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Exercise - Creating Pop Density Map and Working With Tables

This document provides instructions for creating a population density map in GIS. The steps include: 1) Adding census tract and population data layers to a new map frame 2) Joining the population data table to the tracts layer 3) Adding a new field to store population density values 4) Calculating population density for each tract 5) Symbologying the tracts using a graduated color scheme based on population density

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180 views7 pages

Exercise - Creating Pop Density Map and Working With Tables

This document provides instructions for creating a population density map in GIS. The steps include: 1) Adding census tract and population data layers to a new map frame 2) Joining the population data table to the tracts layer 3) Adding a new field to store population density values 4) Calculating population density for each tract 5) Symbologying the tracts using a graduated color scheme based on population density

Uploaded by

hamza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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GEOMATICS ENGINEERING

FOR TRANSPORTATION
(LAB)
EXERCISE:
CREATING POPULATION
DENSITY MAP AND
WORKING WITH TABLES

Exercise: Creating Population Density


Map and Working with Tables
 Objective
 Map population density for the county.
(A population density map shows where people are
concentrated.)
 Addpopulation data for each census tract then calculate
population density for each tract and map it.

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Steps:
1. Creating a new data frame
2. Adding data from ArcCatalog
3. Adding tabular data
4. Joining tables
5. Adding a field to an attribute table
6. Calculating attribute values
7. Classifying features by quantity

1. Creating a new data frame


Start by creating a new data frame to display the data.

 Switch to layout view, if necessary (click View and click Layout View).
 Click Insert and click Data Frame.
 Hold down the Shift key and click the middle data frame (Land Use) on the
page so both frames are selected.
 Click Drawing on the Draw toolbar, point to Distribute, and click Make
Same Size. The data frames are now the same size.
 In the table of contents, right-click New Data Frame 2 and click Properties.
 Click the General tab and type .Population Density. In the Name text box.
 Click the Size and Position tab. Set the X position to 9 and the Y position to
2.5. Click OK. ( You may practice with other position settings as well)
 Click the Population Density data frame on the page so it is the only one
selected.

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2. Adding data from ArcCatalog
Add the layers you need by dragging them from ArcCatalog..

 Start ArcCatalog by clicking the ArcCatalog button on the Standard


toolbar in ArcMap. Position the ArcCatalog and ArcMap windows so
ArcMap is visible behind the ArcCatalog window.
 In ArcCatalog, navigate to the Map folder on the local drive where
you installed the exercise data (the default installation path could
be C:\Desktop\GET Lab
 Click the plus sign next to the Map folder to list the contents.
 Click the airport geodatabase icon to display the contents in the
right panel.
 In the right panel, click arterials.

2. Adding data from ArcCatalog


(contd.)
 Hold down the Ctrl key and click tracts and airport_area to select
them as well. The layers are highlighted as you select them.
 Point to arterials, hold down the mouse button, and drag the pointer
over the ArcMap layout view (anywhere is fine).
 Release the mouse button. All three layers are added to the new
data frame. Close ArcCatalog.
 Click tracts in the ArcMap table of contents so only it is selected.
Right-click tracts and click Zoom To Layer. The map redraws to show
all the tracts and centers them in the data frame.
 Right-click the Population Density data frame in the table of contents
and click Properties.
 Click the General tab, click the Display drop-down arrow, and set
the display units to Feet. You can't change the map units because
they are based on the data frame's coordinate system. Click OK.

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3. Adding tabular data
The table containing the population data should be
added to the data frame.

 Click the Add Data button in ArcMap.


 Navigate to the Map folder on the local drive where
you installed the exercise data and double-click the
airport geodatabase.
 3. Click tract_pop (the icon looks like a table).
 4. Click Add. The table is added to the Population
Density data frame in the table of contents. ArcMap
activates the Source tab so you can access the table.

4. Joining tables
The next step is to join the table containing the population data to
the census tract data table. You'll do this using the census tract ID as
the common field.

 Right-click tracts in the table of contents and click Open Attribute


Table to see the existing attributes including the census tract ID.
 Right-click tract_pop in the table of contents and click Open. The
table contains the TRACT_ID field and the population of each tract.
Close the tables before proceeding with the join.
 Right-click tracts in the table of contents again, point to Joins and
Relates, and click Join.
 Click the drop-down arrow in the first text box and click Join
attributes from a table.

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4. Joining tables (contd.)
 Click the drop-down arrow in the next text box, scroll
down, and click TRACT_ID as the field in the layer to
base the join on.
 Click the drop-down arrow in the next text box and
click tract_pop as the table to join to the layer.
 In the next text box, click TRACT_ID as the field in the
table to base the join on.
 Click OK to join the table to the layer. Click Yes if you
are prompted to create an index.
 Right-click tracts and click Open Attribute Table. The
population value has been added to each tract.

5. Adding a field to an attribute table


To map population density, you'll need to add a new field to the
tracts layer. Use this field to store the population density of each
tract.

 Click the Options button at the bottom of the Attributes of tracts


window and click Add Field.
 If a message appears indicating the table is in use by another user,
make sure you closed ArcCatalog.
 In the Add Field dialog box, type .POP_DEN. as the field name.
 Click the Type drop-down arrow and click Long Integer. Click OK.

 You should see the new field added to the attribute table. The field
name you entered will be concatenated with tracts, to appear as
tracts.POP_DEN.

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6. Calculating attribute values
Calculate the population density for each tract by dividing the population by the
area of each tract; this will give you the number of people per square mile. To do
this, you'll use the editing functions of ArcMap to edit the census tract attributes.

 Click the Editor Toolbar button on the Standard toolbar. The Editor toolbar appears.
 Click Editor and click Start Editing.
 Right-click tracts.POP_DEN and click Field Calculator. The Field Calculator appears.
 The first part of the formula is entered for you tracts.POP_DEN = . The full formula
will look like this:

 tracts.POP_DEN = [tract_pop.POPULATION] / ([tracts.Shape_Area] / 27878400).

Dividing the area by 27,878,400 converts the area of each tract, stored in square
feet, to square miles.
(You can type the formula right into the box or use the buttons on the dialog box)

6. Calculating attribute values


(contd.)
 Click the Editor menu on the Editor toolbar and click
Stop Editing.
 Click Yes when prompted to save your edits.
 Close the Editor toolbar and close the attribute
table.

6
7. Classifying features by quantity
You can now map the tracts based on their population density values to see where
people are concentrated in relation to the airport and to major roads.

 Right-click tracts in the table of contents and click Properties.


 Click the Symbology tab. All tracts are currently drawn using the same symbol (the
same solid fill color).
 Click Quantities in the Show box. Graduated colors is automatically highlighted.
 Click the Value drop-down arrow and click tracts.POP_DEN as the field to use to
shade the tracts.
 Click the Color Ramp drop-down arrow and click the green (light to dark) color
ramp. ArcMap chooses a classification scheme and the number of classes for you.
You can modify these by clicking the Classify button in the Layer Properties dialog
box. For this exercise, use the default classification.
 Click OK.

7. Classifying features by quantity


(contd.)
 Click the Display tab at the bottom of the table of contents.
 Arterials should be at the top of the layers list. If not, click arterials
in the table of contents and drag it to the top of the layers list in the
Population Density data frame. Click airport_area and drag it so it
is just below arterials. Now these layers draw on top of the tracts.
 Right-click the symbol for arterials in the table of contents and click
Dark Umber.
 Click the symbol for airport_area and set it to Blue (the Blue symbol
with a black outline) in the Symbol Selector dialog box.
 Switch to data view, if necessary, to get a closer look at the tracts.
Click View and click Data View.

Save your work!!

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