Lab 1: Base Data

Introduction: 

Clear Vision Eau Claire is a countywide leadership organization with a goal of developing a collective goal for the future of Eau Claire.  Clear Vision Eau Claire in 2012 formed a public-private partnership between local developers.  These developers were the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and the Eau Claire Regional Arts Center.  This partnership is working on developing a new development at the confluence of the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers.   This new development has been named the "Confluence Project".  This project will create a new community arts center, university student housing, and a commercial retail complex located in downtown Eau Claire.  

In this lab, I was posing as an intern for Clear Vision Eau Claire to prepare base maps for the Confluence Project.  The goal of this lab was to utilize various data sets used in public land management, administration, and land use methods to prepare the base maps.


Methods:

I learned many valuable new skills while completing this lab.

• I learned how to find the rules of a topology.  It is found under the rules tab of the Topology Properties.  You can read through the rules and get a description of what the rule does.
• Example: Parcel_Line Rule: must not have dangles, a line from one layer must touch the lines from the same layer at both endpoints. An endpoint where the line does not touch another line is an error.
• I learned how to digitize land sites on ArcMap using the editor toolbar and snapping toolbar.  
• Digitizing is the process of converting shapes on a paper map to a digital map layer by entering vertices.  This is a valuable technique because it is one of the main ways data is generated.  
• Example: In this lab the proposed site for the Confluence Project needed digitizing.  The editor toolbar and snapping toolbar were used to digitize the polygons of the proposed site by adding vertexes.  Exact steps are given in step 4 below.
• I learned how to utilize basemaps and how helpful they can be.  Basemaps provide essential outlines that can be used for plotting and the presentation of specialized data.  
• I learned how to utilize data from various websites and government reports.  These sources have valuable information that can be added to improve maps.  
• Example: Using the City of Eau Claire mapping services website to access city parcel information such as, parcel number, owner and other important data.  I also accessed legal descriptions of the land parcels.   

These are the steps I followed to create the following image.

1. To start I set the paper layout to landscape and size 11 X 17 inch.  
2. I added 6 data frames and labeled each with an appropriate title matching the set of data that would be entered in the frame.  I used text boxes to insert the titles.  I properly used rulers, grid lines, and guides with the snap to grid lines and guide lines tools to align the 6 data frames and titles in a professional manner.    
3. Before I started adding any real data to the data frames, I first added the World Imagery Basemap to all of the data frames.  I also zoomed into the location of the Confluence Project on the maps.  
4. The first piece of data I had to compile was the Proposed Site feature class.  To do this I opened a blank map in ArcMap and created a new blank geodatabase and a blank feature class.  I set the coordinate system to the same as the other databases holding the data for this project, the Eau Claire County Coordinate system.  I added the World Imagery Basemap, and activated the editor toolbar.  I added the parcel_area and proposed site feature classes and changed the pacel_area symbology to a hollow symbol with a bright outline.  Using the start editing feature on the editor toolbar I selected start editing for the proposed site feature class.  I then activated the snapping toolbar and selected for End Snapping and Vertex Snapping.  Using the legal outline of the proposed area as a guide I started digitizing the proposed area by using the polygon tool and clicking the boarder boundaries of the proposed area supplied by the parcel_area feature class.  Each click created a new vertex and I continued to trace the boarder of the locations.  Once both land parcels were digitized I saved my edits and selected to stop editing.  I closed my blank map in ArcMap and returned to my Confluence Project map.       
5. I added the newly created Proposed Site feature class to each data frame and gave the polygon feature a bright red color so it could be easily distinguished.  For the maps that would need to be in a more zoomed out frame view I added label callouts allowing the proposed site to stay visible.  
6. I added relevant data to each data frame.
• Civil Divisions: I added the Eau Claire county boundary and changed the symbol to a light grey outline with a hollow inside.  I also added the civil divisions feature class.  
• Census Boundaries: I added the BlockGroups and Tracts Group feature classes.  The Tract Group was added allowing it to be on top of the BlockGroups.  I set the BlockGroups to only allow data to two significant figures and gave it a graduated color scheme.  
• PLSS Features: I added the PLSS feature class and made it hollow with a bold boarder. 
• Eau Claire City Parcel Data: I added the parcel_area, centerlines, and water feature classes to the map.  I gave the parcel_area feature class a hollow symbol with a bright colored outline.  
• Zoning: I added the zoning_areas feature class.  I symbolized the data using unique values based on zoning classes.  I used zoning codes to group similar data into six groups: commercial, central business district, industrial, public properties, residential, and public properties.  I also added the centerlines feature class. 
• Voting Districts: I added the voting districts feature class for the city of Eau Claire.  I also labeled the voting districts by their ward number and gave the labels a halo.    
7. I gave all polygon feature classes that were not turned into hollow symbols a transparency value so that the basemap could still be referenced.  The only polygon feature class to receive no transparency was the Proposed Site feature class.  I also adjusted all line feature classes and hollow symbols to the proper thickness.  I worked with color schemes to make the map visually appealing and easily interpreted.  
8. Once all of the data was added to each data frame, I adjusted all of the data frames to appropriate scales to be able to effectively view the data in the frame.  
9. I then added scale bars to all of the maps and legends to the maps they applied to.  I made sure the scales were in appropriate measurement increments and that the legends did not have any abbreviations and were neat and could be easily interpreted.  I made any adjustments that needed to be made.  I then arranged the scale bars and legends so that they would not distract from the maps.    
10. To finish the map I sourced and dated where I got all of my data, City of Eau Claire and Eau Claire County 2013.  I also listed myself as the cartographer.  

Results:

Figure 1

The results for Figure 1 show that the Confluence Project will be located in the city civil division of the Eau Claire County.  The project is with in the census boundaries where the population per square mile is 3,600 to 5,000 people.  The location of the project falls with in the Eau Claire township according to the Public Land Survey System.  There are 18 townships in Eau Claire County.  The city of Eau Claire exists the majority in Township 27 North Range 10 West.  The plots of land where the Confluence Project is located occupies two sections of the 36 sections of the township.  The Confluence Project occupies two Eau Claire city land parcels.  The land designated for the Confluence Project is apart of the central business district.  The two land parcels are separated by a patch of land that is public property.  The Confluence Project is in voting district 31.  The patterns that can be found on the map show that the land parcels for the project are located in the heart of the business district of the City of Eau Claire.

Sources:

"City of Eau Claire, WI WG Xtreme." City of Eau Claire, WI WG Xtreme. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. <http://eauclairecitywi.wgxtreme.com/>.

"Foundation, What, Place, Confluence." Foundation, What, Place, Confluence. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. <http://www.uwec.edu/Foundation/what/buildings/confluence.htm>.

Hemstead, Brenda. "PLSS- Legal Descriptions PLSS." PLSS - Legal Descriptions PLSS. N.p., 18 Mar. 2015. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. <http://sco.wisc.edu/legal-descriptions.html>.

Lippelt, Irene D. UNderstanding Wisconsin Township, Range, and Section Land Descriptions. Rep. no. 0375-8265. Madison: Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey, 2002. Print. Educational Ser. 44.

"Mapping Services." City of Eau Claire, Wisconsin: N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. <http://www.eauclairewi.gov/departments/public-works/engineering/mapping-services>.

"You Have a Role to Play in Building Eau Claire's Future." Community for the Confluence. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Mar. 2016. <http://communityfortheconfluence.org>.