ArcWatch: GIS News, Views, and Insights

GIS to the Rescue

By Karen Richardson
Esri Writer

A Colorado ski resort used GIS technology to help find a lost snowboarder. Rescuers keyed in on the 20 year-old man's location based on the GPS signal coming from his cell phone, which was then mapped in Esri ArcGIS. The ski patrol members sent to find him were also tracked using ArcGIS. Read the article. Winter Park Resort also uses ArcGIS to monitor trail grooming. Read the article.

A lost snowboarder was located when a Colorado ski resort mapped his cell phone's GPS coordinates in ArcGIS.

Tip of the Month

Choose the Right Transparency Option for Your Web Map

Learn how to use two symbol transparency methods—layer and color transparency—and how to choose between the two depending on what information you want to convey in your ArcGIS Online web map. Read this tip.

Join the Conversation

The Headlines

What's on Your App List?

What's generating the most buzz in Esri ArcGIS Marketplace? To ring in 2014, we did some digging and created a list of the top 10 apps and data services that have you talking—and shopping the Marketplace. Read the article.

Let Your Data Shine

If you like Esri's light gray canvas basemap, check out the new dark gray canvas basemap, now in beta. Your map data will look brighter than ever. Read the blog.

A True Enterprise GIS

Riverside County, California, uses ArcGIS Online to open up GIS resources such as maps, apps, data layers, and web services, to its entire organization. While GIS professionals develop web maps and apps, maintain data, and perform analysis, non-GIS staff members can quickly access that information using cloud-based ArcGIS Online. Read the article.

News Bytes

Fighting Fire with a Mobile GIS App

Philadelphia Fire Department's new mobile GIS app provides potentially lifesaving info: building sizes, inspection data, floor plans, fire truck locations, and more. Read the article at nbcphiladelphia.com.
Geoenable Your Utilities

The new ArcGIS for Electric and ArcGIS for Gas products will geoenable your utilities in short order. Get the details.
GIS Streamlines Sewer Operations

San Francisco Public Utilities Commission uses GIS for sewer operations. The staff uses the technology to monitor odor issues and flooding after rainstorms. Read the article.
A Map of Refugee Camps

This story map profiles the 50 most populous United Nations refugee camps in the world. See where 1.9 million displaced people have fled.
Location's Role in Big Data

What does location and geospatial analysis bring to the table when working with big data? Watch this presentation by Esri's Marwa Mabrouk at AWS re:Invent 2013.
Esri Releases New Version of CityEngine

The latest version of Esri's urban design software is out, and its software developer kit makes it easy to use in other popular 3D software including Autodesk Maya and Google SketchUp. Learn more.

Centerpoints

A GIS Day to Remember

You celebrated GIS Day in the United States, Brazil, Canada, India, Afghanistan, Australia, and everywhere in between. Read this article about five special events that made GIS and geography come alive.

Wanted: Urban Data

Urban Observatory creates an interactive museum experience that uses digital maps and geospatial analytics to bring cities to life. Read the article and learn how to participate.

GIS Takes Center Stage

GIS users in the Czech Republic find many inventive ways to use geospatial technology, from analyzing elections to better serving electric customers. Read this report from the Czech Esri User Conference.

Technical Talk

Make a Storytelling Map Tour

Want to educate, entertain, inform, and inspire using a storytelling map tour? Follow these six basic steps provided by Esri technology evangelist Bern Szukalski and start building and sharing your mapping apps.

Let the (App) Building Begin

It's app and map time at the Esri International Developer Summit, which returns in March to Palm Springs, California. Don't wait! Register. See the top 10 tech sessions.
Free Training for Developers

Join Esri for Sharing Cached Imagery in ArcGIS, a free online seminar on January 30, 2014.
Get to Know Kriging

Watch this technical workshop to learn the concepts and applications of kriging with the ArcGIS Geostatistical Analyst extension.
Cloud GIS Questions Answered

Watch this video to find out what you as a manager (or GIS professional) need to know about cloud GIS.
10 ArcMap Tips

Here are 10 shortcuts for working with maps and tables.
Reproject Elevation Rasters

Find out how to properly reproject a digital elevation model (DEM) from geographic coordinates to another coordinate system.

Et cetera

Ahoy, Oceans

This view of oceans around the world comes from an Esri story map called Our Oceans—Live! with live web cams that stretch from Seward, Alaska, to Christchurch, New Zealand.

Brush Up on Your ArcGIS Online Skills

Here are three quick ways to learn more about how to use ArcGIS Online.
Go Pro

Esri launches a new website for GIS professionals. Read the article.
Telling Kentucky's Stories

The State of Kentucky promotes its state parks and other attractions using the Esri Story Map and Map Tour templates. See the Kentucky story maps.
Where Can You Go in That Electric Car?

Using ArcGIS Online, you can analyze the range of an electric car and perhaps determine if it's the right buy for you. Read the tip.
Around the World with Charles Darwin
Monuments of Seville Story Map

Endpoints

Let It Snow, Let It Snow

This Snowfall Forecast Map, created with ArcGIS, provides National Weather Service predictions on where it will snow and how much snow will fall over the next 36 hours. This is a time-enabled map service.

GIS: A Tool for Change

The Sub-Saharan Africa Map Book illustrates how GIS supports planners in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, and Ivory Coast. The maps illustrate issues and challenges including climate change and social conflict. Buy the book.

Hardware Offer

Esri offers cost-effective solutions to US customers who want to configure or upgrade their GIS. Esri's server, desktop, mobile, and data products are prepackaged with ArcGIS. Search for a solution.

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