United States Department of Agriculture
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Introduction to ArcGIS 1 for USDA SCA 9.2

Overview

This three-day course introduces USDA Service Center Agency (SCA) participants to ArcGIS and provides the foundation for becoming a successful ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo user. Participants learn how to use ArcCatalog, ArcMap, and ArcToolbox and explore how these applications work together to provide a complete GIS software solution. The course covers fundamental GIS concepts using spatial data stored in the GEODATA folder structure common to all Service Center Agencies. Participants will learn how create, edit, and work with georeferenced spatial data, with particular emphasis on editing tasks that are common to all Service Center Agency workflows. Additional topics include querying a GIS database, a survey of common data formats, and how to present spatial data clearly and effectively with maps.

Audience

This course is intended for new and experienced GIS users who need to become familiar with the ArcGIS platform.

Goals

  • Become familiar with the SCA GEODATA folder structure
  • Display feature and tabular data
  • Work with georeferenced spatial data
  • Query features using logical expressions
  • Find features using spatial relationships
  • Understand the USDA tools for managing metadata
  • Edit spatial and attribute data
  • Produce maps

Topics Covered

  • ArcGIS overview: Capabilities and applications; Interacting with the interfaces; Basic display.
  • Spatial data concepts: Representing spatial data and descriptive information.
  • ArcGIS data model: Geodatabases; Shape files; Coverages; Feature types; Attributes.
  • GIS software: Components; Functions; Applications.
  • Spatial coordinate systems and map projections: Georeferencing data; What map projections are; How ArcMap works with map projections.
  • Querying data: Selecting and identifying features.
  • Editing data: Creating and modifying existing spatial features and attributes; Use of several advanced editing tools; Working with map topology.
  • Spatial coordinate systems and map projections:  Georeferencing data; What map projections are; How ArcMap works with map projections.
  • Map displays: Creating; Symbolizing; Scaling; Labeling; Annotating; Adding map elements.

Prerequisites and Recommendations

  • Participants should be familiar with the Windows operating system.
  • This course provides the prerequisite requirements for Toolkit training and the Digital Soil Survey Mapping and Updating course.

Course Schedule

Enrollment Information

  • To enroll in the course, please enter the course name in AgLearn.
For more information, please contact:
ESRI Technology - Authorized Instructor Logo - Trademarks provided under license from ESRI. Name Phone
Paul Fukuhara 817-509-3395
Gary Hallbauer 817-509-3421
Patsy Hudson 817-509-3361
Ron Selph 817-509-3421

Last Modified: 09/27/2007

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