Exercise: Determining How Places Are Related: Cattle Grazing Allotments

Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC
Exercise
Determining How Places are Related:
Cattle Grazing Allotments
Section 3 Exercise 1
08/2019
Determining How Places are Related: Cattle Grazing Allotments
Instructions
Use this guide and ArcGIS Online to reproduce the results of the exercise on your own.
Note: ArcGIS Online is a dynamic mapping platform. The version of ArcGIS Online that
you will be using for this course may be slightly different from the screenshots you see in
the course materials.
Time to complete
Approximately 30-45 minutes.
Technical note
To take advantage of the web-based technologies available in ArcGIS Online, you need to
use a fairly new version of a standard web browser, such as Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari,
or Internet Explorer. Older web browsers may not display your maps correctly.
Note: For information on supported browsers for ArcGIS Online, visit http://doc.arcgis.com
/en/arcgis-online/reference/browsers.htm.
Introduction
This exercise presents an approach to using ArcGIS to determine which watershed (or
watersheds) each grazing allotment falls in for water quality monitoring. Although the data is
real, the scenario, analysis, and resulting decisions are hypothetical.
The purpose of this example is to illustrate the type of problem that can be addressed using
feature overlay.
Exercise scenario
The Department of Environmental Quality wants to monitor the impact of livestock grazing on
the state's water quality. Earlier studies by the department confirmed that sediment and
animal waste can pollute streams that are located in grazing areas.
Much of the grazing in the state occurs on federal lands. The federal agencies have divided
the grazing areas into allotments, and they issue permits or leases to ranchers for individual
grazing allotments. While the federal agencies manage the grazing lands by allotments, the
state's biologists monitor water quality by watersheds, or hydrologic basins (as the
hydrologists refer to them). If testing shows that a basin has water quality issues, the biologists
want to be able to identify all the grazing allotments that are located in that basin. They can
Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 1

then work with the federal agencies to ensure that the permit holders are conforming to best
practices.
As one of the state biologists, you plan to use GIS to find out which grazing allotments are
located in a basin.
Map showing streams passing through grazing allotments. Stream segments are symbolized differently in each
allotment.

In this exercise, you will use the ArcGIS Online mapping platform to perform the following
tasks:
• Work with map layers.

• View information associated with geographic features.
• Combine information from different layers.
• Filter data to limit visibility of features in a layer.
• Find overlapping features.
• Search a table associated with a layer.
• Change the map style.
Approach
GIS is a tool that can provide you with information to help you answer questions.
Frame the question
When approaching your analysis, the first task is to frame the question.
For this exercise, the analysis question can be framed as follows:
Which hydrologic basins and streams should be monitored due to the impact of livestock
grazing on water quality?
Define the analysis criteria
The next task is to consider the criteria associated with the question. What information do you
need to answer this question? How can you use the GIS to represent, analyze, and assess the
criteria?
• Where do livestock graze?

• Where are water sources located?
• Which grazing allotments are located in hydrologic basins?
• Which streams or basins might need to be monitored or tested?
To translate this into spatial analysis terms, ask yourself:

What information do you need to address this question?

For this exercise, the layers provide information related to the analysis question, such as the
following:
• Which allotments are in each hydrologic basin?

• Where do water sources pass through allotments?
Note: This example provides a starting point—in all likelihood, an analysis of this type in the
real world would encompass additional factors and criteria.
Which layers do you need for your map?
For this exercise, you need several layers:
• A layer showing grazing allotment areas/locations and their names

• A layer showing hydrologic basin (watershed) boundaries and their names
• A layer showing streams and their names
Step 1: Open the map

Using ArcGIS Online, you can create a map with the identified layers that you can then use for
your analysis. For this case study, the initial map has already been created.
a Open a new private/incognito browser tab or window.

We recommend that you open a private or incognito browser window whenever you need to
work in ArcGIS Online to help prevent conflicts with your accounts.
b Go to www.arcgis.com and sign in to ArcGIS Online using the credentials explained at the
start of this course.
Note: If you have trouble signing in, or have questions about an exercise, you can check the
Common Questions on the Help tab, search for other students with the same issue in the
forum, or use the Have A Question form at the bottom of the Help tab.
c On the navigation bar in the Going Places with Spatial Analysis organization home page,
click Gallery.
d Click the thumbnail image for Section 3, Exercise 1: Determining How Places are Related:
Cattle Grazing Allotments.

A map of the area of interest opens, showing the grazing allotments.

Step 2: Save a copy of the map

For the purposes of this exercise, you will save a working copy of the map.
a From the ribbon at the top of the window, click Save and choose Save As.
b In the Save Map dialog box, add your name to the title of the map, make any desired
changes, and then click Save Map.
A copy of the map will be saved to your My Content collection.

Note: ArcGIS Online does not automatically save maps; therefore, you should periodically
save your map as you are working.
Step 3: View layer information

In this step, you will examine the information associated with some of the geographic features
on the map.
You have obtained a layer of the grazing allotments (areas). As it turns out, the layer lists the
administrative unit (that is, management district) for each allotment (along with other
information) but not the hydrologic basin it falls within. Further, the grazing allotments were
not created with basin boundaries in mind, so an allotment can either fall completely within a
hydrologic basin or cross basin boundaries, falling in two or more basins.
a Zoom in several times so that you can see the grazing allotments more easily.

b To view the information associated with any of the grazing allotments, click a green
(allotment) area on the map.
The pop-up window displays the name, number, and administrative unit (management
district) associated with the selected allotment area.
c Close the information pop-up window.
d Turn off the Grazing Allotment layer.

Hint: Switch to the Contents pane by clicking the Content button at the top of the Legend
pane, and then uncheck the box to the left of the Grazing Allotment layer.
e Turn on the Hydrologic Unit layer.
f In the map, click the Default Extent button to zoom the map to its initial extent.

Study area showing hydrologic basins.
g To view the information associated with any hydrologic basin, click inside a blue-outlined
area on the map.

The pop-up window displays the basin name, region, and size, as well as other details
associated with the selected area.
h Close the information pop-up window.
i Turn the Grazing Allotment layer back on.

You will use the information from these two layers to determine which allotments fall within
each basin.
Step 4: Combine information from different layers

In this step, you will combine the information from two different layers into a single layer to
allow you to perform some queries to determine which hydrologic basins each grazing
allotment is located in.
The combining of two layers is referred to as an overlay. You will use the Intersect tool in
ArcGIS Online to combine (overlay) the Grazing Allotment and Hydrologic Unit layers to
create a single layer containing new features where the input features (allotments and basins)
overlap.
a In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Grazing Allotment layer name
and click the Perform Analysis button.
b In the Perform Analysis pane, expand Manage Data and choose Overlay Layers.
c In the Overlay Layers pane, set the following parameters:
• For Input Layer, confirm that Grazing Allotment is selected.
This is the layer that will be overlaid.
• For Overlay Layer, if necessary, choose Hydrologic Unit.
This is the layer to overlay on the input layer.
• For Overlay Method, confirm that Intersect is selected.

In an intersect, the output layer contains only the parts of features from the two layers that
overlap. You are only interested in areas where allotments intersect with (or overlap)
hydrologic basins.
• For Output, confirm that Areas is selected.
Note: Grazing allotments and hydrologic units are both area (polygon) features. The area
associated with the overlap will be displayed in the result layer.
• For Result Layer Name, type Intersect of Grazing Allotment and Hydrologic
Unit_yourfirstandlastname.
Note: The name must be unique within an organization. Add an underscore and your first and
last name to the name of the result layer to avoid encountering an error. If you run the
analysis multiple times, you will need to give a unique result layer name each time.
The Save Result In field defaults to your account name; you do not need to change this value.
d In the top left of the map, click the Default Extent button .
e At the bottom of the Overlay Layers pane uncheck the Use Current Map Extent box.
The Use Current Map Extent (https://bit.ly/2StbI9J) box is checked by default. This limits the
results to your current map extent (the map display on-screen at any moment). We want to run
the analysis on all the records in the layer Grazing Allotment no matter what area is on the
screen, so we will uncheck (not use) the current map extent.

f Click Run Analysis.

Note: Processing time for the analysis will depend on a number of factors, including the
number of features in the current extent. Another factor is Internet traffic. If your analysis does
not complete after three to four minutes, try saving the map and refreshing the page, or exit
ArcGIS Online and try again later.

A new result layer with the name you assigned appears in the Contents pane, and the map
display updates to show the areas where the grazing allotments intersect with hydrologic
basins.
The overlap areas are symbolized with a blue color. Because the new Intersect result layer
appears as the top layer in the map (and appears at the top of the Contents pane), most of
the green areas representing grazing allotments are hidden.
g Turn off the Grazing Allotment and Hydrologic Unit layers.
h Zoom in a few times so that you can see the overlap areas more clearly.
i Click an area in the Intersect layer to view the combined geographic information
associated with the new layer.

The information pop-up window contains both the grazing allotment information (from the
Grazing Allotment layer) and the basin information (from the Hydrologic Unit layer).
Note: You may need to scroll to the right in the information pop-up window to view the layer
information.
j Close the information pop-up window.

To identify the allotments in a particular basin, you need to assign each allotment the name
and number of the hydrologic basin it falls in. The new features have all the attributes of the
features in the input layers. In this case, the new allotment features are assigned the attributes
of the hydrologic basin they fall within, including the name and ID. Allotments that fall in two
or more basins are split at the basin boundaries, and the corresponding attributes are
assigned to each portion of the allotment.
Having combined the two layers, you can now map the grazing allotments by hydrologic
basin.
Step 5: Filter the view of features in a layer

Your project managers have asked you to focus on the Middle Fork John Day basin area for
the initial study.
In this step, you will filter your view of the layer's features to determine which allotments are in
a particular basin.
a Turn the Hydrologic Unit layer back on.

To find the area of the map that contains the Middle Fork John Day, you will use the Search
field in the upper-right corner.

b In the Search field, type Middle Fork John Day, and then click the Search icon .
c From the results list, choose Middle Fork John Day River, Oregon, United States.
The location of the Middle Fork John Day River in Oregon is displayed on the map.
d Turn the Grazing Allotment layer back on.
e In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Intersect of Grazing Allotment
and Hydrologic Unit layer name and click the Filter button.
Note: This layer name will vary based upon the name you assigned in the Result Layer Name
in the previous step.

f In the Filter dialog box, choose BASIN_NAME as the field to filter on.
g For the second field, select Is.
h For the third field, click the Unique option and choose MIDDLE FORK JOHN DAY from
the drop-down list.
i Click Apply Filter And Zoom To.

The map zooms to the selected basin and shows all of the grazing allotments or portions of
allotments that fall within it.
Note: You may have to zoom out or pan the map to see the results.

You can view information associated with the allotments in this particular basin by examining
the attribute table.
Step 6: View the attribute table

In this step, you will look at the attribute data for the allotments in the Middle Fork John Day
hydrologic basin.
a View the attribute table for the new Intersect of Grazing Allotment and Hydrologic Unit
layer.
Hint: In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Intersect of Grazing Allotment
and Hydrologic Unit layer name and click the Show Table button .
Grazing allotments are filtered by a particular hydrologic basin (Middle Fork John Day, in the
above screenshot). The map shows all the allotments or portions of allotments that are in the
basin (in blue), and the table lists the allotments with the associated information.
The BASIN_NAME field shows the name of the basin. Because you filtered on a particular
basin, the allot_name field shows only the 11 allotments in that particular basin.
b Click the allot_name field header and choose Sort Ascending to view the list of allotment
names in alphabetical order.
The biologists could use this method to identify the allotments to contact.

Conversely, if the biologists were researching a particular allotment, you could find out which
basin or basins it falls in by filtering the layer based on the name of an allotment.
c Close the table.

Next, you will edit the filter to find out which basins a particular allotment falls in.
Step 7: Filter data to limit visibility of features in a layer

In this step, you will limit the visibility of features in a layer by filtering the information in the
new layer to determine which basins a particular allotment falls in.
a In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Intersect of Grazing Allotment
and Hydrologic Unit layer name and click the Filter button.
Note: This layer name will vary based on the name you assigned in the Result Layer Name
earlier.
b Click the Edit tab.
c In the Filter dialog box, scroll through the drop-down list and choose allot_name as the
field to filter on.
Note: If you had a specific allotment number, you could filter on allot_no.
d In the second field, select Is.

e In the third field, click the Unique option and choose NORTH STAR MTN from the drop-
down list.
Note: If the NORTH STAR MTN allotment does not appear in the drop-down list, it is because
that allotment is not part of your current map extent. Either zoom out, or choose another
allotment name to filter on.
f Click Apply Filter And Zoom To.

The map shows the selected grazing allotment and the overlap with what looks like three
basins.

Because the biologists need an easy way to identify which basins this allotment falls in, you
will open the attribute table.
g Open the table for the Intersect of Grazing Allotment and Hydrologic Unit layer.
At the top of the table, the title bar shows four features.
h Click each row in the table to highlight the different basins on the map.
Although the map initially appears to display only three features, there are actually four. If you
zoom in on the map, on the right side, you can see what are called slivers. Slivers are areas
along the boundary line or edge of the basin and allotment overlap that coincide, resulting in
what is referred to as a sliver polygon (https://bit.ly/2HNNJxE).
The allot_name field in the table shows the name of the particular allotment. Because you
filtered on a particular allotment, the BASIN_NAME field shows only the basins that the
particular allotment falls within.
i Click the BASIN_NAME field header and choose Sort Ascending to view the list of basin
names in alphabetical order.
The biologists could use the owner information from the federal database to contact the
allotment owner.

j Close the table.

Several months later, the biologists are finding the results of your analysis very useful. They
have identified several hydrologic basins that seem to have chronic water quality issues and
are working with local officials and the Bureau of Land Management, which administers the
grazing allotments, to find solutions.
Step 8: Find overlapping features

To help identify the source of the pollution in each basin, the biologists decide to assign the
grazing allotment name and number to individual streams so that they know which allotment
each segment of each stream passes through.
In this step, you will use the Intersect tool to find out which grazing allotments each stream
passes through (if any) by identifying where line features (streams) overlap polygon features
(grazing allotments).
a In the Contents pane, turn off the Intersect of Grazing Allotment layer.
b Turn on the Streams layer.

The streams now display on the map in light blue.
Note: You may want to zoom out a bit to see the streams.

c Pause your mouse pointer over the Streams layer name and click the Perform Analysis
button.
d In the Perform Analysis pane, expand Manage Data and choose Overlay Layers.
In the Overlay Layers pane, set the following parameters:
• For Input Layer, confirm that Streams is selected.
This is the layer that will be overlaid.
• For Overlay Layer, choose Grazing Allotment.
This is the layer to overlay on the input layer.
• For Overlay Method, choose Intersect.
• For Output, choose Lines.
Note: Streams are line features. The area associated with the overlap will be displayed as lines
in the result layer.
e For Result Layer Name, type Intersect of Streams and Grazing

Allotment_yourfirstandlastname.
Note: If you run the analysis multiple times, you will need to give a unique result layer name
each time.
The Save Result In field defaults to your account name; you do not need to change this value.
f At the bottom of the Overlay Layers pane uncheck the Use Current Map Extent box.
The Use Current Map Extent (https://bit.ly/2StbI9J) box is checked by default. This limits the
results to your current map extent (the map display on-screen at any moment). We want to run
the analysis on all the records in the layer Streams no matter what area is on the screen, so we
will uncheck (not use) the current map extent.

g Click Run Analysis.

A new result layer with the name you assigned appears in the Contents pane, and the map
display updates to show the areas where the streams intersect/overlap the grazing allotments.
h On the map, click the Default Extent button to zoom the map to its initial extent.
Hint: The Default Extent button has a house icon on it and appears at the top left of the map.

Next, you will filter the data to limit the number of features that are displayed.
Step 9: Filter the data to limit feature display

In this step, you will filter the information from the new output layer to find out which
allotments a particular stream passes through.
a In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Intersect of Streams and
Grazing Allotment layer name and click the Filter button.
Note: This layer name will vary based on the name you assigned in the Result Layer Name in
the previous step.
b In the Filter dialog box, choose PNAME as the field to filter on.
Note: The PNAME field contains the names of the streams.
c In the second field, select Is.

d In the third field, click the Unique option and choose COYOTE CR from the drop-down
list.
Note: If the stream named Coyote Creek is not displayed in the current map extent, the
unique value COYOTE CR will not appear in the drop-down list. You can select another
stream from the list.
e Click Apply Filter And Zoom To.

The map shows the selected stream (Coyote Creek) and the allotments it passes through.
f Click the stream segment feature to view the information about the stream.

To view the list of allotments this particular stream passes through, you can open the attribute
table.
g Open the attribute table for the Intersect of Streams and Grazing Allotment layer.
The table displays at the bottom of the map. The PNAME field displays the name of the
stream, Coyote Creek; the allot_name field lists the names of the seven allotments that the
stream passes through.
Attribute table displaying allotments the Coyote Creek stream passes through.
h In the table, scroll to the right to view the allot_name field to see which allotments this
stream passes through.
If the biologists were looking at a particular stream, they could obtain a list of all the
allotments that the creek passes through. This information would allow them to take a closer

look at the allotments and work with the owners to determine if they were following best
practices for water quality.
i Close the table.

Next, you will view the changes in the legend.
j Open the Legend pane.

Because the features are all water features, the color of the symbology associated with each is
a shade of blue. The streams appear as light blue lines, the portions of the streams that flow
through/intersect the grazing allotments appear as a darker blue, and the hydrologic basin
boundaries appear as a brighter blue.
Changing the map style will make the map easier to interpret.
Step 10: Change the map style

In this step, you will change the style for the new layer you just created so that the portions of
streams within each allotment appear in a different color.
a In the Contents pane, pause your mouse pointer over the Intersect of Streams and
Grazing Allotment layer name and click the Change Style button.
Note: This layer name will vary based on the name you assigned in the Result Layer Name
earlier.

b In the Change Style pane, set the following parameters:
• For Choose An Attribute To Show, select allot_name from the drop-down list.
• For the drawing style, confirm that Types (Unique Symbols) is selected.
Note: The check mark ( ) indicates the current styling of the layer.
You would use unique symbols to show different kinds of things (categorical data). In this case,
you can use different colors to represent the portions of streams within each allotment.
Note: As a default, if your data has more than 10 categories, the 10 most common categories
will be shown, and the remaining categories will be grouped together into a single Other
category.
• Click Options to customize the look of the layer.
The Coyote Creek allotment has fewer than 10 stream segments that intersect it; these stream
segments are listed in the Change Style pane.

Note: If you choose a stream that has more than 10 different stream segments, you can
manually assign colors to all of them. Click the double arrow ( ) to the right of the Other
label in the Change Style pane to move the remaining features into the main list and assign
them colors.
c Click OK to close the Style Options dialog box.
d Click Done to close the Change Style pane and view the updated map.
Note: You may need to pan or zoom the map to see the stream segments.
Next, you will view the changes in the legend.
e Open the Legend pane.

The legend displays the segment of a stream that passes through an allotment in a different
color.

These colors make it easier to see the portions of the streams that fall within the different
allotments.
The original stream line features have been split into segments, and each part is symbolized
by color based on the allotment it falls within. Stream segments that do not pass through an
allotment are not included in the new results layer, but they are still visible on the map as light
blue line features as part of the original Streams layer.

If field tests find a water quality issue with a particular stream, the biologists can filter the
Intersect of Stream and Grazing Allotment results layer to find out which allotments the
stream passes through. The biologists can then link back to the federal database and get a
report on each allotment (the type and number of livestock, the owner information, the
administrating office, and so on) to help them determine the source of the pollution.
Step 11: Save the map

a In the top left of the map, click the Default extent button .
b To complete your work on this project, save the map.
c In the upper-right corner of the private/incognito browser window, click your name and
choose Sign Out.

d Close the private/incognito browser window.
Conclusion
The biologists can use the results of this analysis to work with the federal agencies to ensure
that permit holders are following best practices to help maintain the quality of the state's
water.
In this exercise, you looked at an example of the type of problem that can be addressed by
using overlay analysis.

Exercise: Determining How Places Are Related: Cattle Grazing Allotments

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Going Places with Spatial Analysis MOOC

Determining How Places are Related: Cattle Grazing Allotments

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 1

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 2

• Work with map layers.

• Where do livestock graze?

To translate this into spatial analysis terms, ask yourself:

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 3

• Which allotments are in each hydrologic basin?

• A layer showing grazing allotment areas/locations and their names

Step 1: Open the map

a Open a new private/incognito browser tab or window.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 4

A map of the area of interest opens, showing the grazing allotments.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 5

Step 2: Save a copy of the map

A copy of the map will be saved to your My Content collection.

Step 3: View layer information

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 6

c Close the information pop-up window.

d Turn off the Grazing Allotment layer.

e Turn on the Hydrologic Unit layer.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 7

Study area showing hydrologic basins.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 8

h Close the information pop-up window.

i Turn the Grazing Allotment layer back on.

Step 4: Combine information from different layers

c In the Overlay Layers pane, set the following parameters:

• For Input Layer, confirm that Grazing Allotment is selected.

This is the layer that will be overlaid.

• For Overlay Layer, if necessary, choose Hydrologic Unit.

This is the layer to overlay on the input layer.

• For Overlay Method, confirm that Intersect is selected.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 9

• For Output, confirm that Areas is selected.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 10

f Click Run Analysis.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 11

g Turn off the Grazing Allotment and Hydrologic Unit layers.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 12

j Close the information pop-up window.

Step 5: Filter the view of features in a layer

a Turn the Hydrologic Unit layer back on.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 13

d Turn the Grazing Allotment layer back on.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 14

g For the second field, select Is.

i Click Apply Filter And Zoom To.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 15

Step 6: View the attribute table

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 16

c Close the table.

Step 7: Filter data to limit visibility of features in a layer

b Click the Edit tab.

d In the second field, select Is.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 17

f Click Apply Filter And Zoom To.

Copyright © 2019 Esri. All rights reserved. 18