47
GEO MAPPING FOR DATA VISUALIZATION Suzanne Wasileski, Ph.D. Institutional Researcher White Mountains Community College
GEO MAPPING FOR
DATA VISUALIZATION
Suzanne Wasileski, Ph.D.
Institutional Researcher
White Mountains Community College
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/24
/science/coyotes-americas-
spread.html
1900
By User:Jajhill (talk) - File:Map of USA with county outlines (black & white).png, CC
BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37835627
By User:Jajhill (talk) - File:Map of USA with county outlines (black & white).png, CC
BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37835627
GOALS FOR THIS PRESENTATION
How do we get the data that we
want into maps?
How can Veera help?
EASY
Sometimes the
features are
inherently
geographic,
someone else
has done the
work, and we
can simply
pick out what
we need…
MANUAL
ENTRY
When there
is not much
information,
it can be
entered by
hand…
By User:Jajhill (talk) - File:Map of USA with county outlines (black & white).png, CC
BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37835627
NOT Easy, NOT Manual Entry (>3100 counties)
College Matriculation by NH School District, Class of 2012
dstid district schid school
% Enrolling
in Two Year
% Enrolling
in Four Year
185 Franklin 20660 Franklin High School 36.5% 14.9%
51 Berlin 20050 Berlin Senior High School 33.7% 28.6%
407 Northumberland 22900 Groveton High School 33.3% 20.5%
486 Shaker Regional 22145 Belmont High School 30.3% 32.0%
306 Lisbon Regional 23100 Lisbon Regional School (High) 30.3% 27.3%
453 Raymond 21390 Raymond High School 30.1% 33.7%
203
Gorham Randolph
Shelburne Cooperative 20750 Gorham High School 29.2% 37.5%
388 Newfound Area 20085 Newfound Regional High School 28.2% 20.0%
582 Winnisquam Regional 22950 Winnisquam Regional High School 27.9% 28.7%
285 Laconia 21255 Laconia High School 27.4% 24.4%
105 Colebrook 20185 Colebrook Academy 27.3% 54.6%
534 Timberlane Regional 22770 Timberlane Regional High School 27.2% 42.3%
476 Sanborn Regional 20620 Sanborn Regional High School 27.0% 35.0%
970 Prospect Mountain JMA 28215 Prospect Mountain High School 26.7% 34.5%
709
Great Bay eLearning
Charter School 28445
Great Bay eLearning Charter School
(H) 26.7% 16.7%
352 Merrimack Valley 22195 Merrimack Valley High School 25.6% 34.4%
359 Milton 22070 Nute High School 24.4% 31.7%
425 Pelham 21105 Pelham High School 23.8% 55.6%
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
450
500
550
600
Credits Billed for WMCC
Conway/North Conway by Semester
SW 2/27/2018
STILL…
… questions remain:
Is North Conway
“cannibalizing” students
from other sites?
NEED
SOME MAPS
WITH WMCC
DATA
ESRI’s ArcGIS
mapping software
Base maps provide a
foundation and set
parameters (including
the map projection)
By User:Jajhill (talk) - File:Map of USA with county outlines (black & white).png, CC
BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=37835627
Projections:
Lambert Conformal Conic
http://www.manifold.net/doc/radian/
lambert_conformal_conic_projection.htm
Mercator Projection
Mercator Projection
www.scoop.it/t/geography-education/p/560646271/2011/10/18/the-human-head-as-a-mercator-projection
BACK TO
MAP
BUILDING…
“Layers” add
the desired
information
to the base
map.
HOW DO
DATA GET
INTO MAPS?
Map layers of
general
interest can be
found on the
internet for
download.
Layers locate
themselves in
reference to
the base map.
HOW DO
DATA GET
INTO MAPS?
Commonly
used layers
can be
saved for
re-use.
BUT HOW DO MY DATA GET INTO MAPS?
ALMOST THERE…
Base map = foundation, projection
Layers:
align themselves with base map
are the graphic representation of
data in the “Attribute Table”
The layers
are
intricately
tied to the
base map,
so that they
locate
themselves.
Attribute tables look like spreadsheets, but:
They contain intricate geo-location information.
Institutional data (e.g., enrollment) do not have this information.
To go into a map, the institutional data must connect with an existing attribute table that has geo-location information.
The institutional data must be prepped before it is connected, or “joined."
Enter, Veera!
Data Preparation:
File Requirements (Excel)
Numerical variables must be represented as integer or real in the Excel file in order to be quantified in ArcGIS.
In this example, number of students per zip code, a frequency variable, is integer.
The “join” variable must be of the same variable type as in the attribute table.
I decided to tie to the New England zip code map.
Zip code is a text field in the attribute table (to deal with the leading 0 problem), so it must be text in my file.
Variable names must appear in the first row,
and they must not have spaces.
Building off Existing “Dashboard” Job
ZipTrim WMC_Campus_Test_3 Berlin Littleton North Conway Online
01012 ID_Count 1 1 1
01821 ID_Count 1
01969 ID_Count 2 1
03033 ID_Count 1
03034 ID_Count 1
03055 ID_Count 1
03060 ID_Count 1
03282 ID_Count 1 1
03285 ID_Count 1
03301 ID_Count 1 1 3
03304 ID_Count 1
03467 ID_Count 1
03561 ID_Count 13 45 3 31
03570 ID_Count 106 11 6 71
03574 ID_Count 2 11 7
03575 ID_Count 1
03576 ID_Count 11 5 2 12
03579 ID_Count 1
Veera Job’s Output Report
STEPS TO PREP FILE FOR ARCGIS
Convert frequency columns to integer
Get rid of any spaces in variable names
Delete unwanted variables
Save as Excel file
ZipTrim Berlin Littleton Conway Online
01012 1 1 1
01821 1
01969 2 1
03033 1
03034 1 1
03037 1
03055 1
03060 1
03076 1
03077 1
03079 1
03086 1
03087 1 2
03102 2
03106
Excel File ready for ArcGIS
Attribute Table in ArcGIS
https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/about/data-
center/student/application-
volume/fafsa-completion-high-school
