By Nicolas R. Malloy September 19, 2025

Introduction

How many people can safely attend a music festival? Geographic Information Science (GIS) provides the tools to answer this question. In this lab, you will use GIS to estimate event capacity by analyzing parking areas, event fields, and campgrounds. The workflow centers on several core GIS skills. You will practice digitizing polygons to represent key areas of the festival site, and you will apply attribute calculations to determine how many cars, people, and campsites those spaces can support. You will also explore geoprocessing tools such as Pairwise Dissolve and Pairwise Erase to prepare data for analysis.

By the end of this activity, you will understand how spatial data and analysis can inform real-world planning decisions. You will also strengthen essential GIS skills such as digitizing, managing attribute tables, and applying geoprocessing operations.

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Estimated time to complete this tutorial: 4 hours

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Learning Outcomes

By the end of this activity, you will be able to:

• Create new feature classes within a geodatabase and design appropriate attribute fields.
• Digitize polygons to represent real-world areas such as parking lots, event fields, and campgrounds.
• Use the Calculate Field tool to apply formulas and translate spatial measurements into meaningful estimates.
• Apply geoprocessing tools such as Dissolve and Erase to prepare data for analysis.
• Interpret and communicate results by relating spatial data to practical event planning decisions.

Setting Up Your Workspace

Before beginning the analysis, it is important to create a dedicated workspace for the project. A well-organized folder structure will help you keep track of your data, edits, and outputs as you work through the activity.

Start by creating a new folder on your desktop and name it Event_Capacity. Inside this main folder, make three subfolders:

• original – a place to store unaltered copies of the data you download.
• working – where you will keep datasets you create or edit during the lab.
• final – reserved for your finished products such as tables, reports, and maps.

Figure 1: Create a project workspace on your desktop with three subfolders—original, working, and final—so your data, edits, and outputs stay organized.

This standardized structure allows you to clearly separate raw data from your edits and final deliverables. It is a professional habit that ensures your work remains reproducible and easy to maintain, especially as projects grow more complex.