introduction to mapping with arcmap - university of waterloo · tutorial introduction...

Introduction to ArcMap

University of Waterloo 1 Mapping, Analysis, & Design

Tutorial Introduction

Acknowledgements

This tutorial was created by Mapping, Analysis & Design (MAD).

Assumptions/Intended Audience

This tutorial is an introductory-level exercise.

It assumes that students have basic computer and file management skills.

Students of this tutorial are not required to have any experience with GIS,

however, some basic understanding of GIS data and concepts would be of

value. For a refresher, consider looking at http://www.gis.com.

Tutorial Goals

ArcMap is ESRI's latest software application for mapping and GIS. As its

name implies, ArcMap is a map-centric application that can be used for

high-quality map-making as well as sophisticated spatial analysis. Making

high-quality maps with ArcMap is quite simple. In this tutorial you'll learn

the basics of mapping using ArcMap.

Overview of the Tutorial Structure

The scenario for this tutorial is that the University of Waterloo’s arborist

wants you to assist in a study of the trees that surround Needles Hall and the

Physics building.

The Tutorial is divided into the following five sections:

Adding data to a map

Exploring data on a map

Symbolizing data on a map

Selecting geographic features

Laying out and printing a map

You should complete the sections in order since each section builds upon

the previous one.

http://www.gis.com/



Section 1: Adding data to a map

In this section you'll add spatial data to an ArcMap document. After adding

data to the map, you’ll save the map document into your folder.

Getting started

1. Create a folder on your computer (e.g. d:\your_username\arcmaptutor)

2. Download the data (in zip format) from: https://uwaterloo.ca/environment-computing/sites/ca.environment-

computing/files/uploads/files/campus.zip

and extract the campus geodatabase into your folder.

Your folder now contains all the data that you’ll need for this tutorial.

Starting ArcMap

1. Click the Start menu on the Windows taskbar.

2. Point to All Programs.

3. Point to GIS

4. Point to ArcGIS.

5. Click ArcMap.

The first time you start ArcMap, the Getting Started dialog appears.

6. Click Blank Map and click OK.

The ArcMap window appears. On the left of the display is the Table of

Contents. On the right is the Display Window.

Rename the Layers data frame

Initially, an empty ArcMap document has a single data frame, named

Layers. You can have more than one data frame, so it's a good idea to

rename the data frame with a name that describes what the data frame will

contain.

1. Right-click Layers in the Table of Contents and click Properties.

2. Click the General tab on the Data Frame Properties dialog.

3. Type Tree Study Area for the Name of the Data Frame.

https://uwaterloo.ca/environment-computing/sites/ca.environment-computing/files/uploads/files/campus.ziphttps://uwaterloo.ca/environment-computing/sites/ca.environment-computing/files/uploads/files/campus.zip



4. Click OK.

Add data to the Tree Study Area Data Frame

In this task, you'll add spatial data to the data frame. The spatial data

originates from a CAD drawing of the university campus. Layers of

information from the CAD drawing have been imported into a file

geodatabase named campus.gdb. A file geodatabase is a folder contains a

number of files that can contain many different layers (referred to as feature

classes) of spatial information. For more information about geodatabases

search for geodatabase in ArcMap's help. In addition to Geodatabase feature

classes, you can also add ArcInfo coverages, and Esri shapefiles and a

number of other file types.

1. Right-click the Tree Study Area in the Table of Contents and click Add Data.

2. Click the Connect To Folder button and browse the folder where you have put the campus geodatabase.

3. Double-click the campus geodatabase.



4. Hold the Shift key and select all the feature classes.

5. Click Add.

The feature classes are added as layers to the data frame. Polygon layers are

added first, followed by line features, followed by point features. All layers

are automatically assigned a random colour and set to be visible (checked in

the Table of Contents).

Save the Map document

Since the map you're making will show the health of trees, name the map

document TreeHealth. Map documents are saved with a mxd extension.

1. Click the File menu and click Save As.

2. Navigate to your folder (e.g. d:\your_username\arcmaptutor)

3. Type the name the map document that you want to save. (i.e. TreeHealth.mxd).

4. Click Save.



Section 2: Exploring data on a map

In this section you'll explore the data that you've added to the map using the

Tools toolbar:

Point to each tool on the Tools toolbar and read the tool tip that appears.

The first eight tools on the Tools toolbar can be used to adjust the extent of

the data frame. The other tools let you select and find out more information

about the feature in your map.gdb

Changing the extent of the data frame

In this task you'll experiment with the tools that let you change the extent of

the data frame.

1. Click the Zoom In tool.

2. Click and drag a box on the map over an area where you want to zoom in. (e.g. Columbia Lake). The map extent changes to the area defined

by the box.

3. Click the Pan tool.

4. Click the centre of the display window and drag the map display to the Northwest (upper left corner) so that you can see the South Campus.

5. Click the Go Back to Previous Extent button to step back through the extents that you've used.

Finding features

The Find tool lets you find features based on their attributes. You can find

features based on any unique attributes that they contain. In this example,

you'll use the Find tool to find Needles Hall and then you'll change the

extent of map to show the vicinity of Needles Hall.

1. Click the Find tool. The Find dialog appears.

2. In the Find textbox, type Needles.

3. Click Find. The Find tool the building features and adds it to a list at the bottom of the dialog.

4. Right-click Ira G. Needles Hall, and click Zoom To. The map zooms to the extent Ira G. Needles Hall building.

5. Close the Find dialog.

Zooming to the extent of a layer and setting a spatial bookmark

In this task, you'll zoom to the extent of the all the points in the Trees layer.

You’ll set a spatial bookmark so that you can easily return to this extent

later in the tutorial.

1. Right-click the Trees layer in the Table of Contents and click Zoom to Layer. The map zooms to the extent of the trees.

2. Click the Bookmarks menu and click Create Bookmark.

3. Type Extent of Trees and click OK.

To return to this extent in the future, you can use this bookmark. Just click

the View menu, point to Bookmarks, and click the name of the bookmark.



Identifying information about features on the map

In this section, you’ll use the identify tool to examine the information that

associated with features on your map.

1. On the Tools toolbar, click the Identify tool.

2. Click a building on the map (e.g. Needles Hall).

The Identify Results dialog shows the attributes that are associated with

the feature that you clicked on:

3. Click a tree on the map.

The Identify Results dialog shows the attributes of the tree.

Note that there are different attributes associated with features in the Trees

layer compared to the Building layer.

In the next section you'll symbolize the layers to make a more effective

map.



Section 3: Symbolizing data on a map

In this section you'll symbolize the layers that you've added to your map.

There are many ways to symbolize each layer of information. For each

layer, you can:

Draw features with a single symbol

Draw features to show categories, like names or types

Draw features to show quantities, like counts or amounts

Draw features to show multiple attributes

There are many ways to change the symbology of a layer. For example to

change the color of a symbol, right-click the symbol in the table of contents

and pick a new color from the Color dialog. If you want to pick a different

symbol, click the symbol in the Table of Contents and choose a symbol

from the Symbol Selector dialog. The method that provides the most

flexibility for setting the symbology of a layer is to right-click the name of

the layer in the table of contents and click Properties. The Symbology tab

on the Layer Properties dialog gives you complete control over layer's

symbology.

How you symbolize the layers of your map should be determined by the

message that you're attempting to present with your map. In this exercise,

your goal is to create a map that shows the health of trees that surround

Needles Hall and the Physics building. The Trees layer is the most

important layer; the other layers are the background (i.e. supporting) layers.

You'll use single symbols to draw each background layer. You'll symbolize

the Trees layer in a way that shows the health of the trees.

Changing the colour of the buildings

1. In the Table of Contents, right-click the Buildings symbol.

2. Click the Colour that you want to use to represent the buildings.

Changing the symbol of the drainage features

To set the symbol for the drainage layer, you'll choose a symbol from the

existing list of available styles. These style are pre-built symbols that are

common types of symbols used to represent features.

1. In the Table of Contents, click the symbol that represents features in the Drainage layer.

2. Click the River symbol style in the Symbol Selector dialog.



3. Click OK.

Set the symbology for the other layers

Use either of the above methods to set the symbology for the other layers in

the Table of Contents.

Labeling the buildings

To provide better context for the reader of your map, you’ll label the

buildings. The buildings have an attribute that contains the name of the

building. To label the buildings with the name attribute:

1. Right-click the buildings layer and click Properties

2. Click the Labels tab.

3. Check Label Features in this Layer.

4. In the Label Field dropdown list, click Name.

5. Click OK.

Changing the symbology of the trees

In this section, you’ll experiment with some of the ways of symbolizing

features based on their attributes.

First, try symbolizing the trees based the Type field. The Type field

contains a C if the tree is Coniferous and D is the tree is Deciduous.

1. Right-click the Trees layer and click Properties.

2. Click the Symbology tab.

3. In the Show list (at the left of the dialog), click Categories and click Unique Values

4. In the Value Field dropdown list, click Type.

5. Click the Add All Values button.

6. If you want to use symbols other than the default symbols that appear, double-click the symbol that you want to change and choose an

appropriate symbol using the Symbol Selector dialog.

7. Uncheck the checkbox beside the symbol.

8. In the Label field, type the appropriate label for each value. (i.e. Coniferous and Deciduous.



9. Click OK.

The map updates and the Table of Contents shows the symbol used for the

two types of trees.

Next, symbolize the Trees layer using the values in the Height_m, The

values in this field represent the height of the trees in metres.



3. In the Show list, click Quantities and click Graduated Color.

4. In the Value Field dropdown list, click Height_m.

5. Choose a Color Ramp from the dropdown list.

6. Click OK.

The trees are shown on the map in colours according to their height.

Next, try symbolizing the Trees layer using the values in the Crown_m

field. The values in this field represent the radius of the crown each tree.





3. In the Show list, click Quantities and click Proportional Symbols.

4. In the Value Field dropdown list, click Crown_m.

5. In the Unit dropdown list, choose Meters.

6. Specify a symbol, outline, and make sure that the Data represents Radius option is selected.

7. Click OK.

The map shows the trees represented by circles that represent the

approximate area of that the trees’ crowns cover.

Now that you’ve experimented with some of the ways of symbolizing the

trees based on attributes, you’ll symbolize the trees based on their health.

Your goal is to make a map that the University’s arborist can use to

visualize the health of the trees. The Health attribute classifies the trees as A

for Excellent, B for Moderate, and C for Poor.

Since the health of the trees using categories, you’ll symbolize the trees

using Unique Values.



3. In the Show list, click Categories and click Unique values.

4. In the Value Field dropdown list, click Health.


6. If you want to use symbols other than the default symbols that appear, double-click the symbol that you want to change and choose an

appropriate symbol using the Symbol Selector dialog.


8. In the Label field, type the appropriate label for each value. (i.e. Excellent, Moderate, or Poor.



9. Click OK.

The trees are shown using appropriate symbols to indicate the health of the

trees. The arborist will be able to look at the map and quickly determine the

health of the trees.

To improve the map, you could help the arborist by showing, not only the

health of the trees, but show the health of the trees by type:



3. In the Show list, click Categories and click Unique values, many fields.

4. In the first Value Field dropdown list, click Type.

5. In the second Value Field dropdown list, click Health.


7. Set appropriate symbols for each unique combination of Type and Health


9. In the Label field, type the appropriate label for each value. (e.g. Coniferous, Excellent Health)

10. Click OK.



The map shows the coniferous trees as triangles of varying colours and the

deciduous trees as hexagons of various colours.

In the next section, you’ll learn how to select geographic features.



Section 4: Selecting geographic features

Before completing your map, you'll experiment with the many ways to

select features with ArcMap. Selecting features is the starting point for

performing spatial analysis. ArcMap lets you select features interactively,

based on feature attributes, or based on the location of features. By

combining these methods, you can answer some complex spatial questions.

In this scenario, the arborist has asked you the following question:

What's the average crown of the trees that are at least 5 m tall and are

within 10 m of Needles Hall?

To answer this question, you'll perform the follow steps:

Interactively, select Needles Hall by clicking it with the Select Features tool

Select all the trees from the Trees layer that have a height attribute of 5 metres or more.

Select all the trees from the currently selected trees that are within 10 metres of Needles Hall.

Calculate the average crown of the selected trees

Selecting Needles Hall interactively

In this task you'll select Needles Hall by clicking on it with the Select

Features tool.

1. Right-click the buildings layer, point to Selection and click Make This The Only Selectable Layer. (This step ensures that you will only select

features from this layer when clicking on the map).

2. Click the Selection menu and click Interactive Selection method. Make sure that the Create New Selection option is checked.

3. In the Tools toolbar, click the Select Features tool.

4. Click Needles Hall on the display window. The feature is highlighted with a cyan (blue) line to indicate that it’s selected.

Selecting features based on their attributes

Next you'll select all the trees that are at least 5 metres tall. To select

features based on attributes, you use the Select by Attribute dialog to create

and then run a Structured Query Language (SQL) expression.

1. Click the Selection menu, and click Select by Attributes.

2. Click the Layer dropdown arrow and click Trees.

3. Double-click the Height_m field in the Fields list

4. Click the >= button.

5. Click the Get Unique Values button.

6. Double-click the number 5 in the Unique Values list.



7. Click the Verify button to confirm that the syntax of your SQL expression. If there's an error in your expression, click Clear, and start

again at step 3.

8. Click Apply and click Close.

All trees that are at least 5 metres tall are select on the map.

Next, of the trees that are at least 5 meters tall, you’ll select those that are

within 10 metres of Needles Hall.

Selecting trees that are within 10 m of Needles Hall

The Select by Location dialog lets you select features based on their

location relative to other features in your map.

1. Click the Selection menu, and click Select By Location. The Select By Location dialog appears.

2. In the Selection method dropdown list, click select from the currently selected features in

3. In the Target layer(s) list, check trees.

4. In the Source layer dropdown list, choose buildings and make sure the Use selected features is checked.

5. In the Spatial selection method for the target layer feature(s) dropdown list, click ‘are within a distance of the source layer feature’

6. Set the distance to 10 meters.

7. Confirm that your settings are as shown here:

8. Click Apply.

9. Click Close.

Now, the only trees that are selected are at least 5 metres tall and are within

10 metres of Needles Hall.

Next you'll use ArcMap to calculate statistics for the selected trees.



Determining the average crown of the selected trees

ArcMap lets you view descriptive statistics based on selected set of

features. You'll use the Statistics dialog to determine the average crown of

the selected trees.

1. Click the Selection menu and click Statistics.

2. Click the Layers dropdown arrow and click trees.

3. Click the Fields dropdown arrow and click Crown_m.

The statistics list reveals that the Mean (average) crown of the selected

trees 3.11 metres.

4. Close the Selection Statistics dialog.

This section has introduced you to the selection capabilities of ArcMap. In

the next section you'll return to the task of creating a map showing the

health of the trees. Before moving to the next section, you should clear the

selected features and reset the map extent to the extent of the Trees layer.

Clearing the selected features and resetting the map extent

1. Click the Selection menu and click Clear Selected Features.

2. Click the Bookmarks menu and click Extent of Trees.

The selection is cleared and the map extent is reset. You're now ready to

complete your map.



Section 5: Laying out and printing a map

In this section you'll add additional map elements to complete your map.

Once you've finished laying out the map, you'll print it.

Setting up the page and switching to Layout View

Until this part of the tutorial, you've been working in Data View. Data View

is where you work with geographic features and perform analysis. To create

a print-ready map with the necessary map elements, you work in Layout

View. In this view, you work with a page defined by the Print Setup dialog

and place the various map elements to make an effective map.

1. Click the File menu, and click Page and Print Setup.

2. In the Printer Setup frame, choose the Name of the printer that you want to use. (e.g. \\envprint\mad_bw_xerox or

\\envprint\mad_colour_ricoh).

3. In Paper frame, for Size choose Letter, and for Orientation choose Landscape.

4. In the Map Page Size frame, make sure that Use Printer Paper Settings is checked.

5. Click OK.

6. Click the View menu and click Layout View.

The map features from the Data View are drawn on the Layout View in a

box on the page. The box is a Data Frame.

Working in Layout View

When you work in Layout View, you’re working with the page that you

intend to print. The ArcMap Layout toolbar appears when you’re in Layout

View.

Point to each tool on the Layout toolbar and read the tool tip that appears.

This toolbar lets you zoom in and out on the page (as opposed to the data).

If you want to see how things are aligned on the page, be sure to use the

tools from the Layout toolbar (not the tools on the Tools toolbar).

Positioning and resizing the data frame

First, you’ll resize the data frame so that you have more room to work with

on the page. You can resize the data frame by selecting it with the Select

Elements tool and dragging the selection handles. Alternatively, you can

precisely place and size the data frame using the Data Frame Properties

dialog.

1. Right-click the data frame and click Properties.

2. Click the Size and Position tab.

3. Make sure that the lower left square is chosen as the Anchor Point.

4. Set the X position to 0.5 in. the Y position to 1 in., the Width to 6.5 in. and the Height to 6.5 in. Click OK.

file://envprint/mad_bw_xeroxfile://envprint/mad_colour



The data frame’s position is adjusted in the Layout View.

Adding other map elements

You add map elements using the Insert menu. You'll add a Title, Legend,

Scale bar, and North Arrow to the map. You can position and resize these

map elements interactively with the Select Elements tool (click and drag or

select the item and press the arrow keys to move it), or by using the Size

and Position tab of element’s properties dialog.

Insert a title

1. Click the Insert menu, and click Title.

2. Type 'Condition of Trees near Needles Hall and Physics' and click OK..

3. Right-click the title and click Properties.

4. Click the Change Symbol button.

5. Change the Size to 24 and click OK.

6. Click Apply on the Properties dialog to see the new text size.

7. Click OK.

Alternatively, you could set the size, font, and style using the tools on the

Draw toolbar. To show the Draw toolbar, click the Customize menu, point

to Toolbars, and click Draw.

Insert a legend

1. Click the Insert menu and click Legend.

2. Step through the Legend Wizard and click Finish.

3. Position the legend to the right of the data frame.

Insert a scale bar

1. Click the Insert menu and click Scale Bar.

2. Click the style of Scalebar that you prefer and click OK.

3. Click Properties and set the Divisioin Units to Meters. Click OK.

4. Click OK on the Scale Bar Selector dialog to add the scale bar to the layout.

5. Position the below the data frame.

Insert a north arrow

1. Click the Insert menu and click North Arrow.

2. Click the style of North arrow that you prefer and click OK.

3. Position the north arrow to the right of the scale bar.

At this point, your map should look something like this:



Adding another Data Frame to the map

To provide some reference for the map audience, you'll include a key map

that shows the entire extent of the campus, along with a box showing the

extent of the Tree Study Area data frame.

1. Click the Insert Menu and click Data Frame.

2. In the Table of Contents, right-click the New Data Frame and click Properties.

3. Click the General tab, and type Key Map for the Name of the data frame.

4. Click the Size and Position tab.

5. Set the X position to 7.25 in. the Y position to 1 in., the Width to 3 in. and the Height to 2 in.

6. Click the Extent Indicators tab.

7. In the Other Data Frames list, click Tree Study Area, and click the > button.

8. Click the Frame button.

9. Click the Color button and choose the colour red for the Frame.

10. Click OK on the Frame Properties dialog.

11. Click OK on the Data Frame Properties dialog.

12. In the Table of Contents, right-click the Buildings layer and click Copy.

13. Click the Edit menu and click Paste to add the buildings layer to the Key Map data frame.

14. Right-click the Buildings layer in the Key Map data frame in the Table of Contents and uncheck Label Features.

15. In the Table of Contents, right-click the Road layer and click Copy.

16. Click the Edit menu and click Paste to add the road layer to the Key Map data frame.

17. Click the Zoom In tool on the Tools toolbar and draw a rectangle over the Key Map data frame that covers the extent of the South Campus.

The Key Map now indicates the area that’s shown in the main data frame in

relation to the entire south campus of the University of Waterloo.

At this point, your map should look something like this:



Adding additional map annotation

You’ll insert text elements to add additional map annotation For example,

you should add your name, id number, date, and course information to the

map.

To add a text element:

1. Type the text that you want to insert and press Enter.

2. Click the Insert menu and click Text.

3. Adjust the text style using the options on the Draw toolbar.

Aligning map elements

Once you’ve added all the map elements that you want, you can precisely

align elements by selecting elements and using the alignment tools.

For example to align the top of your legend with the top of the Tree Study

Area data frame:

1. Use the Select Elements tool to select the Legend.

2. Hold the Ctrl Key and Select the Tree Study Area data frame. The selection handles on the Legend change to green. The selection handles

on the data frame change to cyan.

3. Right-click the data frame, point to Align, and click Align Top.

The alignment of the Legend (green handles) is adjusted to match the

top of the data frame (cyan handles).

You can use this method to align any of the elements on your map.

Once you’ve finished laying out the map to your satisfaction, you’re ready

to print it.

Printing the map

To print the map:

1. Click the File menu and click Print Preview.

2. Verify that you map appears correctly.

3. Click Print.

4. Click OK on the Print dialog.

Be sure to save your map.

Backing up your work

Now that you’ve finished your map, close ArcMap. Next, to backup your

work, use Windows Explorer to copy your folder to another location (e.g.

space that you have on the network, a USB key, or other removable media,

etc.). Next you can remove your folder from the local computer’s D:\ drive.

To work on this map in a subsequent session, copy your folder from your

backup location to the local computer’s D:\ drive. ArcMap expects all the

data layers will be in the same path (e.g. d:\username\arcmaptutor) as when

you originally created the map.



Summary

This tutorial introduced some basic techniques for map-making and analysis

in ArcMap.

You’ve learned how to add, explore, and symbolize data on a map. You’ve

also learned the basics of selecting geographic features. And lastly, you’ve

learned the basic skills required to layout and print a map.

To learn more about ArcMap, start the ArcGIS Desktop Help. It is an

excellent resource that provides step-by-step procedures and well-illustrated

conceptual information.

introduction to mapping with arcmap - university of waterloo · tutorial introduction...

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