Cartographic Skills – Week 7 – Choropleth & Proportional Symbols

GIS 3015: Cartographic Skills

Week 7 Lab: Choropleth & Proportional Symbols

The Choropleth maps below apply the concepts of graduated and proportional symbol mapping to depict Europe’s population density, wine consumption, and percentages of female and male population.  

The maps also reflect the testing of different data classification methods to select the method that maps the data in the most accurate fashion.  For example, the top map uses the Quantile method to represent population density and the Natural Break method to represent wine consumption.  The bottom maps use the Quantile method to represent the percentages of female and male population.

Below are some of the steps in ArcGIS to use proportional and graduated symbols:

Proportional and graduated symbols can be found under the Layer > Properties > Symbology tab. 

Proportional symbols are found on the left panel (Show) under Quantities.  A value under the drop down menu in Fields must be selected and a normalization selection may be necessary, though in our case the wine consumption data was already normalized as liters per capita.  Under the Symbol section, it is important to make the Background color hollow and to select the symbol, color, and minimum size under Minimum Value.  The number of symbols to be displayed in the legend must also be selected on this screen.

Graduated symbols are found on the left panel (Show) under Quantities.  A value under the drop down menu in Fields must be selected and a normalization selection may be necessary, though in our case the wine consumption data was already normalized as liters per capita.  Minimum and maximum symbol sizes must be selected for proper representation.  A data classification must be selected under the Classification section with various options available including the number of classes.  In my case, I found Natural Break to provide the best representation of this data with graduated symbols.  The labels can be formatted by right-clicking on any label and selecting Format Label - I reduced the number of decimal to save space on the legend.  The Range can also be cleaned up here for rounding and easy reading.

Cartographic Skills – Week 6 – Data Classification

GIS 3015: Cartographic Skills

Week 6 Lab: Data Classification

The map below reflects the use of four data classification methods to represent the percentage of population above 65 for Census tracts in Escambia County, FL as of the 2010 Census.  The four data classifications methods include: Equal Interval, Quantile, Standard Deviation, and Natural Break.

The data classification methods can be found and applied under the Symbology properties of each layer in ArcGIS.  The graduated colors option under the quantity option allows for the selection of various data classification methods and the number of classes to represent the data with the selected color ramp.

Displaying four maps in one page required the use of four data frames.  The use of the ruler and guides was extremely helpful for the alignment of the maps and the legend.  Finally, all maps were set to the same scale to share the same bar scale.

Intro to GIS – Week 6 – Projections Part 2

GIS 4043 Week 6 Lab: Projections Part 2

This projection assignment required the download of aerials, vector files, and geographic coordinate data in Excel from various sources in different coordinate systems.  The assignment involved the re-projection of the various coordinate systems into a common coordinate system and the conversion of latitude/longitude values into decimal degrees for use in ArcGIS.

Below is my map showing petroleum storage contamination monitoring sites in portions of Escambia County using NAD 1983 State Plane Florida North FIPS 0903 in Feet as the common Projected Coordinate System.

Cartographic Skills – Week 5 – Spatial Statistics

GIS 3015: Cartographic Skills

Week 5 Lab: Spatial Statistics

The map below reflects the spatial distribution of the data after applying the Mean Center, Median Center and Directional Distribution Tools in ArcToolBox.  The proximity of the Mean Center (green dot on the map) to the Median Center (red triangle on the map) suggests there are no features with too much influence on the average mean center.  The green ellipse on the map represents the Directional Distribution of the geographic data with a slight south-southwest to north-northeast orientation.

Intro to GIS – Week 5 – Projections Part 1

GIS 4043 Week 5 Lab: Projections Part 1

In this week’s lab, I learned about Geographic Coordinate Systems, Projected Coordinate Systems, how to use the Project Tool to re-project layers in a common Projected Coordinate System, and how to use the Raster Project Tool to do the same for raster-based layers.

As stated above, the Project Tool under ArcToolBox is used to change the coordinate system or projection of a vector dataset.  There is a Raster Project tool for raster datasets.  The Project Tool is found under ArcToolBox > Data Management Tools > Projections and Transformations > Project.

Being able to set a spatial filter applicable to the current visible extent was extremely helpful as it reduced the number of projected coordinate system options significantly to a somewhat manageable level. 

I found the Geographic Transformation Optional box particularly interesting.  The transformation or warping of the image may be necessary even after an output coordinate system has been selected.

Below is my map showing the State of Florida under three (3) different Projected Coordinate Systems.

Cartographic Skills – Week 4 – Typography

GIS 3015: Cartographic Skills

Week 4 Lab: Typography

Marathon, Florida

The map below of Marathon, in the Florida Keys exemplifies the application of Typography in the creation of maps.  The map was created in Corel Draw.  The features and places labeled on the map were located online through research for identification and labeling.  The typography techniques include the use of leader lines and proper selection of font color, size, and other attributes in accordance with standard industry practices that result in a clean and effective map.

Of particular note, I included additional text describing the beauty of Marathon, Florida and why visitors come to visit what is known as the Heart of the Florida Keys.