Introduction:

This course provides hands-on experience in the use of Arc/Info Geographic Information System software. Arc/Info is a one of the most powerful and popular software packages used by GIS professionals. Students will learn how to create a geographic database, analyze spatial data, and apply cartographic principles to map data. Fundamental Arc/Info concepts, commands, and capabilities necessary to create a typical GIS project will be studied. Arc/Info modules covered will include ARC, ARCEDIT, ARCPLOT, and INFO using both the command line interface and the ArcTools graphic interface. Because this class is taught entirely over the World Wide Web, you will have the benefit of working at your own pace at your home and/or office. Required work includes (10) exercise assignments, readings from a text and the Internet, a midterm, (10) feedback forms, and a final project or exam. This is an elective course in the Geographic Information Systems Certificate Program.

Topics covered in this class will enable students to create a geographic database by digitizing or data conversion, create spatial data with topological relationships, associate attribute data with spatial data, analyze geographic data, and produce electronic or hardcopy output of map images and associated data. While this may seem complicated, what this basically means is that you will be able to produce a very high quality map linked to a database in a manner that allows you to systematically study spatial relationships.

Students are expected to have access to Arc/Info software running on a PC or Unix workstation. Arc/Info software version 7.0 or higher is preferred. However, PC Arc/Info version 3.5 or higher, which can run on Windows 3.x, 95, or NT, is also acceptable. Minimum hardware necessary for the completion of this course includes: a multimedia PC with a P5 Intel processor or higher, 32MB of RAM, 365MB of hard disk space, CD-ROM drive, and a 256-color display adapter. Necessary software includes: Arc/Info (which with proof of registration can be purchased at a large discount from ESRI at 800-447-9778), Microsoft Windows NT, plus WEB and internet capabilities. The required text is Understanding GIS: The ARC/INFO Method. Student must also have access to the dataset associated with this textbook. This is a 3 unit course. Prerequisite: an introductory course in GIS or permission of instructor.

Course Outline:

WEEK 1

Topic: What GIS Is and What It Can Do

• What is a GIS?
• Questions a GIS can answer
• Some applications of a GIS
• The components of a GIS
• Using a GIS

Assignment: Complete all of the one exercise in Lesson 1. Complete Feedback Form 1.

Objective: Define what is GIS and how it can be used.

WEEK 2

Topic: Geographic Data Concepts and the Arc/Info Data Model

• Types of map information: spatial and descriptive
• Major geographic feature types: points, lines, & polygons
• Storing geographic (spatial) features as x,y coordinates
• Topology: describing spatial relationships between geographic features
• Storing descriptive information in a tabular database
• Use of a common identifier to link spatial data to attribute data
• An introduction to relates, joins, and spatial overlays

Assignments: Complete all of the four exercises in Lesson 2. Complete Feedback Form 2.

Objective: Develop an understanding of the Arc/Info data model.

WEEK 3

Topic: Starting a GIS Project Using Arc/Info Software

• The 4 major steps in a typical GIS project
• Determining objectives
• Building the database
• Performing the analysis
• Presenting the results of the analysis
• Aspects of database design
• Identifying the required spatial data layers
• Determining the required feature attributes
• Defining each attribute and its codes
• Registering coordinates using a master tic file
• Color schemes
• Allocating storage

Assignments: Complete all of the three exercises in Lesson 3. Complete Feedback Form 3.

Objective: Overview steps involved in a typical GIS Project. Describe GIS database design. Also introduce details of the sample GIS project.

WEEK 4

Topic: Getting Spatial Data into Arc/Info

• Methods of capturing spatial data
• Digitizing
• Generating from ASCII files
• Scanning
• Steps to capture data by digitizing
• Use good base maps
• Define your procedures
• Prepare your maps
• Use ARCEDIT to digitize prepared maps
• Acquiring coverage data from other sources
• Scanning
• CAD files
• GIS data providers/vendors
• Procedures to capture data from ASCII files
• Use of GENERATE command in ARC

Readings: Lesson 4: Getting spatial data into Arc/Info from the text Understanding GIS: The Arc/Info Method. Also read online lecture notes for Lesson 4.

Assignments: Complete all of the two regular exercises and all of the advanced exercise in Lesson 4. Also identify three sources of coverage data for your area of GIS interest. Complete Feedback Form 4.

Objective: Create a digitized version of a map manuscript. Also to develop an understanding on how to create a coverage from an ASCII file and how to acquire data from other sources

WEEK 5

Topic: Making Spatial Data Useable

• Ensuring digitized coverage is free of spatial errors
• Check that all needed features have been digitized
• Check for redundant features
• Check that features are accurate
• Check that features connect properly
• Check that there is only one label point for each polygon
• Check that all features are within the outer polygon
• Arc/Info steps to ensure spatial data is correct
• Construct topology using the CLEAN command in ARC
• Identify errors using ARCEDIT commands
• Correct errors using ARCEDIT commands
• Reconstruct topology using the BUILD command in ARC

Assignments: Complete all of the six regular exercises and all of the advanced exercise in Lesson 5. Complete Feedback Form 5. Take mid-term.

Objective: Learn how to ensure quality for geographic data by correcting digitizing errors. Also learn how to create topology.

WEEK 6

Topic: Getting Attribute Data into Arc/Info

• Creating an INFO data file to hold attribute (descriptive) data
• Adding attribute data to the INFO data file
• Joining the INFO data file to the feature attribute table for the coverage

Assignments: Complete all of the four regular exercises and all of the advanced exercise in Lesson 6. Complete Feedback Form 6.

Objective: Learn how to add descriptive attributes to a land use coverage and how to join INFO files to the feature attribute table for this land use coverage.

WEEK 7

Topic: Managing the Database

• Using ARCPLOT to draw coverage layers in order to demonstrate the need to georeference all project coverages
• Understanding the fundamentals of real-world coordinate systems and map projections
• Creating a tic coverage containing real-world coordinates
• Projecting latitude-longitude values for tic locations into a UTM or other real-world coordinate system
• Transforming the digitizer coordinates of your land use coverage into real-world coordinates
• Edgematching the two adjacent land use coverages
• Joining the two adjacent coverages into one land use coverage for the entire study area

Assignments: Complete all of the four regular exercises in Lesson 7. Complete Feedback Form 7.

Objective: To learn about projecting, edgematching, and joining coverages.

WEEK 8

Topic: Performing Geographic Analysis

• Preparing the data for analysis
• Creating buffer zones
• Using boundary operations
• Performing polygon overlay
• Manipulating tabular data
• Evaluating and interpreting results

Assignments: Complete all of the nine regular exercises and the advanced exercise in Lesson 8. Complete Feedback Form 8.

Objective: Develop an understanding about how to use GIS for geographic analysis.

WEEK 9

Topic: Presenting the Results of the Analysis with Maps and Tabular reports

• Defining the components of a map
• Using symbols effectively
• Determining the purpose of a map
• Defining the map parameters of size and scale
• Designing the map layout
• Preparing symbol data
• Creating a final map
• Creating a tabular report

Assignments: Complete all of the six regular exercises and the advanced exercise in Lesson 9. Complete Feedback Form 9.

Objective: Learn cartographic basics about map production and how to generate reports.

WEEK 10

Topic: Customizing Arc/Info

• Using Arc Macro Language (AML) to automate frequently performed actions
• Typical AML uses
• Types of AML menus
• Anatomy of an AML program
• How to create an AML macro
• How to develop a menu driven user interface

Assignments: Complete all of the six regular exercises and the advanced exercise in Lesson 10. Complete Feedback Form 10. Submit final project or take final exam.

Objective: Learn how to use AML macros to speed frequently performed GIS tasks.

Online class procedures:

Questions and comments are encouraged. Send them to me via the following e-mail address. Also send completed exercises and feeback forms to me at this address. I expect to respond most e-mail questions and comments within two days. Expect corrected homework to be e-mailed back to you within 3-4 days.

Email assignments, questions, and comments to:

Dave Endelman

E-mail address: djendelman@aol.com

Instructor:

David Endelman, B.A., GIS Specialist, Aera Energy LLC, Bakersfield. Endelman has been involved with GIS since 1992 and cartography since 1973. He has conducted projects involving base mapping, facility systems mapping, and surveillance mapping.

Grading and Assignment Notes:

This Internet course is designed as a university-level ten-week course. While it is not completely required, it is recommended that each week's assignment is completed during the scheduled week. It is expected that the course will be completed during the current quarter period.

This course is divided into 10 parts; at the end of each part is an exercise. Students must submit each exercise to the instructor via e-mail. The exercises will provide a total of 50 per cent of each student's grade. Also at the end of each section is a course feedback form which each student is required to complete for 10% of his or her grade; this form must likewise be submitted via e-mail to the instructor. A midterm exam will cover basic principles of using GIS with Arc/Info software and will serve as 15 per cent of the student's grade. The remaining 25 percent of your grade will be come from a final project or a comprehensive final exam.

Student collaboration is an extremely useful learning technique. One of the goals of this class will be to develop these interactions across the Internet. However, any indication of cheating will be dealt with as per the policy of the California State University, Bakersfield Academic Policies.

Working with ZIP files:

Students that access computer files usually access individual files that the instructor provides as directory locations and file names. The data provided for this course is prepared differently: groups of files are written to another file in a compressed or ZIP form. ZIP files are groups of files and directories that have to be expanded or unZIPped before their information can be used.

The ZIP file shareware utilities were developed by PKWARE, and though now there are several different companies making ZIP utilities, PKZIP and PKUNZIP are the two most often used utilities and are the "fall back position" that most people take if they are forced to use a generic ZIP product. The information below about ZIPping and unZIPping files is based on PKWARE programs. For access to PKWARE's Internet site, see http://www.pkware.com/download.html

ZIPped files are typically provided with a file extension of .zip. For extracting the information in these files, the program to use is PKUNZIP. For making ZIP files, use PKZIP. ZIP files may also be specially processed in a form that allows for the data to be self extracting; files in this format have a file extension of .exe and are prepared using the ZIP2EXE program.

Whether you have ZIP or ZIPped executable files, the files should first be copied to their own directory. This directory will serve as the initial repository of the extracted information. There are several reasons for putting the ZIP file into its own directory for extraction. One of the most important is that if you have several ZIP files to extract information, file names may be reused between these Zip files and there then is a potential for confusion as to which files go with which set of extracted data. Also, the files contained in a ZIP file may be ten times or more in file volume, so be sure that adequate disk space is allotted. Finally, if you download a ZIP file from the Internet, it usually is sent to a default directory determined by your browser configuration. Extracting the data in that download directory without copying the ZIP files to their own directory makes for a real file mess after about the fifth or sixth file extraction (this is the voice of experience: most computer advice comes from someone that has done an operation wrong and has vowed never to again experience that level of heartache).

Once the file is in its extraction directory, extract the information by typing path/PKUNZIP filename (without the .zip extension), being sure to include the proper path to PKUNZIP. If your data is contained within a ZIPped executable file, simply type the filename (again without the .exe extension).

Virus Protection:

Since you may be downloading files from the Internet or from other media, you should be aware that there is a potential for these files to contain viruses that may infect and damage your computers data (and even damage your equipment). This course has taken every means to protect students from viruses, but students should also be aware that virus infections remain an ongoing problem of file exchanges in the Information Age. It is recommended that you have a good, working antivirus program in place prior to beginning this course. If not, I recommend you implement such a program before proceeding. For antivirus software check out the site of McAfee at http://www.mcafee.com/mstore/activ_store.html., or consider acquiring software from another reputable software.

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