Lab 10 - Spatio-Temporal Data, Time-Enabled GIS, and Dynamic Mapping
Have you ever noticed the "Time" tab under the Layer Properties window in ArcMap? Well, I hadn't. And after this week's lab assignment, I am extremely excited about it. That "Time" tab is a major component in enabling dynamic mapping on data layers that have a spatio-temporal element to it. That is, time data -- years, dates, etc. That's what this week's lesson was all about: learning about the different techniques in visualizing temporal data; when we create maps that show temporal data, it is called 'time-enabled GIS' (Morgan).
Specifically, in Part A of our lab assignment we explored the time functionality in ArcGIS by setting time properties for layers, by visualizing the data using the Time Slider toolbar window, inserting dynamic text, by seeing how dynamic timelines are constructed, and by exporting the animation to a video. My exported video -- which dynamically maps the most populous cities in the United States from 1790 to 2000 -- can be viewed on YouTube by clicking here or by viewing the embedded video link below.
In our lab assignment we also learned about creating "indexes" to speed up attribute queries on feature classes and tables. We also learned about examining data to know the format of the temporal attributes so that we can dynamically map them. For example, in Part B of our lab, we explored how to use the time functionality in ArcGIS to visualize "sequential data". As stated in our lab instructions, "there are a number of cases where this would be useful, especially if there are large temporal gaps in the data" (Morgan). Basically, it's visualizing things in order, even if there are 30 or 50 years apart. To calculate the sequence values, we used the Frequency geoprocessing tool under the Analysis Toolbox. I exported the animation to YouTube (which can be viewing by clicking here) or by viewing the embedded video link below. This map in particular shows volcanic eruptions by magnitude from the years 79 A.D to 2000 in sequence.
Specifically, in Part A of our lab assignment we explored the time functionality in ArcGIS by setting time properties for layers, by visualizing the data using the Time Slider toolbar window, inserting dynamic text, by seeing how dynamic timelines are constructed, and by exporting the animation to a video. My exported video -- which dynamically maps the most populous cities in the United States from 1790 to 2000 -- can be viewed on YouTube by clicking here or by viewing the embedded video link below.
In our lab assignment we also learned about creating "indexes" to speed up attribute queries on feature classes and tables. We also learned about examining data to know the format of the temporal attributes so that we can dynamically map them. For example, in Part B of our lab, we explored how to use the time functionality in ArcGIS to visualize "sequential data". As stated in our lab instructions, "there are a number of cases where this would be useful, especially if there are large temporal gaps in the data" (Morgan). Basically, it's visualizing things in order, even if there are 30 or 50 years apart. To calculate the sequence values, we used the Frequency geoprocessing tool under the Analysis Toolbox. I exported the animation to YouTube (which can be viewing by clicking here) or by viewing the embedded video link below. This map in particular shows volcanic eruptions by magnitude from the years 79 A.D to 2000 in sequence.
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