GIS II: Lab 1

Goal and Background

The goal of this lab was to reintroduce ArcMap software as taught in GIS 1 and use ArcMap as an analysis tool.

Methods

Using the 'Erie' map from the class data folder the attributes tables was closely examined to understand each record and the relationship between one-another. Using the symbology tab under properties for the Erie map two maps were created for the analysis of tract populations and the number of households per tract.  A map for tract populations was created using the sub-tab 'Categories.'  This data can be normalized but it was not in this instance as this map was going to be used to be compared against the number of households per tract map. Under the sub-tab 'Quantities,' a dot map was created for the second map. 

Results

As expected, there were some similarities between the two maps as these variables are dependent of each other. However, there were some interesting differences such as some tracts have a high population but a few number of households. Further analysis of these maps would be interesting if an median age was recorded and could be analyzed or if a land use feature class was added. These further analyses could reveal or disprove any additional trends.

Sources and References

All data used is from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire geography department.