Table of Contents. 1. Prepare Data for Input. CVEN 2012 Intro Geomatics Final Project Help Using ArcGIS

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1 Table of Contents 1. Prepare Data for Input ArcMap Preliminaries Adding the Point Data Set Map Units Styling Point Data: Symbology Styling Point Data: Labels Editing Point Data: Connecting Points to Make Lines Creating Contours Creating the Layouts Final Review and Adjusting Annotation Additional Capabilities of ArcMap This document can be used as a help guide for creating the CVEN2012 final project maps in ArcGIS. It assumes you are starting with some experience (e.g. a couple of hours-worth) using ArcGIS. This help guide is not intended to cover every requirement for the maps but will cover many of the components. Remember to review the checklist of requirements (grading rubric) in creating your maps to be sure you are not missing anything. One notable thing that ArcGIS may not be able to accomplish is the editing of contours; it may be possible to save the contour lines as a vector line feature class and then edit the contours from there, otherwise it is recommended to perform the edits by hand, or even prepare the contours entirely by hand, to have more control and create properly edited contours. 1. Prepare Data for Input The input file uses the same format as in the Stadia Traverse spreadsheet, with columns for point (number), easting, northing, elevation and description. ArcMap requires that a column header be included in the first row with those names. (Note, ArcMap will also accept additional columns and the columns can be in any order.) Using standard general descriptions (tree, lightpole, etc.) may speed up symbolization of points as there are standard symbolizations available in an ArcGIS layer file more on this later. Save your input file as txt or xls format (but, not xlsx). 5/3/2016 1

2 2. ArcMap Preliminaries Start ArcMap and a new map document. Setting up a geodatabase to manage your map data is recommended; to do so, navigate to the folder where you plan to store your data (set up a folder connection to that folder first if needed), right-click and choose New File Geodatabase, naming the database. (You can alternatively use stand-alone shapefiles, though a geodatabase may have some advantages in file management over shapefiles.) A couple of things to keep in mind throughout your project: remember it is good practice to save your data periodically, and you may want to save a series of versions as you progress through the steps. Do not use spaces or dashes in any filenames, this may cause problems down the road. 3. Adding the Point Data In the new map document, choose Add Data (such as by the toolbar icon or right-clicking) and navigate to the xls file that holds your point data, adding it to the map. Right click your xls data in the Table of Contents and choose Display XY Data, then fill out the window like below. Click ok, and ok again to the pop-up message about Object-ID which follows. This brings your data into the map, but it is not yet saved to a suitable format for use and analysis. To address that, right-click the Events version of your data that appears in the Table of Contents and 5/3/2016 2

3 choose Data Export Data. Navigate to the geodatabase you created, and save it within as a feature class. Click yes to the prompt about whether to add the layer to the map (if you chose no, use Add Data to add it to your map). Once your feature class is saved and added to the map, delete the xls version of the file and return your Table of Contents to List by Drawing Order. 4. Set Map Units Since we are not working with a map projection or standard coordinate system, the map document has no assigned units, and scale (as displayed on the Standard toolbar) is blank and not yet adjustable. Setting map units will allow setting of map scale. Right-click the data frame ( Layers in Table of Contents), and choose Properties (note, recognize that these are data frame properties, which are distinguishable from layer properties). In the General 5/3/2016 3

4 tab, set Units for Map and Display to feet and inches, respectively. Now the scale dropdown in the top menu will be adjustable. 1:240 represents 1 in = 20 feet. Scale will be needed later especially when preparing the map layouts. 5. Styling Point Data: Symbology Recall that much of the display characteristics of a layer are controlled by the Layer Properties dialog, accessible by right-clicking the layer and selecting Properties. To assign appropriate symbols to your points, you have the option to start with a layer file containing a standard set of descriptions (tree, lightpole, sidewalk, etc.), which was suggested earlier when describing the input data format, and/or assign your own symbols manually. To use the layer file, in the Symbology tab of Layer Properties click Import on the upper right, and choose the CodeSymbols.lyr* file as shown. After clicking ok you will be prompted to choose the field/column of your layer that contains the standardized descriptions. After selecting this and clicking ok, your map will now display the codes. You will likely want to edit or change some of the symbols to be unique to your survey, and if you want to save your own layer file with edited codes, right-click your layer and choose Save Layer File. To manually choose your own symbology for your descriptions, on the left of the Layer Properties Symbology tab under the Show menu, choose Categories Unique Values, select your Value Field in the middle (the field that contains your descriptions), and choose Add All Values at bottom. Then assign symbology either through this dialog or in the Table of Contents pane. * Note check the course website for the CodedSymbols.lyr file. 5/3/2016 4

5 6. Styling Point Data: Labels In the Layer Properties Labels tab, check the box next to Label features in this layer. To label features with both point number and elevation, click the Expression button. At the bottom of the Expression window, select Parser = Python, and input this in the expression box above: [Point] + "\n" + str(round(float([elevation]),2)) + "'" (Other parsers can be used but have different syntax. The \n works in Python as a new line character. You re welcome to display other information in your labels; this is one example.) Back in the main Labels tab, choose the text symbology and placement properties to style your labels as desired. 5/3/2016 5

6 7. Editing Point Data: Connecting Points to Make Lines Connecting points to make lines, or adding lines or polygons in general, requires that you first create new feature classes to capture this data, and then start an editing session to create the features. To create a new feature class, for example for Traverse lines, find your geodatabase in the Catalog window, right-click and select New Feature Class, choosing the appropriate options in the dialog prompts that follow. For coordinate system, scroll to the bottom and choose the same as your existing layers; and you may designate additional fields here in the last step of the dialog (such as Bearing for your Traverse points; note you may also add and populate fields later from within the attribute table dialog). Next, to start an Editing session and populate your new feature class, activate the Editor toolbar by right-clicking at the top of your display in the menus area (e.g. right-click on File, check Editor). From the Editor drop-down, choose Start Editing, then Editing Windows Create Features. This will open a window where you will perform your edits. Select your line feature from that window, and the Line construction tool below. Next you will draw lines on the map. Before diving in to this, it is suggested that you give yourself some time to experiment with how editing works and familiarize yourself with the Editor menu options; for instance, you can create arcs or straight lines, you have some options to edit lines you already created, and remember there is are undo/redo buttons that may reset some of your actions. You may want to adjust Snapping options, accessible from the Editor drop-down, and you may find it helpful to keep an eye on your attribute table of the features you are editing by opening it off to the side as you do your editing. A few pointers with the example of creating lines between your Traverse Points follow. Start 5/3/2016 6

7 by selecting one endpoint, and double-click on your second endpoint so it is highlighted in cyan, which will place it in the table. Then clear the selection (recall that the Clear Selection icon is on the Tools toolbar), otherwise you will continue populating a multi-line feature and the reported length will include multiple segments. Repeat this process for the other two traverse lines. Choose Editor Save Edits to save your lines (you can save at any time), and when finished select Editor Stop Editing. Use these same methods to create other point, line and polygon features applicable to your map, such as boundaries for streets, sidewalks and buildings, a separate point class for your traverse points, etc. (note that one way to do the latter is to start by making a copy of your points: use the Search window to find the Copy Features tool). An editing session must also be invoked in order to delete or adjust problematic or unnecessary points. Don t forget to also then symbolize and label your newly created features as desired. If you created a column for Bearing, when you type in your calculated bearings you can copy the degree symbol from the Windows Character Map accessory program. You may need to refresh your display (look for icon on the display below your map). To label traverse lines, start with the expression code provided earlier and edit it for showing bearing and length (ArcMap calculates length for you in the SHAPE_Length column, but do verify that this is the correct length to use). 8. Creating Contours There are a few options for creating contours. To create the most basic contours, run the following tools: Create TIN, and Surface Contours. Tools are accessed from ArcToolbox, though it is often easiest to find tools by using the Search window and searching for their names or descriptions. These TIN-derived contours will appear to have an unnatural, jaggededges look, and they will extend beyond the area of your points unless you take extra steps to constrain them. A few additional tools go a step further and create more natural looking rounded contours, plus a colored surface raster constrained to the area bounded by your points. A set of these tools has been placed in a Model that can be used to manage creating the various features and rasters. To use the model, you will first need to create a new toolbox to hold the model**. In the Catalog window, right-click the folder you are using for your project, choose New Toolbox and give it a name. Then locate and place the ContoursModel model that was created specifically for this project into the toolbox you created. (**Check the course website for the ProjectTools.tbx file, which holds the ContoursModel file. You may be able to just copy the tbx file to your folder and access the model without creating a separate new toolbox.) 5/3/2016 7

8 Some editing of the tools will be needed, so next right-click the model and click Edit. The window shows a visual representation of the model steps. Each tool is a yellow rectangle, and inputs/outputs are represented by ovals. Double-click each tool, review any warning messages, and edit the parameters if needed to represent your data. The entire model can be run at once, or you can right-click each tool one-at-a-time and select Run (the latter is recommended). Be sure to note the order of operations and review the logs for any error messages. 5/3/2016 8

9 9. Creating the Layouts Finally, to create printable maps of the required paper size and proper scale, you will create two Layouts and utilize the Layout View. To move from Data View to Layout View, either select the Layout View icon from the bottom of your screen, or View Layout View. Make sure to activate your Layout toolbar, and realize there are separate navigation icons for navigating the paper and model spaces. Only one layout can exist in an mdx file, so it is suggested you save two separate files for your Traverse and Topographic maps and work with each separately from here on. To set paper size, right-click your layout (or select the File menu) and choose Page and Print Setup. Tabloid is the 11 x17 paper size. Add and edit standard map presentational elements by using the Insert menu while in Layout View. Reminder, once entered, map title text is stored in File Map Document Properties. Remember to choose a standard scale, and note that Scale Text (as well as Scale Bars) map features will automatically update upon changes to map scale. Turn off or remove layers that aren t applicable to the map and adjust display features if needed. For your Traverse map, you only need to show your 3 traverse points and the lines between them, with appropriate labeling. For the Topographic map, your traverse takes a background role and you have some options on which contours to show and whether or not to use the Topo to Raster surface. Review the differences and decide on which better represents your data. You may also want to say a few words about these choices in the Description page that you write to introduce your project. 5/3/2016 9

10 10. Final Review and Adjusting Annotation Review your final map for general readability (e.g. label size), standard scale, and efficient use of space. Labels will sometimes overlap features, and there are a few options for adjusting them. For the Traverse map, you could add a column in your Traverse Points layer for label angle, and assign it in Layer Properties Labels Placement Properties. For more control over labels, right-click the layer in the Table of Contents and select Convert Labels to Annotation. (CAUTION: there is no easy going back from this latter option, so it is recommended to perform this step only after your map is completed in every other way, especially in terms of global label properties like label size, font, etc.). 11. Additional Capabilities of ArcMap You can use the Measure tool to calculate the area enclosed by your traverse. In the Measure window, the drop-down next to the sigma symbol allows you to select different units. 5/3/

11 ArcMap has the capability of accommodating data from other sources, such as from imagery or other maps. However, you would need to relate your coordinate system (the local coordinate system of your map) to the system and/or projection of the other data sources. Georeferencing is a way to accomplish this, and may be explored if you have time. 5/3/