Intro to GiS - Participation Assignment I - UNESCO World Heritage Project

UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Africa

As GIS students at the University of West Florida, we have put together a map gallery of our assigned world heritage sites. Each member of the group has included a map of locations around the continent of Africa. There are a total of nine group members and each has a map in the map gallery. Upon viewing the gallery, one can view maps of exotic locations in Africa and a description of the location. These maps provide the viewer with information and a visual representation of the mapped locations.


The link for the map gallery is: http://www.arcgis.com/apps/PublicGallery/index.html?appid=25d23f3c33a34d61919fcbb7f2a21a74&group=be7f6aa365f7441aa067081fc8b1aca7

Below is a screenshot of the map gallery:

Resource List

Website: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list

-Contains an interactive map showing the heritage sites around the globe. By clicking on the individual sites, the user can open up more detailed information about each site.

Website: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Conservation Monitoring Centre
http://www.unep-wcmc.org

For GIS data for the World Heritage Sites, IUCN and UNEP-WCMC have compiled a KML layer with key information on the natural and mixed World Heritage sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as of 1 January 2012. Link to access this information directly is:

http://www.unep-wcmc.org/kml-file-of-world-heritage-sites_812.html

Victoria Falls

“Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls.” UNESCO. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/509

“Victoria Falls.” National Geographic. National Geographic Society, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/world-heritage/victoria-falls/

Timbuktu

“Timbuktu.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web.
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/596022/Timbuktu
Site 4: Memphis and its Necropolis (Andrew Bradley)

“Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur.” UNESCO. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/86

Simien National Park 

“Simien National Park.” UNESCO. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/9

Rainforests of the Atsinanana

Braun, David “Everglades, Madagascar rain forests added to List of World Heritage in Danger.” National Geographic. July 31, 2010. Web.

http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2010/07/31/everglades_madagascar_rain_for/

Air and Tenere Natural Reserves 

“Air and Tenere Natural Reserves .” UNESCO. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2013.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/573

“Air and Tenere Natural Reserves.” World Heritage Seen by the Japanese Satellite ALOS. Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. n.d.Web. 21 Feb. 2013. http://world_heritage.jaxa.jp/en/search/detail.php?froml=list&from=category&id=263

Virunga National Park

“Virunga National Park.” UNESCO. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/63

Virunga National Park. Virunga National Park, 2011. Web.
http://www.visitvirunga.org/

Tsodilo

“Tsodilo.” UNESCO. UNESCO World Heritage Centre, n.d. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.
http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1021

Conclusion:

Our team highlighted different UNESCO world heritage locations from around the continent of Africa and created maps illustrating these locations. A screenshot of our gallery showing our maps is provided with a link to the gallery. In addition, included is a resource list citing all resources used when researching these sites during the project.

Cartographic Skills Lab V - Map Composition

The map was created entirely on Adobe Illustrator, using the resources provided in the lab. 

I began by dragging all individual features off the main canvas, and re-sizing them individually before placing them in their proper place. I chose a yellow-red theme to represent the population concentrations on the lab, with the stronger colors representing greater values.

I did not use the feature of the US map, as I did not think it was necessary to get the message across. The title itself states that the map is that of several Florida counties, and the general location is obvious. I did include the mini map of Florida, and marked the counties which are represented in red.

The neatline was created as a separate independent feature, and placed on the bottom of the feature table before everything else was in place.

Intro to GiS Lab V - Georeferencing/Projections Part 1

The purpose behind this lab, was to create a single output file showing differences in distortion between three projections; Albers, UTN and State Plane. The first challenge was to place all three maps on a single final canvas. The second, was to strategically place all the essential map elements to fit all the needed information.

I thought that a single north arrow, and a single legend could suffice for all three maps (I chose to make three separate scales, since different projections would have different areal distortions. Though it would  be hardly noticible on a scale that size, I assumed that the length of the scale may be slightly different based on the projection used.)

I could have fit the necessary information on a single legend, but I thought that there was plenty of room for the second legend, describing area. I decided to take the latter approach, to use as much empty space as possible.

Intro to GiS Lab IV - GIS Hardware, Software & Programming/ArcGIS Online & Map Packages

This lab provided a very useful set of instructions on how to create map packages, share them online, and how to open map packages contributed by other users to the ESRI database. Because I worked on this lab late, I noticed that at least some of the results which came up during my initial search for the necessary map packages were submitted by my classmates.

The main difference between this lab and all other labs, was the fact that the directions came directly from the ESRI website. They were fairly easy to follow, and the supplemented tips and guides provided on the template helped with filling in the more confusing portions of the lab.

I imagine I will have to return to this lab in the future, if there is a need to share data. However, with practice it will surely prove to be a valuable piece of knowledge and a great way to share one's work in a professional (or academic) setting.

Cartographic Skills Lab III - Data Classification

The maps presented above, illustrate the distribution of the African American population throughout Escambia County, FL. Each map was created using a different method of classifying data, including; natural brake, standard deviation, equal interval and quantile. 

I think that the Natural Brake method would be best to present the data to the broadest range of audiances.

It seems that the standard deviation method is too vague in expressing the information it tries to communicate. The quantile method has too great of a range for the highest value in the legend, and the equal interval method too great of a range for the first value making the map look very plain. The natural brake method map looks detailed in expressing the spread of the values across the county, and also at expressing the patterns of increase and decrease throughout Escambia County.

Cartographic Skills Lab IV - Adobe Illustrator

Part 5: The Layers Palette

1.       When I first opened the map using ArcMap, I misread the directions and added all leftover essential elements to the map before exporting it. The text items that I inserted in ArcMap, such as; name, title, date and data source remained in the Scale Bar layer. Afterwards, after combining the groups, the name, date and data source were no longer visible, but the map title remained as was. I decided to leave the map title, the way it was imported from ArcMap, but re-created everything else according to the directions. If I did have to create the title on Adobe Illustrator, I would simply use the type tool, and expand it to desired proportions with the selection tool. To change the size and the font, I would double click on the type tool button and select from each of the drop-boxes. Everything else went smoothly and according to directions.

Intro to GiS Lab III - Cartography

The first map shows the country of Mexico divided by states. The population of each is represented by a shade of green in accordance with the legend.

The second map shows the urban areas, roads, railroads and major and primary rivers in central Mexico.

·          In order to modify the legend of the third map, I went into layer symbology for the mex_elevation layer by right clicking directly from the table of contents.  Afterwards, I selected “classified” and changed the amount of classes to 6. I selected from the list of color ramps, but had a problem with changing the elevations. I could not modify the values by right clicking or double clicking on them.

Examine the Metadata in ArcCatalog for the following files and fill out the table below: 

Layer	Data Type	Publication Information: Who Created The Data?	Time Period Data Is Relevant	Spatial Horizontal Coordinate System	Data Summary / Description
mex_rivers	Shapefile	N/A	2007, 2002	Degree (0.0174532925199433)	Mexico Rivers and Streams represent the major rivers and streams in Mexico.
mex_elev	File System Raster	N/A	N/A	Degree (0.0174532925199433)	Digital elevation model of Mexico.

If a certain piece of metadata is not available for one of the files, that cell will be labeled “N/A.” You are not required to find information for such cells.

Working data folder filepath:   e.g. S:\abc1\IntroGIS\Lab3

Working MXD(s):  e.g. S:\abc1\IntroGIS\Lab3\myMaps\Example1.mxd

Output folder filepath:  e.g. S:\abc1\IntroGIS\Lab3\mydata 

Data you’ve created:
(File path should be the same as Output folder, above. If not, be sure to include the new output folder. Always include the file name, type/extension, and a brief description) 

·        e.g. abc1_roadsclipEC.shp – all roads within Escambia county

·        e.g. abc1_majorstreets.shp – only major roads selection

·         

PART II: Lab Questions / Answers
Answer all questions and explain your answers!

Q1: How many columns and rows does the mex_elev raster have?

The max_elev raster has 3800 columns and 2180 rows.

Q2: Can you edit the properties or data type of an existing field?

Yes; TYPE, AUTHORITY, TOLL and KILOMETERS and be edited.

Q3: How many administrative divisions are selected?

31 separate administrative divisions have been selected.

Q4: Describe the difference between classified and stretched symbology schemes for raster datasets.

‘Classified’ symbology assigns specific colors to different values, where the ‘stretched’ is a spectrum of a single color.