One of the first steps in any geospatial project is to find relevant datasets that you will use either to create maps, conduct an analysis, or both. For example, many projects in the environmental field require a site assessment with an inventory of natural features and concerns or related opportunities. This information is necessary to create management plans for conservation and recreation areas, environmental impact assessments for development projects, future land use plans, zoning, and parks and recreation plans for city planning, to screen and rank potential sites for various uses, and to plan for field data collection events.
In the U.S., most of this information is readily available on the Internet from various federal and state agencies. For example, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) [1], the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) [2], the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) [3], the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) [4], the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) [5], the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) [6], the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA [7]), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) [8], and the U.S. Census Bureau [9] provide geospatial datasets related to elevation, soil types, current and historical land use/land cover, wetland inventories, hydrological features, wildlife inventories, habitat assessments, invasive species, proximity or susceptibility to pollution, climate, energy potential, and risks of fires, drought, flooding, and demographic data. Also, many datasets are available within ArcGIS Online as data services.
GIS and geospatial technology make it very easy to combine this information into one place, analyze it, and create maps to communicate the information to interested parties. Before we can start analyzing data, we need to know where to find it and how to work with it. We are going to explore several providers of environmental data to create a series of natural features maps. We will explore each organization’s website to find which data sets they offer and information about each data set (metadata). We will also explore different methods to view each dataset, including interactive mapping websites and online data services.
Your organization is beginning a new conservation project on the border of Montana and Wyoming. The project management team needs to understand the natural features of the site to plan field data collection efforts. Your job is to locate relevant geospatial datasets, communicate their opportunities and limitations, and share them with the team in a user-friendly format.
At the successful completion of Lesson 2, you will have:
If you have questions now or at any point during this lesson, please feel free to post them in the Lesson 2 Discussion.
This lesson is one week in length and is worth a total of 100 points. Please refer to the Course Calendar for specific time frames and due dates. To finish this lesson, you must complete the activities listed below. You may find it useful to print this page out first so that you can follow along with the directions. Simply click the arrow to navigate through the lesson and complete the activities in the order that they are displayed.
SDG image retrieved from the United Nations [10]
One of the first steps in any geospatial project is finding data and metadata related to your topic and study area. I like to think of this phase as detective work. You often need to search for detailed clues in many different places before you can understand the bigger picture. For example, the same data set can often be obtained from multiple agencies, in multiple formats, and in multiple geographic packages (e.g., grouped by state or county vs. seamless).
You may need to consult several different sources to find all of the information you need to use the data, such as date, scale, description of coded values, etc. You may also use different sources to pre-screen and download the data. These websites are often hyperlinked to each other, so you may bounce back and forth a few times before landing in the right spot. You may find that some interfaces and data products are much easier to work with than others. We will experiment with a few different data providers to demonstrate this concept. The keys to success are budgeting ample time, keeping detailed notes along the way, and asking the right questions before you begin your search.
The best place to start looking for geospatial data is on the web. There has been a push to democratize environmental and climate-related data, and we will take full advantage of that initiative. I have listed a few different types of websites, typical data you will find on them, and links to some example sites below. This is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but rather an overview to get you pointed in the right direction.
Most websites provide links to download raw GIS and geospatial data that you can input into spatial analyses. Shapefiles, geodatabases, GeoJSON, and rasters are typically available for download in one or more of the following options:
GIS and geospatial files from Options 2 and 3 are typically aggregated by one or more geographic units such as counties, 7.5‘ topographic quadrangles (topo quads), or watersheds. You may need to download multiple files to cover your entire study area, and then merge them into a single data set using ArcGIS. The higher-quality sites typically offer interactive maps where you can browse available GIS and geospatial data and metadata.
Several years ago, finding information in a readable format was one of the most challenging parts of geospatial work. This is no longer the case, as most government data sets have been converted into GIS and geospatial formats accessible on the Internet. Typically, government data is available in at least two different formats: raw geospatial files (e.g., shapefiles, geodatabases, rasters) and online data services. You are likely familiar with working with raw GIS data within ArcGIS Pro or using online data services such as the ArcGIS Living Atlas.
Online data services are geospatial layers that you can connect to via the Internet. One of the major benefits of online data services is that they contain seamless versions of data. Seamless data sets combine individual data sets from different locations, scales, and time periods into one dataset. This lets you view and interact with hundreds to thousands of individual data sets simultaneously. For example, you may have worked with paper versions of topographic maps in the past. Each paper map only shows a finite area (e.g., 7.5 minutes) at one scale (e.g., 1:24:000). If you want to view a larger area or a different scale (1:100,000 or 1:250,000), you would need to gather many different paper maps. Using a seamless map service, you only need to use one data product to access the information from all of these paper maps at the same time. As you zoom to different scales, the underlying data source changes automatically. For example, if you zoom out to view an entire state, the map will display scans of the 1:250,000 maps. As you zoom in closer, the images will be replaced by more and more detailed data sets (1:100,000, 1:24,000).
While seamless datasets can be extremely valuable, they also have their drawbacks. For example, many seamless data sets were created by digitally stitching together multiple adjacent data layers that were created at different time periods. Mosaicking them together into one dataset gives the impression that the metadata of the underlying data sets are uniform when they are not. You must be careful using seamless data sets if time is an important variable in your analysis. This is only a concern if the data were not collected continuously, such as via satellite. Examples of continuous data include digital elevation models and products derived from remote sensing sources such as the National Land Cover Data Set (NLCD).
You can view online data services in a variety of ways. For example, you can use viewers embedded in an organization's website, ArcGIS.com, or add them directly to your layout in ArcGIS Pro. Interactive mapping websites allow you to view and interact with online data services using any Internet browser. Sites will usually include a map viewer, legend, tools to interact with your data such as zoom and identify, and tools to download subsets of data directly from the interactive map. Interactive maps allow you to customize what is displayed on the map by turning available layers on and off in the legend. They may also enable you to view the underlying attributes of each data source.
You will find that the quality and user-friendliness of online interactive map viewers vary dramatically depending on the organization and software used to create them. For example, on some websites, the identify tool only allows you to identify features within one layer at a time. You have to specify which layer is “active” in the legend to view its attributes. On other sites, you must manually refresh the map by clicking on a button every time you turn layers on and off.
Adding online data services directly to your ArcGIS session gives you many of the benefits of interactive mapping websites while providing much more flexibility to customize your map. Depending on the type of service, your options for controlling how the data are displayed are limited. For example, you may be unable to change certain aspects of the symbology or use them for input into geoprocessing tools such as the Clip Tool. They often have scale-dependent rendering settings that you may be unable to alter. Aside from these limitations, there are many benefits to using online data services. They can save a lot of time since you don’t have to download each data set individually and set the symbology for each one. This could trim a few days from your work schedule if you use many complex data sets.
Interactive mapping websites are a great way to get to know your study area and check the availability of several data sets simultaneously, but they may lack tools for robust spatial analysis. Connecting to map services or the AGO Living Atlas within ArcGIS is an easy way to create base maps, combine data from multiple sources, or integrate your own data layers with publicly available data. Since the data come pre-symbolized, you can save a lot of time setting up your map. Working with raw data gives you the most flexibility as far as interacting with your data within ArcGIS. However, there is typically a steep learning curve in figuring out which attributes to use to symbolize your map and use for your analysis. This can become a very time-intensive exercise. It is best to download only the datasets that you need to modify or input into an analysis project and rely on online data services for the remaining data.
Once you have located and acquired your data, your job is only just beginning. Your input data will likely come from several different sources, have a variety of data formats and extents, cover a range of time periods, and include many different attributes. You need to be aware of these properties before you start to work with your data. A lot of this information is not immediately obvious just by looking at the files. You will need to locate metadata documents to figure out many of the details. You will find that the quality of metadata necessary to understand and work with data varies depending on the source. Oftentimes, official FDGC metadata files are not packaged with the data. It is also possible that the metadata will be packaged with the data but not in a format recognized by ArcGIS (e.g., PDF or Word Document). This means you won’t be able to view the metadata in ArcGIS. If metadata files are not packaged with the raw data, you can usually find the information you need somewhere on the source website, by doing a general Internet search or by contacting the agency or organization that created the data. You may need to visit several different websites to find all of the information you need to answer all of the questions below. Sometimes, one of the most time-consuming parts of an analysis project is figuring out what different fields and attribute values mean (e.g., coded or abbreviated values).
Instructions: Watch the seven short videos below (~20 minutes total) and review the two Esri web pages listed as required readings. You will need information covered to complete the Lesson 2 Quiz. You may want to print the quiz from Canvas and keep track of your answers as you watch each video.
Video 1
Video 2
Video 3
Video 4
Video 5
Video 6
Video 7
Reading 1: Skim the Esri Living Atlas of the World Story Map [50] and browse the Esri Living Atlas [51] content.
Reading 2: Skim the content of the Web App Builder for ArcGIS help information about the Swipe widget [52]
This section provides links to download the Lesson 2 data and reference information about each dataset (metadata). Briefly review the information below so you have a general idea of the data we will use in this lesson. You do not need to click on any hyperlinks, as we will do this in the Step-by-Step Activities.
In this lesson, we will experiment with two types of online datasets: Esri Base Maps and data services hosted by the U.S. Geological Survey's National Map.
The websites and servers may occasionally experience technical difficulties. If you happen to work on this lesson while one of the sites is down, you may need to stop work and start again the following day to allow time for the servers to come back online. Beginning this lesson before Wednesday will help avoid any issues.
Note: You should not complete this activity until you have read through all of the pages in Lesson 2. See the Lesson 2 Checklist for further information.
Create a new folder named "GEOG487" directly on your C drive. It should have a pathname of "C:\GEOG487." You will use this folder for the remaining lessons. It is very important that your pathname is short and has no spaces in it, as this will cause problems later in the course when we use geoprocessing and spatial analyst tools.
Create a new folder in your GEOG487 folder called "L2." Download a zip file of the Lesson 2 Data [53]and save it in your "L2" folder. The rest of the datasets we will use in the lesson are available as online data services. Information about all datasets used in the lesson is provided below:
Study_area.shp: Shapefile showing the boundaries of the proposed project.
Metadata:
You can also view the metadata for layers in ArcGIS Online by clicking on the "Show Properties" tab. When you hover over each dataset, you should see the horizontal ellipsis or more options menu. Click on the ellipsis > Show Properties > Information.
Additional resources:
Sentinel-2 10m Land Use/Land Cover Time Series [63] - Global map of Land Use/Land Cover (LULC) from ESA Sentinel-2 imagery
In the Step-by-Step section for Lesson 2, we will explore a variety of environmental geospatial datasets available online, review metadata, create maps using ArcGIS.com, and share the maps as an interactive web application.
Note: You should not complete this step until you have read through all of the pages in Lesson 2. See the Lesson 2 Checklist for further information.
In Lesson 2, we are going to create a website that contains interactive maps with datasets related to our project scenario described in the Introduction. We will create maps and web applications using ArcGIS Online. We will save our maps in the cloud using Penn State’s ArcGIS Online for Organizations account. Our final product will look like the example below.
This lesson will provide many details and graphics illustrating how to do each step using ArcGIS Online. Later lessons will not provide as much detail, as we expect you to reference previous lessons and explore help topics if you get stuck.
It is important to understand the opportunities and limitations of your input datasets before you begin working with them. We will do this by exploring the available metadata. As a geospatial professional, you will often be the only person reviewing this level of detail about the datasets. It will be your job to communicate what you find with the rest of your team.
Metadata | Imagery | Land cover |
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Timeframe |
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Scale |
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Organization(s) that Created Data |
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Organization Hosting Web Data |
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Citation Information Requested by Data Provider |
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Description of Coded Attribute Values Included? Y/N |
Were there particular pieces of information that were harder to find than others? Did you notice any differences in the quality and ease of use of different data provider’s websites?
Note: Critical Thinking Questions are not graded. They are provided to help you think about the lesson concepts. I encourage you to share your thoughts on the lesson discussion forum.
Before you can access ArcGIS Online, you need to confirm your account. We will only have to do this once to have access for the rest of the semester. ArcGIS Online has a feature that helps us to manage a group such as this course. In order to take advantage of the Group features, I will need you to "Sign In" to the Penn State ArcGIS Online organization using your Penn State Username and Password. Follow the steps below to Sign In and confirm your account for the first time. There are directions at arcgis.com to create a Personal Account that you can use to complete this course. Note: If you are not enrolled in the class, you will not have access to Penn State’s ArcGIS Online for Organizations account.
Please do not log in using an account that you created outside of the program. According to Esri’s website, “you will transfer ownership of your items to Penn State's Online for Organizations” for any content that is saved in the account you log in with. This means that any instructors or students using the Penn State account will be able to have administrative rights to your preexisting content.
Note: There is a group for each semester.
Note: Data layers often have default names that will be meaningless to most people who read your Map (like your boss and clients). Make sure you review layer names and change them, so your maps make sense to people other than yourself.
Which National Park is the Study Site near?
Which state(s) is the Study Area located in?
How much detail can you see in the imagery if you zoom in close?
The second dataset we will explore is part of the United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Map. The land cover data service is hosted on their website and server. We can access the data in ArcGIS Online and by using their website (there are other options too).
After exploring the same dataset using ArcGIS Online and the online viewer provided by the data creation agency, can you think of any scenarios where one method would be preferable over the other?
Now that we have created individual maps for each dataset, we can combine them into one using a template web application provided by Esri. You can use these templates to share your data in an easy-to-use format. Note: You need to be a member of the GEOG487 group to complete this section.
We will be sharing our work with the class throughout this course in ArcGIS Online. Please follow Penn State’s Academic Integrity guidelines covered in the Syllabus. (As a group administrator, I will be able to see if you created your own maps or made a copy of another student’s work).
I encourage you to view other students' work to learn and be inspired. If you incorporate any of their ideas in your own work, please list their name and map URL in your sources.
When designing maps and applications, it is best to assume that your end users don’t know where the study area is and are not familiar with the data – where it came from, what it is supposed to be used for, etc.
It is your job to point them in the right direction by crafting descriptive titles, useful captions, and helpful legends. Be nice to your audience! A good rule of thumb is to show your map to a non-geospatial friend. If they look confused, you need to revise it.
Good captions describe what a map shows AND why the reader should care.
Bad Caption – “This map shows the study area in red.”
Good Caption – “The study area (shown in red) is located near Yellowstone National Park along the border of Montana and Wyoming. The terrain consists of steep mountains and valleys, making transportation by car difficult.
That’s it for the required portion of the Lesson 2 Step-by-Step Activity. Please consult the Lesson Checklist for instructions on what to do next.
Review some of the other configurable web application templates at ArcGIS> Gallery > Apps [67]. Do you think the Swipe/Spyglass WebApp widget is the best choice to present the two datasets from our lesson? Post your thoughts in Canvas Lesson 2 Discussion.
Try This! Activities are voluntary and are not graded, though I encourage you to complete the activity and share comments about your experience on the lesson discussion board.
Advanced Activities are designed to make you apply the skills you learned in this lesson to solve an environmental problem and/or explore additional resources related to lesson topics.
In Lesson 2, we learned about several places to search for GIS and geospatial data online and created a web app to help a team get acquainted with their new field site. We only included a few pieces of information so far - imagery, land cover, and the study area boundary. Browse or search through the available datasets in ArcGIS Online (Click on Map > + Add layer > select Living Atlas from the pulldown and browse or search for available layers). Choose another dataset you feel would support the team's mission and add it to the map. Include the Study Area Boundary and Imagery Hybrid basemap. Save your map as "Map 3 - Your Dataset Name." Update the tags and description and share it with the class in ArcGIS Online. Esri has recently added a lot of new data to AGO (including ArcGIS Living Atlas live feeds [68] that you can search for when you add features using +Add layer in the Map Viewer).
In Lesson 2, we discussed how and where to find geospatial data for environmental projects and common formats of GIS and geospatial data available on the Internet. We also used several online data services to create an interactive mapping application in ArcGIS Online for Organizations. There are both pros and cons of using online data services. In the next lesson, we will compare and contrast them with using raw geospatial data.
Lesson 2 is worth a total of 100 points.
Swipe Map App | Link to swipe map app is present and includes proper imagery and land cover maps. (20pts) | Link is present, but app is missing an element. (15pts) | Link is present, but app is missing several elements. (10pts) | Link is missing. (0pts) | 20pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Advanced Activity Map | Link to map is present and includes imagery, study area boundary, and one additional layer. Map is properly described. (20pts) | Link is present but is missing an element (map layers, descriptions.) (15pts) | Link is present but is missing several elements (map layers, descriptions or does not function properly. (10pts) | Link is missing. (0pts) | 20pts |
Reflection | Discussion is present and includes 150-300 words addressing other applications for this activity, benefits, and drawbacks of online maps, and why the 3rd data layer was chosen. (15pts) | Discussion is present but is missing a required topic. (15pts) | Discussion is present but is missing several required topics. (10pts) | Discussion is missing. (0pts) | 20pts |
Prose Quality | Is free or almost free of errors (complete sentences, student's own words, grammar, spelling, etc.). (10pts) | Has errors, but they don't represent a major distraction. (5pts) | Has errors that obscure meaning of content or add confusion. (0pts) | 10pts | |
TOTAL | 70pts |
If you have anything you'd like to comment on or add to the lesson materials, feel free to post your thoughts in the Lesson 2 General Discussion. For example, what did you have the most trouble with in this lesson? Was there anything useful here that you'd like to try in your own workplace?
This page includes links to resources such as additional readings, websites, and videos related to the lesson concepts. Feel free to explore these on your own. If you'd like to suggest other resources for this list please send the instructor an email.
Links
[1] https://www.usgs.gov/products/data
[2] https://geodata.nal.usda.gov/geonetwork/srv/eng/catalog.search#/home
[3] https://www.nrel.gov/gis/data-tools.html
[4] https://data-usfs.hub.arcgis.com/
[5] https://fws.gov/program/geospatial-data-services/what-we-do
[6] https://www.epa.gov/geospatial/epa-geospatial-data
[7] https://data.noaa.gov/datasetsearch/
[8] https://gis-fema.hub.arcgis.com/
[9] https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/geography.html
[10] https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/news/communications-material/#FAQ
[11] https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/national-geospatial-program
[12] http://datagateway.nrcs.usda.gov/
[13] http://www.epa.gov/geospatial/
[14] https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/
[15] https://www.usgs.gov/national-hydrography/national-hydrography-dataset
[16] https://waterdata.usgs.gov/usa/nwis/nwis
[17] http://dwtkns.com/srtm30m/
[18] https://glovis.usgs.gov/
[19] https://neo.gsfc.nasa.gov/
[20] https://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/
[21] http://www.pasda.psu.edu/
[22] http://www.glo.texas.gov/land/land-management/gis/
[23] https://www.opendataphilly.org/
[24] https://egis-lacounty.hub.arcgis.com/
[25] https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/c.php?g=376207&p=5296031
[26] http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/c.php?g=376207&p=5296082
[27] https://www.colorado.edu/libraries/libraries/earth-sciences-map-library/map-library-collection
[28] https://opentopography.org/
[29] https://www.indexdatabase.de/
[30] https://asf.alaska.edu/
[31] https://scihub.copernicus.eu/
[32] https://data.humdata.org/
[33] https://www.un.org/geospatial/mapsgeo
[34] https://ladsweb.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/view-data/
[35] https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/c.php?g=376207&p=5296088
[36] http://DIVA-GIS Free Spatial Data
[37] https://www.nrsc.gov.in/EOP_irsdata_Objective_New
[38] https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/catalog
[39] https://gis.ducks.org/
[40] http://www.naturalearthdata.com/
[41] https://audubon.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html
[42] https://geospatial.tnc.org/
[43] http://geospatial.tnc.org/pages/data
[44] https://livingatlas.arcgis.com
[45] https://opendata.arcgis.com/about
[46] https://nwt.lternet.edu/other-niwot-datasets
[47] http://www.datacommons.psu.edu/default.html
[48] https://www.chesapeakeconservancy.org/conservation-innovation-center/high-resolution-data/lulc-data-project-2022/
[49] http://www.nationalmap.gov
[50] https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/f0067611444243799970465d3cee113a
[51] https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/en/home/
[52] https://doc.arcgis.com/en/web-appbuilder/create-apps/widget-swipe.htm
[53] https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog487/sites/www.e-education.psu.edu.geog487/files/activities/lesson02/L2Data.zip
[54] https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=28f49811a6974659988fd279de5ce39f
[55] http://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=10df2279f9684e4a9f6a7f08febac2a9
[56] https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=30d6b8271e1849cd9c3042060001f425
[57] https://www.mrlc.gov/viewer/
[58] https://www.mrlc.gov/data
[59] https://data.usgs.gov/datacatalog/data/USGS:60cb3da7d34e86b938a30cb9
[60] https://www.mrlc.gov/downloads/sciweb1/shared/mrlc/metadata/nlcd_2021_land_cover_l48_20230630.xml
[61] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isprsjprs.2020.02.019
[62] https://www.mrlc.gov/geoserver/mrlc_display/NLCD_2021_Land_Cover_L48/wms?service=WMS&request=GetCapabilities
[63] https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html?layers=cfcb7609de5f478eb7666240902d4d3d
[64] https://pennstate.maps.arcgis.com/home/index.html
[65] https://pennstate.maps.arcgis.com/home/
[66] https://apps.nationalmap.gov/viewer/
[67] https://pennstate.maps.arcgis.com/home/search.html?q=gallery%20&start=1&sortOrder=true&sortField=relevance&restrict=false&focus=applications-web
[68] https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/livefeeds-status/
[69] http://resources.arcgis.com/en/tutorials/
[70] https://www.usgs.gov/core-science-systems/national-geospatial-program/training
[71] http://www.cec.org/tools-and-resources/north-american-environmental-atlas
[72] http://changematters.esri.com/compare
[73] https://enviro.epa.gov/enviro/em4ef.home
[74] http://gcmd.nasa.gov/KeywordSearch/Keywords.do?Portal=GCMD_Services&KeywordPath=ServiceParameters%7CWEB+SERVICES&MetadataType=1&lbnode=mdlb2
[75] https://hazards.fema.gov/femaportal/wps/portal/