Monday, January 20, 2025

Intro to GIS - M3 - Data Collection w/ ArcGIS Field Maps/Map Projections



A map that showcases three data frames, each in a different projection, and comparing the areas of Alachua, Escambia, Miami-Dade, and Polk counties in Florida.




This week, we had some fun in the field! 

To start with, I learned to create an empty feature class and set up all the parameters for the data I'd be collecting. With all of this done, I journeyed out into my neighborhood in search of fire hydrants to examine, photograph, and document using ArcGIS Field Maps. 

I performed my fieldwork late at night, so I did some preparatory research using the City of Fort Walton Beach GIS Mapping Application (found at https://gis.fwb.org/GISApplication/default.html) to help me locate the fire hydrants closest to me. Having the Fort Walton Beach database available was very helpful! 

This lab really brought to light how awesome of a tool ArcGIS Field Maps can be for many different tasks, including emergency response after a natural disaster like hurricanes here on the Emerald Coast, or devastating fires out in the beautiful state of California. 

We also dove into the world of shapefiles and projections. 

I learned how to reproject shapefiles and define projections, which are essential for accurate data representation. Using ArcGIS, I created new shapefiles and explored multiple map views, allowing me to visualize data from different angles. I also learned to work with raster projections and how they relate to our shapefiles. From there, I generated a map that showcases three data frames, each in a different projection, and comparing the areas of Alachua, Escambia, Miami-Dade, and Polk counties.

The Projections lab was quite complicated, but I had fun working through it and I learned a lot!

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