NCSU GIS/MEA582:
Geospatial Modeling and Analysis

Geospatial Data Introduction

Resources: ESRI virtual campus

Instructions: LMC, RMC mean left and right mouse click. The geodatabases: ncshape.mdb, ncrast.mdb. If you don't already have these geodatabases downloaded, you can find them on Course logistics page.

You can put the geodatabases in any suitable directory where you have permissions to write and in these instructions we will refer to this directory C:\Users\myname\arcdata.

Move both geodatabases to the directory: C:\Users\myname\arcdata

Data management

Adding data to ArcMap: Add the Bridges feature class (located in ncshape.mdb) to your project. Examine the descriptive attributes associated with the bridge features.

RMC on the Bridges entry in the Table of Contents and select Open Attribute Table from
the context menu.

• How many attributes (data fields) are associated with the Bridges feature class?
• How many bridges are shown in the Bridges feature class?

Create a new geodatabase to store data:

Find the Catalog tab along the right side of the ArcMap map window and LMC to expand.
Navigate in the catalog tree to C:\Users\myname\arcdata.
Create a new folder called 'Assign1' in the arcdata folder.
RMC on the newly minted Assign1 folder icon in the Catalog window and
choose New -> File Geodatabase from the context menu.
Name it 'Assign1'.

Copy data from one geodatabase to another:

Open ncshape.mdb geodatabase in the [Arc]catalog tree
LMC on ncshape.mdb to open it.

Copy a feature class from one geodatabase to another:

Find and RMC bridges->Copy.
Navigate to the Assign1 geodatabase; On the geodatabase icon: RMC -> Paste.
Click 'OK' in the Data Transfer dialog.

Note: you can also remove the data layer using the same menu

Convert a feature class to a shape file:

Open ncshape.mdb in the ArcCatalog window.
RMC bridges->Export->To Shapefile (single).
Set Output Location to C:\Users\myname\arcdata\Assign1 (your Assign1 folder).
Set output Feature Class to 'bridges_shp'.
Click 'OK'.

Data view and symbology

Adding Raster Data into Data Frame:

File->Data->Add Data...
Navigate to the ncrast.mdb geodatabase and add the elev raster layer

Turn the Bridges Layers Off:

LMC the check boxes (to remove the existing checks) next to each
of the three bridge entries in the TOC.

Zoom to the elev raster layer:

RMC on elev and select Zoom to Layer

Change color scheme:

RMC elev->Properties and select the 'Symbology' tab
Change the Color Ramp (Color Ramp drop down menu) to one that
represents elevation intuitively (it makes sense to you)

Add hillshade data into the data frame:

File->Data->Add Data...
Add elev_sh from the ncrast.mdb geodatabase

Change the transparency of the hillshade:

RMC elev_sh->Properties
Click on the 'Display' Tab
Set Transparency to 70%
Click 'OK'

Display vector points and lines:

File->Data->Add Data...
Add streets_wake, roadsmajor, schools_wake from the ncshape.mdb geodatabase
Hint: press and hold the control key to add multiple data layers

Change the line style:

RMC roadsmajor->Properties and select 'Symbology' tab
Click on the button displaying the current symbol
Change the color to red and the width to 1.6
Click 'OK'
Click 'OK'

Change the point style:

LMC directly on the symbol for schools_wake in the Table of Contents (shortcut to the
symbol selector)
Select 'School 1' It's about half way down in the symbol palette
Change the size to 14
Click 'OK'

Trim the Vector Display to Match the Raster's Geographic Extent:

RMC Layers at the top of the TOC
Select Properties->Data Frame->Clip Options->Clip to shape
LMC Specify Shape button
LMC Custom Extent
Uncheck the Degrees Check box
Enter the following in the top, bottom, left, and right fields,
respectively: 228500, 215000, 630000, 645000. (FYI: These coordinates define
the geographic extent of the elev and elev_sh raster layers.)
Click 'OK'
Click 'OK'

Your display should now clip the roads and schools data so that these only: display in the are covered by the elev and hillshade rasters.

Save the map for your report:

LMC File->Export map  (Save the file to your Assign1 workspace as pdf or png)

Exit ArcMap. You can choose to save your project, if you wish, however, it's not necessary.