same object may be
represented as a polygon in one
layer and a point in another layer.
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Points
• Composed of one coordinate pair
representing a specific location on the
earth's surface.
• Used for objects too small to be
polygons, such as cities, trees, and
hospitals.
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Lines
• A sequence of two or more coordinate
pairs.
• Has length, while polygons have two
intrinsic values, perimeter and area.
• Represent objects too narrow to be
polygons, such as streets, rivers, and
telephone lines.
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Polygons
• Composed of one or more lines whose
starting and ending coordinate pairs are the
same.
• Have two intrinsic values
– Perimeter
– Area
• Represent objects large enough to have
boundaries, such as
– Countries
– Building footprints
– Lakes
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Linking Features to Information
• On a GIS map, there's more to a feature
than its location and shape.
– There's all the information associated with
that feature.
• For a road, this might include its name,
speed limit, and whether it's one-way or
two-way.
• For a city, this might include its
population, demographic characteristics,
number of schools, and average monthly
temperatures.
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Linking Features to Information
• A particular type, or category, of information
associated with a feature in a GIS is called an
attribute.
– For example, population can be an attribute of a
city, country, continent, and other features.
• Feature attributes are stored in an attribute
table.
• In an attribute table, each feature is a record
(row) and each attribute is a column, or field.
• The attributes for all the features in a layer
are stored in the same attribute table.
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Linking Features to Information
• This attribute table for
a layer of cities stores
each feature's
ID number
Shape
Name
Country in which it's
located
– Status
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Linking Feature to Information
• A feature on a GIS map is linked to its
record in the attribute table by a
unique numerical identifier (ID).
• Every feature in a layer has an
identifier.
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Linking Feature to Information
• Because features on the map are
linked to their records in the table
– you can click a feature on the map and
see the attributes stored for it in the
table.
• When you select a record in the table,
the linked feature on the map is
automatically selected as well.
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Linking Feature to Information
• In this map of India,
the city of Bombay
is selected.
• Its record is also
selected in the
attribute table.
• The unique
identifier for
Bombay is stored in
the FID field.
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Linking Feature to Information
• Links between features and attributes
make it possible to ask questions
about the information stored in an
attribute table and display the answer
on the map.
• This linkage makes GIS maps much
more informative than static maps.
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Understanding Map Scale
• Scale is the relationship between the size of
features on a map and the size of the
corresponding objects in the real world.
• Scale is commonly expressed as a ratio, or
representative fraction, such as 1:24,000.
• This scale means one unit on the map is
equal to 24,000 units on the earth.
• Another way of thinking about it is that the
objects on the earth are 24,000 times larger
than the features on the map which represent
them.
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Understanding Map Scale
• You will commonly see references to two
types of maps:
– Large-scale
• Covers a small area in more detail
• i.e. a map of city streets or a building plan
– Small-scale
• Covers a large area in less detail
• i.e a world map,.
• GIS maps are dynamic—you can change
the scale to see more or less detail as
desired.
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Understanding Map Scale
• Map on the left
– Large scale
– A small area of the
earth's surface (the
city of San Diego,
California)
– Features such as roads
are visible.
• Map on the right
– Small scale
– Bigger area of the
earth's surface (the
continental U.S.)
– But with less detail
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ArcMap
• Use ArcMap to
– explore and edit geographic data
– perform analysis
– create professional-quality maps, graphs,
and reports
• When you work in ArcMap, you work
with a map document file, which has
the .mxd file extension.
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ArcMap
• ArcMap interface consists of
– Table of contents
– The map display area
– A number of toolbars and
menus for working with the
map and its data.
• The order of layers within
the table of contents is
important;
– the layers at the top of the
table of contents draw on top
of the layers below them.
– Therefore, you should put
the layers that form the
background of your map,
such as the ocean, at the
bottom of the table of
contents.
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ArcMap
• There are two views for working with data
– data view
– layout view.
• In data view, you
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explore
edit
query
analyze
symbolize data.
• In data view, you can view only one data
frame at a time.
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ArcMap
• Layout view
– arrange data frames
– add other map elements
• scale bars
• titles
• legends
• Create a map layout that
can be published in
print or digital form.
• In layout view, you can
view multiple data
frames.
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ArcCatalog
• Designed for browsing, managing, and
documenting geographic data.
• A window into your GIS database.
• From ArcCatalog you can access data
stored on your computer's hard drives,
local networks, and even the Internet.
• To access data, you create a connection
to its location
– Collectively, the connections you create are
called the Catalog.
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ArcCatalog
• The ArcCatalog
interface consists of
– Catalog tree on the
left and
– Preview pane on the
right.
• You use the Catalog
tree to navigate and
browse data.
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ArcCatalog
• Preview pane view
– Contents of a folder
– Geography (feature
shapes)
– Attributes stored
with individual
datasets
– Metadata
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Arc Catalog
• ArcCatalog and ArcMap work together.
– You can find and preview data in
ArcCatalog
– Then drag and drop the data into ArcMap
to work with it.
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ArcToolbox
• Provides an organized collection
of tools used for
– GIS analysis
– Data management
– Data conversion
• Accessible from both ArcMap
and ArcCatalog.
• The number of tools you have
depends on your ArcGIS license:
– ArcView supports a core set of GIS
tools
– ArcEditor adds more
– ArcInfo provides the most
comprehensive set of tools
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Metadata
• “Data about data”
• Information that
describes, or
documents, a
geographic dataset
• Real world example
of unofficial
metadata
– Can be found almost
everywhere
– Handwriting on the
back of a photograph
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Metadata
• Standardized metadata
– Type of metadata used to describe data
used in a GIS
– Official
• Government organizations create rules
for standardizing metadata
– Federal Geographic Data Committee
• Organization for U.S.
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Metadata
• GIS metadata typically includes
– information about why the data was
collected (its purpose)
– what geographic area the data covers (its
geographic extent)
– who collected the data
– when the data was collected
– what processes were performed on the data
– who should be contacted for more details
about the data
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Metadata
• You create and edit metadata in
ArcCatalog.
• ArcCatalog automatically derives and
documents some data properties, such
as the geographic extent.
• Other properties, such as when and
how the data was collected, must be
documented by the data creator.
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Metadata
• ArcCatalog provides different style
sheets for viewing metadata.
• The FGDC ESRI style sheet consists of
three tabs:
– Description
– Spatial
– Attributes
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Description Tab
• Displays
– Thumbnail graphic
of the data
– Keywords
– Abstract
– Purpose statement
• (not shown here).
– Publication
information
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Spatial Tab
• Displays the coordinates
that define the data's
geographic extent.
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Attributes Tab
• Where you find
information about each
attribute stored with a
dataset.
• Clicking an attribute
name displays specific
information about that
attribute
– such as its definition and
data type
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Metadata
• Members of the GIS community like to share
data and methods.
• Metadata is critical for sharing data—people
who are thinking about using a dataset for a
project first view its metadata in order to
determine whether the dataset is appropriate
for the project.
• If a dataset lacks metadata, it may be used
inappropriately—and any analysis results or
measurements made with the data may be
inaccurate.
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ArcGIS Desktop Help
• Provides comprehensive explanations of
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Procedures
Tools
Buttons
Commands
• Access it from multiple locations within
ArcMap and ArcCatalog
• Context-sensitive Help
– Click a tool or button and get information
about it right there
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ArcGIS Desktop Help
• Four tabs that provide different ways
of accessing information
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Exercise
• Calculate Tornado Damage
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Using GIS to Solve Problems
• Solving problems relies on good decision making.
– Good decision making relies on accurate information.
– In the real world, people make decisions, not
computers.
– Computers help people make decisions by providing
useful and accurate information.
• A GIS is a computer-based tool that helps us
visualize information and see patterns and
relationships that aren't otherwise apparent.
• The ability to ask complex questions about data
and analyze many features at once, then instantly
see the results on a map makes GIS a powerful
tool for creating information.
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GIS: A Tool to Solve Everyday Problems
• Your alarm goes off at 6:00 a.m. You get up and
turn on the lights.
– Electric utility companies use GIS to manage their
complex infrastructure, which consists of
transmission and distribution lines and utility poles.
• You make a pot of coffee.
– The water the coffee is made with is provided by a
water utility company.
– The utility uses GIS for customer service, emergency
response, water distribution, infrastructure
maintenance, automated mapping, network tracing,
flow analysis, and other aspects of engineering,
operations, administration, and finance.
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GIS: A Tool to Solve Everyday Problems
• You stop at the gas station on your way to work.
– Oil companies use GIS for exploration, operation and
maintenance, production, land lease management,
and data management.
– Before the oil becomes gasoline, pipelines move it
from the oil fields to the processing plant.
– The pipeline industry uses GIS for route planning and
construction, operations, and supply market analysis.
• You drive to work.
– The community uses GIS for managing its
transportation infrastructure.
– More than 80 percent of the information used to
manage road, rail, and port facilities has a
geographic component.
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GIS: A Tool to Solve Everyday Problems
• It's the day before a holiday weekend. You
leave at noon and go to the beach.
– GIS is used to help manage coastal resources,
including shoreline, aquatic, and terrestrial
habitats and biological resources, and the
distribution of threatened and endangered
species.
• You enjoy a picnic lunch.
– A GIS can produce maps that show farmers how
to treat a given field, allowing for precise
applications of fertilizer that produce optimal
crop yields while protecting the environment.
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GIS: A Tool to Solve Everyday Problems
• On the way home, you stop at a video store.
– The store is at that particular location because GIS helped
define the right store mix for the location's potential
customers.
– GIS integrates strategic sales volume models and
demographic data to help businesses find suitable sites.
• When you leave the video store, your car is still in the
parking lot, right where you left it.
– GIS is being used to reduce crime.
– The vast majority of information used in law enforcement
is map-based. Incidents can be displayed by beat,
reporting district, or zone and law enforcement resources
can be deployed in the areas where they're needed most.
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GIS: A Tool to Solve Everyday Problems
• After a long day, you arrive home safe
and sound. GIS has been there nearly
every step of the way, helping make
life more comfortable and safe.
• Remember that GIS stands for
geographic information system.
• It's geography that makes GIS such a
useful tool for solving problems.
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Using Location to Get Information
• All features can be related to other features
based on their locations.
• Spatial relationships
– Relationships based on location
• Spatial relationships provide a basis for making
decisions and solving many problems.
• Getting answers to questions that are based on
spatial relationships is the reason people use a
GIS.
• Because a GIS stores feature coordinate locations,
it can quickly find and select features that meet
some spatial criteria.
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Spatial Relationships
• A GIS answers questions based on spatial
relationships by selecting features on the
map.
– The map allows people to visualize information
at a glance and detect patterns that aren't
obvious in a written report or on a graph.
• There are four basic types of spatial
relationships
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Distance
Containment
Intersection
Adjacency.
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Distance
• Points within a
given distance of
the red point are
selected.
• Which cities are
located within 25
kilometers of a
river?
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Containment
• Points contained by
the red polygon are
selected.
• Which countries
contain a lake
completely within
their borders?
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Intersection
• Lines that intersect
the red line are
selected.
• Which countries
have a river that
intersects their
border?
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Adjacency
• Polygons adjacent
to the red polygon
are selected.
• Which countries
share a border with
Russia?
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Using Location to Get Information
• Questions that can be answered using
feature spatial relationships are:
– How many houses are less than 1 mile
from the airport?
– Which parcels are contained by the
contamination plume?
– Which bridges intersect the fault line?
– Which land uses are adjacent to the
proposed subdivision?
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A GIS performs 6 fundamental
operations
• Capture data
– Add data from many sources to a GIS
– Or create your own data from scratch
• Store data
– Can store and manage information about the
real world in ways that make sense for your
application
• Query data
– Ask complex questions about features based
on their attributes or their location and get
quick results
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A GIS performs 6 fundamental
operations
• Analyze data
– Integrate multiple datasets to find features
that meet specific criteria and create
information useful for problem solving.
• Display data
– Display features based on their attributes
• Present data
– Create and distribute high-quality maps,
graphs, and reports to present your analysis
results in a compelling way to your audience.
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Geographic Inquiry Process
• Provides necessary framework for
solving problems with GIS
• Consists of five steps
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Geographic Inquiry Process
• Process can be
iterative
– Depending on the
type of problem
• Last step of the
process
– Leads to more
geographic
questions
– The whole process
begins again
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Exercise
• Find potential sites for a youth center
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Key Points to Remember
• A GIS organizes and stores information about the world
as a collection of thematic layers.
– Each layer contains features with the same shape and
attributes, all located within a common geographic area.
• Each feature is assigned a unique numerical identifier
and is characterized by a unique location in space and a
corresponding record in a table.
• Features can be stored in a GIS as three primary shapes:
points, lines, or polygons.
• Features have spatial relationships with other features,
and with a GIS you can find features based on their
spatial relationships.
• The geographic inquiry process provides a framework
for solving problems with GIS.
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Review Questions
1. How is a GIS map different from a static
map?
2. What is one way you can get information
about a feature using ArcGIS Desktop
software?
3. What are the primary operations that a
GIS can perform that make it a useful
tool for solving problems?
4. What are the five steps in the
geographic inquiry process?
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Review Answers
1. The dynamic nature of a GIS map makes it different
from a static map. In a GIS, map features are linked to
a database of information. You can pan, zoom, get
information about features, control feature display,
and change how they're symbolized.
2. You can use the Identify tool to click a map feature and
see its attributes. You can also open the attribute table
to view a feature record.
3. A GIS can capture, store, query, analyze, display, and
present data.
4. The five steps in the geographic inquiry process are: 1)
ask a geographic question, 2) acquire geographic data,
3) explore geographic data, 4) analyze geographic
information, and 5) act on geographic knowledge.
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