Get the GIS of it

  For this week's lab, we were to create an isarithmic map depicting the annual rainfall and elevation of the state of Washington using data that had been interpolated using the PRISM method.  PRISM uses a digital elevation model to calculate the climate-elevation regression for the various DEM cells in the area being studied.   Key concepts and tools that were to be used to complete this task included continuous tones, hypsometric tints, and hypsometric tints with contour lines. The data used in this map was collected during the 30-year period between  1981 and 2010. In this map, hypsometric tints and contour lines have been used to depict the various elevation levels and their correlation to the average annual rainfall over the state of Washington.

  This week for the lab we were tasked with creating a Choropleth Map which showed both the population density of Europe and the Wine consumption rates in liter/per capita relative to that population density. In order to achieve the map that you see above, I had to accomplish a few different tasks. I first chose an appropriate classification method for the population data, Quantile, before utilizing the SQL Query and query clauses to manipulate data presentation. This led to the final task before assembling the map, which was learning about how to utilize proportional and graduated symbols within ArcGIS Pro. For this map, I chose to use simple graduated symbols to keep them from overcrowding my map and confusing the reader since there were so many data points.

For this week's lab, we compared four of the common data classification methods: Equal interval, standard deviation, natural breaks, and quantile. In order to compare and contrast these methods thoroughly, we needed to prepare two layouts with all four classification methods.  The map layout above is the first one that I created which shows the percentage of the various communities within the Miami-Dade area that are above 65. From left to right, the classification methods used were Equal Interval, Natural Breaks, Quantile, and Standard Deviation. There is an obvious difference between each of these in the way that the same data is represented on the map. Since the data that we are trying to accurately represent is only dealing with one variable, I believe that the natural breaks method is the best one to represent which areas house the largest population over the age of 65. it creates clean groups that can easily be interpreted. The second layout that I created, above, has the met...

 This week's lab required us to create a map in ArcGIS Pro that showed the types of schools present within Ward 7 of Washington D.C. while complying with Gestalt’s Principles of Visual Hierarchy, Contrast, Figure Ground, and Balance. In order to accomplish this task we had to use the Map Frames and Layouts feature, create labels and annotations for the data, and edit the symbology of those labels.  My map indicates the schools in Ward 7 with light purple labels that vary in size by the level of school. It includes an inset map to indicate where in Washington D.C. the Ward is located, a legend, a north arrow, a scale, and a title. The major roadways have been labeled with their respective interstate or highway numbers and I have also labeled some of the neighborhoods within Ward 7. 

  For this lab on cartography, we were required to create a map of Florida to demonstrate that we could define and insert essential map elements, label a map in accordance with general typographic guidelines, and employ proper type placement for different feature types (point, line, area). We had to create labels for the rivers, lakes, swamps, and cities that were required to be included in our map as well as edit these labels to best fit the map layout.  After creating the proper labels, I added a legend, a north arrow, a scale bar, and a border to the map. I am just realizing that I neglected to include the inset map, but I will definitely not make that mistake again. The map includes 6 of the major cities in Florida, the capital city, a few of the major rivers, and two swamp lands.

  For the module 1 lab assignment, we compared examples of a well-designed map to a poorly-designed map. The learning outcomes expected from this exercise were for us to understand common map design principles, be able to identify examples of good and poor map design, and provide an evaluation overview for each map. The map above is the one I chose as an example of a poorly-designed map. The symbology on this map is supposed to depict the various population sizes for the capital cities in each U.S. state. However, this map is lacking in most aspects of the key map elements. There is no scale representation, the population sizes represented have no unit of measurement, there is no other information on the map besides the relative scale depicted by the green circles, and you can't really tell what the actual population of the capital cities is. The map above is the one I chose as an example of a well-designed map. It has all of the required map elements, is laid out in an easy-to-rea...