Introduction to GIS

GIS Cyberinfrastructure Module

Day 1

http://web2.uconn.edu/cyberinfra/module1/outline.html
 Course Objectives
1) Become familiar with ArcMap and ArcCatalog interfaces
2) Learn critical basic concepts in GIS, such as data types and
projections
3) Explore a variety of sources where digital GIS data can be
obtained for domestic and international projects (such as climate,
land-use, soils, and species distribution data)
4) Use tools available in ArcMap frequently used by ecologists and
evolutionary biologists to link organismal observations to
environmental data
5) Understand the Geospatial Modeling Environment, which is an R-
based tool developed external to, but used in conjunction with,
ArcMap to accomplish analyses not available in ArcMap
6) Recognize the importance of metadata
 Expectations

• Attend all class meetings

• Complete exercises begun in class before

the next class meeting

• Complete assigned homework

 Logistics

• Connect to internet
• Computing
ArcMap and ArcCatalog
• Create data folder for class on C:\
– Work on same machine/drive each time!

• Download settings (Firefox)

– From the main menu, select Tools
Options

General
– Select “Always ask me where to save files”
Basics of GIS
 Registered Data Layers

Roads

Towns

Water

Wells

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 GIS Coordinate Systems

A GIS plots cartographic features using a Cartesian

coordinate system that is based on two or three
perpendicular axes. An object can be located in 2-D
space by measuring distances along the X and Y
axes. By adding a third Z axis, objects also can be
located in 3-D space.

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 Coordinate Systems

X = 750,000
Y = 570,000

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 Some Definitions
Projection: a projection is the mathematical
transformation of Earth’s 3-d surface to a 2-d
planar surface (a map)

Datum: a point of reference from which distance

measurements are made (local vs. Earth
centered)

Spatial Reference: includes info on the

projection, projection parameters, ellipsoid,
datum, units of measure, and other
parameters.
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 Projections: From Spheres to Flat Maps

A paper map and a computer display are 2-D flat surfaces.

We use projections to convert 3-D map data from a
spherical coordinate system to flat 2-D maps.
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 Example of Two Projections

Mercator Albers Equal Area

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 Datum
Coordinates systems used by GISes are referenced to “Real
World” locations. All coordinate systems have an origin or
reference point from which other locations are measured.
This is a datum.
Commonly used datums include
North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27)
North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83)
World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84)

These are systems by which geographic (lat/lon) coordinates

can be assigned to places in North America or the world.

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 Datum
A point of reference from which positional measurements
are made (local vs. Earth centered)

NAD27 – legacy data

over 50,000 surveying monuments NAD83 – modern data
tied to Meades Ranch, KN; based on based on Geodetic Reference System
Clarke ellipsoid of 1866. of 1980 ellipsoid

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 Comparison of NAD27 and NAD83

E=1,000,000 and N=500,00 defined as

Longitude -720 45’
Latitude 400 50’
As established by Conn General Statutes

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 Vector Data
X,Y coordinates record map feature locations:

Points (single X,Y coordinate)

Examples: fire hydrants, water wells, utility poles

Lines (ordered set of X,Y coordinates)

Examples: power lines, road centerlines, streams

Polygons (sets of X,Y coordinates that

start and end at the same location)
Examples: parcels, wetlands, flood zones

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 Raster Data

Each raster or pixel in this 8-bit

image contains brightness values
from 0 (dark) to 255 (bright) for red,
green and blue colors.
Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work
 ArcGIS Spatial Data Formats
• Supported data types:
– Shapefile
– Grid
– Images (MrSID, GeoTiff, IMG, JPEG, etc.)
– Tables
– Coverage
– Geodatabase (not a format but a type of storage)
– CAD
– TIN (Triangular Irregular Network)
– Terrains

Note: Formats in BOLD will be used in the class

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 Shapefile
• A Shapefile is actually a set of files that share the
same root name. Together, the set of files contain
data that define a type of geospatial dataset. The
geometric features of a shapefile are represented
by either points, lines or polygons.
4 shapefiles

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 Grids
• ESRI Grids are a proprietary raster storage format
• Values may be integer or floating point (decimal)
• Like a shapefile, multiple inter-related files
comprise each Grid raster layer
 Imagery
Airborne Scanned

Satellite

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 Databases – Tabular Data

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 What is ArcGIS Desktop?
• Two applications: ArcMap and ArcCatalog
– ArcMap is the application for viewing and
symbolizing data, performing spatial analyses,
creating / editing data, creating charts and reports
and making publication quality maps for printing
– ArcCatalog is the application for managing
geospatial data (rename, copy, paste, delete),
creating geodatabases and creating metadata

• ArcToolbox is a shared “application” that contains

wizards, scripts, models and tools for data analysis,
conversion, management, etc.

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

ArcMap – ArcCatalog – ArcToolbox
 ArcCatalog: GUI
Menus

Standard
Toolbar

Explorer-
like
window to
navigate to
folders, etc.
Window that displays folder contents,
Catalog Tree previews datasets and tables and
displays/edits metadata.
 Three Ways to View Data
Metadata

Preview

Contents

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Adding Toolbars
 ArcCatalog: Connecting to Folder
Connect to Folders that you access frequently so they’ll appear in the top level of the Catalog Tree

Click the Connect

to Folder button to
open a window
where you can
navigate to a folder
that you want listed
in the Catalog

New Catalog
entry
 ArcCatalog: Manage Your Data

Windows Explorer

ArcCatalog

Use ArcCatalog to copy, paste, rename, and delete your geographic datasets!!!!
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 ArcToolbox
Toggles window

Tools to perform various types of

spatial analyses are accessed and
initiated through ArcToolbox.

ArcToolbox can be opened from both

ArcMap and ArcCatalog.
Title bar
Map name Program License
ArcMap GUI
Menu bar

Tools toolbar
Standard
toolbar

Table of
Contents
Display Area
Draw toolbar

Status bar
Switch between data view and layout view
 Table of Contents – Display Tab

Display Button

Active Data Frame

(in bold text)
Individual Layers

Not Active Data Frame

(in normal text)

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 Table of Contents – Display Tab:
Data Organization

Data Frame

Group Layers
Note: Water Resources is
nested inside Base Map

Layers

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 Table of Contents – Source Tab

Source Button

Data Frame
Folder Name

Layers

Tables
Folder Name

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 Data View

Data View
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 Layout View

Layout View
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 Standard Toolbar

Toggle Editor Launch

toolbar on / off ArcCatalog
Scale

Undo and Add Data Context Toggle

Redo Button Sensitive ArcToolbox
Buttons Help on / off

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 Moving Around the Map
Tools Toolbar
View Fixed Go to
Select Go to X Y
full Zoom in next
extent elements Find
extent and out

Zoom in Pan Identify Measure

Go back to Select
and out
previous features
extent Unselect
features

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 Modifying the GUI – Adding Toolbars
Click Mouse
over

Right-clicking “here” also will

open the toolbar pop-up menu

Click on a new toolbar

to add it to the GUI

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 Data Frame
• A data frame is a “container” for layers
• ArcMap supports multiple data frames
• Only one data frame can be active
• The active data frame is indicated in
BOLD and is displayed in the data view
• Layers can be dragged between
data frames

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 Data Frame Properties: General
• Right-click on a
data frame in the
ToC to open its
Data Frame
Properties window
• Includes coordinate
information and
other properties
that influence all
layers within the
data frame

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 Data Frame Properties:
Coordinate System

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 Layers
A Layer references a geospatial dataset –
shapefile, grid, image, etc. Layers typically
represent a single category of data such as
parcels, wells, roads or soils.

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 Layer Properties: General

Right-click on a
layer and select
Properties…
from the pop-up
menu to open its
Layer Properties
dialog box

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 Layer Properties: Source
• A layer references a data source (shapefile, grid,
image, etc.)

• Map documents can lose track of data

when its moved on the computer
• Source tab lets you change the data source

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 Layer Properties: Symbology

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 Layer Properties: Fields

Turn on/off

Change numeric
display format

Column heading when

displayed in a table
Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work
 Layer Properties: Review
All the parameters entered on all the tabs establish each layer’s properties

• General: Name, description, display scales

• Source: Pathname to the data source
• Selection: Set how to display selected features
• Display: Map tips, scale symbols, transparency, hyperlinks
• Symbology: Methods to classify and symbolize features
• Fields: Primary display field, set aliases, field visibility, formats
• Definition Query: Create a query to subset data
• Label: How to label features, label placement, formats, scales
• Joins & Relates: Establish links to other tables
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Getting Help
 Metadata
Metadata is that component of data which describes it

Date Latitude Longitude Chlor

3/22/91 32.677 -117.896
3/23/91 33.011 -117.193
3/25/91 33.523 -116.328

Chlor (chlorophyll
Spatial Metadata a concentration)
measured in
g/L

Non-spatial or Latitudes and

attributes longitudes were
measured using ...

Components of Data

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 This is the metadata for this

Courtesy of: CLEAR GeoSpatial Technologies at Work

 This is the metadata for this

Identification_Information
Citation
Citation_Information
Originator: NOAA Coastal Services Center
Publication_Date: 19971131
Title: Hurricane Storm Surge
Geospatial_Data_Presentation_Form: Map
Publication_Information
Publication_Place: Charleston, SC
Publisher: NOAA Coastal Services Center
Larger_Work_Citation
Citation_Information

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 ArcGIS Licenses
• ArcView provides comprehensive mapping
and analysis tools along with simple editing
and geoprocessing tools

• ArcEditor includes the full functionality of

ArcView, plus advanced editing capabilities
for coverages and geodatabases

• ArcInfo extends the functionality of both to

include advanced geoprocessing and also
includes the legacy applications for ArcInfo
workstation

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