WEEK 2 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING ORGANIZING SPATIAL DATA

Week 2 Professional Training:

This week’s Professional Training focuses on organizing vector and raster data in a geodatabase. You will
get to create your first feature class, import a shapefile into a geodatabase, and work with raster mosaics.

Goals:

 Import vector shapefiles to a geodatabase (which makes them a feature class).

 Demonstrate how to create a new geodatabase, feature class, and feature dataset.
 Explore a raster mosaic.

GIS Professional: “When I started my first GIS job, I soon learned that data sets are
shared throughout my workplace, and if they are disorganized it wastes time! Data
organization is an essential skill for anyone who uses GIS whether on the job or in a
class.”

GIS Student: “As I completed the assigned tutorial, I read some terms that I didn’t understand, so
I looked them up. I’ll share what I found; next week maybe you can share with me.”

New Terms:

Spatial Reference Systems and Coordinate Systems provide a framework for defining locations on
Earth’s surface. There are hundreds of coordinate systems; some of the more common ones use
longitude and latitude to reference points on Earth. We’ll learn more about them in Week 6.

Feature Datasets are like file folders inside a geodatabase. They are used to hold related vector data
and can hold any number of point, line, and/or polygon feature classes. Learn more about feature
datasets.

Guidelines and rules for using feature datasets include the following:
 All the feature classes in a feature dataset must have the same coordinate system.
 Typically, the data in a feature dataset lie in a common spatial area and are related by topic.
(For example, a feature dataset called “geology” might hold a polygon feature class “geologic
units” and a line feature class “geologic faults,” while a feature dataset called “bridges” might
contain one-point feature class of bridge locations and another for overpasses.)
 Feature datasets are useful for the following: (1) organizing related data and (2) applying
extensions like topology, utility networks, or parcel fabrics.

CAD is an acronym for Computer Aided Design. CAD files are vector data that are often drawn and
used in engineering applications. CAD files may have a *.dwg extension, and if they have spatial
reference they can be imported into an ArcGIS Pro geodatabase.
WEEK 2 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING ORGANIZING SPATIAL DATA
 WEEK 2 PROFESSIONAL TRAINING ORGANIZING SPATIAL DATA

Assignment:

Open the link below and complete the ESRI Tutorial “Getting started with the geodatabase.” The tutorial
consists of instruction, quizzes, three exercises and an exam. When you complete the exercises and pass
the exam with 80% or higher, you will earn an ESRI Certificate.

“This Week’s Challenge assignment required me to apply what I learned in the Professional
Training tutorial!

I had to know how to add fields to an attribute table, set up a geodatabase, and create
feature datasets and feature classes. I’m glad I took good notes in my Professional Training
Memo – they made the Challenge a lot easier!”

Be patient when you load the mosaic dataset in the last exercise! Raster data are big and take a lot longer
to load than vector data!

Tutorial Link: Getting started with the geodatabase

The tutorial is designed to take ~3.5 hours. Be sure to take notes for your Professional Training Memo and
snip a screenshot of your certificate to turn in to your supervisor.

Turn in the following:

 Provide a Professional Training Memo that follows the same format you used in Week 1.
 Take a screenshot of the certificate you will earn as you complete the tutorial or a screenshot of
the highest score you got on the exam.

“ESRI Certificates are one way to show others what you have learned to do using
ArcGIS Pro! I used my certificate list to help me get my first job, and I keep digital
copies of them in a folder on my computer.”