Field Activity #6: Microclimate Geodatabase Construction for deployment to ArcPad

Part 1

This week in class we learned how to develop a geodatabase domain and then create a feature class out in our personal geodatabase later to be used next week when collecting data using a GPS. The task of the week was to decide what belongs in the feature class, creating the feature class, and then importing it along with a raster background image into ArcMap.  

The first step of the process was deciding what fields were going to be created inside the features class.  As a class we followed these questions to come up with our data: What is the purpose of the event?  What are you trying to examine?  What are the ranges you are going to be looking at?  What is the type of data you will be recording?  Pre-planning for what goes into a geodatabase when collecting data in a field is very important.  Because when out in the field you want to have everything set up perfectly to collect data.  For example when collecting a survey of temperature you could run into a technology problem.  If the GPS or temperature gage is failing it is important to enter into your notes field that problems occurred, therefore when looking back at the collected data it will be easy to remember what went wrong. Staying one step ahead when out in the field is critical in having a clean and efficient way of collecting data. More information of what to add to the geodatabase can be found here.

Next week the class will be collecting temperature data around University of Wisconsin Eau Claire's campus mall. Therefore the fields used in the collection will all relate to components of temperature.  The fields the class decided on were: temperature, wind speed, wind direction (azimuth in terms of degrees and direction; North, South etc), relative humidity, dew point, snow depth, time, group number, and notes.  All of these fields contribute to temperature and it is important to gather the data their information when displaying our results.  The wind speed and direction is critical to the temperature of the air.  Faster winder speed leads to colder temperatures and the direction of the wind will lead to warmer or colder coming into Eau Claire. If the wind is blowing to the south this means that the wind will be coming from Canada leading to colder temps in Eau Claire.  Also relative humidity and dew point are other important factors to the temperature.  If the air is very humid the air will be thicker and hotter compared to when the relative humidity being low the air will be thin and cooler.  Time will have also have a great effect on the temperature, the coldest temperatures of the day usually occur around 6 am and the warmest around 2 or 3 pm.  This will be important because groups may collect their data at different times of the day.   Snow depth was a personal choice for the class and does not relate the current temperate.  The notes field will be used to take any important notes during the collection.  Things like, "standing next to a building heater" or "the wind was blocked by buildings" will be important when reading the results of the data. 

 

Part 2

The next step after pre determine what will go into our personal geodatabase is to create the geodatabase.  To do this open up ArcCatalog and connect to the folder you wish to use when creating the goedatabase. To do this click the connect to folder button seen in figure 1.

 

Figure 1:The connect to folder button is shown in the image above.  It is the folder
with the plus sign in the corner.  This will let you connect to the folder you wish
to create the geodatabase in. 

 

Then after connecting to the folder desired, right click on it and choose new personal goedatabase.  This will create a geodatabse and the name of the geodatabase can be edited.

 



Figure 2: In ArcCatalog find the folder you wish to create the geodatabase and right click and
choose new personal geodatabse.  The new geodatabse should appear under the folder like
the image above shows the geodatabse mc_borgen_gdb

The next step is to edit the domain to set up the feature class.  This step is very important because you be setting the range of the domain along with the field type, short integer, float, or text.  Temperature, dew point, and relative humidity were set to float.  Notes and wind direction using north, south, east and west were set to text and the rest were set to short integers.  To see the domain right click on your personal geodatabase and click on properties and then domains.  Figure 3, should be seen on the screen and the domain is ready to be edited. 

Figure 3: When editing the domain this image should appear on the screen.
 You can set the domain name, field type, and range.

After editing the domain the next step is to create the feature class containing the different fields.  To do this right click on the geodatabase then followed by new and feature class.  The steps can be seen in figure 4 below.  Next set the class to a point feature class and choose a coordinate system seen in figure 5.  For this exercise UTM Zone 15N was used because Eau Claire fall within that zone.  More about UTM zones can be found here. 

Figure: 4: To create a feature class right click on your database followed by new and feature class.
The figure above should lead the way

Figure 5: For our study area the class used NAD1983 UTM Zone 15N.
The city of Eau Claire is falls in Zone 15.  

After choosing the coordinate system click next until you reach the image similar to figure 6.  Here you can edit the field name choose the data type and the domain type.  In the field name enter in each separate field, temp, dew point, wind speed, etc.  Then choose either float, short integer, or text for the data type and match it the domain entered earlier.  After entering the field name, data type, and matching it to the correct domain the feature class can be finished. 

Figure 6: An image similar to this should appear when creating a new feature class.
The field name, data type, and domain will have to be edited to create the feature class.

Also a background image should be imported into ArcMap for use when importing the collected data next week.  To do this follow the steps in figure 7 and import a raster image desired.   After the raster image is loaded into the geodatabase it, along with the feature class, is ready to imported into ArcMap.

Figure 7: Importing an raster image is rather simple, right click on the geodatabase,
then import, and raster datasets.  Then importing finding the raster desired
and placing it in the correct output folder it will appear in the geodatabase

To do this open ArcMap and click the add data button, which can be seen highlighted in figure 8.  Then connect to your geodatabase you created in ArcCatalog by clicking the connect to folder button seen earlier in figure 1.  Navigate your folder and add the feature class and raster image to ArcMap.

Figure 8: This figure is showing the box that appears when adding data.
The add data is the same button in figure 1, then by connecting the
folder containing the geodatabase add the data you want on your map.

If these steps are followed correctly your screen should be similar to figure 9 below.  The raster image appearing and the feature class and raster details appearing in the data frame.  You have now prepared a geodatabase with the correct fields ready to collect data and enter it on to ArcMap.

Figure 9: The image is the final result of creating the geodatabse, editing the domain,
creating the feature class, and adding the data to ArcMap.