Notes From Class

Wednesday, Pete recreated his powerpoint of instructions for digitizing maps. I usually get impatient when material is reviewed in class, but this time it really helped. We got tips on managing the attribute database and using some of the finer editing tools.

- To create drop down fields, you must assign coded values to the field domains in the geodatabase - then assign the domain type to the field in the feature class. Note - The descripion rather than the code shows up in the drop down menu.
- Using the trace tool is tricky until you learn to make sure you have selected the AREA of the map you want to select objects from.

I look forward to using all these cool tools to make my own maps.

Digital Data - Module Four

Well, our first test was Monday and it was relatively painless. Thanks, Pete, for giving us the "Learning Objecives" and "Terms to Know" with each module. For me, the hard part of this class is keeping up with this damn web log.
Wednesday, we began module four. Pete went through his slides of examples of digital data; essentially a list of prominent sources of information we can use in GIS. I then requested the SSURGO data for the continental US from the Soil Data Mart. I feel kind of bad about it now. I thoght it would just be an electronic request but I was 75th in line on Wednesday and four days later I have not received my data. There must be a room full of monkies working tirelessly to generate these data sets.
There is a long list of downloadable GIS data for North Carolina at the NC OneMAP site. On to chapter 19....

Geodesy, Projections and Coordinate Systems

OK, I must be a nerd. This stuff is fun. We learned about the shape of the geoid, Earth, and its measurment relative to the ellipsoid. There are several geographic coordinate systems used to develop Datums, or networks of known points on the Earth. The big lesson from this chapter is Know your projection! If you include layers in ArcMap that have undefined coordinate systems, the features will not line up properly.
I would love to learn how create datum points by Astronomical Observation. Pete, do you have a text for that?

Object Data?

I assume this is the data model used for the Buncombe County Land Records GIS. Bolstad, chapter 2 was a little chunky for someone long out the textbook reading business. I guess I'll have to revisit it with a list of the learning objectives in hand. See y'all Monday.

Journal 1

Wednesday, in class, Pete gave us the Cliff notes of Bolstad chapter 1 and GTKArcGIS Chapters 1-3. I am not sure why he wants all three exercises posted as .jpegs as the last one looks the same as the data file. Also, I would prefer to post .jpegs from layout view so the maps will at least have titles. I will not this week becuase I am following the book precisely.