Prepare a foundational geodatabase for a health emergency

Health departments, hospitals, health systems, and humanitarian aid organizations respond to health emergencies in which they must act rapidly and with the best possible information. An important step in preparing to meet these challenges is compiling and maintaining an accurate geodatabase. Doing this in advance saves valuable time during the response phase since this organized data resource will be the foundation for all the information products and map applications you'll need.

In this tutorial, you will identify, obtain, and import data into a geodatabase to prepare for a fictional health emergency—an outbreak of childhood cooties.

This tutorial was last tested on March 14, 2023, using ArcGIS Pro 3.1. If you're using a different version of ArcGIS Pro 3.1, you may encounter different functionality and results.

View final result

Requirements

• ArcGIS Pro (see options for software access)

Download data for your geodatabase

Orlando, Florida, is a paradise for children with loads of beaches, outdoor activities, and amusement parks at the ready. Unfortunately, sometimes these places where kids gather and play can also become niduses, or places where bacteria or viruses have multiplied, for infectious disease outbreaks. The 2014-2015 measles outbreak at California’s Disneyland theme park resulted in 131 cases that were linked to time spent at the theme park. In this scenario, you are preparing to respond to a new outbreak at an Orlando amusement park where cooties are spreading fast.

Note:

Cooties is a benign fictional childhood disease. It is being used for the purposes of illustration during this lesson to keep things light. Importantly, the process and practice outlined here can work for any outbreak type or as preparation for any health emergency.

Having relevant data ready to go when a health emergency happens is key to making good decisions early in a crisis. Different people and organizations have varied perspectives and goals for the types of responses they provide. Whether they want access to authoritative data to do their own analysis, deploy resources, build and run models, or evaluate decisions, they must gather that data and prepare it for use. But which datasets should your organization have on hand at all times? You can think about foundational data needs in categories as shown below with a few examples:

• Local infrastructure:
  • Facilities—Health/hospital, schools, day care
  • Transportation networks—Trains, roads, public transit, helicopter pads
  • Boundaries—County, city, school districts, ZIP codes, congressional districts, FEMA regions, hospital service areas
• Community information:
  • Demographics—Race, ethnicity, income, age groups
  • Labor—Unemployment
  • Social vulnerability—Health insurance coverage, broadband access, predominant language, poverty rate
  • Assets—Shelters, food distribution sites, pharmacies

Think about other datasets that would be helpful to have on hand when an emergency happens. Where will you find these datasets? The following sources can provide foundational information:

• Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD)
• State or local health department information on licensing for facilities
• ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World
• ArcGIS Business Analyst
• OpenStreetMap
• Healthsites.io
• ArcGIS Marketplace sources such as MCH Strategic Data
• HealthData.gov

In advance of any emergency, your organization may have a master geodatabase that includes many of the datasets listed above and more. Building and maintaining a single authoritative resource for your foundational data is a best practice for your health preparedness work.

Download health-care facility data

In this section, you will start by exploring the HIFLD website. This is an example of a typical Hub site where you can access data for your preparedness and response activities. Because the cooties infection is spreading quickly, you anticipate a medical surge condition and want to ensure you have data on all local hospitals and urgent care centers in the region.

1. Go to the HIFLD Open Data website. Under Find Data, in the search bar, type Hospitals.

   

2. In the search results, click Hospitals.

   The Hospitals feature class shapefile appears. The data currently includes information about hospitals for the entire United States. You are only interested in data for the state of Florida, so you will use a filter to narrow down the data you will download.

3. On the side toolbar of the map, click the Filter Data button.

   

   The Filters pane appears.

4. In the Filters pane, check the STATE field and check FL.

   

   On the map, the data points are filtered to only show features in the state of Florida.

   

5. Under Select attribute filters, check COUNTY.
6. Under COUNTY, search for and select the following counties:
   • Orange
   • Brevard
   • Volusia
   • Polk
   • Seminole
   • Lake
   • Osceola

   

7. Under Select attribute filters, check STATUS. Under STATUS, check OPEN.

   This filters out the hospitals that have been permanently closed.

   

   You have completed filtering the data to the information and location you need. Next, you will download the data.

8. On the side toolbar, click the Download button.

   

9. In the Download Options pane, turn on Toggle Filters.

   

   By turning on Toggle Filters, the file you download will only include the filters you previously specified.

   Options appear for the file format you can download your filtered data.

   Choosing the shapefile download option will result in a .zip file with six file types that make up the shapefile. A shapefile is a vector data storage format that stores the location, shape, and attributes of geographic features with the same geometry type (such as point, line, and polygon) and the same spatial reference. It is similar to a feature class. It is also an international standard spatial file, so it is a reliable file type to use. Since you will be building your own geodatabase in ArcGIS Pro with multiple feature classes, you will choose to download this data as shapefiles and convert them to feature classes in later in this tutorial to add to your foundational geodatabase.

   Note:

   To learn more about shapefiles, see Shapefiles in ArcGIS Pro.

10. For Shapefile, click Download.

    Note:

    It may take several minutes for the data to be prepared and complete downloading.

    Next, you will create a folder to organize the relevant data sets you will download.

11. In your computer's file browser, create a folder in a place you can quickly access, such as your Desktop or C:\ drive folder. Name the new folder Health Emergency Data.
12. Extract the downloaded shapefile to the Health Emergency Data folder you created.

    Note:

    Shapefiles consist of six separate types of files. Ensure all six are added to your folder.

13. Use what you have learned to search, select, and filter the Urgent Care Facilities data for the counties including and surrounding the city of Orlando, Florida.

    Note:

    If you encountered an issue downloading either of these datasets, a copy of the shapefiles is provided in a .zip file later in this tutorial.

You have accessed hospital and urgent care location data from the HIFLD database.

Access demographic data from Living Atlas

Current demographic data is important to include in your foundational geodatabase. In the case of a disease outbreak, you can use the data to create a risk profile for the surrounding populations or create various metrics such as case rates or death rates. ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World hosts baseline population data from the decennial census and the American Community Survey (ACS).

1. Start ArcGIS Pro. If prompted, sign in using your licensed ArcGIS organizational account.

   Note:

   If you don't have access to ArcGIS Pro or an ArcGIS organizational account, see options for software access.

   When you open ArcGIS Pro, you're given the option to create a new project or open an existing one. If you've created a project before, you'll see a list of recent projects.

2. Under New Project, choose the Map template.

   

3. In the Create a New Project window, for Name, type Health Emergency Geodatabase.

   

4. Click OK.

   A new project opens in ArcGIS Pro.

5. If necessary, on the ribbon, click the View tab and in the Windows group, click Catalog Pane.

   

6. In the Catalog pane, click the Portal tab and click Living Atlas.

   

7. In the search bar, type acs population and press Enter. Drag the ACS Population Variables - Boundaries layer onto your map to add it.

   

8. On the ribbon, click the Map tab.
9. In the Inquiry group, click the Locate tool.

   

10. In the Locate pane, in the search bar, type Orlando, FL and press Enter.

    

    The map zooms into Orlando, Florida.

11. Close the Locate pane.
12. In the Contents pane, expand ACS Population Variables - Boundaries. Click Tract.

    

13. On the ribbon, on the Map tab, in the Selection group, click Select by Attributes.
14. Build the expression by choosing the following:
    • For the first drop-down menu, the field parameter, choose County.
    • For the expression function, choose includes the value(s).
    • For the final drop-down, copy and paste Orange County, Brevard County, Volusia County, Polk County, Seminole County, Lake County, Osceola County.

    

15. Click Add Clause and build another expression State is equal to Florida.

    

16. Click Apply.

    The census tracts in your report area highlight on the map. In the Select by Attribute window, the number of records selected also appears under Input Rows.

    

    You should have 939 records selected.

17. In the Contents pane, right-click the Tracts layer, point to Data, and choose Export Features.
18. In the Export Features window, for Output Feature Class, type orlandoarea_tracts.

    

19. Click OK.

    The orlandoarea_tracts layer is added to the map. You no longer need the ACS Population Variables - Boundaries layer so you will remove it.

20. In the Contents pane, right-click the ACS Population Variables - Boundaries layer and click Remove.

You have prepared a layer with demographic information for the tracts in each of the counties in the Orlando area. Next, you will download additional data that will be useful in your foundational database.

Download additional data

On your computer, you have several other datasets that you believe should be included in your foundational geodatabase. These datasets have come from a variety of resources. Now, you want to ensure they are all available in one place for use with the Orlando area cooties outbreak.

1. Download the Health Emergency Data.zip file.
2. Extract the contents to your Health Emergency Data folder where you saved the HIFLD data.

   The extracted folder contains the following:

   • The Data files folder includes copies of the Hospitals and Urgent Care Facilities HIFLD data and shapefiles for Public Schools, Private Schools, and Day Care Centers, all of which were also obtained from HIFLD.
   • The Schemas folder contains feature classes that you will use as your schema for the geodatabase feature classes.
   • A Microsoft Excel document lists reported cooties cases in the reported area.

You have completed downloading and configuring the data you will use to build your foundational health emergency geodatabase.

Create a geodatabase project

At its most basic level, a geodatabase is a collection of geographic datasets of various types held in a common file system, or a multiuser relational database management system. Geodatabases have a comprehensive information model for representing and managing geographic information. This information model is implemented as a series of tables holding feature classes and attributes.

Note:

To learn more, view What is a geodatabase?

A well-designed geodatabase schema is important to be able to effectively support the health mission for emergency preparedness and response.

Add a folder connection

First, you'll create a folder connection so that you can quickly access all data within a folder. A folder connection is a shortcut to locating important data and project-related materials. It also allows you to manage this data in the Catalog view.

1. In the Catalog pane, click the Project tab.
2. Expand Databases and expand HealthEmergencyDatabase.gdb.

   

   The HealthEmergencyDatabase geodatabase was created automatically when you created the project. This geodatabase currently only has the demographic tracts data you exported. To access the data you downloaded earlier, you'll create a folder connection.

3. In the Contents pane, right-click Folders and choose Add Folder Connection.

   

4. In the Add Folder Connection window, browse to and select your Health Emergency Data folder and click OK.
5. In the Contents pane, expand Folders.

   

   The project contains two folder connections. The Health Emergency Geodatabase folder contains the project (also called the home folder). This folder connection was created automatically. The Health Emergency Data folder connection is the one you just added.

6. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click the Save button.

   

You have created a project to support populating a geodatabase. You also downloaded data and added a folder connection to your project. Next, you'll evaluate various data sources to include in your geodatabase.

Set up the geodatabase metadata

Metadata is essentially the data about your data. Maintaining this information improves the accuracy and consistency of your data and aligns with FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data principles.

Note:

Learn more about how to make your data FAIR.

In preparation for populating the geodatabase, you'll begin the set up by editing and updating your geodatabase metadata.

1. In the Catalog pane, under Databases, right-click Health Emergency Database.gdb and choose Edit Metadata.

   The metadata view appears.

   

   Required metadata elements are highlighted with red. Next, you'll populate them.

2. In the metadata view, update the following information:
   • For Title, type (or copy and paste) Health Emergency Geodatabase.
   • For Tags, type health, emergency, outbreak, hospitals, clinics.
   • For Summary (Purpose), type Collection of data to support a response effort to a disease outbreak.
   • For Description (Abstract), type Geodatabase to store and manage a collection of spatial and attribute data that can be used by healthcare agencies to develop maps and apps to respond to health-related emergencies.

   

   Tip:

   When you author or update metadata content for an ArcGIS item, record the information that is important for your organization to know about that item. This may include how accurate and recent the item is, restrictions on using and sharing the item, important processes in its life cycle such as generalizing features, and so on.

3. On the ribbon, on the Metadata tab, in the Manage Metadata group, click Save.

   

4. Close the metadata view.
5. In the Catalog pane, right-click Health Emergency Geodatabase.gdb and choose View Metadata.

   The Catalog view details panel displays the updated metadata for your Health Emergency Geodatabase.

   

   When metadata contains good descriptive information, you can find items with a search and evaluate which item in your search results is the correct one to use. You can improve communication and have confidence in making decisions based on an item's geospatial information. You can archive projects knowing they can be recovered, used, and evaluated in the future.

6. Close the Catalog view and press Ctrl+S save the project.

You have completed entering the metadata for your geodatabase.

Create a geodatabase schema

A geodatabase schema refers to the structure and organization of the data based on the database administrator's knowledge and anticipation of possible applications for the data. By thinking ahead, the database administrator can be more specific about the facts and attributes that will be allowed to enter into the geodatabase.

You'll develop a schema for your geodatabase by creating empty feature classes in the geodatabase. These empty feature classes will act as the framework for adding key data into the system. You'll start by creating feature classes for the following three data themes:

• Hospitals and clinics
• Health-care facilities
• Reporting areas

1. In the Contents pane, right-click HealthEmergencyDatabase.gdb, point to New, and choose Feature Class.

   

   The Create Feature Class wizard appears.

2. In the Create Feature Class wizard, on the Define page, enter the following:
   • For Name, type Hospitals_and_clinics.
   • For Alias, type Hospitals and Clinics.
   • For Feature Class Type, choose Point.
   • Uncheck Z Values.

   

3. At the bottom of the Create Feature Class pane, click Next.
4. On the Fields page, click Import.

   

5. Double-click Folders, open the Health Emergency Data folder, the Schemas folder, and click HospitalClinic_Schema.shp and click OK.

   

   The fields from the shapefile are added to the Fields page.

6. Click Finish.

   The feature class is created and is added to the Contents pane and map.

7. In the Contents pane, right-click Hospitals and Clinics layer and click Attribute Table.

   

   The attribute table appears and is currently empty. No data exists yet in this table. You see several fields that will eventually contain data for this feature layer.

   

   Consider the useful information these fields contain for making health emergency decisions.

   Important fields might include the name, address, and contact information attributes for each hospital. The STATUS field will also be relevant to consider as it indicates whether a hospital is operating, diverting patients, or no longer open. Understanding details from the BEDS field will help us estimate each facility's capacity. TRAUMA and HELIPAD fields provide information that you want to have available in the foundational geodatabase, even though those fields may not be used to directly support the cooties outbreak.

   Next, you will use what you learned to repeat the same process to set up a feature class for urgent care facility data.

8. In the Catalog pane, under the Databases folder, right-click Health Emergency Geodatabase.gdb, point to New, and choose Feature Class.
9. On the Define page of the Create Feature Class pane, enter the following:
   • For Name, type Healthcare_Facilites.
   • For Alias, type Healthcare Facilities.
   • For Feature Class Type, choose Point.
   • Uncheck Z Values.

   

10. Click Next.
11. On the Fields page, click Import. Browse to Folders > Health Emergency Data > Schemas, and choose the Healthcare_Facilities_Schema.shp.
12. Click Finish.
13. Use what you have learned to create a polygon feature class for using the ReportingAreas_Schema.shp.

    Tip:

    • In the Catalog pane, right-click Health Emergency Geodatabase.gdb, point to New, and choose Create Feature Class.
    • In the Define page, for Name, type ReportingAreas, and for Alias, type Reporting Areas. For Feature Class Type, choose Polygon and uncheck the Z Values. Click Next.
    • On the Fields page, click Import. Browse to Folders > Health Emergency Data > Schemas, and choose the ReportingAreas_Schema.shp. Click Finish.

    You have created three feature classes and set up their schema from an existing feature class.

    

Note:

While it was not be covered in this tutorial, it is also important to take time to review the spatial reference or coordinate system of the data you intend to add to your geodatabase. To learn more, review the Evaluate data sources section of the ArcGIS tutorial Build a geodatabase to support Salzburg tourism.

In this section, you added a folder connection to connect your project to the folder of data on your computer, you added metadata for the geodatabase, and you created three feature classes with the schema you will use for the geodatabase.

Populate the geodatabase

There are several methods for populating your geodatabase with data. You have already used the Export Features tool to import demographics data to your geodatabase. In this section, you will use the Append tool to import all the fields and data into the feature classes in your geodatabase.

Append data to your geodatabase

Using the Append tool, you will populate your feature layers. You can append data by choosing which fields from the source layer to map to the target layer.

Note:

To learn more, visit Append (Data Management).

1. On the ribbon, click the Analysis tab and in the Geoprocessing group, click Tools.

   

   The Geoprocessing pane appears.

2. In the Geoprocessing pane, in the search bar, type Append. In the list of results, click the Append tool.

   

   The Append tool pane appears. You will start by populating the Hospitals and Clinics layer with data from the Hospitals_HIFLD data source, which contains data downloaded from HIFLD.

3. In the Append tool pane, for Input Datasets, click the Browse folder.

   

4. In the Input Datasets window that appears, choose Hospitals_HIFLD.shp.

   

   This is the source dataset to append.

   

5. For Target Dataset, choose Hospitals and Clinics.

   

   The Target Dataset value is where the data from the input dataset will append.

6. For the Field Matching Type value, choose Use the field map to reconcile field differences.

   

   If Use the field map to reconcile field differences is chosen for Field Matching Type, the input dataset schema (field definitions) do not need to match the target dataset. However, any fields from the input datasets that do not match the fields of the target dataset will not be mapped to the target dataset unless the mapping is explicitly set in the Field Map parameter. If an input dataset contains fields that do not match fields in the target dataset, that input dataset will be omitted and a warning message will be raised.

   Next, you will choose the fields you want to map from the source (Hospitals_HIFLD layer) to the target feature class (Hospitals and Clinics layer).

7. Under Field Map, for Output Fields, click facilityid. Under the Source tab, click Add New Source, check the box for ID, and click Add Selected.

   

8. Click the following Output Fields options and choose the corresponding source:

   Output Fields	Source
   Factype	TYPE
   Fulladdr	ADDRESS
   Municipali	COUNTY
   Agencytype	OWNER
   Phone	TELEPHONE
   Agencyurl	WEBSITE

   There may be more fields you want to match. For this tutorial, reconciling these seven fields will be sufficient.

9. Click Run.

   The data from Hospitals_HIFLD is appended or added to the Hospitals and Clinics layer. To confirm the append was successful, you will review the attribute table for the Hospitals and Clinics layer.

10. In the Contents pane, right-click the Hospitals and Clinics layer and click Attribute Table.

    The Hospitals and Clinics layer, which has the schema you want to use for health emergencies, now contains data from Hospitals_HIFLD reconciled to the corresponding fields.

    

    The attribute table is similar to other spreadsheet software where you can sort the order of records.

11. In the attribute table for Hospitals and Clinics, right-click the beds field, and click Sort Descending.

    

    The table reorders the records so that the hospitals with the greatest number of beds is at the top of the list of records. Being able to understand hospital capacity alongside location concurrently is critical from a preparedness perspective.

Next, you will create and set a domain for operational status of the emergency health-care facilities.

Create a field and domain to track status

In emergency response scenarios, an important workflow includes tracking and maintaining the operational status of facilities. You’ll need that information if, for example, some of your hospitals become overcrowded with sick kids and require new patients to be diverted to other facilities. To prepare for the surge potential, you will add an Operational Status field to the Hospitals and Clinics layer.

1. Ensure the Hospitals and Clinics layer attribute table is open. On the ribbon, click the Table tab and in the Field group, click Fields.

   

   The Fields view for the Hospitals and Clinics attribute table appears, and the Fields tab appears in the ribbon.

2. On the Fields tab, in the Changes group, click New Field.

   

3. At the bottom of the Fields view in the new field row, enter the following:
   • For Field Name, type OpStatus.
   • For Alias, type Operational Status.
   • For Data Type, choose Text.

   

   The next step is to add a domain for this field. This will provide a human readable list of values for this field.

4. On the ribbon, in the Data Design group, click Domains.

   

   The Domains view appears.

5. On the Domains tab, in the Changes group, click New Domain to add a new domain.

   

   A new domain row appears in the Domain view.

6. For Domain Name, type OpStatus.

   

   You have added a new domain called OpStatus. Next you will type the codes and descriptions. Since this is a text field, both the code and the description will be the same field type. The Description field will be what users see when editing and adding values for that record. In this example, you will use the same values for the Code and Description fields.

7. With the OpStatus domain selected, enter the following Code and Description fields:

   Code	Description
   Open	Open
   Closed	Closed
   Unknown	Unknown
   Divert	Divert

   

8. On the ribbon, in the Changes group, click Save when you are done.

   

   The last step is to set the new domain for that field.

9. Click the Fields view. For the OpStatus field, for Domain, choose OpStatus.

   

10. On the ribbon, on the Fields tab, in the Changes group, click Save.

    Next, you will set your baseline status for all facilities to Open.

    Instead of setting each record individually to Open, you will use the Calculate Field tool to set all the records to Open in a single step.

11. In the attribute table for Hospitals and Clinics, right-click the Operational Status field name and click Calculate Field.

    

    The Calculate Field window appears.

12. In the Calculate Field window, for OpStatus =, type ‘Open’. Ensure that you include the single quotes.

    

13. Click OK.

    In a real-world scenario, you can change the operational status of an individual hospital to Close or Divert as needed. You can update an individual record in the attribute table in ArcGIS Pro or in a web editing app.

    Note:

    You can use the Smart Editor widget in ArcGIS Web AppBuilder. This is a common method to allow non-GIS staff to make simple attribute or geometry edits to layers as well as add or delete new features. You can see this in action in the Operations Response Try It Live App, which is a part of the Emergency Management Operations Solution.

    Next, you will use what you have learned to append data for the Healthcare Facilities layer.

14. Open and use the Append tool to populate the Healthcare Facilities layer with data from the Urgent_Care_Facilities_HIFLD layer by entering the following parameters:

    Tip:

    To open the Append tool, on the ribbon, click the Analysis tab and click Tools. Search and open the Append tool.

    • For Input Datasets, click the Browse button and choose Urgent_Care_Facilities_HIFLD.shp.
    • For Target Dataset, choose Healthcare Facilities.
    • For Field Matching Type, choose Use the field map to reconcile field differences.

    

15. For Output Fields, set the following Output Fields values to the corresponding source:

    Output Fields	Source
    Facilityid	ID
    Municipali	COUNTY

16. Click Run.

    The data is appended to the Healthcare Facilities layer and is visible on the map.

17. For the Healthcare Facilities feature layer, create the OpStatus field and set it to the OpStatus domain.
    • Open the attribute table for the Healthcare Facilities layer.
    • Create a new field for the Healthcare Facilities layer with the Field Name OpStatus, Alias set to Operational Status, and set Data Type to Text.
    • For Domain, choose OpStatus.
    • Save the edits.
    • In the Healthcare Facilities attribute table, right-click the OpStatus field and choose Calculate field. For OpStatus=, type 'Open' and click OK.
18. Close any open attribute tables and Field or Domain views.
19. Save the project.

You have appended data obtained from HIFLD to your target geodatabase layers.

The project includes data for public schools, private schools, and child day care centers. For your cooties outbreak as well as any future events that impact children in your community, you'll want to have these datasets on hand in your foundational geodatabase. Use what you have learned to add these datasets into the target geodatabase.

Export multiple feature classes

Exporting or importing a single shapefile is useful if you need to convert only selected features and choose specific attribute fields to be copied to the output feature class. Sometimes it is necessary to batch convert multiple sources for quick conversion and spend time later removing unnecessary attribute fields.

First, you will use Feature Class to Geodatabase to import data for public schools into your geodatabase. This feature class also serves as the schema for the private schools and day care center data.

1. In the Catalog pane, under Folders, expand the Health Emergency Data folder and click the Data Files folder.
2. Right-click Public Schools.shp, point to Export, and choose Feature Class(es) to Geodatabase.

   

   The Feature Class To Geodatabase geoprocessing tool appears. The Input Features parameter is already filled.

   

3. Click Run.
4. In the Catalog pane, if necessary, expand Databases and expand Health Emergency Geodatabase.gdb. Right-click Health Emergency Geodatabase.gdb and click Refresh.

   The Public_Schools feature class has been added to your geodatabase.

   

   Since you will be using this feature class as the schema and will be adding data related to private schools and day care centers, you will rename the feature class to a different name that captures all these kinds of data.

5. Right-click Public_Schools and click Rename. Type Schools_and_Daycares and press Enter.
6. Drag the Schools_and_Daycares feature class onto your map.

   Next, you will use the Append tool to add both the private schools and day care data to the Schools_and_Daycares feature class. First, you will open the Catalog view so you can view your project folders at the same time as the Geoprocessing pane.

7. On the ribbon, click the View tab. In the Windows group, click Catalog View.

   

   The Catalog view appears. The Contents pane updates to show the Catalog contents.

8. In the Contents pane, expand Folders, expand Health Emergency Data, and click the Data files folder.

   

   The contents of the Data files folder are shown in the Catalog view.

9. In the Geoprocessing pane, open the Append tool.

   With both the Catalog view and the Append tool open, you can drag the shapefiles you want to set as the input datasets.

10. From the Catalog view, drag Private Schools.shp into the Input Datasets parameter in the Append tool.

    

    Private Schools.shp is added to the Input Datasets parameter.

    

11. Drag Child Care.shp into the empty Input Datasets parameter.
12. In the Append tool, for Target Datasets, choose Schools and Daycares. For Field Matching Type, choose Use the field map to reconcile field differences.
13. Click Run.
14. Close the Catalog view.
15. In the Contents pane, open the attribute table for Schools_and_Daycares.

    Over 2,000 records have been added.

16. Close the attribute table.

    Note:

    The Append tool is just one method for adding data into a geodatabase. A second method, using the Feature Class to Feature Class tool, will import all the fields and data into the geodatabase. Use this method when you do not have a geodatabase schema against which you are trying to align fields. An additional benefit is that this method allows you to import several different layers with a single operation. A third option involves using the Export Features tool to import data into a geodatabase. With the Export Features tool, you will not only import data to your geodatabase, but you will also be able to preserve your symbology.

In this section, you have appended data to your geodatabase using the feature class schemas, you created an operational status domain to keep track of each facilities status, and you learned how to export multiple feature classes to your geodatabase.

Join data to report case information

Next, you will prepare and add case data to the target geodatabase. Thinking ahead, you recognize that case data can be made even more useful when it is paired with other datasets that will allow you to visualize it in various ways, such as by census tract or school district, and normalize it to answer key questions like, "How many cooties cases per 100,000 children are we seeing?" To do this, you will use the append tool twice to first join the boundary and population data to the Reporting_Areas layer and then to add your cooties case data to your geodatabase.

The Reporting_Areas layer includes two important fields: Name and Aggregate Area. Name stores the names of the reporting area. Use the Aggregate Area field to report case data by differing jurisdictions. For example, a county may want to share case data tabulated by the entire county as well as broken down by ZIP code or municipality. In that case, the county has a value of Yes for the Aggregate Area field. In this tutorial, you will use Census Tracts as the Reporting Area.

Prepare reporting area information

You'll start by using the Append tool to populate the Reporting Area feature class with the census tracts you are interested in. You'll use orlandoarea_tracts feature class you created at the beginning of this tutorial that only includes tracts for the counties around Orlando you are interested in and assign the tract GEOID to the name of the field in the Reporting Area feature class.

1. Open the Append tool and enter the following parameters:
   • For Input Dataset, choose orlandoarea_tracts.
   • For Target Dataset, choose Reporting Areas.
   • For Field Matching Type, choose Use field map to reconcile field differences.

   

   The name field is the only field that you will need to reconcile field differences.

2. Under Field Map, in the Output Fields column, click name.
3. On the Source tab, click Add New Source. Check the box for GEOID and click Add Selected.

   

4. Click Run.

   The data is appended to the Reporting_Areas layer.

   Note:

   The symbology generated is random so the example may not match what you see on your screen. It will not affect the results.

   

   Your geodatabase now contains foundational data that you'll want to have on hand for any health emergency. You have included some key aspects of your health-care infrastructure with hospitals (including their operational status) and urgent care centers, and places (schools and day cares) where younger children spend a lot of time. You have explored and appended several different types of data into a geodatabase by using the Append tool and modified layers within the geodatabase to include additional fields and domains.

   Now that you have assembled foundational data for health preparedness, you will add demographic data and case counts so you can visualize and share information to better understand how to address this specific outbreak.

Join demographic and case data

Next, you will join demographic data and cooties cases data to your reporting areas feature class.

1. In the Geoprocessing pane, open the Join Field tool.
2. In the Join Field tool, enter the following:
   • For Input Table, choose Reporting Areas.
   • For Input Join Field, choose name.
   • For Join Table, choose orlandoarea_tracts.
   • For Join Table Field, choose Geographic Identifier - FIPS Code.

   

   Next, you will choose the fields you want to join. Since cooties mainly affects children under the age of 15, you will only include those fields in the join.

3. Next to Transfer Fields, click the Add Many button. Check the boxes for the following fields and click Add.
   • Males Under 5 Years
   • Males 5 to 9 Years
   • Males 10 to 14 Years
   • Females Under 5 Years
   • Females 5 to 9 Years
   • Females 10 to 14 Years

   

   Six fields will be joined to the Reporting Areas feature class.

   

4. Click Run.

   The six fields from the orlandoarea_tracts layer have been joined to the Reporting Areas layer. Next, you will use the Join Field tool to join cooties case data to the Reporting Areas layer. First, you will add the case data from your connected folder to your project.

5. In the Catalog pane, under Folders, if necessary, expand the Health Emergency Data folder. Expand CootiesCases.xlsx and drag Cases$ onto the map to add it to the project.

   

   The Cases$ table adds to the Contents pane under Standalone Tables.

6. In the Geoprocessing pane, click the back arrow.
7. Open the Join Field tool and enter the following:
   • For Input Table, choose Reporting Areas.
   • For Input Join Field, choose name.
   • For Join Table, choose Cases$.
   • For Join Table Field, choose name.
   • Under Transfer Fields, choose positive.

   

8. Click Run.

   The case data is now added to the Reporting Areas feature class. Next you will create a field to show the total population under 15. You will use this field to visualize case rates and not just case counts.

9. Open the attribute table for Reporting Areas.
10. Click the Add Field button.

    The Field view appears with a new field row.

11. In the new field row, for Field name, type T_PopUnder15, and for Alias, type Total Population Under 15.

    

12. On the ribbon, on the Fields tab, in the Changes group, click Save.

    

    Next, you will populate the Total Population Under 15 field by calculating the sum of the fields from the demographic data you joined to the Reporting Areas layer earlier in the tutorial.

13. Open the Reporting Areas attribute table and scroll until you see the new field you created.
14. Right-click the Total Population Under 15 field header and click Calculate Field.

    

15. In the Calculate Field window, under Fields, scroll toward the bottom of the list, double-click Males Under 5 Years, and click the addition button.

    

    The Field Name value for Males Under 5 Years is B01001_003E and it is added to the expression as !B01001_003E!.

16. Continue adding the following fields to the expression:
    • Males 5 to 9 Years
    • Males 10 to 14 Years
    • Females Under 5 Years
    • Females 5 to 9 Years
    • Females 10 to 14 Years

    The final expression should read: !B01001_003E! + !B01001_004E! + !B01001_005E! + !B01001_027E! + !B01001_028E! + !B01001_029E!

    

17. Click OK.
18. Close the attribute table and save the project.

You have joined the demographic and case data to the Reporting Areas layer and created a field showing the total population under 15 years in the Reporting Areas layer. Next, you will style and visualize your data.

Style and visualize your data

Next, you will visualize the map using the data you have added to your geodatabase.

1. In the Contents pane, turn off all the layers except Reporting Areas, World Topographic Map, and World Hillshade.

   

2. Right-click Reporting Areas and click Symbology.

   The Symbology pane appears.

3. In the Symbology pane, for Primary symbology, choose Unclassed Colors. For Field, scroll to the bottom of the list and choose positive (the second one listed).

   

   

   Next, you will change the basemap to a more neutral design so it does not distract from the key data you want to show from your geodatabase data.

4. On the ribbon, click the Map tab. In the Layer group, click Basemap and choose Human Geography Map.

   

   The basemap updates.

   

   Next, you will style the symbols representing the Hospitals and Clinics, Healthcare Facilities, and Schools and Daycares layers.

5. In the Contents pane, turn on and, if necessary, expand Hospitals and Clinics. Click the symbol for Hospitals and Clinics.

   

   The Symbology pane appears open to the Gallery tab. You will choose a health-related symbol from the gallery.

6. In the Symbology pane, click the Gallery tab. In the search bar, type hospital and press Enter.

   

7. Under ArcGIS 2D, choose the small Hospital symbol.

   

8. In the Contents pane, click the symbol for Healthcare Facilities. In the Symbology pane, search the Gallery tab for hospital.
9. Under Primitives, choose the small Hospital symbol.

   

10. In the Contents pane, turn on the Hospitals and Clinics and the Healthcare Facilities layers.

    The symbols are updated on the map.

    

11. In the Contents pane, right-click Schools and Daycares and click Symbology.
12. In the Symbology pane, for Primary symbology, choose Unique Values. For Field 1, choose TYPE.
13. On the Classes tab, click More and choose Format all symbols.

    

14. On the Gallery tab, click Circle 1 (40%).

    

15. Click the Properties tab and for Size, type 6 and click Apply.

    

    The style for all the symbols in the Schools and Daycares layer has been updated to be a semitransparent circle. You will go back to the Symbology pane and choose a different color for each type of location.

16. Click the back arrow.
17. Right-click the symbol for CHILD CARE CENTER and choose a yellow color like Autunite Yellow.

    Tip:

    To see the name of a color, point to the color.

18. Right-click the symbol for PRIVATE SCHOOL and choose a light purple color, like Lilac Dust. Right-click PUBLIC SCHOOL and choose a dark purple color, like Dark Amethyst.
19. In the Contents pane, turn on the Schools and Daycares layer.

    The symbols are updated on the map.

    

You have styled the Hospitals and Clinics and Healthcare Facilities layers with symbols from the Symbology gallery and styled the Schools and Daycares layer to show the different types of locations. Next, you will explore the data based on different visualizations.

Explore the data

Now that you have all the data in your geodatabase and have styled each type of data so you can visualize your data, you will explore the data.

1. On the Contents pane, turn off Schools and Daycares, Hospitals and Clinics, and Healthcare Facilities.
2. Zoom into the center of the Reporting Areas layer where there is a higher number of positive cooties cases.

   

3. Turn on Hospitals and Clinics and Healthcare Facilities.

   What do you notice about the availability of hospitals and urgent care facilities in this area?

   The Reporting Areas layer is currently showing the number of positive cases by census tract. To find out what the case rate is for each census tract, you will set a Normalization parameter in the Symbology pane.

4. Turn off the Hospitals and Clinics and Healthcare Facilities.
5. Right-click Reporting Areas and click Symbology.
6. In the Symbology pane, for Normalization, choose Total Population Under 15.

   The map doesn't show much variation in the census tract colors. Looking at the histogram in the Symbology pane, it appears most of the values are smaller. You will adjust the histogram so the symbology differentiates the values on your map better.

7. In the histogram, drag the lower handle so that it aligns with the histogram bar.

   

   Now the map more clearly shows the census tracts with higher case rates.

   

8. Zoom in to the center of Orlando.

   There are a few smaller tracts in the center of the city that show higher case rates of cooties.

   

9. Turn on the Hospitals and Clinics, Healthcare Facilities, and Schools and Daycares layers.

   What do you notice about the proximity and number of hospitals, urgent care clinics, schools and day cares relative to the census tracts with the highest case rates?

There are many other ways you can visualize the data in your geodatabase to answer critical questions that will support your emergency efforts.

In this tutorial, you downloaded data from several sources that will be important for a foundational health emergency geodatabase, you set up your geodatabase metadata and prepared feature classes with schemas for relevant groups of data, and you appended data to your geodatabase feature classes. You created a domain to designate operational status and created a field for the population under the age of 15. You styled and visualized the map using data from your geodatabase to answer key questions to address your health emergency efforts.

With a geodatabase ready for action, you were able to leverage the data for the cooties outbreak and create a map that shows current case rates and local health-care resources. You can further operationalize the data you imported into the desktop software, ArcGIS Pro. By publishing your geodatabase layers or your map to the cloud using ArcGIS Online, your map, for example, could become a web map used in a dashboard or another visualization medium to provide an up-to-date and interactive tool for responders. The same can be done to prepare for your next pandemic, crisis, or disaster.

You can find more tutorials in the tutorial gallery.

Acknowledgements

• Hospitals, Urgent Care Facilities, Public School, Private School, and Day Care Centers data was sourced from the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD).
• Demographic data was created from ACS Population Variables - Boundaries sourced from the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey.
• Gallery card image by Pavel Danilyuk from Pexels.