Week 3 - Mexico Maps

The three maps of Mexico below were created for the Week 3 Spatial Data Modeling lab assignment for the University of West Florida Online GIS Certification class, Intro to Geographic Systems (GIS4043/L).

The first map is a chloropleth map of the states of the country of Mexico classified by six population ranges. The map demonstrated the technique of creating a unique layer by extracting map data from another layer. In this case the political boundaries of the Mexican states were extracted from a layer that showed political boundaries for states from several countries including the United State as well. Constructing the map was relatively hassle free though a lot of time was spent lining up elements such as the legend and scale bars. Note that there are scale bars for both miles and kilometers which seemed like an important feature to have as the map readers may use one or the other as their basic measure of distance.


Map 2 shows the major highways, railroads, rivers and urban areas of central Mexico. The map was generated after adding several additional feature layers to the previous map, re-layering features, turning off other features and adjusting the scale to 1:5,000,000. The inset map was added by creating a second data frame and using the Extent Rectangles property to link the layers in the main map to the inset drawing to display the red rectangle. Much of the time on the map was spent trying to find appropriate color schemes for the background, linear features and urban polygons so all stood out appropriately. Also, the legend, because it had elements from multiple layers, was a challenge to adjust and display properly.

The last map was created by adding a raster layer of elevations to the preceding map, turning off the linear (rivers, roads, etc.) and political layers and adjusting elements accordingly. The color scheme was the hardest thing to determine for the map because it required a graduated color ramp as can be scene in the legend and it was hard to find one that seemed suitable. Ultimately, the one chosen seemed the best way to display the variations in terrain elevation from the coasts to the mountains. The biggest issue with putting the map together was waiting for it to redraw itself after a change to the color ramp.

Module 2 Lab Assignment - World Map

The world map above was created for the University of West Florida Online GIS course, Introduction to GIS for the Week 2 Spatial Data lab.

Week 1, Deliverable 2

Find Potential Sites for a Youth Center
The map above depicts potential sites for the location of a youth center in an unnamed city created using ArcGIS. The map was created as part of the first module, Exploring a GIS Map, in the ESRI Virtual Campus course: Getting Started with ArcGIS Desktop.

The criteria for locating the youth center was an available building within an area where the youth population is greater than 75 per census block (a census block is the smallest geographic unit for which the U.S. Census Bureau collects data). The exercise required using ArcGIS tools to identify features based on their attributes and relate them via their spatial relationships with other features. The exercise was a good demonstration of how GIS data is actually referenced back to data stored within the system (in this case on my H: drive) as much of the exercise required looking in tables as opposed to on the map itself to get the result.

I did not have any real issues putting together the map for the exercise. As someone familiar with Structured Query Language (SQL), I was very comfortable working in the attribute tables when using the Select By Attributes dialog box which made the exercise flow smoothly for me. The activity quiz on the other hand, threw me for a loop with the detail in some of the questions, but I took my time and thought through it and was able to pass. Thank goodness.

Week 1, Deliverable 1

Planning a Trip to San Diego
The map above depicts attractions in and around San Diego, CA and has the location of the San Diego Zoo highlighted by a light blue circle. The map was created as part of the first module, Exploring a GIS Map, in the ESRI Virtual Campus course: Getting Started with ArcGIS Desktop.

Producing the image above using ArcMap and following the steps in the ESRI module, I had few difficulties. However, I did try to find a way to change the San Diego Zoo selection to a different color and was unsuccssful. I will look into how that can be done at a later date because I don't like the light blue color when used for the purpose of highlighting a location as is done in the map.

Also, I waited to post the map until I finished the entire exercise and am glad I did after reading that we should include our name somewhere on all submissions and maps. At first I tried to create a printable map as was done in the second exercise, but because there are actually 2 maps in this file, San Diego and U.S., I wasn't sure how it would load. In the end, I decided for this map it was easier just to open the jpeg in the Paint program and add a text box for title and one for my name.