ArcWatch: GIS News, Views, and Insights

January 2018

Heeding Ireland's Call

By Jim Baumann
Esri Writer

The history of County Donegal, like much of Ireland, is inextricably wedded to the geography of migration. Now county officials are using geography in the form of an Esri Story Maps app called Ireland's Call—To Return Its Global Diaspora Home to try and woo émigrés back to the Emerald Isle. Read the article.

Irish émigrés left behind scenery such as the stunning Slieve League Cliffs in County Donegal.

The Tip

Create Amazing Hillshade Effects in ArcGIS Pro
If you want to give your maps depth and dimension, try using a hillshade effect in them. Hillshades enhance the three-dimensional appearance of the terrain by using patterns of light and shadow to create a 3D representation of the surface, making it easier to identify landscape features. Read the tip.

Join the Conversation

The Headlines

The Battle to Save the Bogs

To help monitor the precious peatlands in Ireland, Wetland Surveys Ireland uses Esri's Collector for ArcGIS on iPhones paired with a GPS device, Arrow 100, to collect data about the bogs. Read the article.

GISCorps Volunteers to Receive ArcGIS Software

Esri will donate ArcGIS software to GISCorps volunteers who take a GIS Service Pledge to help a worthy cause. Read the article.

Design Artful Maps

Once, only cartographers made maps. Today, anyone can. Esri will teach you the techniques during Cartography., a free, six-week massive open online course (MOOC). Read the article, and mark your calendar for the MOOC.

The Geospatial Report

Gift from Dangermonds Will Protect California Habitat

A $165 million donation to The Nature Conservancy (TNC) by Esri founders Jack and Laura Dangermond is being used to preserve 24,000 acres of coastal habitat in Santa Barbara County. TNC purchased the Cojo/Jalama Ranch at Point Conception with the Dangermonds’ gift. The area will become the Jack and Laura Dangermond Preserve. Read more.

View Climate Trends with the Water Balance App

Esri offers a new app that lets you explore worldwide precipitation, runoff, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and snowpack information provided by the NASA Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS).
Read the blog.
Try the Water Balance app

BIM and GIS to Be a Topic of Conversation at the Geodesign Summit

The collaboration between Esri and Autodesk to better integrate building information modeling (BIM) and GIS technologies will be discussed at the Geodesign Summit, which will be held January 23–25, 2018, in Redlands, California. Register for the summit.

Building Data-Smart Cities

In an interview, Harvard University professor Stephen Goldsmith talks about the positive difference government can make using data and technology to solve problems. Listen to the podcast.

Tech Time

Smart Mapping Point Clouds with Scene Viewer

You can use Scene Viewer in ArcGIS Online to style and configure point clouds right in your browser, utilizing smart mapping drawing styles and color ramp sliders. Read the blog.

What's New in ArcGIS Online? A Lot

The latest ArcGIS Online update adds a new premium app, Insights for ArcGIS, the Find Centroids analysis tool; and some cool new features such as the capability to measure distances in 3D in Scene Viewer. Read the blog.

Machine Learning in ArcGIS

Lauren Bennett, from Esri, delves into the topic of machine learning techniques in ArcGIS. Examples include prediction, classification, and clustering. Read the blog.

Create a Multilingual Survey to Monitor Whales

In a new Learn ArcGIS lesson, you will use the Survey123 Connect for ArcGIS tool to develop and publish a form that boat captains and tour guides can use on a mobile device to collect data about humpback whales. Take the lesson.

Maps & More

Learn to Work with Imagery and GIS

Interpret and analyze imagery collected by drones and satellites, as part of a free, six-week massive open online course (MOOC), Earth Imagery at Work. Sign up soon.

Map Out Your Esri UC Plans

Good news, geogeeks. Registration is now open for the Esri User Conference, July 9–13, 2018. Esri even offers the cool, customizable Justify Your Trip tool. Register today.

Hardware Offer

Data Appliance 6.4 for ArcGIS is now available. It plugs into your internal, secure network to deliver preloaded imagery, basemaps, and reference layers behind your firewall. Order today.

The Last Word

Learn to Build Location into Your Apps

The Esri Developer Summit returns to Palm Springs, California, in March 2018 with the technical sessions and expertise you need to help build your geospatial apps. The event's motto says it all: By Developers. For Developers. View the agenda and register.

Mapping a Garden Tour