Week 5: Monitoring Invasive Species

Intro to ArcGIS

ArcGIS is the market leader in geographic information systems for schools. Built to visualize, explore and analyze most forms of geographic data and remote sensed imagery, it is possible to combine point, line, polygon, and image data in ArcGIS. During the online course we will provide the data sets we want you to use to familiarize yourself with the interface. This spring and summer you will go through lessons with a large selection of comprehensive data that can be used in projects. ArcGIS can save and open projects, so work can be shared between users, or between school and home. ArcGIS classifies and symbolizes shapefiles, displays image data, works on data in several projections, and use data distributed over the Internet from several types of services such as ArcGIS online or any web based map service. It is also possible to use ArcGIS with data that is downloaded from a GPS unit to create custom layers of information that then can be related to scientific and other types of data. GIS Data is often freely available over the Internet from cities, counties and federal organizations such as the National Park Service (NPS) and the United States Geologic Survey (USGS) and many of the remote sensing sites we have already learned about.

The ArcGIS Toolbar

The ArcMap toolbar contains a variety of tools for analyzing and manipulating geographic data. You will learn about the tools as you use them.

With the initial ArcMap startup, you will see a toolbar "floating" to the right.

That toolbar can be moved and "docked" anywhere on the ArcMap interface. To move the toolbar, click and hold on the dark blue title bar at the top of the floating toolbar and drag it to the left or top of your screen.

Show me what the interface looks like with the toolbar moved

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The standard button bar contains a variety of buttons with different functions.

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The toolbar contains a variety of tools with different functions.

Show me the functions of the tools

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Download Geographic Data About Invasive Species

• Right-click on the PC or control-click on the Mac to download the zipped file below.
  Zipped file of Invasive_Species lesson and data (Zip Archive 39.6MB Mar13 10)
• Unzip the file. A folder called invasive_speciesAM will be created.
• Move the entire Invasive_SpeciesAM folder to inside the WEEK5 folder of EYESINTHESKY2.
  The navigation path should be: C:/EYESINTHESKY2/WEEK5/Invasive_SpeciesAM

Explore a GIS Map

• Launch ArcMap by double-clicking its icon on your desktop or by clicking its icon in the Windows Launch Bar.
• Choose File > Open, navigate to C:/EYESINTHESKY2/WEEK5 and select the file inv_spc.mxd. Then click Open.
  
  When the project opens, a world map is displayed. Countries are shown in grey and lines of latitude and longitude are drawn at 30 degree intervals.
  

Zoom in and out

• Use the Zoom In tool to click once on South America.
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The map is centered on South America after one click with the Zoom In tool.

• Click once on the Zoom to Full Extent tool to take the map all the way back out to a full view.
  NOTE: This is a nice trick if you get lost and just want to start over again.
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This view shows the map zoomed back to full extent.

• Continue clicking on the map with the Zoom In tool. The tool centers the map at the area where you click. How far can you zoom in?
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Map zoomed in all the way. Notice the 1:0.01 scale in the numbers circled in the scale box at the top.
As you zoom closer and closer on image (raster) data, you eventually see "pixels," however, vector based data can be zoomed in infinitely without seeing pixels.

The reference numbers in the scale box at the top of the map are the scale of the map represented as a ratio or a fraction. They refer to the level of magnification. At the maximum zoom you see 1: .01 a ratio. In other words, 1 inch on the map would be equal to one hundredth of an inch in reality. As you zoom back out, watch the numbers in the ratio change. When you zoom back to full extent, the scale reads 1:191,512,364. So this means that 1 inch on the map represents 191,512,364 inches, or approximately 3,000 miles.



• Use the Zoom Out tool to zoom out several clicks. How far can you zoom out?
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Here is an example of the map zoomed out.

• When you are done exploring zooming, click the Zoom to the Full Extent tool.
• Click your left mouse button and while holding it down, drag out a rectangle across Africa with the Zoom In tool. Notice how this allows for more precise zooming.
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Click and drag a box around Africa.

After zooming, the map shows Africa in the center.


• Click the Zoom to the Full Extent tool to return to the full map view.
• Likewise, you can also use the Zoom Out tool to drag out a box. It is possible to keep zooming out until all you see is just a tiny speck or your map even disappears. Sometimes this might happen unexpectedly, especially if you click and drag out a tiny box with the Zoom Out tool. Try this. Then experiment zooming in and out so you get a feel for how this works.
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  Map as a tiny speck
  
• Click the Zoom to the Full Extent tool to return to the full map view.
• Two other buttons help you navigate on screen. They are the Previous Extent and Next Extent buttons. Try zooming in and then experimenting with these buttons. The Previous Extent button lets you go back to a previous zoom level. Both of these buttons give you unlimited zooms back and forth between levels.
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  Zoom in around the Azores straight west of Spain and the Mediterranean.
  
  Return to previous
  
  And back again.
  
  
• When you are zoomed in, you can use the Pan tool to adjust your view. Click and hold the Pan tool and drag your mouse to center your map on another place.
• When you are done exploring zooming, click the Zoom to the Full Extent tool.

Show me a movie of Zooming in ArcGIS

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Find latitude and longitude

Move the cursor across the map to discover changes in X and Y and how they relate to Longitude and Latitude.

• Start at the far left side of the map and move your cursor horizontally to the right all the way across the map. Observe how the X coordinate changes. The X and Y coordinates are shown in the lower right corner of the map. What happens to the X values?
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  The X values start negative and increase as you move right, reach zero, and then become positive values.
  
• Move your cursor vertically from the bottom to the top of the map and observe how the Y coordinate changes. What happens to the Y values?
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  The Y values start negative and increase as you move up, reach zero, and then become positive values.
  
• Which values are longitude? Which are latitude? How are south and west indicated?
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  In this case, the cursor is hovering over southern Alaska.
  Notice in the lower right corner of the map view; X: -152.619 Y:64.364.
  X is the Longitude and Y is the Latitude.
  South and west are indicated with negative values.
  
Show me how the latitude and longitude grid compares to the Cartesian coordinate system
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• Just for fun, try to find 0, 0. (Hint: it is near Africa)
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The cursor is hovering close to 0,0 in the image.

Show me a movie about finding latitude and longitude in ArcGIS

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Discover How the Layers Build the Map

Turn layers on and off

• Click the checkbox next to the US States layer to turn it on.
  
  
  
• Currently, the legend of the US States layer is expanded so that the name of every state is displayed. To collapse the legend, click the minus symbol to the left of the layer checkbox. Then use the Zoom In tool to zoom in on North America by clicking on the map.
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The legend of the US States layer is now collapsed and the map view is zoomed into North America.

Explore moving Layers in the Table of Contents

Click the Zoom to the Full Extent tool.

• In the Table of Contents, select the Countries layer by clicking and holding its name. Drag the Countries layer down the list and place it at the bottom of the Table of Contents.
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  Click and hold on the Countries layer in the Table of Contents. Drag it down to the bottom of the list.
  
  This is what the map looks like with the Countries layer at the bottom.
  
  
• What has happened to Countries layer?
  
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  The layer is no longer visible. This is because it is now beneath the Lat / Long layer. If a layer is opaque, as this one is, it can hide other layers. So, in this case, the Lat / Long layer has now hidden the Countries layer.
• Turn off the Lat / Long Layer and you will be able to see Countries again.
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  In the map below, Countries are hidden by Lat / Long.
  
  Turn off Lat / Long and Countries are now visible again.
  In this map the Lat / Long layer has been turned off.
  
  
  
• Turn the Lat/Long layer back on. Click and drag the Lat/Long layer to the bottom of the Table of Contents.
  Show me how to move the layer to the bottom
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  This is what the map looks like with the Lat / Long layer once again on the bottom.
  
  

Show me a movie about layers building the map in ArcGIS

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Understand Which Layer You Are Working With

Select a layer

• To turn on the US Rivers layer, click once in the box next to its name.
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  The US Rivers layer is now on.
  
Zoom to Layer
• Zoom to the US Rivers Layer.
• To zoom in on the US Rivers layer, place your mouse over the US Rivers layer and click the right side of your mouse, Choose Zoom to Layer in the window that opens.

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This shows right clicking the Zoom to Layer on the context menu pulldown.

This shows the view zoomed in, after clicking Zoom to Layer.

Show me a movie about zooming to layers and turning layers on or off in ArcGIS

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Investigate the Geographic Data Behind the Map

Examine the Data in the Attribute Table

Select several US Rivers to connect rivers with their river systems.

• With the US Rivers layer turned on, right-click on the US Rivers layer in the Table of Contents. Then select Open Attribute Table.
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  Open the Attribute Table of US Rivers
  
  
• In the Attribute Table, click the left most column of the table to select the record on for the NAME Arkansas River. Notice it becomes highlighted in blue in the Table of Contents and in yellow on the map.
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  In the map below the Arkansas River is selected
  
• Try this with several rivers. The Attribute Table brings up the records of all the rivers and shows you all the information that is available for each record. For example, you can see which river system various rivers are in. The Arkansas River is in the Colorado River System.

Select all the rivers in the Colorado River System.

• Open the Attribute Table of US Rivers and right-click on the column that holds the data for the field header entitled SYSTEM. Then select Sort Ascending, scroll down the list to where you see the 4 rivers on the map that are in the Colorado System.
  
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  1. Open the Attribute Table of the US Rivers layer.
     
  2. In the table, click on the column header that holds the data for the SYSTEM field and choose Sort Ascending from the drop down menu.
     
  3. The rivers are now sorted by their system.
     

  
  
• Hold the shift key and click on the first and last of these 4 rivers to select the rivers as a group.
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The Colorado River System is selected in the Attribute Table and on the map.

• Once you have made several selections, close the Attribute Table and click on the Clear Selections button.

Find Features of Rivers With The Identify Tool

Find rivers on the map with the Identify tool

• Click on the Identify tool in the toolbar to select it. Use the Identify tool to click on a river on the map to select it. In the pull down menu select the US Rivers as the layer to "identify from:". The selected river will flash green and a results window will open.
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In this example the Rio Grande River has been selected.

• Click on several US Rivers to identify them.
• At the end of your sesssion, quit ArcGIS. Do not save changes that you have made to the map.

Show me a movie about investigating the data linked to the map layers in ArcGIS

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Explore More if You Have Time

Explore the Attribute Tables of other layers in the map to see the different types of data linked to the map layers.

Resources

Instructional Materials for ArcGIS

Getting started with GIS

Download documentation for AEJEE

Geospatial Technology Curriculum Page

Movies on this Page

Note: 3/15/10 The movies in the page above are ArcGIS movies. AEJEE movies are posted below.

How to download movies

• Click the link to go to the SERC media library listing for the movie. The record will open in a new window.
• On the SERC media library page, right-click (Win) or control-click (Mac) the link (below the movie on the Flash version pages) to download the movie file to your hard drive.
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Look below the movie window for the file download link.

Flash Video Versions

Download these versions to play on your computer. You'll need an appropriate movie player to view the file, such as Flash Player, Real Player (Mac / Win), or Adobe Media Player.

iPod Versions

Download these version to play on your iPod or iPhone.