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Explore stories from the latest volume of Mapping the Nation, published by Esri Press, that illustrate how a geographic approach guides important decisions across the country.
Mapping the Nation
Guiding Good Governance
Discover inspiring stories about the positive impact of GIS on governance and public engagement.
Guiding good governance
GIS enhances decision-making processes, ensuring that policies are effective.
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Cross-agency collaboration reopens port
The Key Bridge collapse required a coordinated government response to restore port access, setting a benchmark for future emergency management. -
Saint Louis County ensures election transparency
In Missouri’s most populous county, election officials use location-based tools to manage data, monitor operations, and communicate results. -
Digital twins: Clarity for complex systems
Geospatial digital twins offer something that approaches complete contextual awareness. -
Cloud-based approach improves data sharing
The US Forest Service eliminated imagery data duplication by launching a cross-agency geospatial data sharing service.
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Keeping communities safe
GIS is used to map damage from natural disasters, coordinate emergency services, and guide law enforcement.
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Mapping a wildfire response
A map-based approach helps agencies prioritize the places where firefighters are most able to quell intense wildfires. -
The battle against a historic rain in Florida
The GIS team at the City of Fort Lauderdale was instrumental in managing the response to unprecedented flooding. -
Iowa’s Scott County trusts GIS in emergencies
The county’s emergency managers and GIS experts collaborate using advanced technology to manage risks from extreme weather. -
Austrian crime atlas transforms policing
A digital crime atlas helps police visualize crimes, identify patterns, and collaborate on investigations and crime prevention efforts. -
Drones improve response to Australian floods
After devastating flooding, the South Australian State Emergency Service quickly deployed drones to assess the damage.
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Protecting and securing our nation
GIS is essential for defense and security, providing a shared map-based operational view that enhances situational awareness and collaboration among military units.
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Germany’s soldiers gain a collaborative edge
System integrators pull together software and hardware components to create next-generation networked systems of systems for tactical situations. -
Awareness boosts Alabama’s public safety
The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency deployed a new GIS command system to support a streamlined security strategy at the governor’s inauguration. -
Lessons learned in demining with drones
International partners use drones and GIS for humanitarian demining, enhancing safety in countries in conflict including Chad and Ukraine. -
National Guard safeguards endangered species
While soldiers train for combat, maps prevent them from interfering with a nearby butterfly habitat. -
Improving US Air Force base space management
A GIS-based approach significantly streamlined space management workflows, providing accurate, field-verified data for quick assessments.
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Planning and designing better communities
With GIS, planners can practice effective urban development by making complex data accessible and understandable, which enhances transparency and collaboration.
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A new urban vision for an Atlanta suburb
Sandy Springs, Georgia, a city with a history of fierce independence, seeks a nuanced identity using smart and sustainable planning principles. -
Building an urban utopia
The utopian city concept received an overhaul with the help of 3D modeling tools. -
Telling a city’s story
From potholes to economic development, Arlington, Texas, tells its story using GIS dashboards that relate goals and progress. -
Envisioning more housing in Washington, DC
Urban planners in Washington, DC, seek to increase affordable housing and revitalize commercial areas in two of the city’s historic districts. -
Maps help I-10 cities solve common problems
The Ten Across initiative promotes resilience, adaptation, and awareness of a “knowable future” along the US Interstate 10 corridor.
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Building and operating modern infrastructure
GIS enhances infrastructure efficiency by providing detailed virtual models and digital maps that allow for comprehensive site analysis in both 2D and 3D.
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Tampa maps roads to reduce fatalities
With pedestrians especially at risk of death and injury, leaders in Tampa wanted to find root causes and design solutions. -
Using water to improve myriad outcomes
The “sponge city” concept combines art and science to store stormwater, improving ecological health and aesthetic appeal in urban areas. -
France maps bridges to prioritize repairs
Cerema, the agency France formed to assess risk to the environment and mobility, takes a data-driven approach to prioritize maintenance. -
Drones, maps, and AI unite city functions
The City of Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, employs drones and AI functions to run the city and decide how to change it in the future. -
Singapore port implements a digital twin
Jurong Port deployed a digital twin to tackle the complex challenge of bulk cargo to keep workers safe and make service more efficient.
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Mitigating risk and increasing resilience
A geographic approach has helped revolutionize how communities mitigate extreme weather events by adopting resilience strategies.
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Maps help Oklahoma City address severe heat
Access to authoritative climate data provides essential resources for Oklahoma City’s local government and saves lives. -
Coral reef mapping shows stunning resilience
Researchers use GIS to map 100 coral islands to reveal resilience and the impact of human activities on reef health. -
Tuvalu’s digital twin protects its identity
As the small island state sinks into the sea, its digital twin keeps the population informed and preserves their heritage. -
Assessing needs of food-insecure countries
Analysts use GIS, remote sensing, and survey data to evaluate agricultural production with the aim of making countries more resilient. -
Maps reveal life under Taliban rule
A geospatial analysis firm used GIS and satellite imagery to uncover illicit economies and drug trafficking in Afghanistan.
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Operating farms and timberlands more efficiently
GIS supports decision-making by mapping out complex issues and showing progress toward resilience and sustainability goals.
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Smart maps guide optimal wine production
Over the years, Symington Family Estates’ operations have become more automated, with a focus on applying science to improve the end product. -
Crop insurance program gains new awareness
Collaboration helps the US Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency address crop insurance compliance and program inefficiencies. -
A data-driven approach to habitat restoration
Ernst Conservation Seeds has been quietly revolutionizing land restoration and conservation with native plant species and advanced technology. -
Environmental digital twin fuels restoration
In the push to expand longleaf pine forests and habitats, an environmental digital twin guided by scientists shows where and when to burn.
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Safeguarding habitats and wildlife
GIS is instrumental in managing protected areas, guiding rewilding efforts, and assisting natural resource management.
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Map reveals pangolin trafficking supply chain
Scientists created a genetic, source-to-destination map using samples from living pangolins and scales confiscated at ports and illicit markets. -
Sensor tracks air pollution from outer space
NASA’s new sensor TEMPO will create air pollution maps with a daily video of pollution down to the neighborhood scale. -
Tennessee State Parks reaches peak awareness
Tennessee State Parks has embraced GIS technology to empower rangers, modernize park operations, and enhance conservation efforts. -
Centuries-old map guides Scotland’s rewilding
Trees for Life gathers knowledge to guide the careful and long-term work of restoring nature for the benefit of humans and the environment. -
Saving the North Atlantic right whale
Researchers use advanced mapping technologies and extensive data collaboration to protect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale.
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