Creating GIS Data in ArcGIS Pro

As a GIS professional, you want to be confident that your data is up to date and accurate. ArcGIS Pro provides editing tools that allow you to update existing GIS data or create new ones. Using editing functionality in ArcGIS Pro, you can change the geometry of features or the information they store. In this exercise, we want to create GIS Data for Clemson University Campus. By the end of this exercise, you will be able to:

Create a new project in ArcGIS Pro
Choose the right projection for your map
Create GIS Data
Edit GIS Data

1. Start a new project

Start ArcGIS Pro and sign in if necessary.

ArcGIS Pro automatically opens the start page. Here you find options to either open an existing project or create a project using one of the available templates. These templates provide a starting point for the project. Additional maps, scenes, and catalog views can be added to your project at any time, regardless of the initial template. On the start page, under Blank Templates, click Map.Note: If you already have a project open, click the Project tab on the ribbon. In the list on the left, click New. In the list of project templates, click Map. On the Create a New Project dialog box, in the Name box, type Clemson_University_Campus

To save a project to a different location click the Browse button and browse to the folder you want.

The Create a new folder for this project check box is checked by default. It is usually convenient to keep your project files organized in a folder.

Click OK.

The new project opens with a map view.

If you've opened ArcGIS Pro before, the Contents and Catalog panes may be open. Other panes may be open as well. You'll set the pane state to the default for mapping.

If you don’t see the Catalog or Contents, don’t panic! On the ribbon, click the View tab. In the Windows group, click Reset Panes and click Reset Panes for Mapping (Default).

The Contents and Catalog panes are now open if they were not open before. Any other open panes are closed.

2. Set the coordinate system for your map

In the Contents pane, right-click on Map then click Properties.

On the Map Properties dialog box, click the Coordinate Systems tab.

The buttons below the Current XY and Current Z headings show the current horizontal and vertical coordinate systems of the map or scene, respectively. There may be no vertical coordinate system defined. Click Details for either coordinate system to see how they are defined. As you see in the picture above, your map has the WGS 1984 Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere as the default projected coordinate system.

Question: What is the vertical coordinate system?

To change the horizontal or vertical coordinate system, click the button below the Current XY. You have to choose an appropriate coordinate system from the corresponding Coordinate Systems Available list. You can enter a search term in the Search box to help locate a specific coordinate system. Here, we want to choose a projected coordinate system that is appropriate for our study area—which is Clemson, South Carolina. While you are in the Map Properties window, click the Coordinate Systems tab. Under Coordinate Systems Available list, expand the Projected coordinate System dropdown. Click on State Plane and expand the dropdown next to it. Click on the 3rd one from the top; NAD 1983 (2011) (Meters). Now, scroll down until you find the projection for South Carolina. Note: When the vertical coordinate system is ellipsoidal, it must share the same datum as the horizontal coordinate system. The datum name, the spheroid name, and all of the spheroid properties of the two coordinate systems must exactly match.

3. Create GIS data from scratch: Making a Layer for Building Footprints

Now, we want to create a GIS dataset that contains Clemson University building footprints. These GIS Datasets are called “feature class.” When creating a feature class, you choose whether to create one that stores polygons, lines, or points. Refer to Feature class properties for information about the various properties that need to be set during the creation of a new feature class.

Create a stand-alone feature class using the Create Feature Class wizard

In the Catalog pane, right-click on the Clemson_University_Campus geodatabase in which you want to create a feature class.

Point to New > Feature Class

. This opens the Create Feature Class wizard.

On the Define page of the wizard, type Clemson_University_Buildings for the feature class in the Name text box. To create an alias for this feature class, type one in the Alias text box.

Choose the type of features that will be stored in this feature class from the Feature Class Type drop-down list.

Under Geometric Properties, check the box for Z-value. This will allow you to store 3D data for your records. Click Next.

On the Fields page of the wizard, you can add fields to the feature class. To add a field to the feature class, click the final row where it says "Click here to add a new field". A new row will be added to the list of fields.

In the Field Name column, type Building_Name.

Click the drop-down menu in the Data Type column and choose Text as data type for the new field.

In the Field Properties section at the bottom of the pane you can make edits to the properties of the new field. The properties displayed will depend on what you've chosen as the data type for the field. To create an alias for this field, click the text box next to Alias and type in an alias.

To prevent nulls from being stored in this field, click the drop-down arrow next to Allow Null Values, and choose No.

To associate a default value with this field, click the text box next to Default value and type the value.

To set other properties specific to the type of field, either click the property in the drop-down list or type the property.

Repeat steps 7 through 9 until all the feature class fields have been defined.

Note: You can only have one field of data type Global ID or Raster in your feature class. Note: If you want to import field definitions from another feature class or table, click Import and browse to its location, select the feature class or table, and click OK.

Note: If you want to change the order of the fields you've added, you can click on a field and drag and drop it into another position above or below its current position in the fields list. Note that the OBJECTID and SHAPE fields are greyed out and immovable.

Click Next when you are done managing fields.

On the Spatial Reference page of the wizard, you will set the spatial reference for the new feature class. The box for Current XY is highlighted. Under XY Coordinate Systems Available, browse to the coordinate system you want to use. This control has search and filter options to help you locate a specific coordinate system. You can also base the coordinate system for the new feature class on a layer in the current map or import a coordinate system from another feature class. Here, we will let it be the same projected system that we set up in Step 2.

Leave the Current Z box as is and click Next to continue with the wizard.

Using the wheel on your mouse, zoom in and out to explore your map. Hold the left click to turn your cursor into the pan tool.

Zoom to Cooper Library pond to zoom level of 1:400. Can you see the walk paths around the pond?

Once you have chosen a coordinate system, click Finish. 4. Examine your GIS data

Now that you created your very first GIS Data, let’s examine it. Expand Clemson_Univeristy_Campus.gdb in your Catalog.

In the Catalog pane, expand the Clemson_University_Campus geodatabase in which you created GIS dataset for buildings.

Drag and drop your Clemson_University_Buildings layer into your map.

In the Contents pane, right-click on your feature class and open Attribute Table. What do you see in your attribute table? Scroll to the right of the table. Do you see the fields you added when creating the GIS layer?

Next, we will add data to our GIS dataset.

5. Adding basemaps

At this step, we want to add basemaps to our map so that we can trace the buildings.

In the top panel, click on Map tab and then expand the Basemap dropdown.

Click on the Imagery.

Now, we will add another layer: Aerial imagery of Clemson University's main campus. This orthomosaic was created by the Clemson Center for Geospatial Technologies (CCGT) and derived from images captured using an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV, drone). A Sensefly eBee+ was flown at 390 ft above ground level to capture over 1,700 individual images during multiple flights using a S.O.D.A camera. Images were processed to orthorectify and mosaic the images using the highest quality parameters.

If you wish to know more about our UAV services, please visit this website.

Click on the Map tab.

In the Layer group, click on Add Data and then on Data.

In the Add Data wizard, under the Portal tab, there are four tabs from which you can add data:

My Content —Maps, layers, and other items you have added to your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise portal.

Groups

—Items shared with groups of which you are a member

All Portal

—Items shared publicly on ArcGIS Online as well as items shared to your portal

Living Atlas

—Curated items shared through the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World

Click on All Portal .

On the top right corner in the search tab, type Clemson.

Click on Clemson_University_aerial_imagery_March_2019.

Notice the difference between the two imageries.

6. Adding buildings

Now, we want to start adding building footprints.

On the Edit tab, in the Features group, click Create

The construction toolbar appears at the bottom of the map .

. The Create Features pane appears. In the pane, click on Clemson_University_Buildings as your feature template.

Next to the tool palette, click the Active template button . The tool palette and the feature attribute table for the template appear in the pane. You added these fields when you created the Clemson_University_Buildings layer. Type the values you want to apply to the first building: Building_Name: Cooper Library

Building_Number: 1

Comments: This is my first GIS data entry!

In the pane, click Polygon

. Move your cursor on the map and start clicking on the corners of Cooper Library on the map. Click the map, drag the pointer, and click the map again.

Once you are done with your points, to finish the feature, right-click and click Finish

, or press the F2 key.

Add at least 10 buildings.

7. Exercise on your own

Create a dataset for roads and add streets and roads around Cooper Library!

Congratulations, you are a tiger of a data creator!

Page updated

Report abuse