Exercise 2: Classify data

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Instructions
Use this guide and ArcGIS Pro to reproduce the results of the exercise on your own.

Note: The version of ArcGIS Pro that you are using for this course may produce slightly different results from the graphics that you see in the
course materials.

Software requirements
· ArcGIS Pro 3.5.X (latest version)
· ArcGIS Pro Standard license (or higher)

The MOOC provides a separate ArcGIS account (username and password) that you will need to use to license ArcGIS Pro and access other
software applications used throughout the MOOC exercises. This account (username ending with _cart) provides the appropriate ArcGIS Online
role, ArcGIS Pro license, ArcGIS Pro extensions, and credits.

We strongly recommend that you use the provided course ArcGIS account to ensure that you have the appropriate licensing to
complete the exercises. Exercises may require credits. Using the provided course ArcGIS account ensures that you do not consume your
organization's credits. Esri is not responsible for any credits consumed if you use a different account. Moreover, Esri will not provide technical
support to students who use a different account.

Introduction
All maps are made from data. Part of making a good map is being able to understand and work with numbers. It is also important to appreciate
how your manipulation of data plays a vital role in the message that your map communicates.

For a lot of topographic mapping, you are symbolizing data that has been surveyed, which encodes meaning into the coordinates by symbolizing
them as points, lines, and areas, often of different types.

For thematic mapping (a map designed to focus on a particular theme in a geographic area), you are often dealing with a dataset that represents a
variable of interest. Your map will likely show certain trends, such as where the place with the highest or lowest value is or where certain areas
share similar characteristics. The key is understanding that how you manipulate the data can tell different stories. It is important to ensure that you
are not inadvertently telling a false story.

This exercise uses ArcGIS Pro to explore alternative methods of classifying numerical data for thematic mapping. Data classification is not unique
to thematic mapping, but the techniques explored here can be used to understand and classify data more generally. You will create a range of
choropleth maps ([Link] to illustrate how changing the classification changes the map.

The first step of classifying your data is understanding the data itself. In this exercise, you will explore the data that you will be using, familiarizing
yourself with the attributes and what they represent.

Note: The exercises in this course include View Result links. Click these links to confirm that your
results match what is expected.

Estimated completion time in minutes: 60 minutes

Expand all steps Collapse all steps

- Step 1: Download the exercise data file

In this step, you will download and save the exercise data file.

a Open a new web browser tab or window.

b Go to [Link] and download the exercise data file.

Note: The complete URL to the exercise data file is [Link]

id=e35c85c2f9be43bf97036a4dc3d330f8. The file size is approximately 500 KB.

c Save the file in a location that you will remember.

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- Step 2: Open an ArcGIS Pro project

You will open the exercise project in ArcGIS Pro to get started.

a Start ArcGIS Pro and, if necessary, sign in using your provided course ArcGIS credentials (username ending with _cart).

b From the ArcGIS Pro start page, near Recent Projects, click Open Another Project.

c Browse to the location where you saved the exercise data file and open the [Link] project package.

Step 2c***: Open an ArcGIS Pro project.

The project opens to a map of European power generation, which includes a single layer showing the national borders of western Europe
and the Dark Gray Base basemap layer (which is not turned on).

The project also contains numerical power plant data for each of the countries. You will classify this data using a variety of methods to
visualize power generation.

d From the Project tab, click Save Project As and type a name for your project, such as ExploringDataClassification_<your first and last
name>.aprx.

e Save the project to the folder on your computer where you are saving your work.

Note: It is important to save your work regularly in ArcGIS Pro. Remember to save periodically as
you go through this exercise.

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- Step 3: Determine the spatial reference of the data

Before classifying the data, you should examine its spatial reference to determine which coordinate system and projection the data is
specified in. This information often helps in later steps where the coordinate system and projection play an important part of analysis or
cartography.

a In the Contents pane, double-click the Europe_PowerPlants layer to open the Layer Properties dialog box.

Note: You can also right-click the layer name and choose Properties.

b Click Source and view the data source information for the layer.

c Scroll down, if necessary, and click Spatial Reference to expand the section.
 Step 3c***: Determine the spatial reference of the data.

The spatial reference uses the North Pole Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area projected coordinate system based on a Lambert Azimuthal Equal
Area projection. This option is a common coordinate system and projection used for western European data. If you looked at a map of a
different part of the world, you would likely see a different coordinate system and projection being used, one that is more relevant to that
specific area.

d Close the Layer Properties dialog box.

Next, you will turn on the Dark Gray Base layer to provide geographical context for the map.

e In the Contents pane, turn on the Dark Gray Base layer, and then, if necessary, zoom out to see all of western Europe.

Step 3e***: Determine the spatial reference of the data.

f Zoom out to the full extent of the map.

 Now you can see how the projected coordinate system that is being used warps the rest of the world map. Europe is correct, but the rest of
the world looks different than what you might expect. Now that you have seen how the projected coordinate system displays the data, you
will return to the initial extent of the map.

g On the Map tab, in the Navigate group, click Bookmarks, and then click Western Europe.

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- Step 4: Explore the data

To ensure that the message of your map is clear and accurate, you must understand the data before classifying it.

a Open the Europe_PowerPlants layer attribute table.

- Hint

In the Contents pane, right-click the Europe_PowerPlants layer and choose Attribute Table.

b Examine the field names in the attribute table and use the field descriptions in the following table to learn more about the data.

You can dock the attribute table in different parts of your window or make it larger or smaller by clicking and dragging the border.

Your goal here is to get familiar with the data, which is important before working with it or making a map.

Field name Description

COUNTRY_NA Country name

Total_PowerPlant The total number of power plants in the country

Est_Annual_gwh Estimate of the annual number of gigawatt hours generated by the country

MostCommonFuel The most common power plant fuel type

Biomass Number of power plants that use biomass to generate power

Coal Number of power plants that use coal as fuel

Cogeneration Number of power plants that use a single fuel type to generate both electricity and thermal energy

Gas Number of power plants that use natural gas as fuel

Geothermal Number of power plants that use geothermal sources to generate power

Hydro Number of power plants that use water to generate power

Nuclear Number of power plants that use nuclear reactions to generate power

Oil Number of power plants that use oil as fuel

Other Number of power plants that use alternate fuel sources to generate power

Solar Number of power plants that collect solar energy to generate power

Storage Number of power plants that store previously generated power for later use

Waste Number of power plants that use waste as fuel

Wave_Tidal Number of power plants that use wave and tidal action to generate power

Wind Number of power plants that use wind to generate power

c After you have examined the data, close the attribute table.

d Save your project.

Now that you have an idea of the data available in the layer, you will create several choropleth maps to see how changing the data
classification changes the message of the map.

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- Step 5: Create a map using a natural breaks classification

You will make a simple choropleth map (graduated colors ([Link] to show the number of gigawatt
hours generated per power plant.
a In the Contents pane, right-click the Europe_PowerPlants layer and choose Copy.

b Right-click the European Power Generation map and choose Paste.

c Double-click the new layer name to open the Layer Properties dialog box.

d Click General, and then in the Name field, type Power Plants_Natural Breaks as the name for the new layer and click OK.

e In the Contents pane, turn off the Europe_PowerPlants layer.

f With the new layer selected in the Contents pane, click the Feature Layer tab, and then in the Drawing group, click the Symbology button to
open the Symbology pane.

Note: Do not click the Symbology down arrow.

Note: Alternatively, in the Contents pane, you can right-click the layer name and choose
Symbology.

g If the Symbology pane is not docked, right-click the pane title and choose Dock.

In the Symbology pane, the Primary Symbology drop-down list provides several options for symbolizing the layer. You will first draw
quantities using graduated colors, with darker colors indicating more gigawatt hours per power plant.

Graduated color symbology shows a quantitative difference between mapped features by varying the color of symbols. Data is classified
into ranges that are each assigned a different color from a color scheme ([Link] that represents the range. For
instance, if your classification scheme has five classes, five different symbol colors are assigned. Maps that vary in color in this way are
called choropleth maps. Choropleth maps apply different shades of the same color so that lighter shades match lower data values and
darker shades match higher data values.

h For Primary Symbology, choose Graduated Colors, as shown in the following graphic.

i For Field, choose Est_Annual_gwh.

The Est_Annual_gwh field contains the total estimated number of gigawatt hours generated by each country.

Choosing Est_Annual_gwh for the field will display the data totals. However, you should not use totals with a choropleth map because the
areas, base population, and number of power plants differ between areas. These discrepancies make comparing areas across the map
problematic. To create a final map that supports a visual comparison like-for-like across the whole map, you must first account for
underlying geographical and population differences. You can achieve this by normalizing ([Link] the data,
either by calculating a new field or by selecting a field to normalize against. Normalizing divides each data value by a common denominator,
turning totals into rates. Mapping rates will result in a map that supports visual comparisons between areas.

Because you want to show the average number of gigawatt hours produced per power plant, you normalize against the Total_PowerPlants
field, which contains the total number of power plants in the country.

j For Normalization, choose Total_PowerPlants.

k For Color Scheme, click the down arrow, and then check the Show Names box, as shown in the following graphic.
l Choose the Blue-Green Light to Dark color ramp.

Step 5l***: Create a map using a natural breaks classification.

The default classification method, Natural Breaks (Jenks) ([Link] and the number of classes are
applied.

You now have a default choropleth map showing the average gigawatt hours per power plant, classified into five classes by the natural
breaks method. Lower average gigawatt hours are shown with lighter symbols, and higher average gigawatt hours are shown with darker
symbols.

m Observe the legend.

Step 5m***: Create a map using a natural

breaks classification.
 Looking at the map and the legend, what patterns do you see? What message does the classification communicate? With all the different
classification methods, you will likely see areas of high rates relative to low rates. However, there are always subtle differences in the
resulting maps. So, for instance, does a particular technique make it easy to see the highest and lowest areas, or does it cause these areas
to become grouped with other areas? How is the data distributed across the whole map? Are there sharp changes between some areas
that need to be examined further, or are the changes more gradual across space? Keep these and other questions in mind as you change
the classification methods because changing the method does change the map and the map's message.

The natural breaks (Jenks) classification method uses classes based on the natural groupings inherent in the data. This method identifies
the class breaks that best group similar values and maximize the differences between classes. It divides the features into classes whose
boundaries are set where there are relatively big differences in the data values.

n Save your project.

When using graduated color symbology, you can use the different view modes in the Symbology pane to see your data classification in
different ways.

View Description
mode

Classes Allows you to manage the symbol, values, descriptive labels, and grouping of the symbol classes

Histogram Offers a visual tool for editing the classes and understanding how the data is represented by different
classification methods

Scales Allows you to specify the scale ranges in which each symbol class draws (this tool is not particularly useful for this
exercise)

o Experiment with changing the number of classes by changing the Classes parameter in the Symbology pane.

Do fewer classes help simplify and clarify the message of the map? Do more classes give a different message? A good rule of thumb is to
limit the number of classes to between four and seven. Too few and you lose a great deal of variation in how the data is presented. Too
many and it becomes hard to see subtle differences between areas classified slightly differently.

Note: For more information about data classification, refer to this ArcGIS Pro Help page about
classification methods ([Link]

p Save your project.

Next, you will explore different classification techniques and see how they affect the way that the data appears on the map. Remember that
you can pan and zoom the map as you do this. As you change settings, you will notice that the legend in the Contents pane updates, and
the changes are automatically applied to the map.

As you make changes, consider the visual impression of the data's pattern and distribution. Ask yourself what each method shows and
what the key aspect of the highlighted data is. Differences will sometimes be pronounced and, other times, subtle. All have consequences
for how people read and interpret the pattern.

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- Step 6: Create a map using a quantile classification

In a quantile ([Link] classification, each class contains an equal number of features. A quantile classification is well
suited to linearly distributed data. Quantile classification assigns the same number of data values to each class, resulting in no empty
classes or in classes with too few or too many values.

Because features are grouped in equal numbers in each class, the resulting map will not necessarily reflect the underlying data distribution.
Similar features might be placed in adjacent classes, and features with widely different values might be put in the same class. You can
minimize this distortion by increasing the number of classes, although this introduces other trade-offs.

a In the Contents pane, right-click the Power Plants_Natural Breaks layer and choose Copy.

b Right-click the European Power Generation map and choose Paste.

c Name the new layer Power Plants_Quantile.

d Turn off the Power Plants_Natural Breaks layer and turn on the Power Plants_Quantile layer, if necessary.

e Verify that the Power Plants_Quantile layer is selected.

f In the Symbology pane, change Method to Quantile.

 Step 6f***: Create a map using a quantile classification.

g Change Classes to 5, if necessary.

What differences or similarities do you notice with the change in classification method? What patterns are visible? What is the key aspect of
the data that is highlighted with this classification method? Remember, you can vary the number of classes to see how that changes things.
- Hint

In the Contents pane, turn the Power Plants_Natural Breaks and Power Plants_Quantile layers on and off to see the differences
between the maps. The Swipe tool in the Compare group of the Feature Layer tab, as shown in the following graphic, is another
good option for viewing these differences.

Note: If you previously changed the class number for the natural breaks layer, your Contents pane
will look different from the preceding graphic.

h Save your project.

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- Step 7: Create a map using an equal-interval classification

Equal-interval classification ([Link] divides the range of data values into equal-sized subranges. ArcGIS Pro
will automatically determine the class breaks based on the value range. For example, if you specify three classes for a field whose values
range from 0 to 300, the application will create three classes with ranges of 0–100, 101–200, and 201–300.

Equal interval is best applied to familiar data ranges, such as percentages and temperature. This method emphasizes the amount of an
attribute value relative to other well-known values.

a In the Contents pane, copy the Power Plants_Natural Breaks layer and paste it to the European Power Generation map.

b Name the new layer Power Plants_Equal Interval.

c Turn off the Power Plants_Natural Breaks and Power Plants_Quantile layers and turn on the Power Plants_Equal Interval layer, if
necessary.

d Verify that the Power Plants_Equal Interval is selected.

e In the Symbology pane, change Method to Equal Interval.

 Step 7e***: Create a map using an equal-interval classification.

What is the key aspect of the data that is highlighted with this classification method? Remember, you can vary the number of classes to see
how things change.

f Save your project.

You have explored three of the most common classification methods, but there are many more. Explore other methods on your own! If you
want to define your own classes, you can use the manual interval method to manually add class breaks and set class ranges that are
appropriate for your data. You can also start with one of the standard classifications and make adjustments as needed.

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- Step 8: Create a map using an unclassed representation

Now that you have seen how different standard classification methods affect the message of the map, you will learn another approach for
representing the data. The alternative is to simply not classify the data at all and instead apply a unique shade of color to each individual
data value in your array. This method is called an unclassed technique.

a In the Contents pane, paste another copy of the Power Plants_Natural Breaks layer.

b Name the new layer Power Plants_Unclassed.

c Turn off all other Power Plant layers and turn on the Power Plants_Unclassed layer, if necessary.

d In the Symbology pane, from the Primary Symbology drop-down list, choose Unclassed Colors.

e For Field, choose Est_Annual_gwh.

Dragging the handles in the histogram in the lower half of the pane shifts the way that color is applied to the unclassified values.

Sliding the histogram's handles is a quick way to change how all data values above or below a particular number can be made to appear
the same way.

f Experiment with the histogram's handles and see how colors are applied to the map.

g For Normalization, choose Total_PowerPlants.

h Adjust how the color is displayed until you are satisfied with your map.
 Step 8h***: Create a map using an unclassed representation.

What is the key aspect of the data that is highlighted with this classification method?

Unclassed techniques can be very useful in highlighting extremes in your data and picking out the highs and lows. However, unclassed
techniques are the inverse of classifying. It is important to keep the difference between classified and unclassed data in mind when you
want to make a map that shows your audience how similar different places are.

i Save your project.

j If you are continuing to the stretch goal, leave ArcGIS Pro open; otherwise, exit ArcGIS Pro.

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- Step 9: Conclusion

You have explored a range of classification techniques and learned that there are numerous ways to classify a single dataset. You have
ample opportunity to represent data well or poorly, objectively or persuasively.

For any dataset that you classify, first determine which method of classification will most effectively communicate your message without
obfuscating the truth.

You will use this same dataset in a future exercise to create different thematic maps and to study color and symbology in more detail.
However, for now, the most important lesson to understand is that data can be manipulated to tell different stories.

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- Step 10: Stretch goal (optional): Explore other classification techniques

If you would like to continue exploring the classification of numerical data, you can complete the following high-level tasks:
1. Classify other data found in the Europe_PowerPlants dataset.
2. Observe how different classification techniques can tease out different aspects of data.
3. After you are finished, save your project and exit ArcGIS Pro.

Post your questions and observations about this stretch goal in the Lesson Forum. Be sure to include the #stretch hashtag in your post
title. We would love to hear about any experimenting that you did beyond the steps of the original exercise!

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