AT 319 Week 2 - Digitizing

This week's lab introduced the fundamentals of digitizing in ArcGIS Pro. I followed along with a guide using an existing dataset. In this lab, I learned how to navigate and work within geodatabases and learned how to create and modify feature classes used for digitizing. I created 3 feature classes: a point class for Buildings, a line class for Roads, and a polygon class for Ponds. Using these feature classes, I digitized features on the provided orthomosaic, through which I learned the process of creating and modifying each feature, things like moving points, editing vertices, and performing merge and split operations of polygons.

The first deliverable for this lab was a cartographically correct map consisting of digitized features of May Township (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Digitized Features of May Township

The second deliverable (Figure 2) consisted of two exercises:

• For the map labelled "New Subdivision Polygons" (top left) we were tasked with digitizing a set of polygons that represent the residential areas, dense forests, and fields/sparse trees within the area of interest. The method in which I did this was to create one large polygon covering the entire area and use the split tool to break it into each section, a process that I regret in hindsight. It probably would have been easier to start small and build upon each polygon, but it was a good lesson to learn this early given the vast amount of digitizing I would end up doing in the future.

• For the map labelled "Updated Landcover" (bottom right), we were given an existing set of polygons that required fixing, as they were incorrectly marked in some areas. This exercise required me to use the split and merge tools to correct all of the mistakes.

Figure 2: Editing Practice