GIS Homework: ArcMap and Spatial Analysis of Boston Datasets

This GIS homework assignment assesses understanding of spatial analysis techniques using ArcGIS. Questions cover interpolation, shapefile creation, reference datums, and projection methods. Students are asked to analyze Boston-specific datasets, including baseball fields, zip codes, and cemeteries. The assignment explores GIS functionalities like joining data, calculating statistics, and handling missing projection information. It also evaluates knowledge of data formats (vector and raster), geocoding, and the application of GIS to real-world scenarios such as determining compliance with green space regulations and assessing environmental contamination. The assignment includes questions on the advantages and disadvantages of vector and raster data formats, the creation of shapefiles from text files, and the broad categories of GIS. The final questions cover practical steps using ArcGIS to perform spatial analysis and data manipulation.

Homework Review
Incorporate citations as well.
1. Interpolation is a method to create estimates at unsampled locations. Is this
statement true or false?, modeling, gridding, estimation, and prediction
2. You’ve been asked to map baseball fields in Boston. The person asking you to do
the work sent you an email with the following attachment: bball_fields.shp. Can you
create the map she is asking for? If yes, what are the steps you would need to take? If
not, explain why not. [1-2 paragraphs] Yes,
3. Regarding a "reference datum", which of the following are true? Any datum, plane, or
surface from which other quantities are measured
a. is not a part of a shapefile's projection
b. needs to be known to change a projection
c. is a consideration when overlaying a street layer (shapefile) and an elevation
model (raster)
d. a and b
e. b and c
4. If the objective of a study in a small township is to measure the distances from
patient homes to the nearest clinic, what projection method is the most appropriate.
Why? [1 paragraph]
5. If I gave you have a polygon file of zip codes for all of Boston, a point file of
cemeteries for all of Illinois, and a polygon file of the boundary of the City of Boston,
how would you find the total number of cemeteries in Boston using a GIS? (explain the
steps, briefly, that you would use to do this in ArcGIS.) [2 paragraphs]
6. Can I use the Statistics function in ArcGIS to find the median of a dataset? Is there
another way in ArcGIS to find the median of a dataset? [1 paragraph]
7. If I were to give you a GIS file with the following fields (variables), could you display
this file as a polygon in ArcGIS? Why or why not? The fields are:
 X
 Y
 Arsenic_ppm
 Elevation
 County_name
8. What does GIS stand for?
a. geologic inversion status
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b. geographic systems incorporated
c. geographic information systems
d. geography integrated system
9. If you were asked to determine the number of Superfund sites within two miles of
every school in Somerville, what GIS files would you need (and the type of GIS file) and
what ArcGIS method or methods could you employ to do this? [1-2 paragraphs]
10. You were given a point shapefile. It is missing projection information (i.e., a *.prj
file). You need to perform some spatial analysis using ArcMap’s Spatial Statistics
Tools. Do you need to have this shapefile projected before doing these analyses? Why
or why not? [1 paragraph]
11. The City of Boston has a rule of thumb that there needs to be about 2 acres of
green space per 1,000 persons. You have been hired as the GIS expert by an
independent consulting company to determine where the City of Boston is meeting this
rule of thumb and where it is not. (The city wants to know this information for each
Community Area (CA).) Before you begin your analyses, what types of GIS data will
you need? (Try to be specific.) Once you have that data, briefly explain what GIS
analyses you would need to perform in order to determine where the City of Boston is
meeting this rule of thumb and where it is not, by CA. [2 paragraphs]
(0.5pt)
12. Environmental contamination is only due to human activities not natural disasters
(e.g., forest fires). Is this statement true or false?
(0.5pt)
13. I have two polygon shapefiles. One contains air quality data by region. The other
contains demographic data by region. I want to perform a join of these two files in
ArcMap. For me to do this in ArcMap, what do I need to do to ensure that the join will
work? [1 paragraph]
(0.5pts)
14. In geocoding, if the match rate is high, one can be sure that locations were
accurately assigned to the addresses. Is this statement true or false?
(0.5pts)
15. Raster data are ideal for community health applications that require analyses based
on demographic data and political boundaries. Is this statement true or false?
(0.5pts)
16. Which data format would you recommend to store and display street attributes such
as fire hydrants?
a. Raster data format
b. Vector data format
c. a combination of the above
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d. None of the above
17. Before the development of GIS software, it was not possible to evaluate spatial
relationships such as buffering about a stream in order to limit residential property
growth, or overlaying various land use characteristics such as grade, depth to water
table, geology in order to identify areas better suited for landfill placement. Is this
statement true or false?
18. Can an Excel file be opened in ArcGIS? If not, why not. If yes, how. [1 paragraph]
19. Explain some of the disadvantages of using a vector data format? [1-2 paragraphs]
20. Which of the three possible answers below best describes the three broad
categories of GIS?
a. database, mapping, and spatial analysis
b. records management, graphics, and point file display
c. relational database, aerial imagery, principal components analysis
21. You’ve been given a text file that you were able to import into ArcGIS. How can
you create a shapefile from this file?
22. Explain some of the major advantages of a raster data format? [1-2 paragraphs]
Boston