Topic 4.

Map Symbology
Map Symbology
When you add a layer to a map, ArcMap assigns a default symbol to represent the layer's features. Because the
default symbol may not be the one you want, you need to know how to change it.
Effective symbols take advantage of common associations that people make, such as blue for water and green for
vegetation. People also make associations based on symbol sizea street drawn with a thick line is easily understood to be
busier or more important than one drawn with a thinner line. Symbols can convey a lot of information about geographic
features, but displaying only features on a mapeven with symbols that effectively convey their meaningisn't always
enough. In fact, most maps will not be useful without at least some textual information. Text may be used to provide a
feature's name or other attribute, or to draw attention to a feature or an area of interest.

On a map, symbols are used to show feature locations.

Using pictoral symbols can provide more information;
for example, a car symbol indicates a parking lot.
Adding text such as a feature's name or function
provides even more information.

In the map on the left, the entire layer is symbolized with a

single symbol. This is useful when you need to differentiate one
layer from another layer. On the right, each feature is symbolized
with a different color because the map designer wanted to make
each feature distinguishable from the other features in the layer.

Types of Symbols
Different feature types have different symbols whose properties can be changed to suit a particular map. For
example, you can change the size or angle of a marker symbol used to represent a point feature or the width of a polygon
symbol's outline. The table below shows symbol properties for point, line, and polygon features.
Feature Shape

Symbol Properties

Point

Marker symbol
Color
Size
Angle

Line

Line symbol
Color
Width

Polygon

Fill color
Fill pattern
Outline color
Outline width
Background color

Examples

When you save a map document, the symbology for the layers it contains is saved with it. If you want to be able to
easily reuse a layer's symbology in other map documents, you can create a layer file (
). Saving your
symbology in layer files is a good way to ensure that everyone in your organization uses the same symbology. This can be
especially important if your organization or industry employs standard symbols. It can also save you timeyou won't have
to create the symbology over again each time you use a particular layer.

Labeling Map Features

Text on a map can serve many different purposes. One of the most important functions of map text is to describe, or
label, features. The most common labels are namesfor example, street names, place names, and names of landforms or
water bodies. In ArcMap, label text comes from a field in a layer's attribute table.

The source of the labels in this map

is the CNTRYNAME field in the
Countries attribute table.

There are two types of labels that can be added to a map: dynamic or annotation.
Dynamic labels are generated on the fly for all the features in a layer at once. In ArcGIS, dynamic labeling refers
specifically to the process of automatically generating and placing descriptive text for map features. A label is a piece of text
on the map that is dynamically placed and whose text string is derived from one or more feature attributes. You can specify
label properties such as the font, size, color, and position in relation to the feature being labeled. Dynamic labeling can be
useful if your data are expected to change or you are creating maps at different scales.
Annotation labels are created by manually adding text to the map. What if you want to label something on your
map that isn't actually represented in a layer? For example, maybe you have a layer of mountain peaks and you want to label
the whole mountain range. You can do this by manually adding the desired text to the map. In technical terms, text added
manually to a map is called annotation. Unlike dynamic labels, which get their properties from a layer, each piece of
annotation has its own properties that are stored either in a map document or in a geodatabase.
Annotation and dynamic labels behave differently in ArcMap. Annotation always stays at the position where you
place it, but you can reposition it as desired. The placement of dynamic labels, on the other hand, is determined by ArcMap
and is based on the current map extent and the number of features being displayed in that extent. As the map is zoomed in
and out, the position of dynamic labels will change as ArcMap determines the best placement for them. Dynamic feature
labels may move, appear, or disappear as the available space on the map changes.
Both kinds of map text have advantages. Dynamic labels are an easy way to label many features at once. You can
convert dynamic labels to annotation if you need to edit the appearance or placement of individual labels. But dont use
annotation until you have your final map scale and location set!

Symbolizing features based on attributes

So far, you have seen how to symbolize all of a layer's features with the same symbol, which distinguishes features
in different layers. Features can also be symbolized based on an attribute. A map on which features have been symbolized
based on an attribute is called a thematic map, and thematic maps often communicate more information. For instance,
vegetation polygons could be symbolized by a type attribute to indicate different areas such as forest, grassland, or marsh.
Individual tree locations could be symbolized by a diameter attribute to show the distribution of trees by size.

In this version of the map, the pine trees have been

symbolized based on their diameter and the vegetation
In this map, all the pine trees have the same symbol,
polygons have been symbolized based on their type. Now
as do the vegetation polygons. You can easily see that
you can see that the largest trees occur in just one cluster.
pine trees tend to occur in clusters.
You can also see that pine trees are not found in marsh
areas.

Drawing features to show categories

Category attributes are names, types, or ranks. Each unique attribute value represents a different category. The
values can be text or numbers.
Category Type

Layer Name

Attribute

Example Attribute Values

Water bodies

Name

Lake Michigan
Quabbin Reservoir
Moose Bay

Data collection stations

ID

C228
H153
M109

Stores

Type

Clothing
Hardware
Antique

Zones

Code

122
490
513

Cities

Size

Large
Medium
Small

Stop_order

First (1)
Second (2)
Third (3)

Name

Type

Rank

Bus stops

When a layer is symbolized based on a category attribute, features in different categories are represented with a
different symbol. Exactly how the symbols differ from one another depends on what you are mapping. For instance, if you
were symbolizing roads according to the number of lanes, you might use line symbols with different widths to represent the
different lane categories. But if you were mapping roads according to surface type, you might show paved roads with a solid
line and gravel roads with a dashed line.

These maps show two different ways of

symbolizing a hurricane path layer by
categories. On the left, different colors are
used to symbolize the paths by name. On
the right, different line widths are used to
symbolize the paths by hurricane strength.

Drawing features to show quantities

Quantity attributes are always numeric. The numbers represent counts, amounts, rates, or measures.
Quantity Type

Layer Name

Attribute

Example Attribute Values

Cities

Population

1,009
29,577
134,528

Sales territories

Revenue (dollars)

1,492.95
3,056.28
4,918.18

Counties

Literacy rate (percent)

52
66
82

Wells

Depth (meters)

124.3985
298.663
527.08

Count

Amount

Rate

Measurement

Feature quantities are typically represented on a map by creating groups of features with similar values (classes) and
assigning a different symbol to each class. However, even though the symbols are different, they usually change gradually
from one class to another, forming a series. Graduated size and graduated color are the two most common ways to symbolize
quantities.
Drawing features using symbols in a graduated series permits map readers to visualize geographic distribution
patterns in quantity data. For example, if a map is drawn with colors ranging from yellow to orange to red, red areas can
quickly be interpreted to represent greater values than yellow ones. Likewise, it is intuitive that smaller symbols represent
smaller quantities than larger symbols.

When choosing graduated colors, it is important to be aware of common color associations that people make.
People will easily understand a temperature map drawn with blue symbols for cold and orange for warm; the same map
symbolized the opposite way would be frequently misinterpreted.

The countries in this map are displayed with

graduated shades of green. The darker the
shade, the greater the country's population.

This graduated color map was

created by classifying population
values into four classes.

Here, each country was placed into one of

five groups based on its population. Each
circle represents the country's population
relative to the other countries.

Classifying quantity data

You have now learned that you can symbolize feature quantities by placing features into groups, or classes, based on
similar attribute values. But what process is used to create the classes? What determines whether a particular attribute value
falls into one class or another?
When symbolizing features based on quantities, three things must be decided:
--How many classes to have
--What method to use for placing the values into classes
--What kind of symbology to use (e.g., graduated colors or graduated symbols)
In ArcMap, you can classify features using one of several standard classification methods. You can also define your
own classes. With all of the classification methods, you can have any number of classes. The available classification
methods include:
--Natural breaksidentifies groupings of values that are inherent in your data. This is the default method because it is
appropriate for most data.
--Equal intervalthis method is like a ruler: the interval between each class is the same. For example, you might have
classes with intervals of 10 percent (1-10%, 11-20%, 21-30%, etc.)
--Quantileeach class contains an equal number of values (features). For example, you might have 15 provinces
grouped into three classeseach class would contain five provinces regardless of the attribute values.
--Manualeach class has the range you specify. This method is useful when you want the classes to reflect specific
criteria or data. For example, if you have temperature data, you might want to specify a break between classes at 32
degrees Fahrenheit (freezing point).

The Height
field
contains
eight
records.

Natural breaks
classification uses a
statistical formula to
find breaks that are
inherent in the data.

Equal interval
classification evenly
divides the entire value
range into the number
of classes you choose.

Quantile classification
places an equal number
of values into each
class.

Manual classification uses

class breaks that you define.

Natural breaks classification. Classes are determined Quantile classification. Classes are divided so that each
by clusters and gaps in the data. Both class ranges and class has an approximately equal number of features.
the number of features in each class can vary.
Class ranges can vary widely, as they do here.

Equal interval classification. The value range in each

Standard deviation classification. Classes are determined
class is approximately the same, while the number of
by a statistical measure of where values lie in relation to
features can vary. Some classes may have no features,
the mean value.
as in this example.

Deciding which classification scheme to use

Classification schemes are not right or wrong (though they may influence the interpretation of data). The scheme
you choose depends on the message of your map. The best classification scheme for a given map layer depends on the
purpose of the map, the characteristics of the data, and cartographic considerations such as how easily the resulting map can
be understood.
One approach is to let the data inform your decision. When you are looking for patterns in your data, you could try
different classification methods and visually analyze the resulting maps, then select the method that seems best. To evaluate
classification schemes before you map them, you can use a graph that ArcMap provides called a classification histogram.
The classification histogram charts the number of attributes (features) for each attribute value. The bottom axis
shows the attribute values, and the side axis shows the frequency of the values. The height of the gray bar indicates the
number of times a given value occurs in the table (its frequency). When deciding on the number of classes, there is one rule
of thumb you can use: fewer is generally better. Three to seven classes is usually best.

A classification histogram helps you

visualize how attribute values are
distributed across the overall range
of values. The blue lines show the
current class breaks (the highest
attribute value in each class). The
data in this histogram is grouped into
three classes.

Another approach is to choose a classification scheme first, and let the attribute values fall where they may. There
may be a scientific or statistical reason for using a particular classification method with particular data. Or, you might have
predetermined standards or criteria that dictate the method or number of classes. The table below provides some general
guidelines for choosing an appropriate classification scheme.
Classification
method

When to use

How many classes to have

Natural breaks

When attributes are distributed unevenly

across the overall range of values

Equal interval

When you want all classes to have the same Choose a number that produces an easily
range
understood interval, such as 2, 50, 1000, etc. Or,
choose the number of classes that produces a
map with your intended message.

Quantile

When attributes are distributed in a linear

fashion (an even distribution across the
range of values and little variation in the
number of attributes for each value)

Choose a number that makes sense for the

purpose of your map.

Manual

When you want classes to break at specific

values

Choose the number that makes sense with your

classification scheme. For example, you would
need two classes to show values above and
below a certain threshold value.

Choose a number that best reflects the natural

groups of attributes you want to show.

Mapping density
Sometimes mapping an attribute with graduated colors or symbols can be misleading. A typical case is when
polygon features vary greatly in area. You may perceive patterns in a graduated color map and assume they represent
variation in the attribute you are mapping, when in fact they reflect the variation in the area of the features. You can avoid
such misperceptions by mapping densitythe quantity per unit of area.
The map below provides a simple example. Each polygon represents a pasture in a goat farm. The small pastures are each 1
hectare and the large one is 4 hectares in area. The black diamonds are individual goats.
Mapping by number of goats seems to
Mapping by density results in a map
show that goats are concentrated in the
that is likely to be perceived
Goat Pastures
north half of the farm.
correctly.

The most common way to map density is to divide the attribute values by the area of each polygon feature. The
process of dividing one attribute by another is called data normalization. To do this, you choose the two attribute fields to
use (a value field and an area field). You can either create a new field, and then calculate the density using the Field
Calculator, or you can use the Normalization dropdown in the symbology menu. With the Normalization option, ArcMap
takes care of calculating the density values. These new values are used for symbolizing the map but they are not stored in the
attribute table; therefore, your data are not affected. For either method, you still must choose a classification method for
grouping the density values and symbolizing them with graduated colors or graduated symbols.
When normalizing data by area, you should make sure that the attribute field you are normalizing contains counts or
amounts (such as population, bushels, or number of species). Be aware that some attribute fields store values that are already
normalized, such as population density or bushels per hectare, and these should not be normalized again.

In this example, the Under_18 attribute,

which contains the number of people under
age 18, is normalized by area in order to
show the density of children. The default
classification method was used (natural
breaks with five classes).

Mapping proportion
You can map the relationship between any two attributes by normalizing (dividing) one by the other to produce a
ratio. As when mapping density, normalized data are typically symbolized using graduated colors or symbols.

What to map

Common reasons to map attribute relationships

Example

Proportion of the part to the whole

Countries: Bushels of wheat exported normalized by bushels of wheat

harvested

Rate of something

Counties: Cases of heart disease normalized by total population

Relationship of one characteristic to

another

Schools: Number of students normalized by the number of teachers

Relationship of one time period to

another

Sales territories: Last year's sales revenue normalized by this year's

sales revenue

Proportions can be represented in a legend in a number of ways. Three common ways are to use:
--Ratios, which range between 0 and 1
--Percentages (ratios multiplied by 100)
--Rates based on a round number, such as per capita (per person), per 100, or per 1,000

The ratio of children to adults is mapped by

normalizing one attribute by another. Two alternative
legends are shown: the top one uses ratios, while the
bottom one uses rates.