Check out this interactive Earth Wind Map. The app is a visualization of global weather conditions forecast by supercomputers and updated every three hours. You can view air currents, ocean waves and sea surface temperature, CO/CO2/SO2 surface concentrations, and air containing particulates. You can change projections and display settings by clicking in the lower-left corner of the app.
After installing a PostgreSQL database to be used by our 10.3 version of ArcGIS Server and Desktop, I was looking for the PostgreSQL client libraries to install on my Windows machine. And guess what? There were none!
In the installs I could see the usual ones for Oracle and SQL Server, but nothing for PostgreSQL for Windows. How am I going to use ArcCatalog to create a new Enterprise Geodatabase in PostgreSQL?
Digging around on the internet revealed that it was not needed anymore. As explained in the ArcGIS 10.3 documentation, ArcGIS 10.3 Desktop, Server, and Engine now contain the necessary PostgreSQL client libraries. You can now connect directly from ArcCatalog to a PostgreSQL database from ArcGIS 10.3 without having to install those pesky client libraries!
Think about that for a moment. If you have to install ArcGIS Desktop on a bunch of user workstations, you don’t have to install the PostgreSQL client libraries as well. It will just work. That saves a lot of time for sure.
And think about this one … if ESRI is making sure PostgreSQL databases will work out of the ArcGIS box, what direction are they leaning toward for future Enterprise Geodatabase implementation? They did not choose Oracle or SQL Server. Think about that.
Many of you know my disdain for the Web Mercator projection. Even the NGA in 2014 released a cease and desist regarding web mapping products for navigation and targeting due to inaccuracies.
Check out this post by Glen Bambrick as he demonstrates the problem with Web Mercator when it comes to data analysis of areas and visual presentation issues.
The National Geospatial Advisory Committee released a report in December 2015 titled “The Changing Geospatial Landscape: A Second Look.”
The report states:
In this document, the committee contributes its perceptions of incipient technologies that we expect will guide, define or determine the development of this industry in the near and medium term. Of even greater importance, the report highlights those aspects of innovation that bear directly on public policy and on individual privacy and security. The NGAC has also prepared this report to help inform the development of the next iteration of the strategic plan for the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and the development of transition recommendations for the next Presidential administration.
You can view the report here.
Looking for a free training seminar from ESRI? Check out these future seminars. You can also view past seminars here.
Spring semester starts first week in February at Rio Hondo College. Course offerings can be located here: http://riohondo.isteaching.com/spring-semester-2016.html
Given a majority of our students are working, our courses are conveniently scheduled in late afternoon & evenings. We also work closely with our civil and engineering course schedule (CAD required component of the GIS Certificate). Rio Hondo College is located near the intersection of the 605 & 60 freeways. We also have a class at the LA County DPW office in Alhambra.
We have a step by step process for applying for admission and registering for classes: http://riohondo.isteaching.com/join-us/ . New students can perform the steps entirely online. Most classes are 4 units and last checked @46/unit. Sign up today!
Warren Roberts GISP MLA
http://riohondo.isteaching.com/
Join the City of Los Angeles and ESRI via livestream on Friday, January 29, at 11 a.m. PST for an introduction of the L.A. GeoHub, a collaborative citywide data and application portal. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and ESRI President Jack Dangermond will unveil GeoHub, built on ArcGIS, and explore the ways GeoHub empowers city employees, citizens, businesses, and NGOs to make better decisions using authoritative real-time data and map-based tools that support a thriving, dynamic community.
You can watch the livestream and the rebroadcast on YouTube. Also take a look at the City of Los Angeles GeoHub.
Yes! Oracle has finally announced that they will be killing off the Java plugin. Also see this GIZMODO post (more like a rant) about it.
The National Weather Service’s National Mosaic displays an uninterrupted look at the Doppler weather radar feeds for the contiguous United States. The weather radar loops so you can see where rain and snow is occurring and where it is going. There is also a link to view a super-sized moving image as well. The map is clickable to take you to the region’s focused site too. Check it out!
ArcGIS Earth 1.0 is ESRI’s newest app that has been marketed as a replacement for users of the soon to be retired Google Earth Enterprise. ArcGIS Earth is a desktop based interactive globe which allows you to visualize and explore 3D and 2D spatial data. ArcGIS Earth software is free.
My goal for this post was not to have a comprehensive review of ArcGIS Earth, but to see how fast I could get it up and running with my data without reading any install or user guide. The less fuss the better.
You first need to download the compressed setup executable from ESRI’s ArcGIS Earth site.
After that, you run the setup executable which wants to “unzip” the needed install files, so pick a directory to place them in. Next, it will start the install which will ask you where to install the software. You can take the default location or place it somewhere else that you like. Once installed, let it start up and you are greeted with a nice globe that spins as it zooms in with a starry background, similar to Google Earth.
I do like the black framed window with minimal, muted controls that you can hide away.
So I just want to add a shapefile to this puppy. In the upper left on the tool strip I see a “+” icon which I guess is to add data, so I click on it. I was right. Doing so I am presented with public data from ArcGIS Online.
I don’t want that but I see an “Add Files” option as well as an “Enter a URL” option. Cool! I click on “Add Files” and a “Select files” button appears, which I click on and then a file browser window opens for me to select either a .KML, .KMZ, or .SHP file. I select my elevation contours shapefile and the globe zooms to the data.
The first thing I notice is that it is a little slow drawing the data. Maybe too many contour lines? The other thing I notice is that the vector data is being rasterized for the display on the globe. Maybe that is what takes some time? I don’t know, but as you zoom in and out, you see the re-rasterization of the data.
To navigate around, I use my scroll wheel on the mouse to zoom in/out and to pan you left click on the globe and drag it. To tilt the globe, right click and drag as well.
I also find if you double-left click it also zooms in. A double-right click seems to center that location in the window.
I did try my 3D SpaceMouse with ArcGIS Earth, but it only would zoom in and out, no pan or tilt was working. My 3D mouse worked right out of the box with Google Earth and also ArcGlobe, so I think ESRI will need to add the ability to work with other input devices.
I then notice a little blue dot on the list icon in the upper left.
I bet that is telling me I have a layer being drawn on the earth. Clicking on the icon reveals a list of my data.
I can turn the layer on or off by clicking on the check box. If I double click on the layer name, the globe zooms to the layer. If I right click on the layer name, I am presented with “Remove” or “Properties”. Selecting “Properties” presents me with a Properties window that allows me to change the symbol type, color, weight, and opacity of the contour lines.
If I click on “Summary” in the Properties menu, it lists the name, feature type, file source, any layer description, and coordinate system. That’s handy!
Now I want to add a KMZ file. I click on the “+” icon and add my fire hazard zones for LA County.
Again the globe zooms to the data and again I notice slowness. Why would this be slow with data on my local drive? Zooming in and out is slow too. Maybe the background basemap is taking a while to stream to ArcGIS Earth?
One thing I did not mention is that you can click on any of your features to bring up their attributes. That comes up fast at least.
The last thing I want to do is add one of our ArcGIS Server map services to the globe. Again I click on the “+” icon and this time select “Enter a URL”. Here you can enter the full path to your map service, like ” http://server_name/arcgis/rest/services/layer_name/MapServer “. I added our 2014 orthophotography.
The speed of panning and zooming seem about the same.
Other tools that are available to you are draw tools that allow you to draw points, lines, and polygons; Measure tools for point, line, path, circle, and polygon; Save image to create an image file of your view; Email an image of your view; Print your view; Settings; and Basemap changes.
I do want to mention that under Settings, you can change the startup view to continue where you left off when you open ArcGIS Earth again, and also you can change the default spatial reference from Web Mercator to WGS 84. Other settings include an atmospheric effect, mouse navigation speed (which did not fix my slowness), and an advanced setting for using a proxy server.
One last thing, in the upper right of the window, you can enter an address to zoom to. Also you can reorient your globe to north up by clicking on the north arrow icon and click on the home icon to zoom out to the globe.
Overall ArcGIS Earth is a handy tool to display your KML, shapefile, and map service data on an interactive 3D globe. I would have liked to see it work with data in a geodatabase, but maybe that is for a later release? I did notice that at the top of the interface there was an option to “Sign in” to your ArcGIS Online or Portal accounts. Clicking on it presents a sign in window.
This would then give you access to more data that you have in your ArcGIS Online and/or Portal accounts. Which brings up this observation … I do like the fact that I can use ArcGIS Earth without forcing me to login. I think that was wise on ESRI’s part. Not everyone wants an online account, especially if they only deal with local data. I think this will help the software be more accepted. We will see.
Should you need ArcGIS Earth help, you can find it here.
I do not know why ArcGIS Earth was slow for me. I have a pretty powerful workstation. I found myself becoming very impatient waiting for the globe to keep up with my movements. If it does not get resolved, I don’t see myself using ArcGIS Earth that much. ArcGlobe and the 3D in ArcGIS Pro work a lot faster. Your mileage may vary.
Try ArcGIS Earth out for yourself and see if the tool works out for you. -mike
SoCalGIS.org 