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GIS: Choropleth map


This week, I learned about the making of Choropleth map using ArcGIS in my GIS class taught by Heather-Richards Risetto. Choropleth map shows differences in regions, or in a geographical area in a form of color shading. The color shading is made to convey patterns behind complex statistical data. I love this map honestly because it’s a bit artistic with the color playing and shapes. The visualization reminds me of puzzles!

I have created this map before in my data visualization class with Matt Waite using R studio with packages like ‘devtools’, ‘sf’, ‘ggplot’, ‘colorbrewer’, and ‘dplyr’ and a small portion of coding.

Doc. Utami Diah Kusumawati
Doc. Utami Diah Kusumawati

However, in this GIS class, I don’t need to use coding commands as I only use ArcGIS to make maps by joining and inserting data to ArcGIS.

So, what steps should be considered when creating Choropleth map (joining tabular data with the spatial data)? First, you need to make sure you have two forms of files: CSV and SHP.

CSV file is like a spreadsheet of all of your statistical data, or data which contains information or numbers that you want to insert as points in your map. If you have data from the government or any kind of organizations, please, please, please, ask them to send it in a form of a spreadsheet. It will be easier for you to clean the data and use it for the sake of this mapping creation.

Second, make sure you also have the shp file. Okay, what is a shp file? A shp or a shapefile is basically a vector data which has information about the attributes of a geographical area. It has the longitude and latitude information as it will be the geographical template or the first layer for your statistical data. Still confused? Okay, I am gonna show you the physical forms below.

This is my CSV (tabular) data for my forest fire map. Doc:Utami Diah Kusumawati
  • this is a physical form of a shp file in QGIS (Ive learned QGIS with Matt, not in the GIS class)
  • A shp file can be uploaded into your workspace in QGIS or ArcGIS. Look at the information of layers name in the left side of the picture – fires1apple is my shape file.
  • This is what it looks as a file before you upload it.

Third, you need to have similar features or attributes to merge those two files. What kind of similar features or attributes? We merge tabular data and vector data with a field called as GISJOIN or if you have latitude and longitude info in both of your data that shows the same location, it would be great. ArcGIS will automatically combine these two data (tabular and vector) into one.

And what are the steps to combine the data? It will be a little bit longer to explain here because you need to do several steps like intersect, join, add new field, field calculator, calculate geometry, and so on (Don’t get scared! lol).

But, I am gonna update you next week after completing my interviews and transcribing all of my interviews in Palu (since I will have a routine of doing one-on-one consultation with Matt every Monday). So, I will share with you first the end result of my lab assignment to merge data from US Census Tract with the vector data (shp file). Here’s the final result:

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New York City I Kismet


Chicago O’ Hare International Airport, Sunday 27th January, 2019

Touch down at Chicago (ORD) at 3 p.m., 45 minutes earlier than the scheduled arrival.

Something really interesting popped up in my mind. When I tracked my flight location ( UA 882) from the airplane’s screen, my eyes directed to New York state. Out of nowhere, I remembered everything. My submissions to two things located in New York City. However, I am still waiting for the decision for both of them (Only God knows what will be, though).

It was kind of funny, not because of the waiting but because well, I applied to those located in New York City (NYC) not because its location but because its programs.

New York City has been my favorite place to stay in the states. Before I applied to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), I planned to study at the New York University (NYU) but ending up here at the UNL which was the best thing happened to me. Why is that? First, the tuition fee for studying and living in NYC is so expensive that I need to pay by myself (up to $50,000!) even after I got accepted by the NYU. And I don’t have any money to pay that much. Well, I had a Mazda car but then I sold it (crying emoticon) and it’s still not enough to pay for the tuition.

But after all, you apply for a scholarship because you want to study without loans, not to pay up to 50 thousand dollars by yourself. So, I confirmed the acceptance letter from the UNL and headed to Nebraska to study my master degree.

My friend had teased me when I first arrived at Lincoln, saying that I dreamed for NYC and ended up in a small city like Lincoln. I only laughed at that time, thinking maybe NYC was not meant for me, yet.

But, six months after I studied at UNL, I got an email saying that I was invited for a Fulbright enrichment seminar at the Washington D.C. and when I asked the Indonesian Fulbright scholars group, I found out that Tyas and Naura also got the same invitation to D.C. After having a short talk, all of us decided that we would go to NYC first before attending the enrichment seminar.

Everything ran smoothly, just like meant to be. The permission to skip class for attending the Fulbright seminar and the arrangement to NYC and to DC, too. Not long after I received my invitation email, I was already at NYC! When arriving at NYC, I still could not believe it. It happened without much effort.

In the end, I realized that in life, destiny plays a big role in human’s life. If you are destined to be there, you will have many opportunities opened for you. It will just come to you, open up for you, and what you need to do is only saying yes or no.

So, the more I grow older, I learn not to have high expectation of anything. Just do my best and let the universe works the magic. If it’s meant to be for you, no matter how many years passed by, it will come to you at the end.

Obrolan

Big City Girl


January 24th, 2019

Coming back to the big city. For a temporary before going back to the states.

Skyscrapers.

Gigantic and posh malls.

Transjakarta and commuting trains.

People hang out after working in the coffee shop offering beverages with price over the average. Dollar price for Rupiah workers. Talks in Indonesian language.

Socialites.

Blue collar workers.

Stylish men and women. Delicious food and varied menus. The hustle and bustle of a big metropolitan capital city: JAKARTA. People say it is the New York City’s version of Indonesia.

Meeting with three old friends at Plaza Senayan, South Jakarta.

First one is a friend who works as a producer at Kompas TV, the second one is a journalism lecturer at the Atmajaya University and the last one is a former Fulbright scholar who works at international NGO at Jakarta.

We talked over Pepper Lunch, over luxurious juice and ordered Indonesian food at Remboelan restaurant.

Nasi Bakar Tongkol Asap.

Tempe Mendoan Bumi Baturaden (Deep fried thinly sliced “Tempeh” garlic sauce and shallots dressing).

Rujak Penganten (Fresh mixed vegetable served with house special and spicy peanut dressing).

Lumpia Semarang (Traditional Semarang bamboo shoot spring rolls served with special sweet sauce, with choice of fresh or fried).

Nasi Bakar Roa (Grilled lemongrass fragrance rice, wrapped in banana leaf, stuffed with spicy smoked “Roa” fish served with “Roa” sambal).

Nasi Bakar Peda (Grilled lemongrass fragrance rice, wrapped in banana leaf, stuffed with peda fish, melinjo leaf and stinky bean).

Roti bakar es puter (toasted bread topped with special coconut ice cream, chocolate sauce, and peanuts).

It really feels like you are getting back into your element, again.

Obrolan

Reporting to Sulawesi: Touch Down, Palu


January 14th, 2019

07.00 o’clock. Selamat datang, Bumi Tadulako. Touch down at Palu, Central Sulawesi.

After flying for three hours, finally the plane (Garuda Indonesia) that took me from Jakarta was landed at Mutiara Airport, Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia.

I stepped out of the plane with a weird feeling. I could not believe that I did this professional project at Palu. I still remembered the first time dreaming about the incident, talked to Mba Adem about that and not long after that, she was assigned to report to Palu with BBC international team. I observed my fellow journalists covering the tsunami at Palu passionately on Facebook while writing my proposal on water scarcity reporting project at the campus library.

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Reporting to Sulawesi: Depart to Indonesia


Thursday, January 10th, 2019.

It was nine thirty at the Lincoln Airport (LNK). My plane would depart at 11.05 AM. It was still one and a half hour to go. But, I felt like wanna come early today to avoid the long lines and hustle bustle that I went through yesterday due to sudden cancellation from the United. Not only I had flight cancellation but one hour before my scheduled flight, the staff also asked me to get a short pass or visa on arrival to Japan (I’m gonna tell more about this below).

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Reporting to Sulawesi: the preparation



January 5th, 2019

It was started with a post in a Facebook. Here it goes:

"When you think you have enough with going to the field, but in the time like this, upon hearing disasters struck your country, your subconscious kept on telling you to write and report, to write and report and help people in need. You are sitting in your desk writing proposal for your professional project at your campus, but your mind keeps on wandering and focusing somewhere else. Journalism is not merely a job for some people, it is a calling. Once you are hooked, you will still have that feeling in yourself. It is eternal. Selamat bekerja teman-teman wartawan yg pergi meliput langsung ke Palu. Be safe."
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The Propeller Seed


Propeller seed

December 28th, 2018. Three days before the new year eve.

It’s still five pm in Lincoln, but the sky outside was already dark like it was eight. Outside and inside were the same. Cold. She had not turned on the heater inside her apartment.

Here what she could find around that time: white snow covered the empty streets and the rooftop of the apartment building, scattered papers and books on the floor, messy blanket on the bed, creased newspapers all over the flower patterned sofa, cinnamon pancakes on a plate with peanut butter jam in the kitchen and a cold water for the coffee in the saucepan.

She was sitting on the sofa and looking straight to a poster of John Lennon and his ‘Imagine’ lyrics. Her mind was blank, but her heart was not. She started to feel as if she was sinking, going down, down, and down.

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