SO432, GIS Fall 2008

Lab—Types of Data 

Student Exercise: Blowing up map data and combining data:

1. Load the project "annapolis_data_types.msc" which will load all of the the following data. Project is the leftmost icon on the toolbar, or it is on the Window menu. Note that for some of the data sets you will have two windows, a map and a database table, while others will only have a map.  Fill in the following table and turn it in.

Data Set (should all be under c:\mapdata, and these are the files you need to open if you want to open them individually, using the indicated icons)	Vector/Raster/Grid	Point/Line/Area (If Vector) or  Pixel size (if Raster/Grid)	What It shows, and what you can do with it.
ANNAPOLIS_AREA_DATA\tgr24003lkA.shp
ANNAPOLIS_AREA_DATA\tgr24003plc00.shp
gazetteer\md_deci.dbf   (USGS Gazetteer)
annapolis_area_data\Annapolis_DOQQ\annapolis_doqq_wgs84.TIF
ANNAPOLIS_NED\15862659.TIF   (NED DEM)
ANNAPOLIS_AREA_DATA\NOAA_BATHYMETRY_DEM\ANNAP BATHY.DEM
ANNAPOLIS_AREA_DATA\ANNAPOLIS_NLCD\12029301.TIF (USGS NLCD) Note that you can get a legend for this data set.
ANNAPOLIS_AREA_DATA\ANNAPOLIS DRG\G3807605.TIF (USGS DRG)
ANNAPOLIS_AREA_DATA\NOAA_CHART_12283_GEO\12283.TIF (NOAA chart)
tiger\MD\TGR24003.RT1 (Census Bureau TIGER file)

Graded assignment. Individual work; you may discuss until you start to write something down.  Turn in the table above, filled in,  answer the following question, and attach 4 maps:

• What is the difference between raster and vector data?  What can we show with each type of data, how does the concept of scale apply to them, and what happens to each when we blow them up?  You will probably want to include images to support your answer.

• Show two quick maps with TGR24003LKA and the roads color coded by CFCC, and the TGR24003PLC00 data color coded by name.

• Show a quick map with the water depths in ANNAP_BATHY color coded to highlight the deep channel in the bay.

• Using ANNAP_BATHY show a topographic profile across the channel showing its shape.  Insure you do not show intervisibility.

• Create a map with the NED DEM, and overlay the TIGER roads on it, and the locations of the schools.  Make it map "pretty" with a labeled lat/long graticule and a scale bar.  For this map you will have a base map, and overlay other layers atop it.

This will be turned in on  at the start of the lab on Tuesday September 9.

To set up on your home computer:

• Get MICRODEM from http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/microdemdown.htm and run the installation program.
• If you already installed the program, get the new versions and place them in the program directory
  • The help file
  • The executable
    
• Download the data files at  http://www.usna.edu/Users/oceano/pguth/website/so432web/download/vector_raster/mapdata.zip .  Place this file in c:\, and then unzip it. This is a large download (about 93 MB).  When you are done, you should have created a directory c:\mapdata\annapolis_area_data with a number of  files of various types, including zipped files that MICRODEM can read.  If the files did not unzip to this location, you can just drag the entire directory to the correct location. There should also be a file c:\mapdata\md-proj\annapolis_md.msc which Windows will incorrectly identify as a Microsoft Common Console Document.

Techniques you will need to learn:

• When to blow up, and when to zoom first, in terms of conserving system memory, and being able to manipulate the map.
• If the grid or graticule is on the map as part of the data, or superimposed by the GIS software..
• How to filter a database
• How to change the color scheme for a grid
• How to change the color scheme for a vector data set
• Adding data layers on a single map