Lab 4 - Intro to ArcGIS: Proposed Airport Expansion

ArcGIS is an advantageous tool used to spatially distributed data, and organize such data into many correlated layered data formats. The complexity of ArcGIS is a great advantage for incorporating various quantitative analyses into a specific geographical region, like the “Population Density,” as well as editing such data to conform to a desired format. Despite the advantageous features of ArcGIS, in my experience, there were still challenging obstacles within the software.

Initially, the layering method of the program, layers of different data formats, was difficult to negotiate and control on a single “layout view.” While the separation of layers allows for easier control of features on each layer, the combined two-dimensional view, a single layout view, of each feature is difficult to alter or edit. The data frames are not able to show all edited features simultaneously on the same page layout, making it hard for the creator to distinguish all features added to the map. The problem arises from different features being sporadically left in the background or foreground, and therefore, lost or misplaced by the user. Independent objects and features should be combined into one descriptive map layer, but also easily able to be identified and individually controlled by the user.

Secondly, there were issues with the template of ArcGIS not being capable of connecting with other spatial servers. The interaction was either of low quality or, most commonly, there was no interaction available between other servers. Specifically, the ArcCat is not designed for movement of different hard drives. When I attempted to move outside the ArcCat frame, it was ineffective at storing my files even when the files were within the same folder.

Lastly, and personally the most frustrating aspect of ArcGIS was not being able to review and edit previous maps without saving the map after each step. If I did not save my file after each edit, then it was extremely difficult to undo my work or edit a feature without having to start from the beginning on certain elemental features. A programmable feature which automatically saves the file after each addition to the map would be much more efficient for the user because it would eliminate having to repeat steps not needing to undergo editing.