Creating Your Own Data in ArcView

1
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
Teacher Guide
This activity will introduce the student to
creating points, lines, and polygons in ArcView
GIS. Students will create features on top of
color and panchromatic digital orthophoto quads
(DOQs). Students will receive practice in
creating shapefiles and interpreting images for
different time periods.
Overview
National Geography Standards
Standards 1, 3, 4, 712, 14, 15, 17.
Middle School. Can be modified with additional
questions for higher levels.
Grade Level
Intermediate. Some prior knowledge of ArcView
tools and concepts is required. Students should
understand the concept of topology.
GIS Skill Level
Time
Should be completed in two 50-minute class
periods depending on the number of features the
students have to digitize.
Note to Teacher
Students should understand the idea behind
points, lines, and polygons as well as why they
are used before attempting this activity. Layouts
may be printed for a grade. Teachers can use
local aerial images for the exercise. I recommend
a balance of physical and cultural features be
included in the activity. I suggest providing
students with city maps with street names. Early
photographs may be used to examine degrees of
change in land cover and settlement.
Teacher Guide p. 1
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
2
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
Teacher Guide
Materials
City map with street names. This activity relies
on several files in specific directories on the
C drive. Consult the list below
Sources
www.ocgi.okstate.edu
www.geo.ou.edu
Developed by Brad W. Watkins bwatkins1997_at_yahoo.co
m
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
Teacher Guide p. 2
3
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
You will not always be able to find shapefiles
that contain the data you want. When this
happens, you will have to create your own
datasets. In ArcView this is called digitizing
because the user creates digital data.
In this activity, you will observe and interpret
the aerial images provided and create points,
lines, or polygons depending on the features you
digitize. This activity will provide you with the
skills needed in creating your own data and
presenting useful information in map form using
ArcView.
1
4
Step 1
Getting Started
To begin, open ArcView GIS 3.3 by selecting the
icon on your desktop.
At the Welcome menu, select Create A New
Project.
Open a new view window by clicking on the New
button in the project window. Choose Extensions
from the File menu. Locate and select the box
next to MrSid Image Support. Click OK.
Click on the Add Theme button. Navigate to the
directory c\raise\images\1995 aerials
Set the Data Source Type to Image Data Source.
Select the 35097h11.sid and click OK.
Follow the same steps and add the file
naip1-1_ok119_2003.sid from the directory
c\raise\images\2003 aerials.
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
2
5
Step 2
Defining the Study Area
Turn on the 1995 image of Perkins, OK. Take time
to observe the image and determine the area of
your scene. Figure out where you are at in the
image. Hint Look for common features such as
road intersections. You will be asked to create
data layers (themes) for hydrology, cultural
features, and vegetation, so you need to analyze
your map with these classes in mind. You will
create the same layers from the 2003 color aerial
image of Perkins, OK. You should designate your
study area with a hollow box. To do this use the
Draw Rectangle tool from the tool bar. Click and
drag a box to match the one below.
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
3
6
Step 3
Creating Point Features
From the File menu, choose Save Project As and
save the project to your network drive. Name the
project digitizing.apr. (It is a good idea to
save your project and give it a meaningful name
at the beginning).
Point features are the easiest to digitize. We
will start with them. From the View drop-down
menu, select New Theme. Make sure the feature
type selected is Point and click OK. Make sure
the network drive is selected under drives.
Navigate to the file that has your last name.
Type 1995points.shp in the blank on the left hand
side of the New Theme window.
Click the Draw Point tool from the toolbar.
Hint The Draw Point tool is on the same button
as the Draw Rectangle tool. You must click on the
button a drag down slightly to see the other
choices. Move the cursor over the feature you
want to mark and click the left mouse button. You
can change the symbol and color of the feature
by double clicking on the theme. Locate and mark
the following point features intersection of HW
33 and HW 177 intermediate gymnasium Water
treatment facility all farm ponds Your classroom
building water tower When you have finished
creating points, choose Stop Editing from the
Theme menu. Choose Yes to save the edits to
1995points.shp.
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
4
7
Step 4
Creating Line Features
From the View drop-down menu, select New Theme.
Make sure the feature type selected is Line and
click OK. Make sure the the network drive is
selected under drives. Navigate to the file that
has your last name. Type 1995lines.shp in the
blank on the left hand side of the New Theme
window.
Click the Draw Line tool from the toolbar.
Hint The Draw Line tool is on the same button as
the Draw Point tool. Move the cursor to the
position where you want to begin the line. Click
once to begin drawing the line. (This creates a
node from which you will begin the line. You can
use vertices to shape lines.) If you want a
straight line, move the cursor to the position of
the ending node and double-click the left mouse
button. If you need to draw a curving line,
you can single click the left mouse button to add
vertices that will shape the line. If you
make a mistake, you can either select the line
and press delete, or you can click the right
mouse button and choose Delete Last
Point. Locate and digitize the following line
features Highway 33 Main St. Highway 177 Kirk
Ave. all county roads creek in NE corner of
study area When you have finished creating
points, choose Stop Editing from the Theme menu.
Be sure to save your edits as you did in step 3.
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
5
8
Step 5
Creating Polygon Features
From the View drop-down menu, select New Theme.
Make sure the feature type selected is Polygon
and click OK. Make sure the network drive is
selected under drives. Navigate to the file that
has your last name. Type 1995polys.shp in the
blank on the left hand side of the New Theme
window.
Click the Draw Polygon tool from the toolbar.
Hint The Draw Polygon tool is on the same button
as the Draw Point tool. Move the cursor to the
position where you want to begin the polygon.
Click the left mouse button once to begin drawing
the polygon. As you add vertices to shape the
polygon, you will see another line that extends
from the starting node to your cursors position.
(This lets you know where your starting node is.)
Draw the polygon around the entire feature and
double click the left mouse button just before
you return to the starting node. Your polygon
will become the color that appears in the table
of contents. You can change the color by double
clicking the theme. Locate and digitize the
following polygon features 1 forest polygon 2
ponds 1 woodland polygon 1 agricultural field 3
golf greens City of Perkins
How would you identify a green in a black and
white photograph?
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
6
9
Step 5
Creating Polygon Features (cont.)
If you make a mistake, you can either select the
line and press delete, or you can click the right
mouse button and choose Delete Last Point. When
you have finished creating points, choose Stop
Editing from the Theme menu. Be sure to save your
edits as you did in steps 3 and 4.
Step 6
Interpreting and Digitizing 2003 Aerials
Complete the same steps that you did above for
the 2003 color aerial images. Be sure to name
the shapefiles according to the year
2003point.shp 2003line.shp
2003poly.shp Be sure to save your edits.
Step 7
Printing Your Map
Once you have complete digitizing your points,
lines, and polygons for both images you can
create and print a layout (map). You can change
the colors, textures, and symbols for the
features you digitized before you create your
layout. If you are using a black and white
printer, do not spend a lot of time worrying
about colors, but think about different textures.
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
7
10
Step 7
Printing Your Map (cont.)
Turn off the 1995 and 2003 aerial images. You
will not print these. You can change the items
that will be displayed in your legend by going to
the View window and making changes to the
individual themes. You can rename a theme by
choosing Properties from the Theme menu. To use
a scale bar, choose Properties from the View
menu. Change the Map Units and Distance Units to
meters. Click OK. (This allows you to put a scale
bar on your map.) From the View menu, choose
Layout. Choose Landscape and click OK. Make the
appropriate changes to your map. Add your name
to the layout. Click the text tool.
Click on the layout where you want to put your
name. Type your first and last name and the
date. From the File menu, choose Print. On the
print dialog box, click Setup. Under
Orientation, choose Landscape. Click OK. Click OK
again to print and hand in your map.
YOU ARE FINISHED!!
Creating Your Own Data in ArcView
8