Q's GIS Journey

  In this week's lab, we used Excel to make a data table that would be usable to make our geocoder for ArcGIS Pro. I thought it was really smart during the Excel part to assign 1 and -1 to filter out the rows that we needed. I thought we would have to do a more complicated process to delete unnecessary rows, filter out the zip code and cities, but the formulas worked out well to filter out the data. I thought this lab was super useful for my work life at the DEP as I had one projects where I had to use credits to use ArcGIS Pro's geocoding service, so this work lab provided me with a free alternative for my future works. I only had to rematch two of the unknown addresses and it was the same school, the rest of the data was PO boxes, unavailable, or in different cities that were not in Manatee County. I thoroughly enjoyed this lab introduction to geocoding as it was simple and easy to learn. 

      This weeks lab was challenging for me. I had to use previous newfound knowledge to find the metadata, recreate a map layout from module 3, and learn how buffers and overlay tool work. I had the most struggle in Step 4 of Vector 2 to try to recreate the same result as the buffer_union_export layer. I try to choose every tool possible but I could not get the same result, I suspect the overlap tool is the key but my poor computer could not run it. It took me a while to figure out the erase tool was how I was gonna generate the possible campsite from the conservative areas. I tried using the erase geoprocessing tool to recreate the buffer_union_export layer but it was to no success either. I really like how we use the attribute table and the select by attribute tool this week to pin down data that we needed. I like how this lab allows you to explore different overlay and buffer tools to figure out the difference and see it yourself. I also find it useful to write down n...

      I really enjoy doing this module, especially with using 3 different program/website like Google Earth and ArcGIS Online. It really show versatile ArcGIS can be with it different uses. I really enjoy using Field Maps to create the data for the .kml file for Google Earth. It also shows how unfriendly and uninviting ArcGIS Pro can be if you don't have a license to use it. I would said the projection aspect of this module help me clearly show how warped a map can be if you use the wrong geographic coordinate system. I think it is really important to use a good projection for data visualization consistency. We often forget that map data is flat and is not in a three dimensional shape unless we are looking at a globe. I learned that a projection can maintain the area of a feature but alter it shapes heavily (the warping). Doing the table shows me how each projection causes the area of a feature to change heavily.

                This week's lab teaches map creation and basic design skills. I had the hardest time this lab with the geodatabase because I messed up the very initial step of creating the project! But with Travis's help, I was able to get back on track but then I ran into another issue of not getting the two cities names to pop up. Luckily, I been saving multiple versions as I completed each session so I was able to redo the expression the generate the cities name. Travis pointed out that neatline is extremely important for every map and I was able to create margins this lab to better understand it. Overall, I am happy with the color scheme I picked but I am not overall satisfied with how I place every essential map element. Everything feel kind of cramped, and the legend feel out of placed. I am extremely satisfied with the placement of the scale bar though because I feel that my eyes naturally gravitate toward the bottom on almost every ma...