Week 4 - Vector Analysis I & II

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This is where things got super interesting as we start dealing with queries and geoprocessing tools which clearly is my favorite part. For part I, I appreciated that geodatabase's importance was explained. During my days of using ArcMap, I wasn't really that aware of using geodatabases until I learned how to use ArcGIS Collector. But all throughout my college days and some years of my work I had to compile my shapefiles in folders. And yes, I tend to misplace some of the extensions which will make my life miserable.

I learned to use Collector myself and one of the main component was to create a geodatabase and that's where it all started. I actually don't use the statistics tool that much in Pro but good to know that I learned something new wherein I can view statistical values instead of moving to another software like Excel.

For Part II, we started using more of the geoprocessing tools like buffer, union, intersect, and erase. Our goal was to create a map that shows the suitable campsite areas in De Soto National Forest in Mississippi using the following criteria:
  • Within 300 meters of a rod
  • Either within 150 meters of a lake OR 500 meters of a river
  • Should NOT be within a conservation area
In this lab, we were also taught how to use the union tool vs the intersect tool. I prefer the intersect tool as it's pretty straightforward but the union tool also has its advantages over different situations. Another thing I learned is the erase tool and multipart to single tool. This is something that I don't use often in my work (I guess) so I didn't know about those tools. But there are fairly easy to understand and are really useful! 

We were then tasked to create our final map and of course it should have the basics of good map cartography. I used the Mississippi Data Clearinghouse website to download the boundaries for the counties and parks/reserves/public lands. I used that to also know which county does the it fall into to add as a subtitle in my map. I then used it as a source for my inset map and then added a bit of a criteria text beside the map to explain how we came up with that "suitable/potential" campsites.


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