Lab #7-Census

The first map shown here conveys the information of counties with a black alone population greater than zero. This population density map is concluded from the 2000 Census data collected.  This information was ranked by percent in order to show the relative information in a way that allows you to see where majority of the black population lives within the United States. As shown by the map, it can be noted that most of the black population is congregated in the South-East states of the United States. The way that this can be concluded is through the gradient scale of colors, where the darker colors (browns) represent where the higher percentage of the black population resides. Therefore, the lighter yellow colors indicate that a large percentage of the black population does not reside in other parts of the country other than the South-East states, some in the West in lower California, and in some areas in the North-East states.

The second image illustrated is a map revealing the Asian population density in the United States, as concluded from the 2000 Census data collected. The darker purples depict the highest percentage of where Asian people reside in the United States, which can be shown mainly on the West Coast in California. Other counties where there is a considerable amount of the Asian population is on the East coast near New York and in the North-Western counties of Washington. In addition, it can be revealed that there are other places where this race resides throughout the United States; however, it is more scattered and there is not as much of a density as the other areas. Similar to the previous map and the one following, the color ramp chosen makes it easier for the audience to comprehend the distribution in which the densely populated counties (darker colors) are compared to the not as densely populated counties (lighter colors).

The last map shown here is an illustration of the white population density in the United States as shown through the data collected in the 2000 Census. This gradient scale chosen goes from dark blue to green to yellow. The reason for this color ramp chosen is to show the more even distribution of the white population throughout the counties compared to the black or Asian populations which are more congregated into certain areas. While there is a significantly large percentage of the white population in the Northern States as shown through the dark blue, it can be recognized that there is a considerable amount of the white population all throughout the other counties, except for in some counties above and to the left of Texas and other counties in the South-east states.

These three map projections reveal the ways in which we are able to convey to an audience where particular races reside throughout our country. These images allow for a more comprehensive understanding of where exactly these percentages are denser than other areas. Through this visualization it creates a more simplistic approach in attempting to reveal how a particular race is distributed rather than explaining it through words. The images allow for a clear cut representation, rather than a description that can become convoluted if the audience has poor knowledge of geography. In conclusion, these maps are a great resource in understanding population density for any person to comprehend.

Lab #6 - DEMS in ArcGis

This area that is selected here the Santa Monica Mountains, California. It represents a sloped area with hillshade as well as aspects through being depicted as a mountainous area in Los Angeles. The extent of this area is 34.340 for the top, -119.234 for the left, -119.171 for the right, and 34.274 for the right. The geographic coordinate system that was utilized for this map is the GCS North American 1983. These four images represent the shaded relief model of the area using a color-ramped DEM layer above a hillshade model, a slope map of the Santa Monica Mountain, an aspect map of this location, and lastly a 3D image of this area.

Lab #5 Projections in ArcGIS

Lab #4 - ArcMap

My experience with ArcMap was one that introduced me into the realm of map making. While it was my first time using this type of database, I enjoyed the experience. It allows one to fully understand the mass compilation that goes into creating a map that we might find to be basic. However, even these simple maps require layers of data that are placed on top of each other, as well as joined with other files. Therefore, the sum of all of this data input results in map that is comprehensive for the audience to follow and understand the subject that is attempted to be explained.

ArcMap does allow for one to have knowledge about the subject matter, therefore this creates much potential for GIS. A potential in the use of ArcMap GIS is that it allows one to make maps for personal use, which this personal data that one compiles is able to be illustrated for anyone to view the map and be able to determine and analyze the data that is the outcome of this map. Therefore, another potential of GIS is that it allows the use of analyzing data. Through the use of maps, it allows the audience to visualize the data that has been summarized, rather than just reading through what the outcomes were. This visualization further assists one in having a deeper understanding of the subject matter being conveyed. In addition to these other potentials, another potential of GIS is that it allows one to manipulate data. It can be determined that there are multiple layers that are used to make one map, therefore, by manipulating each layer of data one is able to relay the information that they wished to convey to the audience. However, when talking about manipulating data, this means that the data is used in a way where the parts of each layer that are significant can be used in order to reveal the data in a way that they wish the audience to see and understand it.

Although there is much potential of GIS, some pitfalls of this experience also do occur. One pitfall that exists is that the compilation of data can be tedious for one to do, as this takes much time and patience to go through each process. Specifically, if one is new to the process of ArcMap it can be difficult to understand at the beginning. Therefore this leads to another pitfall, which is that one can be extremely confused in the long process of ArcMap if they are not familiar with the uses of it. If the ArcMap Tutorial was not provided, this process would almost be impossible for anyone who does not know how or ever used this program. Lastly, the other pitfall with ArcMap is that while all this information is beneficial to the viewer, the process is a long one as previously explained, which is why each layer that is compiled must be saved. However, to save each layer is something that can be quite difficult at times, due to the loss of some the information/data.

In conclusion, the use of ArcMap GIS is one that is beneficial and useful for all different subject areas. The use of maps is not something just for geography, but also used in many other disciplines (history, environmental studies, earth and space sciences, etc) in order to fully understand the data explained and to visualize it too. While there are some pitfalls in this process, the potential of ArcMap to GIS far exceeds these pitfalls, due to the use of this program allows for data being able to be used for personal use, to manipulate data, and to analyze this data, simply done just through the use of a single map. Therefore, the next time you look at a map, think about the extensive process that it took just for that one map to come up to show you a little information about the subject. Through the use of ArcMap for GIS is a program that allows you to truly appreciate the art of maps!