Lab 6 Q&A: Public Data & Metadata

Question: I’ve used up all my ideas to answer this, now at a deadend. Anyone know how to find the scale of a map?

Response: Take a look at the Horizontal Accuracy section of the metadata to find the scale the data were mapped at.

Question: In the analysis section of the lab, you create an intersect of the hotspots and representative landscapes. I noticed that the intersect created redundant features, where two representative landscapes overlapped the same hotspot. My conclusion so far is that we don’t want those, as they are just repeats of the same places. But if I delete the duplicates, the answer no longer matches the options.

Is there a way to deal with this? See below for one example hotspot that shows up twice in the datasheet b/c two rep landscapes overlap it.

Response: I think you’re looking at the data in more detail than me. In “real life” I’d look at the Attribute Table and compare the values between / among the overlapping polygons of the same dataset. There’s likely a reason they are presented this way. If I couldn’t determine the “why”, I’d consult the metadata / reach out to the data provider or use the Dissolve tool to “break down” the borders of the overlapping polygons. For class purposes, please do not do this. Treat each polygon individually (so you derive the “correct” response). As long as you’re using the Intersect tool here, you’re ready to move on to the next step. When you run the zonal operation to summarize the tree canopy cover data, it’s the collection of pixels within each polygon that matter, not whether a pixel is in >1 polygon.

Skip to toolbar