GIS Introduction

Install QGIS

Download QGIS 2.8

Resources

Local Resources

LA County (also includes data from City of LA)
Orange County
Forest Service Region 5

State Resources

State of California GeoPortal
CalTrans

Federal Resources

Census
Ecology
Weather
USGS and more (hydrography, topo, hazards)
Remote Sensing and LiDAR

Adding Data Demo

Lets add some data...

  1. LA County Boundary
  2. National Forest
  3. Pacific Crest Trail
  4. Wilderness Area
  5. Recommended Wilderness Area

Basemaps!

  1. Go to Plugins > Manage and Install Plugins

  2. Install OpenLayers Plugin

  3. Go to Web > OpenLayers Plugin and pick a basemap

If you have trouble opening mdb files...

  1. Download the 64-bit version of the ODBC driver
  2. Run from cmd. Use chdir to set your directory and run the exe in passive mode:
    chdir c:\GIS\demo
    c:\GIS\demo>AccessDatabaseEngine_x64.exe /passive
  3. Locate the qgis.bat file (mine is in C:\OSGeo4W64\bin\qgis.bat for example). Add the following lines:
    set OGR_SKIP=ODBC
    set PGEO_DRIVER_TEMPLATE=DRIVER=Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb);DBQ=%%s
Projections and Coordinate System

Change the Coordinate System

  1. Right click on your layer > Save as

  2. Choose a Format and a location

  3. Under CRS > search for State Plane California V Feet (EPSG: 102645)

Make a Map

  1. Go to Project > New Print Composer

  2. Pick a title

  3. Go to Layout > Add Map, draw your map square

  4. Under Item Properties, set your scale and extents

  5. Under Layout, add legend, scale, text, graphics
Thanks!
bond.harper@arup.com

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available on GitHub
under the BSD license