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ArcGIS

ArcGIS Pro: Visualizing

ArcGIS Pro: Visualizing

This brief tutorial will walk you through the steps necessary for visualizing point data using ArcGIS Pro.

Set up and the Scenario

We will be mapping tree sample data for the neighbourhood of Bridgewater near Niagara Falls and Chippawa. 

Although there are many ways of creating visualizations using GIS technologies, we will explore some simple options using unique colours for species and proportional symbols for Diameter at Breast Height (DBH).

  1. Run ArcGIS Pro and sign into Your ArcGIS Organizations URL > enter "brock" to complete the URL > click BROCK UNIVERSITY then use your valid Brock credentials to sign in.

  2. In a new map, add the joined layer from the previous exercise. Alternately, download the zipped shapefile here. Be sure to unzip the file before attempting these steps. HINT: Right-click the zip file in Windows File Explorer and select ‘Extract all’.

Map showing point locations of trees

  1. From the Contents pane on the left side of the map view, double-click map image of map frame to open the map frame properties. It is good practise to set the projection of the map frame to a local coordinate system.
  2. From the map properties window, click Coordinate System and enter “UTM” in the search box.
  3. Double-click **Projected Coordinate System”.
  4. Double-click UTM then NAD 1983.
  5. Select NAD 1983 UTM Zone 17N for the Niagara area.

  6. Click OK.

  7. With the layer selected from the Contents listing, click the Feature Layer tab from the top ribbon options.
  8. Click Symbology. The Symbology pane appears to the right of the map view.
  9. From the Primary Symbology dropdown, select Unique Values and select Field1 -> Tree Species
  10. Select a colour scheme from the dropdown.

Symbology options for displaying tree species

  1. To vary symbology by size as well as colour, click image from the Symbology pane.
  2. Click Size and select DBHTrunk from the field dropdown.
  3. Check the box to Enable size range and adjust the range to be 2 at minimum and 20 at maximum.
  4. Scroll down and select Show Legend.

advanced symbology showing diameter at breast height

The trees are now symbolized by colour for tree species and size for diameter at breast height (DBH).

map showing trees symbolized by colour and size

 

Saving and Sharing a Layer

  1. From the Contents listing, right-click the tree layer.
  2. From the context menu, select Sharing > Share as a layer package. A layer package includes the assigned symbology and layer data your colleagues might need to work with the data effectively.
  3. Under Start Packaging choose Save package to file (alternately, you could upload the package to ArcGIS Online).
  4. Under Item Details select a location and file name; summary and tags.

  5. Under Options check the box to Include Enterprise and UNC Path Data. This option tells the software to include the data layers with the package.

Package Layers dialogue box options

  1. At the bottom of the the pane, click Analyze to see if there are any problems and then click Package.
  2. Open Windows File Explorer and navigate to the location where you saved the file image of a layer file
    This .lpkx can be shared with colleagues who are also using ArcGIS Pro.

NOTE: To use a .lpkx file, simply drag and drop the file to the map view from the Catalog pane.