Final Project Help

Create a new Shapefile for digitizing new data

1. From ArcCatalog, right click on the folder in the left window pane where you would like to store the new data and select new and shapefile. Choose the correct feature (point, line (polyline), or polygon), and name it.
2. Edit it as you did in exercise 4

Buffers

Buffers are extremely handy for doing distance work. The buffer tools are in ArcToolbox under Analysis Tools/Proximity. Use the help window (Show Help button) to help you use the tool. Make sure you are very careful about distance units (if it’s in State Plane Feet, then use feet, if its UTM meters than use meters). Remember that you have to

project any geographic data set to a projected coordinate system to get planar distances.

Overlay Review

One of the easiest things to do for some analysis is to use a raster binary/Boolean overlay method. Basically it requires reclassing raster data sets to be 1’s for good stuff and 0’s for bad stuff. Then you can use Boolean operators or math functions.

If you have vector data you’ll have to rasterize it. In order to do that, you may have to add a new field before rasterization that designates whether it’s good (1) or bad (0).

Also when doing raster work, make sure you follow the steps that I provided in Exercise 3 to get the data layers to line up in the same place in space with the same resolution.

Statistics

Review your exercises for how to do Summary Stats and Zonal Statistics. These are very helpful tools that provide information from your data/analysis. You may also want to check out cross tabulation (Tabulate Areas in Spatial Analyst tools under Zonal).

Use of Export

After you get done getting the data you want by selection or other method, consider using Export to shapefile or from tables you can also export as one of your options for manipulation in Excel. To create a new shapefile from your dataset right click on the layer name in the table of contents, select export and select shapefile. Name it and save it.