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FRST 182 - GIS

LEARNING ArcGIS 9LAB SKILLS

(Original document prepared by Alan Gilchrist - with minor edits)

 

The following list contains 145 individual skills that are presented in the practical exercises in the ESRI Virtual Campus course “Learning ArcGIS 9”. The list is organized in the order that the skills are presented, and is a guide should you need to refresh your memory on how to complete a particular skill while completing the lab assignments. The “Step” number in brackets in the list below is a reference to the step in the relevant exercise procedure where the skill was first introduced. Many of the skills are used many times in the course, and are only listed the first time they are introduced. ESRI anticipates that it will take about 12 hours of time to complete all exercises. Some exercises are more relevant than others, so the Instructor will tell you which exercises should be completed as a minimum. Of course you are encouraged to complete all exercises as this will give you more exposure to the GIS software, ArcGIS 9.

 

"Instructions": this page makes use of expandable/collapsible lists.  Clicking on the text for certain bullets will reveal (or hide) information. 

Click on bullet below as a demonstration:

 

  • Bullets are multi-level - click me to reveal exercises! (click a 2nd time to hide detail)

    • "Exercise level' bullets are circles () - click me to reveal/hide skill list! (click a 2nd time to hide detail)

      • "Skill level" bullets are squares () and are the 'bottom level' - no need to click

 

 

  • MODULE 1 – Getting Started with ArcGIS Desktop (1 hour & 20 minutes)

    •  1-1 Exercise: Plan a trip to San Diego (20 minutes)

      • 1.        Start ArcMap and open a map document (Step 1)

      • 2.        Activate data frames (Step 2)

      • 3.        Zoom tool (Step 3)

      • 4.        Pan tool (Step 3)

      • 5.        Switching between data view and layout view (Step 4)

      • 6.        Label features (Step 4)

      • 7.        Find tool and Identify Results (Step 5)

      • 8.        Open attribute table (Step 6)

      • 9.        Measure distance between features (Step 7)

      • 10.    Identify tool (Step 8)

      • 11.    Hyperlink tool (Step 9)
         

    •  1-2 Exercise: Calculate tornado damage (30 minutes)

      • 12.    Open ArcCatalog and Create a folder connection (Step 1)

      • 13.    Add data to ArcMap (Step 4)

      • 14.    Modify layer symbols (Step 5)

      • 15.    Access a tool in ArcToolbox (Step 6)

      • 16.    Use the ArcGIS Help system (Step 6)

      • 17.    Buffer features (Step 7)

      • 18.    Select features by location (Step 8)

      • 19.    Get statistics on selected features (Step 9)

      • 20.    Export selected features to database (Step 9)
         

    • 1-3 Exercise: Find potential sites for a youth center (30 minutes)

      • 21.  Integrate data with the Union overlay (Step 3)

      • 22.  Select features by attributes (Step 4) …continued over the page

      • 23.  Export selected features to a layer (Step 6)

      • 24.  Apply a map template (Step 7)

      • 25.  Page and Print Setup (Step 8)

 

  • MODULE 2 – Creating Map Symbology (2 hours) 

    • 2-1 Exercise: Display & label map features (30 Minutes)

      • 26.    Rename the data frame (Step 2)

      • 27.    Rename a layer (Step 3)

      • 28.    Reorder map layers (Step 4)

      • 29.    Adding a legend label (Step 5)

      • 30.    Change the symbol fill and outline colors (Step 6)

      • 31.    Change the symbol color and width (Step 8)

      • 32.    Change layer properties (Step 9)

      • 33.    Dynamic labelling (Step 11)

      • 34.    Change the background color of the data frame (Step 13)

      • 35.    Change text properties (Step 15)
         

    • 2-2 Exercise: Display features with categories & quantities (30 minutes) – Optional

      • 36.    Copy map data frame (Step 2)

      • 37.    Symbol classification (Step 3, 4 & 5)

      • 38.    Edit legend labels (Step 6)

      • 39.    Save layer symbology (Step 8)

      • 40.    Preview a layer file in ArcCatalog (Step 9)

      • 41.    View two maps side by side in a layout (Step 10)
         

    • 2-3 Exercise: Explore methods of classifying data (30 minutes)

      • 42.  Remove decimal places from legend labels (Step 3)

      • 43.  Explore classification histogram (Step 4)

      • 44.  Change number of classes (Step 5)

      • 45.  Change classification method (Steps 6 & 7)

      • 46.  Specify class breaks (Step 8)

      • 47.  Change order of classes in legend (Step 9)
         

    • 2-4 Exercise: Map density and attribute relationships (30 minutes) – Optional

      • 48.  Normalize data for display (Steps 3 & 4)

      • 49.  Symbolize data using dot density (Step 5 & 6)

 

  • MODULE 3 – Referencing Data to Real Locations (50 minutes)

    • 3-1 Exercise: View and modify coordinate system information (30 minutes)

      • 50.    View metadata (Step 2)

      • 51.    View layer properties (Step 3)

      • 52.    Define the coordinate system of a layer (Step 9)

      • 53.    Update metadata (Step 10)
         

    • 3-2 Exercise: Compare different map projections (20 minutes)

      • 54.    Displaying the coordinate system property for a data frame (Step 1)

      • 55.    Change map projection of data frame (Steps 2, 4, 5, 6)

      • 56.    Using the Measure tool to calculate distance on a map (Step 3)

 

  • MODULE 4 – Organizing Geographic Data (1 hour)

    • 4-1 Exercise: Explore geographic data (30 minutes) – Optional

      • 57.    Explore layers with zoom and extents (Step 2)

      • 58.    Display data sources (Step 3)

      • 59.    Explore data with ArcCatalog (Steps 4 – 13)
         

    • 4-2 Exercise: Create a project database (30 minutes) – Optional (advanced)

      • 60.    Create a file geodatabase (Step 2)

      • 61.    Import multiple feature classes into the geodatabase (Step 3-5)

      • 62.    Create a new features class (Step 6)

      • 63.    Load data into an empty featureclass (Step 7)

      • 64.    Import a table into a geodatabase (Step 8)

      • 65.    Import a raster dataset (Step 10)

      • 66.    Create thumbnails (Step 11)

 

  • MODULE 5 – Creating and Editing Data (1 hour & 50 minutes)

    • 5-1 Exercise: Update building footprints (20 minutes)

      • 67.     Set the editing environment and start editing (Step 2)

      • 68.    Select a feature (Step 3)

      • 69.    Drag vertices to a new location (Step 4)

      • 70.    Move vertices to x,y location (Step 5)

      • 71.    Move vertices by a specified distance (Step 6)

      • 72.    Create and move new vertices (Step 7)

      • 73.    Set the snapping environment (Step 9)

      • 74.    Cut a polygon (Step 9)

      • 75.    Delete a feature (Step 10)

      • 76.    Move a feature (Step 11)

      • 77.    Save your edits (Step 12)
         

    • 5-2 Exercise: Edit features with map topology (30 minutes) – Optional (advanced)

      • 78.    Move a common segment (Step 2)

      • 79.    Create a map topology (Step 3)

      • 80.    Move a shared edge (Step 4)

      • 81.    Modify the map topology (Step 5)

      • 82.    Set selectable layers (Step 6)

      • 83.    Move a feature (Step 7)

      • 84.    Reshape a topology edge (Step 8)
         

    • 5-3 Exercise: Edit feature attributes (30 minutes)

      • 85.    Examine the attribute table (Step 2)

      • 86.    Examine the attributes for selected features (Step 3)

      • 87.    Edit the attributes of a features (Step 4)

      • 88.    Copy and paste attributes (Step 5)

      • 89.    Calculate attributes (Step 7)

      • 90.    Use attributes dialog (Step 8)

      • 91.    Edit multiple attributes (Step 9)
         

    • 5-4 Exercise: Create new features and attributes (30 minutes)

      • 92.  Create a new feature class (Step 2)

      • 93.  Add x,y data (Step 5)

      • 94.  Export event layer to geodatabase feature class (Step 6)

      • 95.  Digitize a feature (Step 8)

      • 96.  Assign attributes to a new feature (Step 9)

 

  • MODULE 6 – Getting Started with GIS Analysis (1 hour & 40 minutes)

    • 6-1 Exercise: Define a problem & choose data for analysis (20 minutes) – Do before Lab 4

      • 97.     Define a problem to solve with GIS (Steps 1 - 3)
         

    • 6-2 Exercise: Perform a GIS analysis (40 minutes) – Do before Lab 4

      • 98.    Examine workflow diagram (Step 2)

      • 99.    Join tables with common field (key) (Step 4)

      • 100.Apply a definition query (Step 5)
         

    • 6-3 Exercise: Map your analysis results (15 minutes) – Optional (recommended)

      • 101.          Export map (Step 6)
         

    • 6-4 Exercise: Create a report (25 minutes) – Optional

      • 102.          Select record to include in a report (Step 1)

      • 103.          Create a report and choose fields (Step 2)

      • 104.          Show and hide the current report settings (Step 3)

      • 105.          Change the report margins and style (Step 4)

      • 106.          Add space between records (Step 5)

      • 107.          Add title and page number elements (Step 6)

      • 108.          Change the appearance of field names (Step 7)

      • 109.          Align the field values (Step 8)

      • 110.          Sort records (Step 9)

      • 111.          Generate report (Steps 10 - 12)

 

  • MODULE 7 – Working with Geoprocessing & Modeling Tools (1 hour & 40 minutes)

    • 7-1 Exercise: Assess fire damage (30 minutes)

      • 112.          Buffer features (Step 3)

      • 113.          Clip layer (Step 4) …continued over the page

      • 114.          View statistics of field in attribute table (Step 5)

      • 115.          Intersect layers (Step 7)
         

    • 7-2 Exercise: Build and use a simple model (30 minutes)Optional (advanced)

      • 116.          Create and rename a toolbox (Step 3)

      • 117.          Create a model (Step 4)

      • 118.          Rename and save model (Step 5)

      • 119.          Add a process to a model (Step 6)

      • 120.          Add a second process to model (Step 7)

      • 121.          Run model (Step 9)
         

    • 7-3 Exercise: Work with an existing model (40 minutes)Optional (advanced)

      • 122.          Add model to ArcToolbox (Step 3)

      • 123.          Review model documentation (Step 4)

      • 124.          Examine and modify a process (Step 5)

 

  • MODULE 8 – Designing Maps with ArcGIS (1 hour & 50 minutes)

    • 8-1 Exercise: Modify a map layout (40 minutes)

      • 125.          Create copy of map document (Step 2)

      • 126.          Change page settings (Step 3)

      • 127.          Resize the data frame (Step 4)

      • 128.          Change the map extent (Step 5)

      • 129.          Change map title (Step 7)

      • 130.          Adjust the border symbol and map text (Step 8)

      • 131.          Delete map elements and replace scale bar (Step 9)

      • 132.          Modify descriptive text (Step 10)

      • 133.          Modify legend (Step 11)

      • 134.          Group and align map elements (Step 12)

      • 135.          Align elements using guides (Step 13)
         

    • 8-2 Exercise: Create a presentation map, Part 1 (30 minutes)

      • 136.          Apply a template to layout (Step 2)

      • 137.          Enlarge page size (Step 3)

      • 138.          Set map scale (Step 4)

      • 139.          Lock scale (Step 5)

      • 140.          Adjust layer transparency (Step 7)

      • 141.          Convert labels to annotation (Step 8)

      • 142.          Add new text (Step 9)

      • 143.          Add a graticule (Step 10)

      • 144.          Change background color (Step 11)
         

    • 8-3 Exercise: Create a presentation map, Part 2 (40 minutes) – Optional

      • 145.          Create an inset map (Steps 2 – 12)