Lab 2 - Acquire new data for your study area

This lab follows on the Week 5 class exercises that we completed during class.

Lab 2 - Data acquisition

1. Generate a polygon bounding your study area in Lat/Long coordiates, WGS1984 datum.

2. Acquire one layer of each type of data listed above for your study region (GE imagery, Topography, and landsat data) and import these data into Arcmap.

3. Show the bounding box over each image in Arcmap with the Lat/Long coordinates showing in the margins (hint... Add Grid under Properties). A north arrow and scale would also be useful. Try to use a round number for the scale (i.e., 1:10,000 or 1:100,000) and put that text on the side of the map with Text Scale command in Arcmap.

4. Generate a PDF showing each view and save it on your USB key. These can be big files so don't email these to me, we'll copy them off.

5. Important: get the Metadata from each source as you download it.

Find out:

  • The type of imagery (e.g., Landsat TM+, ASTER)
  • when the image was acquired (date/time), is this the dry season or the wet season?
  • reference system (lat long or path/row)
  • Try to include Metadata text in abbreviated form on the margins of the map next to the scale bar and such.
  • With Landsat imagery (don't call them 'photographs', by the way) people often report the Band Order with respect to Red, Green, Blue (RGB) display. So if Red = Band 3, Green = Band 2, Blue = Band 1 then you're showing RGB as 321.

If you want to see an example of a project I did with ASTER imagery where I report the metadata, see this webpage: Seasonality in the Colca Valley. You don't have to include that much detail for this assignment, just a few short lines.

6. Hand these in in class on the fourth week.