For my ArcGIS 2.0 training this week, I combined data of storms in the Pacific ocean and the Atlantic ocean. I got this data from DASIL’s downloadable data resource that was originally given to me as a part of my data science course. In that class, we just started talking about geospatial data and shape files, which has reminded me a lot of ArcGIS work. ArcGIS is a lot less limiting than creating these visualizations in RStudio though. I was surprised to see that ArcGIS does not require coordinates to map data points, you can use cities and states as well. I knew this from the first training, but all of the data science information has covered up that knowledge so it was a nice little reminder.
In the map I made for this, I combined two data sets and changed the data points so that they were simple circles. From there, I scaled the size and color of them based on the max wind variable for each storm. I had to adjust the boundaries of the scale because some of the dots were way too large. In my previous training, I thought that you couldn’t layer multiple files of data onto one map. I did that very easily in this project, so I’m not super sure why I thought that wasn’t possible.
I’ve also had a lot of students come in asking for help on ArcGIS, so I think it’s very important to continue learning this tool. A lot of their questions have been quite technical and specific so it would have been hard to anticipate them and learn those skills ahead of time. Throughout these tutoring hours, I’ve learned the value of learning on the spot and being confident in finding answers even if you don’t know how to do it right away. Ellen has been helping me a lot with these students and the way she approaches tutoring is very inspiring to me. Even if she doesn’t know how to do something, she commits to the problem and does her best to find a solution through a combination of her prior knowledge and online resources. I’ve been very scared to try to help people because I feel as though I do not know enough. As I continue in this position, I will work on getting more confident in helping others.