Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop

Book Preface

Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop is a workbook for students and professionals who are getting started in the field of geographic information systems (GIS). Its detailed, step-by-step exercises teach you the core functionality of ArcGIS Desktop software: how to make maps, carry out spatial analysis, and build and edit spatial databases in the context of realistic projects. The exercises are supported by conceptual discussions at the start of each chapter and as needed throughout the book. Abundant color graphics confirm your progress along the way.

Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop is a hands-on workbook that’s meant to be a practical manual for classroom lab work or on-the-job training. If you have no GIS background, chapter 1 will give you a quick overview. If you have no ArcGIS software experience, chapter 2 will provide a background on Esri GIS software products. The remaining 18 chapters require you to work through software exercises as you read. Each of these chapters contains two to four exercises that focus on a particular GIS task or problem. Many common tasks are covered, including navigating digital maps, finding GIS data online, setting map projections, symbolizing and labeling maps, classifying data, making map layouts, building spatial databases, editing data, geocoding addresses, querying maps, processing data, and analyzing spatial relationships.

About the software and data Exercises are designed to be performed using ArcGIS Desktop 10.6. If you are using an older version of ArcGIS, you will be able to do most of the exercises, but your results may be somewhat different. To complete Chapter 20, you will need to install and enable the ArcGIS Spatial Analyst extension. If you are using older software, you should download the latest trial software to use with this book. To make sure your Windows system meets ArcGIS system requirements, go www.esri.com/arcmap/10.6/sysreqs. You can download data for the book exercises from the book resource page, esri.com/GTKAD-5. The 180-day trial software is only available with the printed book.

How to use this book Each new exercise in Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop is a fresh starting point, with the maps and data you need already prepared for you; however, we advise you to complete the chapters in order, because tools and functions introduced and fully described in early chapters may be referred to without description in later chapters. The exercises will work, however, no matter which chapter you start with. Each chapter takes one to two hours to complete.

What’s new in this edition The fifth edition of Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop retains all of the new elements introduced in the previous editions, including learning objectives, chapter summaries, questions for critical thinking, software tips, independentchallenge tasks (“On your own”), and a glossary of key terms. Glossary terms will appear in a different color in the text. The fifth edition has been tested and updated to reflect the most recent software release. We hope you enjoy Getting to Know ArcGIS Desktop.

Michael Law Toronto, Canada
Amy Collins Napa, California

Contents
Preface Acknowledgments Part 1 Getting to know GIS Chapter 1 Introducing GIS Chapter 2 Introducing ArcGIS Part 2 Getting started with maps and data Chapter 3 Interacting with maps Exercise 3a Displaying map data Exercise 3b Navigating a map Exercise 3c Using basic tools Exercise 3d Looking at feature attributes Chapter 4 Interacting with data Exercise 4a Browsing through map data Exercise 4b Adding data to a map Exercise 4c Working with map layers Chapter 5 Exploring online resources Exercise 5a Creating a web map Exercise 5b Merging online and local layers Exercise 5c Sharing a map package Part 3 Displaying and presenting data Chapter 6 Working with coordinate systems and projections Exercise 6a Examining coordinate systems Exercise 6b Projecting data Exercise 6c Defining a map projection Exercise 6d Georeferencing a raster Chapter 7 Symbolizing features Exercise 7a Creating custom symbology Exercise 7b Symbolizing features by categorical attributes Exercise 7c Using styles and creating layer files Exercise 7d Symbolizing rasters Chapter 8 Classifying features Exercise 8a Classifying features by standard methods Exercise 8b Mapping density Exercise 8c Using graduated and chart symbols Chapter 9 Labeling features Exercise 9a Using dynamic labels Exercise 9b Setting rules for label placement Exercise 9c Creating graphic labels Exercise 9d Converting dynamic labels to annotation Chapter 10 Making maps for presentation Exercise 10a Creating a layout Exercise 10b Adding titles and additional text Exercise 10c Adding standard map elements Exercise 10d Adding final touches and setting print options Part 4 Creating and editing data Chapter 11 Building geodatabases Exercise 11a Creating a geodatabase Exercise 11b Creating feature classes Chapter 12 Creating features Exercise 12a Drawing features Exercise 12b Using more construction tools Chapter 13 Editing features Exercise 13a Deleting and modifying features Exercise 13b Splitting and merging features Exercise 13c Editing feature attribute values Chapter 14 Geocoding addresses Exercise 14a Creating an address locator Exercise 14b Matching addresses Exercise 14c Rematching addresses Part 5 Getting information about features Chapter 15 Querying data Exercise 15a Selecting and finding features Exercise 15b Using attribute queries Exercise 15c Creating reports Chapter 16 Selecting features by location
Exercise 16a Using location queries Exercise 16b Combining attribute and location queries Chapter 17 Joining and relating data Exercise 17a Joining data by attribute Exercise 17b Relating data Exercise 17c Joining data by location Part 6 Analyzing geospatial data Chapter 18 Preparing data for analysis Exercise 18a Dissolving features Exercise 18b Clipping layers Exercise 18c Creating a data subset Exercise 18d Running tools in a model Chapter 19 Geoprocessing vector data Exercise 19a Buffering features Exercise 19b Overlaying data Exercise 19c Calculating attribute values Exercise 19d Creating graphs Chapter 20 Using Spatial Analyst Exercise 20a Creating raster surfaces Exercise 20b Combining raster surfaces Appendix A Data source credits
Glossary Index