The role of address points as a critical aspect of enhancing response efforts and ensuring public safety exemplifies the evolving landscape of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and emergency management. Address points, the geographical markers representing specific locations or addresses within a GIS database, serve as a fundamental element for emergency response mapping. These data points, often derived from various sources, including parcel information, subdivision plots, and direct editor placement, play a pivotal role in directing first responders to the precise location of an incident ..read more

Jim Landwehr Business Development Specialist I have been fortunate to have a lifelong career in mapping and GIS. During those 37+ years, I have been part of a multitude of technology platforms, changes, and challenges. This blog series will provide a history of some of the technologies and resulting change in business practices. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Geography, I took a job doing manual drafting for an aerial survey company in suburban Minneapolis. Under a big contract with the Defense Department, the company ran three shifts of map compilers just ..read more

Matt Junker, GISP Ongoing Services Manager If your organization is looking for ways to represent parcel lineage with your parcel fabric data, Esri has some options at ArcGIS Pro 3.2.  A Link Chart is a visual representation of the relationship between items in the parcel fabric, such as parcels and records. Another option to display parcel lineage is with a Before/After Map Layout in ArcGIS Pro. Link Charts The Parcel Lineage tool is used to create Link Charts, and is found in the Records Gallery of the Parcel Fabric Workflows tab in ArcGIS Pro. Upon opening the tool, the user is promp ..read more

Jonathan Hodel, P.E., GISP Principal We are seeing a growing interest within the industry in the process of converting floor plans from CAD or BIM format into GIS format, specifically in Esri’s ArcGIS platform. In this post, our primary focus will be on utilizing ArcGIS Pro tools and features to make the conversion, taking a comprehensive look at the steps involved, with an emphasis on Esri’s ArcGIS Indoors solution. So, let's dive right in! Introduction to ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Indoors: ArcGIS Pro is Esri’s flagship desktop GIS solution. It provides a robust set of tools to create, edit, and ..read more

Virginia VanderVeen, GISP ArcGIS Enterprise 11.1 arrived with a host of new features and enhancements, marking a significant leap from previous versions. In this post, we'll delve into the key highlights of this release, covering system requirements, notable changes, and the latest functionalities that make ArcGIS Enterprise even more powerful and user-friendly. System Requirements: First, a quick overview of system requirements. ArcGIS Enterprise 11.1 no longer supports Windows Server 2012, but requires 2016 or newer. Upgrade Highlights: There is no ArcMap Runtime available for those transit ..read more

Hunter Ray, GISP Technical Services Manager Esri released a new ArcGIS Online update in October 2023. You can read their blog about the update here. Below is a quick summary of the updates I found to be the most pertinent: General A new date field can be added to hosted feature layers, allowing date values to be saved without a timestamp  (view the blog post here). Web Maps Chart elements in Popups now support custom color schemes. Custom group layers created in the Web Map Viewer can be saved as new items and used in other maps and applications. Web Maps configured in the Map ..read more

Jonathan Hodel, P.E., GISP Principal In today’s rapidly changing world, effective utility management is essential to ensure a reliable supply of services such as water, electricity, and telecommunications. Campuses such as universities, hospitals, and local governments are often overwhelmed with the amount of utilities that lie in small areas or narrow corridors. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has emerged as a powerful tool that enables utility companies and organizations to optimize their operations, improve decision-making, and enhance overall efficiency. This blog will explore the va ..read more

Daniel Bishop, GISP GIS Project Manager In the ever-evolving, ever-more-present landscape of emergency management, utilizing the power of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology has become a key resource for rapid and organized response. GIS provides an invaluable toolkit for efficiently handling critical elements in emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. In this blog post, I will explore the key components of emergency management preparedness, discuss the advantages of transitioning from analog mapping to digital GIS solutions, and delve into the Esri Emergency Management Op ..read more

Hunter Ray, GISP Technical Services Manager This blog explores a few of the various ways to use Arcade expressions in ArcGIS Online's web map viewer. Arcade expressions are a powerful tool for creating dynamic and interactive map elements. By looking at different use case scenarios within a web map and the different Arcade variables and functions needed, you will gain a better understanding of how to apply Arcade across the Esri platform. Background on Arcade Arcade is a scripting language designed for use in ArcGIS. It allows you to create expressions that can be used to calculate values, co ..read more

Jonathan Hodel, P.E., GISP, Principal We love to introduce GIS users to the concept of "floor awareness" for converting digital floor plans to GIS within the ArcGIS platform. In this blog post, we'll delve into the key takeaways from my webinar presentation and provide a detailed understanding of what it means to be floor-aware in the context of ArcGIS Indoors. We'll also explore how to create floor-aware maps using ArcGIS Pro. What is Floor Awareness? Let’s begin by defining floor awareness as the ability to navigate and interact with indoor GIS data representing floor plan features within a ..read more