Hiking Red Rock Canyon

Objective

The goal of this lab is to map out trail difficulty, elevation, and length for the Red Rock Canyon Conservation Area in Las Vegas for the use of hikers.

1. Mapping the trails and terrain

1.1. Opening and saving the map

The map thumbnail for the assignment was clicked to load it into ArcGIS online after the user signed in. This map shows the boundaries of Red Rock Canyon and the visitor center. The map was saved by using the commands: Content > Save and Open > Save.

1.2 Adding trail data and a new basemap

Contents > Add > Browse Layers > change "my content" to ArcGIS Online > search Red Rock Canyon Trails with owner as Learn ArcGIS.

This data was added to the map. Then, the basemap was changed to one that would better show the terrain.

Contents > Basemap > Terrain with Labels.

Contents > Add > Browse layers > change "my content" to Living Atlas > type hillshade and press enter > Terrain: Multi-Directional Hillshade > Use as basemap.

now, search, Slope > add Terrain: Slope Map.

now, search, hybrid reference layer > add Hybrid Reference Layer to the map.

1.3 Symbolize the trails by difficulty

Layers > Red Rock Canyon Trails > Settings > Styles > Attributes > Field > select Difficulty > Add > Style options > reorganize the oder to the difficulty from strenuous to easy > recolor from light to dark colour.

In symbol style, the stroke is changed to a width of 3 to see the lines more clearly and the adjust width automatically option is unselected.

1.4 Configure pop-ups and legend

The names of the Trail layer attributes are all modified to be more user friendly and legible. This is done by:

Open Red Rock Canyon Trails layer properties by clicking on it > Settings > Configure fields > NAME > change display name to Trail.

1.5 Edit the map's item details

Contents > Map properties > Item details.

This sequence of commands opens a new window with details about the map. Here it can be edited, its popularity can be monitored and it can be shared with others.

2. Create trail elevation profiles

2.1 Creating the app

This part of the exercise involves building a web app for the kiosks at the Visitor Center to help visitors choose a trail.

Open item page for Red Rock Canyon Hiking Map > Overview > Create Webb App > Instant Apps > in "Search app capabilities" type elevation profile > Media Map > Choose.

The title was edited and the app was created.

In the search settings, the elevation profile was searched and turned on. App details like its title, description and legend were modified as seen in figure 3 below. The app was then published.

2.1 Testing the app

The app description looks as follows.

Clicking on "View Application" allows the user to interact with the app. The interface is seen below. The users can select different trails to see the level of difficulty and various details about the trail at each step along it. This is seen in figure 5 below.

Analyzing Credit Card Fraud

Objective

The goal of this exercise is to examine fuel card reports of drivers who are suspected of fraud, waste, and abuse. The results will be presented using ArcGIS Online.

1. Create a map

Data containing addresses of gas station transactions is entered into ArcGIS Online. The addresses are geocoded which converts them to spatial data which can be mapped to look further into the purchases that were bade by the four suspected drivers.

1.1 Entering data into the ArcGIS Online

The GasTransactions CSV file was uploaded to ArcGIS Online. The transaction sites were all uniformized into black dots using the Change Style Pane > Select a drawing style > Location (Single symbol).

Next, the start and end points (shipping addresses) of the drivers are inputted.

Search > 900 Brentwood Road NE, Washington, District of Columbia, USA. Then a directions path is created by adding in a second address as seen below.

1.2 Create a buffer and organize layers

Truck drivers that fill up their gas tank further than 10 miles from main highway are deemed suspicious. A buffer of this size is created by:

Analysis > Perform Analysis > Use Proximity > Create Buffers.

The conditions were entered and the analysis was run. The resultant buffer maps is seen below with the properly ordered layers in the contents tab.

1.3 Derive new locations

Fill-up receipts over 125$ are suspicious as they exceed what a tank should cost to fill up a truck. Further, if fuel bought is not diesel, this is also suspicious. This is accomplished using Derive New Locations tool.

Analysis > Find Locations > Derrive New Locations > Add Expression > gastransactions does not intersect Buffered route > Add > Rename > Run.

Analysis > Find Locations > Derrive New Locations > Add Expression > GasTransactionsNotIntersect (your name) where Pay is at least 125. > Add

Add Expression > GasTransactionsNotIntersect (your name) where Fuel_Type is Gas > Unique > Add

In the expression window, the "and" is changed to "or" so that either condition is flagged regardless of whether the other condition is also satisfied. The analysis is then run.

2. Report Findings

The reported potential misuse of the company issued credit cards for purposes other than filling up the diesel trucks has been flagged. This information must now be presented in a clear fashion.

2.1 Configure pop-ups

These can be added to layers on the map and provide descriptive data on the map elements. This is done by the following:

PotentialFraudLocations > More Options > Configure Pop-up > Configure Attributes > click and unclick Display > add in and re-label field alias for fields desired in display.

2.2 Create a presentation

On ArcGIS Online, presentations can be created to tell an interactive story. In this case, the two slides will show the investigation criteria and the results.

The Washington-New York Route (DirectionPoints) and Washington-New York Route (RouteInfo) were added to the display and the first dataset's visibility range was muted.

Create Presentation > Add > the title was then set and the features to be represented in the first slide on the map were selected > Slide List > Add > the title was then set and the features to be represented in the second slide on the map were selected.

Options > Auto advance > After 10 seconds > save

This presentation's URL can then be copied and shared to others.

Conclusion

It was very interesting to see the capabilities of ArcGIS Online. It has many functionalities and also extra features to display data such as creating an app or PowerPoint presentation.