In This Lab We Will Work with Some Simple Data Layers to Explore Projection and to Make

GEOG 370 – Spring 2008

Lab #2: Using ArcMap—projection and cartographic visualization

Due Dates:Tuesday Labs: Tuesday, February5, 2008 by 11:00AM

Wednesday Labs: Wednesday, February 6, 2008 by 2:00PM

Thursday Labs: Thursday, February 7, 2008 by 11:00AM

In this lab we will work with some simple data layers to explore projection and to make a simple map. Mastering the concepts and skills in this lab is very important, as they will be the basis for much of the work for the remainder of the course.
Projection and planar measurement
Projection of the spherical earth to the Cartesian plane is central to cartography. There are many ways to express a sphere as a flat surface, and each is a sort of projection. In general, areas towards the equator are projected in cylindrical projections, the mid-latitudes are projected in conic projections, and the high latitudes are projected in azimuthal projections. Refer to your textbook for a complete discussion of projections. In this lab, you will learn how to set the projection.
The Layer in ArcMap
A data layer is composed of a particular geographic data set embedded into a single spatial data model. A layer may contain only one type of data, for example, point data. In ArcMap Desktop, there are two basic types of data: Feature data – composed of vector data, and Image Data – composed of raster data.They may be added and deleted from a map file.This has no effect on the data itself. Deleting a layer from ArcMap does not delete the layer from your hard drive; it only removes it from your ArcMap project.
All layers, once added, will appear in the view with default symbols. These symbols can be manipulated in a variety of ways to improve cartographic visualization. The symbol tools in ArcMap can do a great many things, but are complex and require practice to achieve mastery.
In ArcMap, the data layers that have been added to a project are displayed on the left hand side of the window in the "Table of Contents." To the right of the Table of Contents is the view window – in this window you can use the "Data View" or the "Layout View." Data View is used for examining the data in one Data Frame. If you have more than one Data Frame in your project, you can switch between the Data Frames and the data shown in your Data View will change accordingly. Layout View is used to examine the layout of all of your Data Frames. It is in this window that you will create your final map layout. In this lab, we will examine both the Data and Layout View.
Data Frame Properties and Coordinate Systems
In this section, we will examine a Data Set in several different projections and learn about the characteristics of the individual projections.
Start ArcMap. In ArcMap, start with a new, empty map.
Either use the menu command (File -> Add data) or the icon shortcut to add a data layer. An "Add Data" window will pop up. Navigate to the lab directory where your lab data is saved in J:\isis\html\courses\2008spring\geog\370\006\data\Lab2. If the folder that contains your data is not listed in the Add Data window, you will need to use the "Connect to Folder" icon to make a connection to the folder with your data.

In the window, a list of layer names will appear. Select “states.shp” by double left clicking on the layer name. When you have added the layer, it will appear listed under the Data Frame name ("layers" – unless you have changed the Data Frame name). To the left of the layer name is a check box – this tells you if the layer is turned on or off. When you first add a layer, it should be "on" and visible – with a check mark in the box to the left of its name.
You should now have added a layer to your view and have a visible map of the U.S. Your view should look something like the image below.

Right click on the Data Frame and select "Properties." The Data Frame Properties window is a very important window; from this window, you can change all of the display properties for the entire Data Frame. For now, we will just be working with the options in the "coordinate system" tab in the Properties window. Even though we will just be working with the Coordinate System tab, feel free to explore the information available in the other tabs!
Question 1: List the buttons in the Data Frame Properties Coordinate System window. Give a short description of the function of each button.
The Coordinate System tab provides information on the current coordinate system used in display of the data in the Data Frame, and allows you to change the coordinate system and its parameters.

Notice that the data is currently displayed in GCS_North_American_1983. This is the Geographic Coordinate System using the North American Datum of 1983.
If you click on the "Modify" button, you can see the rest of the parameters associated with this coordinate system.
Note that GCS is not a projection, per se, but is a planar expression of the latitude and longitude coordinates of the earth. It is common for ArcMap data provided by ESRI to be in Geographic Coordinate System.

Many projections have variable parameters. If you were to change the projection parameters, you would do so in this window. We will accept the default parameters. Click on the Cancel button to return to the Data Frame Properties window. Change your projection to USA Contiguous Albers Equal Area (Predefined -> Projected Coordinate Systems -> Continental -> North America -> USA Contiguous Albers Equal Area Conic). Click OK in the Data Frame Properties window.
Question2: Has the shape and appearance of the United States changed? If so, how?
Question 3: List the names and values of the parameters that appear in the Coordinate System tab in Data Frame Properties window for this coordinate system.

Concept of Layer and Comparing Coordinate Systems

Now add a new layer, “country.shp”, using the instructions for adding data that appeared earlier in the lab.
Question 4: Given the appearance of the data now, do you feel that the Albers Equal Area Projection is appropriate for viewing the entire world? Attach and describethe current view.
Since we want to explore the differences between different projections, we will now create four identical Data Frames so that we can look at the different projections at the same time. We will do this in the Layout View. Until this point, we have been working in the Data View. The Data View allows us to view the data of one Data Frame at a time. Layout View allows us to view multiple Data Frames at the same time.
In the menu, click on View -> Layout View to switch from the Data View. Your view now appears more like a "page preview," showing the layout of the page. Note that there are two toolbars for navigating around the data – the layout toolbar and the "tools" toolbar.
In this image, the layout tools are seen as the top toolbar. These are the tools that you use to interact with the entire layout (for example, zoom in and out on the page). The second set of tools is for interacting with the data in the individual Data Frames (fox example, zoom in and out on the layer in a Data Frame).
Since we will be working with four Data Frames in this lab, we will want to resize the current Data Frame so that we will be able to fit three more Data Frames on the layout "page." You can resize the Data Frame by either selecting it and dragging it to an appropriate size, or you can open the Data Frame properties and change the width and height values in the "Size and Position" tab.
When your Data Frame has been resized, we can simply copy and paste to create three more identical Data Frames. Another method for creating new Data Frames is to click on Insert -> Data Frame and then add new layers into that Data Frame. Try both of these methods to create three new Data Frames with the same data as the first Data Frame.
Question 5: Describe and attach the current ArcMap window.
If you would like to align your Data Frames to one another, using the shift key select more than one Data Frame in Layout view, now right click and use the Align and Distribute commands to align and/or resize the Data Frames.
Note: the name of one of the Data Frames is in bold type. This means that this is the "active" Data Frame. If you were to add a new layer right now, it would be added into that Data Frame – regardless of which Data Frame was "highlighted," or was clicked on last. To activate a new Data Frame, right click on the Data Frame and select "Activate."
Returning to the coordinate system properties for the Data Frames, we will now change the coordinate system for three of the Data Frames. Select and right click on one of your Data Frames. Select the coordinate systems tab. Your current coordinate system should be USA Contiguous Albers Equal Area (unless you have changed it since the last section of the lab). We would like to change this so that the Data Frame shows the data in the Mercator projection. This is located in the Predefined -> Projected Coordinate Systems -> World folder.
Your Data Frame should now display your data in a Mercator projection. You may need to use the Zoom To Full Extent button so that the entire data layer is displayed.
To keep confusion to a minimum, we should rename the Data Frame. In the Data Frame Properties window, under the "General" tab, change the name of the Data Frame to "Mercator."
Now, in your remaining Data Frames, reproject one into a Robinson projection, one into Sinusoidal projection, and one back into GCS North American 1983. Rename the Data Frames appropriately.
Question 6: Describe the difference between the four Data Frames: three projected and one unprojected.

Layout and Cartography
Drawing
In the layout mode, we have several options for adding graphics and text to make our final map. In this section of the lab, we will explore the utilities available.
Click on the "New rectangle" icon on the drawing toolbar.
In your layout, press and hold the left button while dragging the mouse. You will see a rectangle in the layout.
It will be surrounded by eight blue squares. This means that the rectangle is selected. To work on any graphic object, it must first be selected. Objects may be selected by using the pointer (the black arrow seen to the left of the "draw rectangle" icon) and clicking on them.
By double clicking on the object (or by right clicking and selecting "properties") you can view the object’s properties. Here you can change the fill color, symbol type, outline color, etc.
If you select "change symbol," you have many more options for changing the appearance of the object. In the symbol selector window, clicking on the "properties" button takes you to the symbol property editor. Here you can select from a variety of fill patterns of varying opacity.
In the image below, the "line fill" symbol has been used to create a blue, grid-type fill.

Experiment with the different symbol types – especially the "marker fill" and "line fill" symbols. There are many options for using these symbol types and mastering them will take a bit of time. These two symbol types are particularly useful when making maps with overlapping areas.
Text
Now we will look at the text tool.
Click on the text tool in the drawing toolbar (the large letter "A").
Click on your layout where you would like to add text. A text box will appear. You can either type your new text now, or you can double click on the text box using the pointer and use the Text Properties window. Here you can change the text, and the symbol used to represent the text.
Try out making some changes to the text – change the size, color, font, etc. When you click okay, the text should change to reflect your selections.

Other Layout Options: text, legend, north arrow, scale bar, etc.

You can also insert other basic map elements using the Insert menu in the main menu bar.
Here you can add text (the same as you did using the text tool in the drawing toolbar), a neatline around your map, legend, north arrow, etc.
Draw a neatline around your map.
Give your map an appropriate name.
Put your name on the map.
Use the text tool to type the name of the projection used in each of the different Data Frames.

You can export your map with “.jpg” format by clicking on File -> Export Map.
Question 7: Choose one layout out of four layouts to make your final map. Putyour finalmap including text, legend, north arrow, scale bar, etc. on your lab report.
Conclusion
In this lab you have worked with projections, and have had the opportunity to see their impact on the visualization of spatial data. It should be apparent that the selection of a projection depends on the part of the world being mapped, and the purpose to which that map will be put. The layer hierarchy of ArcMap should also be apparent. You have also been introduced to the graphic component of ArcMap and should plan to use the information in this lab for your work in all future labs. Finally, you have made your first map using ArcMap with added graphics and text.

1