Part IV: Share Your Results

Part IV: Share Your Results

In Part IV, we will finalize our map in ArcGIS, then you will be asked to share your results with the Geog487 AGO group as web maps. As a final step, you will combine the output from the Step-by-Step and Advanced Activity into a web application.

1. Prepare Your Map to Publish in ArcGIS Online

   1. When you publish your map to ArcGIS Online, it preserves many of the features such as the extent and visible datasets. Let’s begin by removing all of the data we do not want to include on our final map. Remove the base map, all of the data sets, and all of the tables (you may need to switch to the List by Source view in the Contents pane) from your map except the following: Final_Forest_Patches, Study_Boundary, Roads07, and Management_Units. Save your map.
   2. Remove the underscores from the file names in the Contents pane.
   3. Change the symbology of the Final Forest Patches to Quantities > Graduated Colors based on the PctTotEdge field. Select a color scheme and number of classes you think best represent the message you want to convey about the results. You may want to consult ColorBrewer2 for advice and tips.
   4. Update the labels in the Symbology or Contents pane so the numbers in the Final Forest Patches make sense to your viewers. (What are the units? What’s being shown?)
   5. Change the symbology of the management units to hollow outlines with a unique color for each “Use.”
   6. Review your map. Ask yourself the following questions: 1) What are the main messages I am trying to convey with my map? (Remember, you want to show the relationship between logging and forest health.) 2) Does my map design communicate these messages clearly? 3) Will someone unfamiliar with my analysis be able to use my map to make a decision? Make any changes you think are necessary and save your map.

2. Share Your Results with the Group using ArcGIS Online

   1. If necessary, review Lesson 2 for a refresher on how to share your 2007, 2001 and 2021 Forest Patches maps with our GEOG487, Environmental Applications of GIS Group through the Penn State AGO Enterprise Organization.  You can either build a web application or create a story map for the web application requirement listed as Step 2 below.
   2. Step 1: Publish Three Maps in Penn State's ArcGIS Online for Organizations Account
      • Forest Patches 2007 (Final Results from Step-by-Step Activity)
      • Forest Patches 2001 (Final Results from Advanced Activity)
      • Forest Patches 2021 (Final Results from Advanced Activity)
   3. Step 2: Create a Web Application in ArcGIS Online that incorporates your Advanced Activity results.
      • I encourage you to select a template that allows the reader to easily compare at least two of the maps listed above (e.g., 2007 and 2001 or 2007 and 2021).

That’s it for the required portion of the Lesson 7 Step-by-Step Activity. Please consult the Lesson Checklist for instructions on what to do next.