GIS5265 - GIS Applications for Archaeology - Module 5

This weeks exercise focused primarily on two things. The first, locating historical maps that can be used to interpret the landscape and archaeological resources in a given year. Specifically; we downloaded Captain James Cooks map of Macau from the David Rumsey website, to be used for this project. Second, we georeferenced the historic map document over modern aerials in order to gain insight into the change of landscape and population spread.

GIS5103 - GIS Programming - Module 4

This weeks module focused on debugging scripts. There were three separate exercises involved.

















1) The first exercise required a single correction to be done to an already provided script in order to make it run. The mistake had to be located and fixed.

2) The second script contained 8 errors in total, making the task more challenging. Many of these were simple syntax errors, and I was able to locate them by running the script and using the error messages as guides.

3.) The third script required us to leave the error uncorrected, and re-write the script using the try-except method in order to acieve the result pictured above.

GIS5265 - GIS Applications for Archaeology - Module 4

This weeks assignment focused on associating hyperlinked images, and URL links to specific points/features within a ArcMap-made project. The map above shows the location of the Paul Revere house on a historic map of Boston, along with his portrait, and a picture of a 1790 census with his name included.

GIS5103 - GIS Programming - Module 3

This weeks Module required us to find errors that were created in a hypothetical dice game in the script provided above.

The following assignment required us to create a code that would generate a list of 20 integers from the scale of 0-10, and the next one after that would remove all instances of a given number from the list.

The exercise was focused on the fundamentals of python and provided a good exercise for troubleshooting.

GIS5265 - GIS Applications for Archaeology - Module 3

This weeks exercise required a creation of a point database, marking various locations of known archaeological sites in Jordan. Most of the information provided for us was give in an Excel file format, and our lab exercise took us through the steps to convert the data into an ArcGiS friendly geodatabase. After entering coordinates for each of the selected site locations, ArcMap was easily able to read geographic location about each of the archaeological sites and display them correctly within the right coordinate system.

The geographic coordinates themselves were obtained from an interactive site: www.megajordan.com, which offers public information about known and recorded archaeological sites with intent to share this information with the public and help assess the monetary damage done by regular looting.

GIS5103 - GIS Programming - Module 2

This chapter served as an introduction to writing basic Python scripts. After completing a set of exercises, we were challenged with creating out own script based on the told we had just learned about. The script was meant to function as a long formula that would tally up the number of characters in an individuals last name, multiply them by three and display the result. The image shows the result of the script after it had been ran using my own name.

GIS5265 - GIS Applications for Archaeology - Module 1

PART 1

⦁ I began by starting up the ArcMap program, and opening ArcCatalog.

⦁ I pinned the ArcCatalog window to the side, and connected the course folder which I had already previously copied onto my S drive.

⦁ I right clicked on the Chicago_1869 file in my Module 2 folder, but I was not able to see any information specific to the shapefile. I was able to preview it, and see the ohysical shape but no information on the metadata.

⦁ I went through the other files listed in the assignment, and attempted to open the metadata info on each one. I was not able to see the metadata info for either of the  files, but 137 Dekoven St appears to be a point shape file showing the origin of the fire and the Fire_Limits layer is another polygon showing the extent of the damage.

PART 2

⦁ While my ArcCatalog was open, I dragged the three necessary files into my table of contents, and arranged them with the 137 DeKoven St location at the top, followed by the Fire extent, and finally the shapefile of Chicago in 1969 at the bottom.

⦁ I zoomed to view the shapefile of the city as it was in 1869. It has become very clear that the fire had spread from its point of origin towards the north-east.

⦁ I pressed the Information button, and clicked on a random part of the Chicago_1969 shapefile. When I did so, it opened a small information window containing some of the attributes for the specific ward within Chacago. Using this method, I am able to identify each ward that is overlapped by the Fire_limits shapefile. (See screenshot on the next page)

PART 3

⦁ Within the ArcMap window, I clicked ojn the ArcToolbox icon and located the Clip tool following the provided direction. (Within Analysis and Extract tools.)

⦁ I selected Chicago_1969 for my input and Fire_Limits for the clip features. Then, after clicking on the Environments tab I changed the Current Workspace and Scratch Workspace to my Module 2 data folder. (Make sure to change the Scratch workspace first, as my Current workspace did not want to change initially.) I also made sure that the output coordinate system remained the same as that of Chicago_1869.

⦁ I named the new shapefile DamagedWards_1871 as the instructions suggested, and ran the tool. The new shapefile appeared in its appropriate place right after the tool was ran. I opened up the attribute table to view the Chicago wards present within the shapefile, and wrote my answer down at question 2.

PART 4A

⦁ I located the Individual_Landmarks excel file, and opened it by double clicking on it within the data folder. It contained coordinates for many specific landmarks located in the Chicago vicinity, as well as the dates when they were built, addresses and descriptions.

⦁ I clicked on my File tab in ArcMap, and went to import data. When I selected the excel file, all fields automatically filled in for me. I clicked ok, and got a warning message about displaying the data as a shapefile. I clicked OK once more, and a new point shapefile appeared in my table of contents. (Each point marking a location of the specific landmarks.)

⦁ I exported the shapefile as the instructions say, and imported my newly made copy into my table of contents. I removed the shapefile that was being directly projected from the excel file.

⦁ After clicking the Selection by Attribute button at the main bar, I selected all attributes that fall between the dates 1831-1871. (Did so following the instructions provided exactly.) I verified my selection by clicking the verify tab, and exported the highlighted features as a new shapefile which was automatically added yet another shapefile to the top of my table of contents. I turned off the original landmark shape.

⦁ It seems like none of the landmarks fall directly within the fire limit. One that came very close, was the Site of Sauganash Hotel/Wigwam. (Seen highlighted on the screenshot.) 

⦁ I labeled my features in a fashion that would allow for most legibility. I saved my MXD, and went on to the second part of Part 4.

PART 4B

⦁ I followed the lab directions to create a landmark addresses database and added it to my table of contents. I opened the attribute table to ensure that both the Landmark name and the Address columns were included in the new file.

PART 5

⦁ I began by adding the Chicago_1890 shape to the bottom of my map. It was very apparent that the city had grown greatly in the twenty years after the fire. 

⦁ I repeated the steps from part 3 of the module lab, and clipped the Chicago_1890 shapefile with the shape of the Fire_Limits shape. I imported the new result into ArcMap, and opened the attribute table to view the 8 new wards that fell within the fire-limit zone. I wrote them down in the question section.

⦁ I clicked on the selection tab at the top of ArcMap, and selected “Selection by Attributes”

⦁ There, I saw that my formula from last time was still present. I simply modified the years to 1871 and 1890. I saw that all my features were highlighted in the Individual_Landmarks shapefile, but when I attempted to export the selected features I got an error message. I went back to revisit the step-by-step directions. I went back to re-import the shapefile from the excel data and repeated the steps once more. (It was not until I recreated a whole new shapefile from the excel data list, that the process worked again. Never the less, I now had a whole new shapefile that represented landmarks made between 1871 and 1890.)

⦁ I wrote down the answer to question 6, and clipped my shapefiles once more for the purpose of aesthetics. When my new shapefiles that contained Landmark locations were all added to the map, I removed the old shapefiles. I spent some time making the project aesthetically pleasing and legible, and exported it to my finished folder.