GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (GIS)

Create an Excel Spreadsheet:

1.  Go to My Computer. Open the “U” drive and the folder with your name.

  1. Click on File in the Menu bar. Click on New/Folder. Name this New Folder, “Rock Creek Data”.

2.  Make an Excel spreadsheet with your Rock Creek data:

a. Click on Start/Programs/Microsoft Office/Excel.

A spreadsheet will open. You will use this spreadsheet for your Rock Creek data.

b.  Row 1: In each cell across in Row 1 type the following headings: Latitude; Longitude; Date; Class Per; Time; DO; DO % sat; Fecal Coliform; pH; BOD; Temp; Temp diff; Phosphate; Nitrate; Turbidity; Total Solids; WQI; Weather

c.  Row 2: Enter the class average data for each test.

d.  Rows 3-7: Enter the other classes’ data.

e.  Go to File/Save As

1.  Go back to the U drive/Your Folder/Rock Creek.

2.  Save as “Rock Creek Data”.

3.  Save as type: “Text (Tab delimited) (*.txt)”…. NOT as an Excel file.

Have your teacher check your spreadsheet before closing Excel.

Create a Map in ArcView:

1.  Click on Start/Programs/ESRI/ArcView 3.2/ArcView 3.2.

  1. A “Welcome to ArcView GIS” window will come up; click on OK.
  2. Another window will open asking you, “Would you like to add data to the View now?”; click on OK.
  3. A window (dialog box) will come up that will allow you to go to where the data is to add to the map.

1.  Go to S:/Storeroom/Dodds/Rock Creek/TF data. When you click on TF data, several files will be available. You will have boundary, rivers, and roads. Click on one, hold the shift key down, and click on the other two. This way you can add all three files at the same time.

  1. Click on the square boxes along the left side to turn on the themes (boundary, roads, and rivers).
  2. Save your project: Go to File/Save As. Save this project to the same folder as your Excel spreadsheet in the U drive/Your Name folder/Rock Creek. Name your project “Rock Creek Water Quality”.
  3. STOP here before going on. We will add street names, change colors of the themes, change position of the themes and add optional themes.

2.  Add a Table

  1. Click on Windows in the Menu bar. You will see your project, “Rock Creek Water Quality”. Click on your project name. This will bring up the Project window.
  2. Click on the word, Table, and then Add. A window (dialog box) will come up that will allow you to go to where you saved the Excel spreadsheet (your U drive folder). Once you have selected the table in your U drive\Rock Creek folder, make sure that you select the Delimited Text in the “List Files As Type” box. The Rock Creek Data.txt file should appear; select this file.
  3. In the View window, go to View/Add Event Theme. A box should appear with your Rock Creek Data. Click on Ok. You should now have your table added as a theme to your view. Click on the square check box to turn it on. Now the data should be on your map as points (one point for each of the lat/long in the table.
  4. STOP here before going on. Let me check your map. I’ll show you how to look at the data.
  5. Last step for your map is to change the table from a .txt file to a .shp file. This will allow you to edit your table. Go to Theme/Convert to Shapefile. A dialog box will come up that will allow you to save your new theme to your U drive/Rock Creek folder. Call this theme “Water Data”. Once this is saved you can delete the .txt file with the water data.
  6. SAVE your project.
  7. Show me your map.

3.  Create a Layout

  1. Once you have your map the way you want it (colors, etc.), go to View/Layout. This will give you a template for displaying your map, table, and themes. If you have any questions, please ask me. This map layout will be part of your Power Point Presentation.