Anthony Ducosin
Geography 335 – GIS 1
Strand
Lab 1 Report
Goals and Background:
The purpose of this lab is to incorporate the skills learned
thus far in class and from working through the Mastering ArcGIS tutorials and
exercises into a real world GIS scenario.
In this case, the purpose was to learn about various spatial data sets
for the City and County of Eau Claire used in public land management,
administration, and land use. This
information was used to prepare base maps for the proposed Confluence
Project. This project would be a
collaborative effort between UW-Eau Claire and the Eau Claire Regional Arts
Center to construct a new community arts center, student housing building, and
commercial retail complex in the downtown area adjacent to the confluence of
the Chippewa River and the Eau Claire River.
There were six maps created with information relevant to the proposed
site, which include: Civil Divisions, Census Boundaries, PLSS Features, Parcel
Data for the City of Eau Claire, Zoning, and Voting Districts.
Methods and Results:
Locating the proposed sites for the project was the first
step in this process. A geodatabase was
created for Eau Claire, and within it was stored a feature class made for the
proposed site. This way the proposed
site could be easily onto each map. The
two plots of land were highlighted with bright red to easily identify them in
all the maps. Callouts, found in the “Draw”
toolbar, were used when the map scale was slightly too small to easily see the
site. They point out the exact location of
the site in the map. Because this was
the main feature in all the maps, it is important to note the location of the
site and see how it relates to the surrounding areas.
Included in all these maps is a World Imagery basemap, in
order to see the real features of the areas around the proposed site. In some of the maps it is in plain view and
easy to see. In the other maps symbology
was made somewhat transparent in order to still have the ability to see land
features behind them.
Each map includes a legend when necessary that includes the
symbols used that are important to understanding the information the map
presents. Every map also includes a
scale bar to show real distances on the ground and give you an idea of the size
of the area mapped.
Civil Divisions: In this map the City, Town, and
Village features were added to show where the proposed site lies in regard to
municipality type. The map is zoomed out
just far enough to show the edges of the City of Eau Claire, and the town
boundaries that border the city.
Census Boundaries: This map includes areas with
different values of population per square mile.
The tracts feature shows the U.S. census tracts with the thicker dark
borders. The color range used goes from
light to dark, making it easy to differentiate between the value classifications,
as shown in the legend. This information
shows how dense the population is in the area of the proposed site and also in
the surrounding areas.
PLSS Features: This map simply includes the gridlines
sized by quarter quarter by the Public Land Survey System. It shows which
specific section the proposed site primarily lies within.
City of EC Parcel Data: The features included and
shown in this map were the centerlines of the main streets, parcel areas, the
rivers nearby, and of course the proposed site.
The colors chosen for these features makes them easy to recognize and
pleasing to look at. This map helps to
show the roads available to someone trying to get to the proposed site, and the
parcels around the site.
Zoning: The zoning class feature is the main focus in
this map. A unique color was chosen for
each feature, and each should be easily identifiable in the map and separable
from the other features. Using unique
values for symbology, each specific type of value was combined into a
comprehensive value group. This way
there are less value classes and the map is somewhat easier to read. This map shows that the proposed site lies primarily
in a Commercial Business District.
Voting Districts: The voting districts feature class
was used for this map. It shows all the
different voting districts in the area around the proposed site. The site is located in voting district
31.
All the maps used the Mercator_Auxiliary_Sphere projection,
except for the Civil Divisions map, which used the Lambert_Conformal_Conic
projection.
Sources:
- City
of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County 2013
- http://www.eauclairewi.gov/departments/public-works/engineering/mapping-services
In constructing these maps, I
incorporated many of the skills I have learned thus far in my GIS training. Starting with a blank map, I know how to navigate
and add spatial data from geodatabases, add basemaps, create feature classes
and geodatabases, find information about the data I am learning about or using
in my maps (metadata), construct maps, include the necessary cartographic
design features, and make my final map products look aesthetically
pleasing.
