Lecture 5

Spatial Data
Model of the course
Using and
making maps
Navigating Map
GIS maps design

Interactive Map
Working with maps layouts Analyzing
spatial data Spatial data
Map
Animations Proximity
Spatial data analysis
infrastructure
Spatial Raster Data
analysis analysis mining
Geoprocessing File
geodatabases
3D GIS Network
analysis
Digitizing Geocoding
Spatial
regression
 Outline
 GIS coordinates
 Map projections
 Vector data formats
 US Census geographic files
 US Census data
 Geospatial data sources

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Lecture 5

GIS COORDINATES
 Spherical Coordinates
 Geographic Coordinate System (GCS)
 Angles of rotation of a radius anchored at
Earth’s center
 Latitude and longitude
 Used by US Census,
other world and federal agencies

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 Latitude and longitude
0 ° longitude (prime meridian)
0 ° latitude (equator)

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 Royal Observatory, Greenwich, England

Prime meridian

Photo courtesy of Paul Edwin Mastin, January 2011

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 Marco Zero monument, Macapá Brazil

Equator

Photo courtesy of Shan Shi

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 Latitude and longitude
 Coordinates Pittsburgh, PA USA

40

-80

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 Lat/Long coordinates
 Degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS)
 40° 26′ 2″ N latitude
 -80° 0′ 58″ W longitude

 Decimal degrees (DD)

 1 degree = 60 minutes
 1 minute = 60 seconds
40° 26′ 2″ =
40 + 26/60 + 2/3600 =
40 + .43333 + .00055 =
40.434°

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 Lat/long coordinates
 Translated to distance
 World circumference through the poles is
24,859.82 mi, so for latitude:
 1° = 24,859.82 / 360 = 69.1 mi

 1′ = 24,859.82 / (360 * 60) = 1.15 mi

 1″ = 24,859.82 * 5,280 / (360 * 3,600) = 101 ft

 Length of the equator is 24,901.55 mi.

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 GCS example (census tracts)

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 Rectangular coordinates
 UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator)
 US military

 State Plane
 Local US governments

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 UTM coordinates example
 Developed by US
Army Corps of
Engineers (1940s)
 Covers world, 80°S
to 80°N
 Metric coordinates
 60 tuned Transverse
Mercator projections
for longitude zones,
6° wide

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 State plane coordinates
 Established by the
US Coast and Geodetic Survey in the 1930s
 All positive coordinates in feet or meters
 Used by local US governments
 Originally North American Datum (NAD
1927)
 More recently NAD 1983 and 1983 HARN
(High Accuracy Reference Network)

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 State plane zones
 125 zones
 At least one for each state
 Cannot join zones to make larger regions
 Follow state and county boundaries

 Each zone has its own tuned projection

 Lambert conformal projection for zones with
east−west orientation
 Transverse Mercator projection for zones with
north−south orientation

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 State plane zones

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 State plane coordinates example

 State plane NAD 1983, Pennsylvania South, Feet

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 XY coordinate tips
 Always assign coordinates according to the agency
US Census City of Pittsburgh
Geographic coordinate system (GCS) State plane coordinate system

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 XY coordinate examples
US Census
Geographic coordinates (GCS)
Block groups

City of Pittsburgh
State plane coordinates
Sidewalks

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 Map document tip
 The first layer added in ArcMap sets the
XY coordinate system for the data frame
 Additional layers will overlay properly as
long as the correct coordinate system is
assigned to feature class
 For example, GCS to US Census files, State
Plane to local government files
 Known as .prj files

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 Map document tip
 Example: Sidewalks added first (state plane), but block groups
match even though they are in geographic coordinate system
(GCS) projection.

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Lecture 5

MAP PROJECTIONS
 Map projections
 Way to represent the curved surface of the
earth on the flat surface of a map
 Hundreds of map projections
 Each map projection has advantages and
disadvantages:
 Depends on the scale of the map
 Depends on map’s purpose
 Different projections good for small areas, areas
with a large east−west extent, or areas with a
large north−south extent

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 Map projections
Flatten half of a rubber ball?
No. Instead, features are projected onto one of three “developable”
surfaces.

Planar: a map projection

Cylindrical: a map projection where the Conic: a map projection where the earth's
resulting from the earth's surface is projected onto a surface is projected onto a tangent or secant
conceptual projection of tangent or secant cylinder, which is then cone, which is then cut from apex to base and
the earth onto a tangent or cut lengthwise and laid flat laid flat
secant plane

http://www.nationalatlas.gov/articles/mapping/a_projections.html#two

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 Conformal projection
 Cylindrical projection

 Parallels and meridians at

right angles
 Angles and shapes of small
objects preserved (at every
point, east−west scale same
as north−south scale)
 The size/shape/area of large
Example: Mercator projection (1569)
objects distorted (scale used for nautical purposes (constant
approaches infinity at the courses are straight lines)
poles)
 Seldom used for world maps
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 Equivalent projection
 Conic projection

 Preserves accurate area

 Scale and shape are not
preserved

Example: Albers Equal Area

standard projection for US Geological
Survey, US Census Bureau

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 Compromise projections
 Neither equivalent nor
conformal
 Meridians curve gently,
avoiding extremes.
 Doesn’t preserve
properties, but “looks
right”

Example:
Robinson projection (1961)
good compromise projection for viewing
entire world

used by Rand McNally and the

National Geographic Society

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 When projection is important
 Small-scale maps
 Comparing shapes, areas, distances, or directions of map
features
 Natural appearance desired

New York
New York

Los Angeles
Los Angeles Los
Angeles

Projection: Mercator Projection: Albers Equal Area

Distance: 3,124.67 miles Distance: 2,455.03 miles

Actual distance: 2,451 miles

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 When projection is not important
 Many business, policy, and management
applications
 On large-scale maps
 Error is negligible

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 Lecture 5

VECTOR DATA FORMATS

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 ArcInfo coverages
 Created using ESRI’s ArcInfo software
 Older format
 Set of files within a folder or directory called a
workspace
 Files represent different types of topology or
feature types

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 Shapefiles
 ArcView native format
 Minimum files
 shp–stores feature geometry
 .shx–stores index of features
 .dbf–stores attribute data
 Additional files
 .prj–projection data
 .xml–metadata
 .sbn and .sbx–store
additional indices

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 CAD drawings
 CAD software
 Autodesk, AutoCAD (.dwg)
 Bentley, Microstation (.dgn, .dxf)

 Often used by engineering companies

 Better digitizing precision

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 CAD drawings

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Lecture 5

US CENSUS GEOGRAPHIC
FILES
 Census TIGER/Line files
 http://www.census.gov/geo/www/tiger/
 Topologically Integrated Geographic
Encoding and Referencing files
 US Census Bureau product for digital mapping
of the United States
 TIGER maps available for the entire United
States and its possessions, including roads
and streets, railroads, rivers, lakes, political
boundaries, and census statistical boundaries

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 Example census geographies

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 TIGER census tracts
 Between 1,000 and 8,000 people (in
general)
 1,700 housing units or 4,000 people
 Homogeneous population characteristics
(economic status and living conditions)
 Normally follow visible features
 May follow governmental unit boundaries
and other invisible features

39
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 State tracts (2010)

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 County tracts (2000 and 2010)

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 City tracts (2000 and 2010)

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 City block groups (2000 and 2010)
 Subdivisions of a census tract
 400 housing units, with a min of 250 and a max of 550
 Follow clearly visible features (roads, rivers, and railroads)

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 Census blocks
 Smallest geographic areas for which the Census Bureau
collects and tabulates decennial census information
 Block boundaries visible (street, road, stream, shoreline,
etc.) or invisible (county line, city limit, property line, etc.)

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Lecture 5

US CENSUS DATA FILES

 Decennial Census Data
 Years 2000 and 2010
 Summary File 1 (SF 1)
 Short form, entire population
 Population
 Age
 Sex
 Race
 Families
 Households
 Housing units
 Tracts, block groups, blocks

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 Decennial Census Data
 Year 2000 Summary File 3 (SF 3)
 Long form, 1 in 6 households, random
 Income, poverty
 Educational attainment
 Citizenship
 Employment, workplace, disability
 Transportation, travel time to work
 Detailed housing attributes, housing value, residency five
years previous
 Languages spoken, ancestry
 Tracts, block groups, NOT blocks

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 American Community Survey (ACS)
 Replaces long form questionnaire and SF3
data
 Randomly selects about 3 million
addresses each year to participate
 Has rolling, 1-, 3, and 5-year estimates and
90% confidence intervals
 Add and subtract Margin of Error (MOE) to/from
Estimate to get the confidence interval

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 ACS Data
 Age
 Sex
 Race
 Family and relationships
 Income and benefits
 Health insurance
 Education
 Veteran status
 Disabilities
 Where you work and how you get there
 Where you live and how much you pay for certain
essentials
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 ACS 1 year estimates
 Most current
 Data with populations 65,000+
 Smallest sample size
 Less reliable than 3-5 year
 Best used when currency is more important
than precision or when analyzing large
populations
 Not available for tracts or block groups

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 ACS 3 year estimates
 Data with populations 20,000+
 Larger sample size than 1 year
 More reliable than 1 year but less reliable
than 5 year
 Best used when analyzing smaller
populations or geographies not available for
1 year estimates
 Not available for tracts or block groups

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 ACS 5 year estimates
 Data for all areas (tracts and block groups)
 Largest sample size
 Most reliable but least current
 Best used when analyzing small populations
or when precision is more important than
currency
 2005-2009, 2006-2010, etc.
 Note: 2006-2010 only available for county, city, town,
place, American Indian Area, Alaska Native Area, and
Hawaiian Home Land, and tracts. Block group estimates
are available only in the ACS Summary File.

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 Downloading block group data
 http://www.census.gov/acs/www/data_documentation/summary_file/
 Find the tables of interest and their sequence number in the
"Sequenced Number and Table Number" spreadsheet
(http://www2.census.gov/ acs2010_5yr/summaryfile/)
 Download the sequences that contain those tables

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 Other Census data
 Economic Census

 Population estimates

 Annual economic surveys

 Data Ferret
 http://dataferrett.census.gov/

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Lecture 5

GEOSPATIAL DATA SOURCES

 Spatial data infrastructure
 Federal Geographic Data Committee(FGDC)
 This nationwide data publishing effort known as
National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI).
 Established by presidential order
 Responsible for standards, policies, web portals
 FGDC activities are administered through the
FGDC Secretariat, hosted by the U.S. Geological
Survey.

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 Spatial data packaging
 Metadata
 Documentation enabling intelligent use and interpretation
 Data contents
 Provided by geographic area (political, statistical, tile) or
seamlessly (with extraction by area)
 Quality of geographic features
 Vector maps are generalized for small-scale maps
 Raster maps vary by pixel size (30m to a few inches) and
color depth 8 bits to 24 per pixel
 Coordinate system
 File format
 Download or web service

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 Classification of map layers
 Earth as a system
 Living things are on, under, or above Earth’s surface
 They depend on Earth and its environment for life and well-being
 They are organized in political, social, territorial, and other
arrangements

 Map layers
 Physical features:
 Earth’s surface and sub-surface
 Environmental features:
 atmosphere, climate, and weather
 Living thing populations:
 people, animals, plants, and microbes
 Organizational features:
 political, legal, administrative, and ecosystem

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 National Map Orthoimagery
 http://seamless.usgs.gov/
 Replacing the Digital
Orthophoto Quadrangles
 High-resolution, seamless
images in UTM coordinates
 Rectified to remove
distortions
 1m resolution with 0.5 m or 1
ft in urban areas, natural
color

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 National Elevation Data (NED)
 http://ned.usgs.gov/
 Replaces the Digital
Elevation Model (DEM)
 Seamless raster map
with 30m resolution for
nation and 10m or
better in some areas

Hillshade NED map for Rockville, MD

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 Landcover
 http://seamless.usgs.gov/
 Natural and manmade surface
features
 Collected from satellites in 1992,
2001, and 2006

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 National Hydrography Dataset
 http://nhd.usgs.gov/
 Water bodies, lines, and
points
 Identifies segments
(reaches) with network
coding (flow and
direction)

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 USGS national water datasets
 http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/rt
 Streamflow conditions
 5,000 stream gages with telemetry
transmits depth
 Program estimates flow rate

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 Example geospatial sources
 Government websites (examples)
 http://data.gov
 http://www.geoplatform.gov/home/
 http://nationalatlas.gov
 http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/ - National Center for
Education Statistics
 Universities
 State clearinghouses
 Local GIS departments
 Libraries
 For example, online business databases
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 Example geospatial sources
 Commercial resources
 (Esri, Google, engineering companies etc.)
 Historic GIS websites
 http://www.nhgis.org/
 http://www.aag.org/cs/projects_and_programs/hi
storical_gis_clearinghouse
 http://peoplemaps.esri.com/pittviewer/

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 Summary
 GIS coordinates
 Map projections
 Vector data formats
 US Census geographic files
 US Census data
 Geospatial data sources

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