GIS5050 Module 1: ArcGIS Pro Overview - Orientation

-

 
Welcome to my first post here!

Today is technically my first day of the UWF M.S. Program in GIS Administration. On my first day, I got to do an orientation assignment with data involving countries and cities around the world.

I had to take external data, the shapefiles, and connect them to the project in order to pull them into our Contents pane. From there, I assigned new symbology to the polygon and point layers. Then, I created a layout to produce a digital JPEG/PNG of the map.

Overall, I found it interesting to work through the module as someone that is not a novice to GIS. I can see how this assignment would help introduce newcomers to ArcGIS Pro and GIS in general, allowing them to get used to terminology as well as getting comfortable with the program and its interface. It reminded me of my first day on the job as a GIS Engineering Technician with barely any knowledge prior -- I simply dove right in nearly blind back then! It felt nostalgic in a good way, and I can't wait to see what I can learn in terms of changing up my workflow or simply learning new tips and tricks that I've been too tunnel-visioned to notice.

Here's to the future maps I'll make!

Screenshot of the orientation assignment for Module 1, Lab 1.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GIS5050 Module 4: Vector Analysis

-
Image
We're hitting the halfway mark of the Introduction to GIS course, and this week's lab is on vector analysis. We focused on running spatial queries in the first half of the lab and ran buffers in the second. I learned a lot about other ways of running buffers that I haven't yet to perform in my workplace, such as compound/multi-ring buffer. I can see how this would be useful in cases where certain distance thresholds must be met, like distance from road that is safe to build sidewalks or enough cushion for a safe bike lane, etc. The map that was created this week centered around the buffer tools, where we had to take De Soto National Forest feature classes and find out possible site locations for future amenities, such as campsites, pavilions, and the sort. We did this by running various buffers on both the water and road feature classes and finding where the buffers overlapped, while also taking into consideration conservation areas, which are non-construction zones. Screen...
Read more

GIS5050 Final Project: The Bobwhite-Manatee Transmission Line

-
Image
The time has come for the final project to be completed and the class done! It's a bit wild for me to think that much time has passed where my first GIS grad course is over. Throughout the entire final project, I had a lot of fun actually creating these maps -- maybe too much since I ended up losing sleep some days because I was so in a flow state, so into just constantly trying and tweaking ideas of how the basemap should be or how the insets should look, etc. I think the biggest takeaway I have from my first grad course in a long time is that I'm way too much of a perfectionist. I even chuckled at myself how frequently I wanted to redo the recordings of my final presentation just because I didn't like how I said something, stuttered, or so on. At this point, no amount of minor editing will change my grade that drastically -- it's not worth it to mull over to no end. Ultimately, I'm still very proud of the map deliverables I created and are maps I would be content ...
Read more

GIS5050 Module 6: Georeferencing, Editing, & 3D Mapping

-
Image
It's the last module before the final project assignment -- it's both exciting and a bit nerve-racking since the deadlines are coming up so fast! Module 6 covered georeferencing, editing, and 3D mapping. Since 3D mapping was not a requirement, I didn't do it; however, if I have time later in the week, I'd like to make an addendum to this post and add my 2nd map deliverable if possible. As someone who hasn't made a 3D map, it intrigues me and would love the opportunity to finally get one underneath my belt. Since the lab assignment focused largely on georeferencing and editing vector data, we worked a lot with satellite aerial imagery of the University of West Florida campus. We had to take 2 JPEGs of the north and south sides of the UWF campus and georectify them using different transformations -- the north aerial I performed in 1st order polynomial while the south aerial I did in 2nd order polynomial. Georeferencing was one of the first things I learned at my workp...
Read more