GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

I. Introduction
This document describes how to insert structural geology symbols onto AutoCAD Map quadrangle geologic maps. In addition to your quadrangle geologic map file and AutoCAD Map, you will need access to:

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Access 2000 or higher database application Structure database file (Geodatabase.mdb) The map projection application MAPPRO (mappro.exe) The structural geology symbol blocks (Map_Prototype.dwt)

In this document we will use the Cheaha Mt. Quadrangle as an example. You can download the necessary starting files for this example from: http://www.usouthal.edu/geography/allison/gy461/gy461_project_resources.htm Visit the above web page and then click on the Project 2" file download link. This will allow you to download to your workstation a self-extracting ZIP file containing all of the necessary files to work through this project. You will need to have the Microsoft Office applications Access and Excel available to finish the project. If you are not successful locating the above files and applications see the course instructor.

II. Inserting the Station Locations

In this section you will insert blocks that mark the station locations where data observations were located. This information has already been entered into the database file Geodatabase.mdb. You will run a query which accumulates the latitude, longitude, and station identification of each location that falls within the bounds of your quadrangle. This data can then be pasted into a text file, which MAPPRO then uses it as input. MAPPRO will automatically inserts station blocks at the appropriate locations, and sets the block attribute equal to the station identification. Step 1: Run the MaproStationQuery Pre-defined queries have already been created that collect the data for you- the only settings that you need to change is the USGS quadrangle index reference. To begin, start Access from the desktop. Use the opening dialog Open existing database option to open the Geodatabase.mdb database. Select the Query tab. Figure 1 displays the view that you should now see on the screen. Highlight the query named MapproStationQuery. This query is designed to accumulate station data from a specific quadrangle so that it can be processed by the Page 1 of 16

GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps
map projection utility application MAPPRO. The first data that we will insert into the geologic map will be station markers to indicate the location where data was observed. The block that we will use is named ST. From the Access query window right-click on the MapproStationQuery, and then select Design View from the popup menu. You will now see a window of information displayed (Figure 2)which contains the settings used the last time the query was used- it will probably not be valid for your quadrangle. Note that the fields in the query include latitude, longitude, and the station identification, the items that MAPPRO needs to post data on the geologic map. The only item that needs to be modified in the query is the quadrangle index. Click on the criteria row below USGS_Index and change it to your quadrangle abbreviation. In Figure 2 this field has been changed to O33085D7. Then select the menu sequence Query > Run. You will now see an updated window containing the data captured by the query. You should now select the Reports tab of the main Access window, and highlight the report named MapproStationReport. This report has be constructed to always point toward the MapproStationQuery to receive data for the report. Therefore, if you have updated the query correctly this report will always contain the desired station data. Double-click this report to execute it. You should see a new window (Figure 3) containing the station data in the below format: column 1: Latitude in decimal degrees column 2: Longitude in decimal degrees column 3: station I.D. Only the data from the target quadrangle will be listed because this report uses the MapproStationQuery to filter the data. Do not be concerned is blank lines are contained in the report- these will be ignored by the MAPPRO application. Select the File > Export menu option while the report is displayed. You will then see a file dialog window- change the export file type to Text and navigate to the C:\temp folder. Name the exported file CM-ST.TXT. Select the default of Windows compatible for the text file. Access will export the file to a text format that can be read by the MAPPRO utility. Step 2: Processing Data with MAPPRO At this time start the MAPPRO application. This application will probably have an icon on the desktop of your workstation. When MAPPRO is started note that it has 2 child windows- an edit window and a results window. You should take care that the data that will be processed by MAPPRO should always be loaded into the edit window. Select the menu sequence Filet > Open. Navigate to the folder where you stored the exported Access report (C:\temp in this Page 2 of 16

GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps
example), and load the text file containing the data for MAPPRO to process. After clicking the Open button you should see the report data appear in the edit window. Note that the first 2 columns should be decimal latitude and longitude values respectively. The 3rd column is the station identifier. Your screen should now appear as in Figure 4. Use the following menu settings to configure MAPPRO to project the geodetic coordinates into the UTM system: 1. Settings > UTM Set the grid zone to correct value for base map (Alabama=16) 2. Settings > Data Type Station Data type should be set 2. Settings > Script File Setup Script file name > \temp\cm-st.scr (you can use any folder you like) Layer name > Stations Block name > st Block scale > 50 (good for 1:24,000 scale) 3. Settings > Results Window Format (select standard printout) Now select the Run > Process Edit Window menu sequence to process the data. MAPPRO creates a macro file (cm-st.scr) containing the commands necessary to place the station markers on the quadrangle. Before processing this macro file, however, you need to ensure that any blocks referenced by the macro file are already inserted into the base map. To resolve this take the following actions: 1. Open a new file using the template file Map_Prototype.dwt. 2. Save the file derived from the template and then open the quadrangle file and use the Insert > Block command to insert the new file created in (1) into the quadrangle file. The insertion should occur at 0,0 with no rotation and scale set to 1 (i.e. use default values and un-check the specify onscreen checkboxes). The insertion simply adds the block definitions of all of the structure symbols referenced by MAPPRO macro file. After the insertion of the template file you should run the SCRIPT command from the AutoCAD command prompt. Use the macro file created by MAPPRO (cm-st.scr) when prompted for a file name. You will then see the macro begin to plot station markers on the quadrangle base map. Figure 5 displays the station data points as plotted by MAPPRO on a portion of the Cheaha Mt., Alabama quadrangle base map.

III. Importing Structure Data

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps
In general, importing the structure data blocks is very similar to importing the station blocks. The major difference is that geological structure data are inserted with a specific rotation angle depending on their measured orientation. In addition, structure data comes in 2 different formats: azimuth and quadrant. The below discussion will highlight the differences in Access and Mappro when structure data is imported. Step 1: Access You should open the GeoDatabase Access file and open the MapproStructureQuery in the query tab section of the main Access window. Right-click on the query, and then select Design View from the popup menu. Note that this query uses 2 tables, Stations and Structure, that are linked on the basis of a common Station_ID field. In the query change the Structure field criteria to the structure type that you wish to plot- in this example we will use S0". Also set the USGS_Index to match the Cheaha Mt. Quadrangle. Select the menu sequence Query > Run to view the results. Figure 6 displays the S0 query for the(Cheaha Mt. quadrangle. Figure 7 is an example of the query result when it is executed. Note that there are 6 columns of data: latitude, longitude, structure attitude, station identification, structure type and quadrangle index. Select the menu sequence File > Save to save the query settings. In the future if you wish to extract a different type of structure from the database for the same quadrangle you will need only to change the structure criteria (S1, L1, etc.). Now you should run the MapproStructureReport found in the Reports tab of the main Access window. You will then immediately see a report formatted for MAPPRO of the structure data specified in the previous query design. Export this report to a text file as described above, and name this file c:\temp\cm-s0.txt. Step 2: Mappro Start the MAPPRO application as described above. Load the c:\temp\cm-s0.txt file into the edit window. At this point setup MAPPRO for the S0 data as described below: 1. Settings > UTM (Set the grid zone to 16 for this quadrangle.) 2. Settings > Map Data Format (set type to planar; orientation to quadrant) 2. Settings > Script File Setup Script file name > \temp\cm-s0.scr (you can use any folder you like) Layer name > S0 Block name > S0 Block scale > 200 3. Settings > Results Window Format (select standard printout)

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps
Select the menu sequence Run > Process Edit Window Data. This will generate the script file for AutoCAD Map (i.e. \temp\cm-s0.scr). Step 3: AutoCAD Map Activate AutoCAD Map and load the example Cheaha Mt. Quadrangle map. Run the script command and indicate the cm-s0.scr file that was created by MAPPRO in the previous step. The S0 data will proceed to plot on the map. Note that each structure symbol is rotated to match the orientation recorded in the database. Figure 8 displays some of the S0 structure symbols plotted on the quadrangle base map. In general all of the various types of structure blocks will be inserted as described above. Be careful in MAPPRO that you match the structure type to the appropriate geometry: Planar or linear. The geologic map standards document contains this information. If a query yields no results that means that there are none of that type of structure in the selected quadrangle. You can then skip that structure and go to the next.

IV. Notes on Inserting Structure Blocks

The MAPPRO application works by using the AutoCAD insert command to insert a copy of a block, for example S1, at a location that it calculates based on the geodetic coordinates and chosen coordinate system. The advantage of this system is that the user is free to either use the provided structure blocks (S1.dwg, L1.dwg, etc.), or design their own custom definitions using standard AutoCAD drawing commands. Because MAPPRO requests the name of the block to use with the data set, there is no limit to the design possibilities for structure or station symbols. The downside is that the blocks referenced by MAPPRO must be defined in the drawing file before MAPPRO is executed. Another issue to be aware of is special attitudes. For planar or linear data if a dip/plunge value of 90 is encountered in the attitude data, a 90" is appended to the block name. For example, if S1" is the block name indicated by the user and the attitude N 40 E 90 E is encountered, the block S190" will be inserted at that location. A dip/plunge value of 0 causes the 0" to be appended to the block name resulting in a block name of S10" for horizontal S1 attitudes. A second issue is fold symmetry. For example, if the attitude S 30 E 45 Z is encountered the MAPPRO program interprets the Z as a symmetry flag and will append the letter Z to the block name. If the base name of the block had been F1" then the reference would be F1Z. Special attitudes may result in F190Z. There are several ways to take care of the multitude of possible block names that may be referenced by MAPPRO. There is a template file that is included with the download of MAPPRO named Map_prototype.dwt. The only entities in this template file are structure block definitions such as ST, S1, L1, etc. If you accept the block symbols that are included with MAPPRO you can simply insert this file into your current map to add all of the block definitions Page 5 of 16

GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps
all at once. You did this in an earlier example above when plotting the station markers. To insert the template into a current file open a new file but indicate that it is to be created from a template. Navigate the file open dialog to the directory where the template files are stored (usually c:\acadmapdata\template\). Open the Map_prototype.dwt file. Now save this file as C:\temp\drawing1.dwg. Now open your current map into AutoCAD and select the menu sequence Insert > Block. You will then see a dialog similar to Figure 9. Select the Browse button to activate the file open dialog and navigate to the c:\temp\drawing1" file. Set the parameters as they are set in the Figure 9 example and click on the OK button. The blocks are now contained within your map drawing file so you can run MAPPRO for any of the structure data. If you need to create your own custom structure block definitions, you will need to be aware of these constraints: 1. Construct the block on a 1 unit by 1 unit grid. The long dimension of the block should be only one unit length. 2. Orient planar structures striking due north (0 azimuth) with the dip indicator oriented due east (90 azimuth). 3. Orient linear structures plunging due north (0 azimuth). 4. Dip attributes should have a tag name of DIP, and a height value of 0.2 units. 5. Plunge attributes should have a tag name of PLUNGE, and a height value of 0.2 units.

V. Inserting Data not in a Database

The above instructions on inserting station and structure symbols on a map assume that your database has already been created, however, because of time constraints you may need to plot data without the aid of a database application. To plot stations markers you need to type in the data into a spreadsheet or text file in three columns: 1st column: latitude in decimal degrees 2nd column: longitude in decimal degrees 3rd column: station identification label Note that western hemisphere longitudes must be negative. The latitude and longitude numbers must have at least one blank or tab separating them. The station identification label may contain embedded blanks because the program simply scans from the first non-blank character right of Page 6 of 16

GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps
the longitude to the end of the line. The formation for linear or planar data is very similar: 1st column: latitude in decimal degrees 2nd column: longitude in decimal degrees 3rd column: {structure data} {i.e. N 25 E 45 E or 025 45 E; S 67 E 15" or 113 15" } 4th column: station label The station label is optional. Note that structure data must be in either quadrant or azimuth format, and that only an E or W is used to denote dip quadrant direction (do not use SE, SW, NE, or NW). If you type in your data into a spreadsheet, highlight and copy the data to the clipboard, and then paste it into a text editor like notepad. When you run the external Mappro program it will generate the plotting commands for AutoCAD in a script file with a .SCR file extension. Make sure that you note the location of this file when you set the parameters in the Settings > Script file setup menu option. When you load your base map in AutoCAD, and you have inserted any needed block symbols, issue the script command at the command prompt, and then indicate this script file.

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 1: View of query definitions in Access main window.

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 2: Station query definition for the Cheaha Mt. quadrangle.

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 3: Report results based on the station query for the Cheaha Mt. Quadrangle..

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 4: MAPPRO application with station data loaded into the edit window.

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 5: Example of plotted station data..

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 6: Access MapproStructureQuery for S0 data in design view.

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 7: Query results for S0 structure data.

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 8: Geologic map with imported S0 block symbols inserted.

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GY461 Computer Mapping & GIS Technology Inserting Structural Geology Data onto Geologic Maps

Figure 9: Block insert dialog window for adding the structure block definitions.

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