Reference Map of my hometown of Stillwater,MN
This assignment was meant to help me understand how to digitize an aerial image. We were to find an aerial image of our hometown and then digitize the features associated with the image. I created separate layers on Adobe illustrator to digitize my map putting different features of separate layers. I chose shades of brown and green to help distinguish features on my map that i digitized. My labels were placed accordingly next to the features that i created. The data sources I used were google maps and google images to show signs on my roods and buildings.
Africa Reference Map
For this exercise we were to create a reference map of Africa. I first was given a blank map of the countries of Africa in Adobe illustrator. I then looked up each county's name in Goodes world atlas and then labeled them accordingly. Next, I added color to the map using color brewer as a reference, trying to space out different shades of oranges, greens and blues for the countries. I then added color to the rivers, oceans and lakes and then labeled them accordingly using goodes world Atlas. Last I put my title and my name on the map.
Bivariate Map California- Earthquakes over magnitude 5 vs. Population
This map was a topic of our choosing. We were to map two different variables that were related to one another and use cholropleth style mapping and proportional symbol mapping. I chose magnitude 5 earthquakes vs population in California. This was showing that large population centers are vulnerable to these devastating quakes. My color choices were assisted by color brewer and I also used feathering style for my title on the top. I acquired my data from the USGS website, USA.com and counties.org to help find each county and its population. My labels were placed where they were because the shape of California and the projection made it possible to only place my legend and labels on the left hand side of the page.
GIS mapping: Percentage of major races in Washington DC
This project was an introductory exercise to GIS and it helped me understand how to use chloropleth mapping styles on GIS. I used Arcmap's auto color assign for the different maps. I mapped percent Black,Hispanic,White and Asian in Washington DC.
Louisiana choropleth map (Acadian/Cajun Ancestry by Parish)
This exercise was to introduce the style of chloropleth mapping. I was to use an excel file provided to me and look up each county in Louisiana and map them according to different classification schemes. The color choices I used were acquired from color brewer and all of the data was provided to me on the W drive from Dr. Zeitler in an excel file and adobe file. all of my labels were placed in their appropriate places after I was done arranging my maps and legends on the page.
Satellite Positioning map of my daily bike route
This exercise was to use GPS units and map out an activity of your choosing. I chose to map my bike route due to its unique pattern that it produces. I took 497 tracking points with the Garmin Etrax GPS units. I then used the DNR software to import all of these points and then project them onto an aerial image of Eau Claire. My labels and color selection were the last placements I made on this map.
Projections of South America
This exercise was to help familiarize myself with different projections that can be used in ArcMap. I took the shapefile of south america provided by Dr. Zeitler and then loaded the shapefile into arcmap. I then chnaged the projections according to what Dr. Zeitler wanted in the exercise. I then loaded these new projections into Adobe and put them on seperate layers. I changed the color of each projection and then put them all on top of one another. The labels such as the title, my name, scale and the 60 degree W label was placed in at the end.
Proportional symbol map (Per capita beer consumption by 21 years or older in gallons)
This exercise was to help familiarize myself with proportional symbol mapping. The topics were of my choosing so i decided to map alcohol consumption by 21 year old and higher per capita. I first acquired my data from the beerinstitute.org and then put that data into an excel file to classify it. Once my data was classified, I uploaded the US shape file from ArcMap and then isolated Hawaii and Alaska. Next I imported these projected images in Adobe and put them on separate layers, along with the scale for each. I then chose my circle size and created my legend for the circles. For each state I used the data provided to me and changed the percentage of consumption for each state starting at 100% which was New Hampshire. The color choices and labels were then chosen using the space that I had available to me and from the colorbrewer website.
Final- Map Production
Map #1
I chose to improve my Satellite Positioning map because it had no figure ground, and was very dull (lacked color). Additionally I didn't put my source for my base map on there the first time which also was a mistake so I added my source/credits. I also forgot to put colored boxes around my text and my title so I added that which provided my visual hiearchy to the map. Last, I added a north arrow, because every map needs a north arrow!
Map # 2
I chose to improve my South America projections map because the one I uploaded before was too small and wasn't visually pleasing. I added a north arrow, sources and boxes around my legend, title, and my name. I also added color to improve the visual hierarchy and balance to the map. I also darkened my 60 degrees W line going through the continent. Lastly I put borders around my legend and darkened the borders around my individual boxes in my legend as well. I am hoping my new color scheme will improve the clarity of my map and make it more aesthetically pleasing.
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