Cartographic Skills: Final Project

Every year in the United States, high school students are able to take a standardized test called the SAT that tests their knowledge in three particular subjects which are math, critical reading, and writing. Each subject is graded separately at first and then added together to give the composite score result. These composite scores are a requirement to get into most colleges across the United States. In 2014, CollegeBoard.org gather data from each state of their high school students’ participation percentage and the SAT mean scores in the three subjects that students were tested in. Based the data gathered, Washington Post wanted to utilize this information to write an article regarding the high school seniors and college entrance scores. This data was to be displayed by using a map to illustrate the SAT mean composite scores and the participation percentage by state.

The thematic method that was used to create this map was the choropleth mapping technique which allows the mean composite scores to be display by each state across the United States. The composite scores were classified by using five classes and the Equal Interval classification method. The Equal Interval classification method was used due to the fact that this method has each class placed at an equal interval along the number line. Using this method, map readers are able to interpret the information easily and there are not gaps in the mean composite scores on the legend of the map (Slocum, Thematic Cartography and Geovisualization, 2009). Another thematic method that was used was a loosely-based dot mapping technique which was executed in Adobe Illustrator. The ellipses were placed in each state which they had the participation percentage information.


The reason why this map was created was to cartographically show the SAT mean composite scores in each state, as well as the participation percentage of high school students, that occurred in 2014; however, the final product of the map needed easily understandable to the audience reading the Washington Post article. The orientation of the map is set to landscape mode which encompass all of the data more effectively and does not look cluttered. Gestalt’s Principles of figure-ground was implemented when deciding the blue color scheme of the choropleth map that would allow the states stand out from the mute light green-gray color background. Also, visual hierarchy was utilized as well when making the participation percentage ellipses a beige color so the importance of the number data that was being convey in each state would be more evident.  
 

Cartographic Skills: Module 11 - 3D Modeling

In this week's lab, we learned about 3D modeling in presenting map data. We partook in a ESRI workshop training which helped us to better grasp the material that we were learning. We created various maps throughout the ESRI training which taught us how to set the base height of the raster and feature data, manipulate the vertical exaggeration, illumination setting, how extrusion works, and using the extrusion technique to show the value of parcels. 


One of pluses is that allows he 3D map can presents data as a timeline which allow the viewer to see the events of the phenomenon's movement through an area. Another plus about using a 3D map for presenting this data is that the viewer can see geographic and terrain features more in-depth. One of the negative about using this type of map presentation is that requires the author of the map to be able to input all of the data needed for conveying the relative information . Another negative is that the data can be hard to interpret if the map viewer is not familiar with the phenomenon that is being present, such as historical invasions or land parcel values. 

One application of a 3D building layer is gives visual effect to the map that is being presented to the map viewer. The 3D building layer helps the viewer comprehend the map’s data and it might help them get their bearings in a new place with having the 3D models of the buildings in the map data. The second application of 3D building layer is to present data in a new way, such as the value of the parcel by having 3D scales above the land parcels.

Cartographic Skills: Module 10 - Dot Mapping

In this week's module, we learned how to use dot mapping to represent population density. The objectives of learning this subject was to join spatial and tabular data, utilize dot density symbology, select suitable dot size and unit valve, and utilize the mask function to manipulate the dot placement. The map that I created this week is the population density of South Florida in 2000. This map shows the population as dots in the urban areas of South Florida. Each of the dots represents 20,000 people.

This map was primarily created in ArcMap and the small portion in AI. In ArcMap, I first open SouthFlorida.shp and added the SHeet0$.xls sile which I then used the 'Join' tool to combine the census data of the xls file with the South Flrida counties. After joining the two files, I opened the 'Layer Properties' window and selected the 'Symbology' tab. In the 'Symbology' tab, I was able to manipulate the presentation of the population by selecting 'Quantities' and 'Dot Density'. I added the 'Population' field as a symbol so now the data is symbolized on the map. I also manipulated the dot size and unit valve to accurately display the population. To position the dots in the right places on the map, I used the 'Masking' function which allowed me to place the dots only in the UrbanLand.shp file. I created the first part of the legend in ArcMap which was the basic information about the map. The second part of the legend was created in AI. I imported the map into AI and created a new layer for the second part of the legend which shows the low, medium, and high densities of the population. I used the 'Rectangle' tool to create 3 boxes to show the different densities and I also used the 'Ellipses' tool to create the dot density in each box.