Journey North Data for GIS
Journey North ArcExplorer Page

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ArcExplorer ª is a FREE geographic data viewer developed by Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc. (ESRI). ArcExplorer is designed to dramatically change the way geographic data can be viewed and shared. In a short time, you can be using ArcExplorer to view and query Journey North geographic data stored on your computer that is retreived from theWeb. With ArcExplorer, the world of geographic data available on the Web is at your fingertips and can be easily put onto your desktop.

More about ArcExplorer
Download a FREE copy of ArcExplorer ª software and its user guide

Sample Journey North Data Sets

* Eagle migration tracked by satellite telemetry. Data courtesy of Peter Nye, of the NY Department of Environmental Conservation.

Bald Eagle*

(theme showing eagle #83 migration in spring, 1999)

Monarch Butterflies

(theme showing all Spring, 1999 sightings)

Tulips

(themes showing 1999 blooming progress in a 2-week interval

How to Map Journey North Data with ArcExplorer:

  1. Download one of the sample Journey North data sets.
  2. Start ArcExplorer and click on the "Add Themes" button.
  3. Locate and select the zip file you just downloaded and click "Add Theme".
  4. Select a directory where you would like to store the data and click "open". (ArcExplorer will extract the data, and store it on your hardrive in this location)
  5. This sample Journey North ArcExplorer file is currently named "default.AEP". You can select "Save As" if you wish to rename the file.
  6. NOTE: All ArcExplorer project files have an extension of .aep. You can save any changes, and open and close this file for future use.

Suggested Activities

*Download ArcExplorer User Guide to learn more about ArcExplorer's tools.

  • Getting and using attributes of map features

    Use the Identify tool( icon with "i" in the center) to get information about a particular feature. For example, to find out information about a lake on the map,

    1. Click the name of the theme you wish to identify to make it active (the "Lakes" theme for our example).
    2. Click the Identify tool.
    3. Click the feature you wish to identify (a lake on the map which you wish to know about).

    Use the Query tool ( icon with a hammer) to find features with the values you specified. For example, to find migration/event sightings reported by March 31, 1999,

    1. Click the name of the theme you wish to query to make it active (the migration/event theme for our example).
    2. Click the Query tool.
    3. In Query Builder dialog, build your query expression by clicking on fields, operators, and values or by typing it in ( DATE < = '03/31/99' or DATE < '04/01/99' for our example ).
    4. Click the Execute button. Features that meet the query definition appear in the Query Results panel.
    5. You can choose to highlight or zoom to all or selected features found.

    Use the Measure tool (icon with a ruler) to measure distance on the map. For example, to find out how far an animal has traveled since date X to dateY.

    1. Click the Measure tool and choose a measurement unit from the detachable menu.
    2. On the map, click and drag to draw a line representing the distance you wish to measure (for our example, a line connecting date X point and date Y point). The segment and total length you measured is displayed in the status panel at the top left of the map view.

      To stop measuring and clear the measurements, double-click in the map view. The total length appears in the lower left corner.

  • Customizing the map

    Use Map Tips tool (icon with an arrow above a rectangle ) to display data for a field you specified as you move the cursor over the features on the map. For example, to show dates of data points as you move the mouse cursor over the data points,

    1. Click the name of theme you want to display Map Tips to make it active (the migration/event theme for our example).
    2. Click the Map Tips tool.
    3. In Map Tips dialog, choose the field to be displayed in the Map Tips ("Date" for our example) and click OK.
    4. Move your mouse over features (migration/event data points for our example) on the map to display Map Tips.
    • To disable Map Tips, click the Map Tips tool then click the Clear button in dialog.

    Work with scale bar.

    • Add a scale bar by checking "Display Scale Bar" on the View menu.
    • Right-click the scale bar or choose "Scale Bar Properties" on the View menu to set map, scale, and screen units.

      Map unit for all our maps is meter.

      Scale unit displays in the right side of the verbal scale equation (e.g., One centimeter = 214 Km).

      Screen unit is the actual display on your screen. It is in the left side of the verbal scale equation.

    • Undisplay a scale bar by unchecking "Display Scale Bar" on the View menu.

  • Symbolizing Data

    Use the Theme Properties dialog to classify the theme's features, display all the features with the same symbol, or label a theme.

    • Click the name of theme you wish to work on to make it active.
    • Click the Theme Properties button ( icon with a finger pointing to a piece of paper), or double-click a theme's name in the legend. The Theme Properties dialog is displayed.
    • In the Theme Properties dialog, you can change theme name, choose the way you want to classify/display the data, or label the theme.

To Explore More Journey North Data

More Journey North data are available at Journey North Data Page - data in ESRI shapefile format



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*Terms of use: Data copyright Journey North. All Rights Reserv

ed. For permissions contact: Journey North (jnorth@learner.org)

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