ENV 761 (Fay) - Conservation GIS

Using ArcGIS Online Resources in ArcMap

Using ArcGIS Online Resources in ArcMapIntroductionOverviewReferencesQuick start: Searching for data from within ArcGIS ProSearching from the Catalog PaneSearching from the Catalog ViewTypes of on-line resources you can use in ArcGIS ProPackages vs. ServicesTypes of packages and where they are storedTypes of services available in ArcGIS OnlineMore Advanced searchingAdding map image layer services to your mapUsing web map services in ArcGIS ProUsing imagery layer services in ArcMap♦ Loading imagery layer service data♦ Using imagery layer data...Using feature layer services in ArcMap♦ Adding feature layer data♦ Using feature layer data...Tips & Tricks to find more on-line data for your ArcPro projects♦ Exploring other datasets by owner♦ Revealing all services from a given server♦ Finding metadata about these servicesUseful ESRI (and some non-ESRI) Data servicesSummary

Introduction

In this tutorial we begin our exploration of Cloud-based GIS by looking at various datasets we can pull directly into ArcMap. We'll review ways for searching and adding ArcGIS Online (AGOL) data to an ArcMap map, some that are straightforward and some that are not. We'll also examine the different types of layers that are shared via AGOL and how this determines what we can and can't do with these shared datasets. Indeed, with some of the data sets hosted on ArcGIS Online, we can actually do some analysis in ArcMap -- something the generic web-interface is lacking. (However, when we revisit web-based GIS later in the semester, we'll see that we can actually create web-based applications that do include analysis.)

Overview

References

Quick start: Searching for data from within ArcGIS Pro

Nearly all the data you can add to an ArcGIS Online web map can be added to an ArcGIS Pro map. You have likely added an ESRI basemap to your map, and some of you may already have added data from ArcGIS Online as outlined below. Still, let's review the procedure before going into more depth.

First, it's important to acknowledge that when you open ArcGIS Pro, you are required to log in to ArcGIS Online. It's through this log-in that you get access to many of the ArcGIS online resources.

Searching from the Catalog Pane

Search for some North Carolina data and start exploring:

Searching from the Catalog View

The ArcPro Catalog View (which usually shows in the same main section as where maps appear in ArcPro) allows more detail to be viewed.

Types of on-line resources you can use in ArcGIS Pro

Now that you have a feel for how to access various on-line services from ArcGIS Pro, let's talk more about these services. ESRI provides a full discussion of its on-line sharing platform and formats here: http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/sharing/overview/introduction-to-sharing-packages.htm, but the highlights are below.

Packages vs. Services

Data distributed via ArcGIS online comes in two formats: packages or services. Packages are downloadable bundles that get stored in a default location on your machines hard drive. Services, in contrast, are links to data stored somewhere in the Cloud. Both packages and services each include several types, which you can see in the descriptions of the various layers in the Add Data dialog box.

Types of packages and where they are stored

Packages can include entire ArcGIS map documents (Map Packages), or just data that can be inserted into a map (Layer Packages). There are also packages for geoprocessing tools (Geoprocessing packages), for locators (Locator packages -- used to geocode addresses to coordinates), and a few others. When added to a map, packages are downloaded and stored in your ArcGIS user folder, usually C:\Users\<username>\Documents\ArcGIS\Packages\. Sometimes, the downloaded package includes the data depicted in the map or layer package, but other times it only includes references to the data which can be stored on a server somewhere.

Types of services available in ArcGIS Online

The most common services available through ArcGIS Online include: Map Services, Image Services, and Feature Services. There are several others which we will get to later, but let's focus on these to get started. Adding a service to your map does not download any files to your machine, but rather they all reference data (or a tool) stored on some server somewhere in the Cloud. Different services have different capabilities: some just allow you to view data, while others enable you to use the data in geoprocessing tools.

The following exercises are designed to familiarize yourself with the different types of services as well as how to look for specific types of data and services.

More Advanced searching

http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/projects/search-online-and-project-items.htm

Adding map image layer services to your map

Map Image Layer service data are pulled directly from a server on the cloud. While they may look like normal vector datasets, they are actually images. As you zoom in or out of your map, a request is sent to the hosting server to generate a new snapshot of the data and return it to display your map. On most -- but not all -- map service data, you can query the data by left-clicking features on the map, showing attributes of a given feature. However, you cannot select specific attributes either by query or spatial selection.

Using web map services in ArcGIS Pro

Web map services, in contrast to map services, comprise of an entire map with links to on-line data resources. The map, and in some cases a cache of image data, are downloaded and stored on your disk. You can add data to and otherwise manipulate these maps, but often the data that come with web maps services are as limited as map service data. Though, as you'll notice with the TIMS_Cameras layer, you can modify the symbology and query the data. That is because this layer is a feature service layer, which we will talk about in a bit.

Using imagery layer services in ArcMap

♦ Loading imagery layer service data

♦ Using imagery layer data...

Once the imagery layer has been added to your map, you can use it just as any other raster data set stored on your drive. You can change its symbology, use in a geoprocessing task, or even make a local copy of the entire data set (up to a certain data size limit...).

 

Using feature layer services in ArcMap

♦ Adding feature layer data

♦ Using feature layer data...

Once the layer has been added to your map, you can use it just as any other vector data set stored on your drive. You can change its symbology, use in a geoprocessing task, or even make a local copy of the entire data set.

Tips & Tricks to find more on-line data for your ArcPro projects

Searching the All Portal dialog box within the Catalog View is a good way to search for individual datasets from within ArcMap. You may have also noticed that you can search for datasets from the ArcGIS Online web portal and add these resources directly to ArcMap. Additionally, the owner: and type: qualifiers provide useful filters to your search. In general, searching for data using ArcGIS Online should greatly facilitate your search for existing data resources. (See this link for more keyword search options: http://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/help/projects/search-online-and-project-items.htm)

What we want to show now, however, is how to go beyond searching for specific datasets and moving into a mode of "targeted exploring" of potentially useful or at least interesting datasets.

♦ Exploring other datasets by owner

First is exploring the datasets of a particular owner. We've already looked how to filter searches by owner, but when you do any search in ArcGIS Online, it will list the owner of the dataset. If you click on that owner, the search will update to all the published data by that owner. If you stumble upon a particular dataset that appears useful to you (perhaps not even to the project you are actively working on), you can see what else this owner has contributed. I have come across some amazingly interesting datasets that way.

Your mileage may vary with this sort of targeted browsing, but it does reveal a lot of results with minimal effort...

♦ Revealing all services from a given server

Buried deeper in the description of each service when you add it to your map is the address of the server hosting the data. You can actually create a link to that server and expose all the services it hosts -- a potential gold mine of data that you may never have stumbled on just through a keyword search. In fact, some of the data you find here may not even be published on ArcGIS Online.

What we've just done is created a link to an ArcGIS server. No data are copied to your machine, but rather maps to where the data live on the server. The same constraints apply to how the data sets are being served. You may see map services that you can really only display. You may also see image and feature services and can usually use these datasets to do spatial analyses. In some cases other items, including locators and toolboxes are shared.

♦ Finding metadata about these services

You can usually right click on any dataset added to ArcMap and select View Item Description to open up the metadata document for that dataset or layer. Sometimes, however, the information is lacking or missing altogether. There is another way to explore information on these served data...

The link used to connect to these servers has a familiar format: it's a URL or web address.

Useful ESRI (and some non-ESRI) Data services

ESRI, who has a vested interest in providing data (i.e. so that people are more interested in purchasing their software to analyze these data), provides a number of amazingly useful data layers hosted on a small fleet of servers. Click on these URLs in a web browser or add them as ArcGIS Online connections in ArcMap to explore them. Some datasets are freely available, others require you to be logged onto your ESRI organizational account.

More datasets can be found by Google searching for the right keywords. Try a Google search using:

The links that come up may have some valuable data for Durham...

Summary

At the end of all this, you should at the very least have a greater appreciate for the wealth of data available to you via ArcGIS Online and the numerous ArcGIS Servers out there sharing data. It used to be that 90% of a GIS project was in just finding and preparing (or worse -- creating) the data required for the analysis. The techniques shown here should therefore save you a great deal of time.