Assessment 4 F23
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School
University of North Carolina, Charlotte *
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Course
141
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
12
Uploaded by DoctorSnowEchidna51
GEOG 141 – Assessment 4
Due dates: Come to class on Thursday, Nov 30
th
with your map complete and prepared to discuss your visualization. Your map and all of the questions in this worksheet are due in Canvas on Wednesday, Dec 6
th
at 5pm.
GIS and Spatial Data Visualization
Today you will learn how to explore spatial data using a Geographic Information System (GIS). A GIS is a powerful tool that can assist with spatial data analysis, management, visualization, and map making. You have already learned about key concepts to introduce you to GIS (
layers, vector, raster, symbology, cartography, scale
). Remember to reference the introductory slides if you need to refresh your memory on these concepts! We will explore spatial data attributes and visualization through the example of global fishing activities. By the end of this assessment, you should be able to save a Web Map you have created in ArcGIS Online and visualize spatial data. You should also be able to apply these skills to visualize spatial relationships between industrial fishing, national space, and marine protected area space in the oceans.
Part I: Getting familiar with GIS
1.
Go to https://www.arcgis.com/index.html
, and sign into your ArcGIS Online account (follow the steps of the pre-assignment if you forgot).
2.
At the top of your home-screen, click Map
. This automatically opens a new map document for you. 3.
In the map document, notice some important on the side bar. You can explore all of these on your own, but here are some important tabs for this assessment:
Add: will let you browse for layers to add to your map
Layers:
will show
which layers are currently in the map, and in what order
Basemap:
Esri has a repository of different basemap
layers for the entire globe.
Different ones are useful for different purposes. On your own, explore some of these to see what you can find on the map!
Save and open
: will allow you to save your map to return to it later.
●
Note: we will not use Tables, Charts, Bookmarks, Settings, or Print
for this assignment.
4.
Take some time to pan and zoom
around the map to orient yourself to the GIS (by clicking and dragging, scrolling in and out). Try changing the basemap by clicking on the Basemap
tab and selecting a different one. What do you notice about the different
basemaps?
5.
In the bottom right-hand corner, there is a wrench
icon. Click it to open the “
Map Tools
” menu, and select the Search
option. This functions similarly to Google maps, where you can search specific features or locations and it will bring the extent of the map to the feature. 6.
It’s good practice to save your map document often. Navigate to the top tab Save and open > Save As
.
●
Title the map: YOUR NAME - GEOG141 – Assessment 4
●
ArcOnline requires you to tag your map. Tag it GEOG141
●
In the summary box, you can write a description of the map. Write something like “Global fishing activity”
●
Save it in the folder that is <youronyen>_UNC
●
Click Save Map. Note: When you save a map, it saves it at the current scale and extent, so when you open it next time, it should be at the same location.
Part II: Spatial data layers and symbology
Next, we will use spatial data to explore industrial fishing over time. First, we will add fishing data to the map.
7.
Navigate to the tab: Add > Browse layers.
Click My Content
to drop down a menu of places to search from. Select ‘My organization’
, and search for “GEOG141”
. Press Enter to search. The results should return 3 layers. First, let’s explore global fishing effort.
8.
Click on the name of the July2020Fishing tile layer. A panel should open with a thumbnail preview of the layer and some information about it. Click Add to Map
button at the bottom of this panel. 8
7
●
This layer represents hours of fishing activity across the entire globe in the month of January 2020. Note that the hours have been log_10 transformed, so that a value of 1 = 10 hours, 2 = 100 hours of fishing, and 3 represents 1,000 hours of fishing. ●
The “Properties” tab for the layer will open on the right of the screen when you add it to
the map. Close it for now- we will come back to it later.
9.
After you take a few minutes to explore the January 2020 Global Fishing Effort data, Repeat steps
7 & 8 to add January2020Fishing to the map.
You’ll notice that there is overlap between the fishing patterns for the different months. There will not be a perfect way to see all of the information at once, but there are two options to change the display of the layers.
10.
Navigate to Layers
. Hover over the name of a layer, and an EYE icon should appear. Click the EYE icon next to each of the layers layers to turn them on and off. Another way to change the display is to click and drag them in the Layer
panel to change their order.
11.
Now add the third layer from the search results for “GEOG141,” called EEZs
. EEZ stands for Exclusive Economic Zones; these are zones where coastal nations have jurisdiction over natural resources. The EEZ layer is an example of a vector
data format. Question 1)
The layers showing global fishing effort for January and July 2020 are examples of raster
data. They represent a grid of cells with one value per cell. Comparing fishing effort during two different seasons can give us insights about human activity and the environment. Compare the global fishing efforts for each month. What patterns do you see? Does the spatial arrangement of effort seem random? How are the patterns different or similar?
When you added EEZs to the map, you might notice that it covers up pretty much everything underneath
it. So what can we do? 12.
Let’s change how the EEZs are visualized. Or, using GIS jargon: “Let’s change the symbology.” ●
From the Layers tab, click the three dots on the EEZ layer to open the menu. Choose Show Properties
.
●
In the menu, under the Symbology
tab, select “Edit layer style.” ●
In Box 2, it says “
Location (single symbol)
.” Select “Style options.”
●
From the next menu, select “
Style options.” A new menu should open. Here you have the option to change the fill and outline of the polygon
(polygon is the type of vector data that the EEZs are represented by!). You can change colors and transparencies for the fill and outline separately. ●
To the side of the color selection, select the symbol for No Color
(circle with a line through it). We want to just symbolize the boundaries of the EEZs. Make sure your outline color is something that will be visible and intuitive. Choose something that will stand out against your chosen basemap (red, yellow, or black are good options). You can also choose to adjust your outline width.
●
Click DONE (twice!)
when you are finished and exit the properties menu.
●
SAVE your map – this will save the symbology choices you have made for the layers in your map.
Part III: Spatial data attributes and selection
Spatial data holds more information than just location. This next part will demonstrate multiple methods
for identifying this information for vector layers, called attributes
. 13.
Click on any shape in the EEZs layer on the map. A box of the shape’s information pops up.
●
ISO_3digit:
This is the three letter code for the country which has jurisdiction over the EEZ.
●
Country:
This is the full country name
●
Changes:
This represents the last time there were recent changes to the EEZ. This may be blank.
Question 2)
Now there are two types of geospatial data in our map: raster and vector. There are
also two types of information now: exclusive economic zones and fishing activity. Explore the map around the globe again. Pay special attention to the areas that stood out to you in Question 1. Do you see new patterns? Do you have new insights about patterns you noticed before? Make a guess about what you think you are seeing. There are no wrong answers.
What other data would you need to have a more informed understanding of what you are seeing on the map?
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