Lab #7 Census Data 2000

The Asian population is more concentrated in the West coast as well as the North-Eastern coast. This phenomenon is probably due to the large Asian immigration to the United States a few generations ago. Asian immigrated to the United States for a better living standard, which mostly located at urbanized areas like Los Angeles and New York City. The highest concentration of Asian population is located in the West coast with 46%, which means that almost half of the population living there is Asian.

 The Asian-American population is more dense in the South-Eastern of the United States. This phenomenon can be explained by the historical factor. Before 19th century, the slavery was labored mostly in the South states. After the slavery was prohibited by the law in the 19th century, African-Americans remained in South states. For various of social and economic factors, African-American population became the majority in the South. The area with the highest African-American population concentration is 86.5%.

Some other population is more dense in the South-Western coast. This phenomenon may be explained by the immigration of the Hispanic roots since Mexico is in that direction. Other race people in the United States is not well-spread. More other race population in the West than those of in the East, and more in the South than those of in the North. Compared to Asian and Black population, other race population do not have a particular high concentration in on area. The highest percentage is 39%.


After a few labs, I figured out the great potential of ArcGIS. I was surprised that I was able to make my own map too. ArcGIS is a pretty useful tool for map makers. Sometimes, the analysis can be population distribution, physical attributes...etc. I have never used ArcGIS before, so I felt that I have more to learn about ArcGIS. I see ArcGIS as an useful tool for all career field; therefore, I am looking forward to learn more about the capabilities of ArcGIS and become a worthy mapmaker.

Lab #6 DEM in ArcGIS

In this map, I choose the Snow Forest Ski Area around Big Bear Lake in California. I love snowboarding, and I have been to Big Bear Lake for snowboarding a lot; therefore, I am interested in the aspects, elevation, and slope of this area. From the 3D map, I can see that the forest slope is steep, which is dangerous. Therefore, from this lab, I learn that I should not try on snow forest ski area during the trip this time.

The extent for this map: Top: 34.25°, Left: -116.976°, Right: -116.789°, Bottom: 34.149°
Geographic coordinate system: GCS North American 1983
Datum: D_North_American_1983

3D Map

Lab #5 Map Projection

     The world is so big. In order to arrive the destination, we will need some sort of direction tool to help out; therefore, the map will be the one. There are many kinds of map projections; however, there is no way to project a 3-D surface on a 2-D surface perfectly. It is important to choose the right type of map projection for the purpose of map usage. I will use 3 different types of map projections, conformal, equidistant, and equal area, to compare the distance between Washington D.C. and Kabul. Each type of map projection preserve a specific feature, for instance, the area, shape, direction, or distance; however, not all features are able to preserved on one map.

     Equal area projection preserves the relative size and area of a continent or a country. Equal area projection is not used for navigating large distance because neither the angle nor the distance is preserved. Equal area projection can be used for mapping countries since its relative size is correct. However, each equal area map preserves area in a certain region or with certain conditions. Therefore, is it important to choose the right equal area projection depending on your region of focus. For example, Bonne projection is usually limited to maps of continents or smaller regions.

     Equidistant projection preserved the distance from the center point and any other point in all directions. The most significant characteristic of Azimuthal equidistant projection is that both distance and direction are accurate fromt he central point. Two point equidistant projection shows the true distance from either of two chosen points to any other point on a map. Each equidistant projection is projected under different conditions. You can see that two right equidistant projections. Even they are called "equidistant" projection, the distances from Washington D.C. to Kabul are different. 

     Conformal projection is most commonly used in the map. Conformal projection preserve the local shape and angle. The advantage is that the direction is preserved; therefore, it is used in navigation. A disadvantage is that the sizes and areas of the continents are distorted. For example, in the Mercator projection, the size of south pole continent is larger than any other continent. Large area distortion makes Mercator projection not suitable for general world maps.

Lab #4 ArcGIS

ArcGIS is the most professional mapping system I have ever used. Compared to the Google map we used in the previous lab, ArcGIS provides more details and more professional maps. You cannot do much on Google Map, but you can do a lot about mapping on ArcGIS. You can highlight and crop the information you want to present through ArcGIS, but apparently you cannot do the same task through Google map. ArcGIS makes maps look nice and detailed.

I follow the tutorial in order to create my first map poster. I have never created a professional map before. Following the straightforward steps, I was able to create the above poster in the least amount of time. I really enjoyed making this poster. It was a fresh experience for me. I found it interesting to create my own map poster, but it required me long times and patient to accomplish it.

The potential for ArcGIS is that professional users would like to use ArcGIS to create their detailed maps instead of using Google Map. ArcGIS provides more geographic function than Google Map, for instance, highlighting, layers, and backgrounds. Furthermore, ArcGIS provides aesthetic looking. It not only looks nice, but also provides detailed information.

The pitfall for ArcGIS is that it requires very accurate information input. For amateur users like me, I did not know if my input data were correct. If my input data were wrong, then my map would show incorrect information. I would not even notice whether I input the wrong data because I was not familiar with ArcGIS yet. Therefore, ArcGIS will be more complicated to amateurs like me.

All in all, ArcGIS is a modern and useful tool for professional geographers.