ESRI Blogs

Learn How to Use GIS in Your Instruction at the 2008 National Conference on Geography Education

tbaker — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 09:00:00 GMT

The National Conference on Geography Education provides an excellent means of networking with over 600 colleagues at primary, secondary, and university levels, as well as those in government and industry. ESRI staff and some of our colleagues are teaching two days of hands-on GIS at this year’s conference in Dearborn, Michigan. While some adjustments may be made before the final program is issued, the following workshops are planned. See http://www.ncge.org/ for the latest information. We will also staff an exhibit at the conference and look forward to the opportunity to speak with you one-on-one about the implementation of GIS at all levels of the curriculum.

· "Using AEJEE to Explore the United States: A Bird's Eye View", Carol Gersmehl, Hunter College

· "Studying Sports Through GIS", Joseph Kerski, ESRI

· "Intro to Collecting Data with GPS and Mapping it with GIS", Anita and Roger Palmer, GISetc

· "Explore Your World with ArcGIS Explorer", George Dailey, ESRI

· "Georeferencing Images", Shannon White, University of South Florida

· "Detroit/Dearborn Urban Heat Island", Paul Baumann, SUNY Oneonta; Nancy Hultquist, Central Washington University

· "Web-based Mapping", Tom Baker, ESRI

· "Lewis & Clark in the 21st Century", Charlie Fitzpatrick, ESRI

· "The Great Lakes Region: Living by the Inland Sea", Al Lewandowski, Michigan Geographic Alliance

· "Thinking Spatially Using GIS", Charlie Fitzpatrick, ESRI

· "Analyzing Our World Using GIS", Anita and Roger Palmer, GISetc

· "On the Road Again", Joseph Kerski, ESRI

· "Election Geography", Tom Baker, ESRI, and Joseph Kerski, ESRI

· "Geotagging Photos and Media", Tom Baker, ESRI

- Joseph Kerski, ESRI Education Manager

4-H Technology Team Member Blogs about the ESRI UC Experience

ESRI-UC-Team — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 21:03:00 GMT

Peter Weck
Monroe County 4-H Member

For the sixth consecutive year, members of the National 4-H GIS/GPS Technology Team attended the ESRI UC.

The team spent most of their time at the concurrent event the ESRI Education User Conference (EdUC), although many of them also attended the first few days of the ESRI UC. Over the weekend, team members attended a variety of workshops, from technical labs to sessions about teaching GIS. Some exhibited or spoke at workshops. "I went to (a workshop called) weather mapping with GIS" said Carrie Mapauf, a tech team member from Glynn County, Georgia. "We learned how to map the temperature of an area."

The team also helped out with the EdUC's GeoTreasure Hunt on Saturday. Before the hunt, Michelle Mattix from Allen Instruments helped the team learn how to use Trimble GPS units so that later in the afternoon they could help conference attendees with the hunt.

On Sunday, during the ESRI UC Welcome Social, each state group on the tech team had laptops set up with presentations about projects they had done using GIS/GPS. The social was a great way for the team to talk to GIS professionals about their work and get ideas for future projects.

Many more insights into the ever-expanding world of GIS were offered Monday morning during the ESRI UC Plenary Session. Not only was the tech team able to hear from ESRI President Jack Dangermond and a number of ESRI's software development staff, but they were also able to enjoy talks given by U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne and the famous botanist and President of the Missouri Botanical Garden Dr. Peter Raven.

That evening, the team had a booth set up in the Map Gallery and talked to ESRI UC attendees about GIS's growing role in 4-H community service.

The entire conference was a wonderful opportunity for 4-H youth using GIS to make connections and plans for the future. "I got to see all kinds of ways GIS can be used, and I met a lot of people who use it (in) ways I'd never thought of," said Patrick Weck, a tech team member from Monroe County, Illinois.

As a member of the team myself, I think I can safely say that everyone on the tech team gained a great deal from this year's conference. Hopefully, they can use their knowledge of GIS and its applications in the future. As John Steffenson, manager of Federal Civilian Business Development, ESRI, said, "You're the future. I'm glad we can be a part of it."

Mapping Hurricanes with AEJEE

tbaker — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:20:00 GMT

It's Labor Day weekend, the third anniversary of a most terrible storm and an American tragedy. As I write, forecasters show Hurricane Gustav growing toward a Category 5 storm. Along the Gulf coast, residents are preparing for a nightmare.

It is incomparably sad when bad things happen to good people. Nothing good comes of a disaster that threatens people's property, way of life, even life itself. The only solace is that, maybe, people everywhere will learn from the experience. Mother Nature is fiercely powerful, and can be stunningly brutal. As a species, we are able to influence our surroundings, but not control everything. We get reminded of that constantly.

Geographically savvy educators have a unique opportunity to help students see relationships and understand implications of our relentless spread over the earth. With GIS, they can integrate data and explore the impact of decisions from last month, last year, last century, locally and halfway around the world.

ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (AEJEE), ESRI's free, downloadable, dual platform (Win/Mac), lightweight GIS tool, is a good tool for looking at hurricane info. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) makes available GIS data, as zipped files.

The data are almost ready to go, but need to be tweaked before AEJEE can read them. The period in the center of the name causes the shapefile to be unrecognized, so each component of the shapefile needs to be changed -- the dot deleted or replaced by an underscore.

Then, the shapefile can be drawn and integrated with background data. In this case, I've added from the Geography Network the Census Density data

Countless lives will be changed forever by the power of Mother Nature. If we understand better the world around us, we can learn how to live with lighter impact on, and from, the world.

- Charlie Fitzpatrick, ESRI Education Manager

Our Latest GIS Day Hero: Mary Jo Enderby

GeographyMatters — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 21:05:00 GMT

GIS Day participants all over the world volunteer their time, resources, and talents every year to plan and prepare presentations and demonstrations for GIS Day. Our latest GIS Day stand-out is Mary Jo Enderby from Forsyth County, Georgia. Her dedication and careful planning create opportunities for people all around her community to learn about and get involved with GIS. Read Mary Jo's story, and get inspired to start organizing your GIS Day event. GIS Day is November 19, 2008.

Studying Paragliding Using ArcGIS Explorer: Another Way to Calculate the Total Distance Traveled

tbaker — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:58:00 GMT

We have been studying paragliding. We mapped the paraglider’s GPS track in ArcGIS Explorer, calculated the vertical and total distance traveled, measured its velocity, and then used a web resource to obtain the total distance in the horizontal and vertical dimensions. Now, let us consider an even more accurate measure of the distance traveled.

Because the Earth is an oblate spheroid, calculating a more accurate distance between two points requires spherical geometry and trigonometry. The Great Circle Distance Formula is one method, which uses double-precision (about 15 digits of accuracy) and the conversion of latitude and longitude values from decimal degrees to radians. Divide the latitude and longitude values by 180/pi, or 57.29577951. After conversion to radians, use:

3963.0 * arccos[sin(lat1) * sin(lat2) + cos(lat1) * cos(lat2) * cos(lon2 - lon1)]

If you do not first convert the latitude and longitude values in the database to radians, you must include the degrees-to-radians conversion in the calculation. Substituting degrees for radians, the formula becomes:

3963.0 * arccos[sin(lat1/57.2958) * sin(lat2/57.2958) + cos(lat1/57.2958) * cos(lat2/57.2958) * cos(lon2/57.2958 -lon1/57.2958)]

or

r * acos[sin(lat1) * sin(lat2) + cos(lat1) * cos(lat2) * cos(lon2 - lon1)]

Where r is the radius of the earth in whatever units you desire. r=3437.74677 (nautical miles)
r=6378.7 (kilometers)
r=3963.0 (statute miles)

If the software application or programming language you are using has no arccosine function, you can calculate the same result using the arctangent function, which most applications and languages do support:

3963.0 * arctan[sqrt(1-x^2)/x]

where

x = [sin(lat1/57.2958) * sin(lat2/57.2958)] + [cos(lat1/57.2958) * cos(lat2/57.2958) * cos(lon2/57.2958 - lon1/57.2958)]

Compare the result of this formula with the results that you obtained using the first manual calculation method and with the easier method on the web. How much do the three methods differ in meters? Which do you think is the most accurate? The length of the track is also stored in the GPS receiver. Do you think the track length stored in a recreational grade GPS is more accurate than your calculated values?

GIS and GPS can serve as excellent bridges between disciplines, in this case, mathematics, physics, and geography. What other phenomena could you map and analyze with these tools?

- Joseph Kerski, Education Manager

Catch Plenary Podcasts

ESRI-UC-Team — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 21:25:00 GMT

Hear ESRI President Jack Dangermond welcome attendees to the 2008 ESRI UC and present GIS awards to the State of Qatar, Centre for GIS; the City of Philadelphia; and Rosario Giusti de Pérez and Ramón A. Pérez, Venezuelan architects and urban planners. Be inspired by the amazing successes of the award winners.

Plus, listen to U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne, who received ESRI's Making a Difference Award during the Plenary, announce the U.S. Geological Survey's latest action-to make its 35-year-old LANDSAT satellite image archive freely available to the world over the Internet.

Listen to the Plenary Session podcasts.

Upcoming University Recruitment Events

Careers-Team — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 18:30:00 GMT

A new academic year is about to begin, but it’s never too early for students to start thinking about where they’ll begin their career upon graduation. ESRI staff will be on the road again this fall, visiting a number of campuses across the U.S. Attending an information session or career fair is a great way to meet ESRI staff and make that all-important first impression. Here are a few schools we'll be visiting next month:

September 8 - Georgia Tech
September 17 - Virginia Tech
September 18 - Colorado State

The fall schedule has been posted to the Web site; be sure to check back often for updates.

Reviewing Blog Entries for AEJEE

tbaker — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 09:20:00 GMT

At the recent ESRI Education User Conference, some folks asked where to learn about using ArcExplorer Java Edition for Education (AEJEE), ESRI's free, downloadable, dual platform (WinXP/MacOSX), lightweight GIS tool. With the traditional school year getting underway, this seems like a perfect time to mention these sources.

The best place to get started learning to use AEJEE is its on-board tutorial. Yup, built right into AEJEE is a 58-page PDF instruction booklet that walks you thru all the basics. After firing up AEJEE, click the "Help" menu and hit "Help Contents".

The next great place to find instruction is within a brand new book from ESRI Press, Book#1 of the new "Our World GIS Education" series. "Thinking Spatially Using GIS" walks young students and technologically timid users thru some great exercises where they see the power of GIS while learning how to do things in AEJEE.

A number of excellent individual lessons await users at the ArcLessons website also. Choose "By Software - ArcExplorer" and see what strikes your fancy.

The final great way to learn new tricks in AEJEE is to browse the old entries in the EdCommunity Blog. Click the "AEJEE" tag option and scroll all the titles! Very easy!

- Charlie Fitzpatrick, ESRI Education Manager

Quick Content

ArcGIS-Explorer-Team — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:30:00 GMT

The Quick Content task is a recent addition to Explorer, introduced with the 480 release in June. It provides a simple way to create your own Web-based menu for adding and displaying information using ArcGIS Explorer. The following video clip shows how you can access the task, and begin using it:

The Quick Content task is not in the collection of tasks you see when you open the default map. But you can add it very easily by choosing Tools > Manage Tasks. You'll see it at the bottom of the default tasks list, just highlight it and use the arrow to move it to the right hand available in this map list.

When you first open Quick Content, you'll see a sample page that you can use as a template.

Click GeoTagged photo, and you'll automatically zoom to a result location (in this case the ESRI campus) and will see a photo appear in the popup window.

How'd we do this? The Quick Content example is just a Web page, and it could be anything that we can display in a browser. If we look at the Quick Content source (right click in the content and choose View Source), you'll see that the link we clicked to view the photo references an NMF file.

To create the NMF file we used the Create Note task to add a note result, using the the photo of the ESRI campus in the note description so it would open in the popup window. With the popup window open, we exported the result, and put it in a location that anyone could access (also making sure the ESRI photo could be externally accessed).

You can create your own Quick Content page, then just paste your URL into the address at the top. Below we used a local path, but obviously if you want this to be available to others in your organization or extenally, you would need to place it in an location that can be accessed externally. When you save your map your custom Quick Content will be available every time you open it.

You can add your own layers, results, and even tasks to the Quick Content, even making your own complete resource center (there are other ways to link your own resource center directly in Explorer using your own home server, which we'll cover in a future post).

A Quick Content task was also demonstrated during the recent User Conference Plenary, covered in this blog post.

For more information see the Quick Content Help topic.

Discovering the ArcGIS Desktop Resource Center

tbaker — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:04:00 GMT

The new ESRI Resource Centers provide content, web help, and support for users of serveral ESRI tools, including ArcGIS Desktop. Content for ArcGIS includes maps, layers, globes, and globe layers. Much of this content is provided by ArcGIS Online as free services. Including:


World Imagery Description	World Street Map Description	World Shaded Relief Description	World Physical Map Description

Explorer 500 Home Server files now available

ArcGIS-Explorer-Team — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 21:20:00 GMT

The new ArcGIS Explorer 500 Home Server files are now ready for download from the Explorer download site.

You can use a Home Server to:

configure the look and feel of ArcGIS Explorer, including custom startup banners, logos, and north arrows.
specify your own default map, including its layers, results, and tasks.
add your own resource center, directly accessed from Explorer.
control capabilities that users will have.
and more...

For more information consult the Home Server Help after installing the files.

Studying Paragliding Using ArcGIS Explorer: Determining Total Horizontal Distance and Velocity

tbaker — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:43:00 GMT

We have been examining how one might study sports such as paragliding in 3-D using ArcGIS Explorer. We mapped the GPS track of the paraglider, and how to calculate vertical change and vertical velocity. Let us now calculate the total flight length.

As my ESRI colleague Matt took off from Alyeska Ski Resort, Alaska, above, he took his first coordinate. His last coordinate was collected upon his touchdown over an hour later. From his GPS track, select his first and last coordinate:

Latitude, Longitude,	Date, Time,	Altitude(m)
61.041198,-149.051793,	06/21/2007,06:21:20,	1802.609
60.967984,-149.119363,	06/21/2007,07:42:52,	50.12598

One can use simple math to roughly calculate the distance between two points in miles by the formula: sqrt(x * x + y * y)
where x = 69.1 * (lat2 - lat1)
and y = 53.0 * (lon2 - lon1)

Using the values for Matt’s flight:
X = 69.1 * (60.967984 - 61.041198) yields x = 5.059 miles
y = 53.0 * (149.119363 – 149.051793) yields y = 3.581 miles
The total distance is then: sqrt (5.059 * 5.059 + 3.581 * 3.581), which yields a distance of 6.198 miles, or 9.97471 kilometers.

An improved distance can be found by the same formula sqrt(x * x + y * y),
but where x = 69.1 * (lat2 - lat1)
and y = 69.1 * (lon2 - lon1) * cos(lat1/57.3)
Using these values yields 5.47406 miles, or 8.80964km of horizontal distance.

Paragliders move in the vertical dimension too, of course. Matt descended from 1802.609 meters to 50.12598 meters, or 1752.48302 meters total. Use the Pythagorean Theorem to determine the total distance that incorporates both the horizontal and vertical distances:

Total distance = sqrt ((8,809.64m * 8,809.64m) + (1752.48302m * 1752.48302m), which yields 8,982.25m or 8.98 km.

Remember that this total is straight line distance. Matt’s actual winding course down the valley can be calculated from importing the track into ArcMap, measuring it, and then applying the Pythagorean Theorem to account for the altitude lost.

Matt traveled 8.98 km in 1:21:32 (or, 1.359 hours), or 6.608 km/per hour, or 4.11 mph. One of the attractions of paragliding might be that one glides along at the pace of a brisk walk. However, in a paraglider, one must pay much more attention to what one is doing!

-Joseph Kerski, Education Manager.

Weather Today, Weather Yesterday

ArcGIS-Explorer-Team — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:26:00 GMT

NOAA's National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center publishes tornado, wind, and hail reports on a daily basis, as well as offers an historical archive of past events. Under reports you can find the current storm reports, and also search back in time to retrieve previous reports. The reports are delivered as .CSV files, one of the formats that can be imported directly in ArcGIS Explorer.

Here's yesterday's hail reports shown in Explorer. By clicking on the report location we can view additional information, and can see there was golf ball size hail reported near El Paso, Texas, mostly pea-sized hailstones in Rosita, Colorado, and quarter-sized hail covering the ground near Elizabeth, Colorado.

And here's what the hail report looked like a year ago yesterday. There were many more hail events reported, and the hailstorms stretched from the Oklahoma panhandle through eastern Kansas, across the southeast corner of Nebraska, and on into Iowa and parts of South Dakota and Minnesota.

To make the maps, we downloaded the .csv file with the events that we wanted from the NOAA Web site. Once we saved the .csv file locally, we used File > Import and opened the file.

Using the Import Text File Wizard, most of the defaults worked perfectly. On the first panel we just accepted all of them (after looking at Data Preview to make sure things looked ok), and clicked Next...

On the second panel most of the defaults were exactly what we wanted, but we made two additions. First, we chose the Location field from the .csv file as our Title Field. This is what we wanted to be displayed as the hover text, and is also the title of the popup window. We also chose Comments as the field from the .csv file to use in the Description. This is what we wanted shown in the popup window contents.

And here's the final result:

See the File Import Wizard Help topic for more information on importing files.

Forgot Your User Name and/or Password?

Careers-Team — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:00:00 GMT

If you’ve forgotten your user name and/or password and try to establish a new account, you will get a message that your e-mail account is already in use. To request your user name and/or password associated with your e-mail address, click on the "Forgot user name/password" link on the Login page. On the next Web page, enter your e-mail address and click the "Request Password" button (only click the button once). An e-mail will be sent to the address in our system stating your user name and a temporary password. Use this information to log in to the career system. You will then receive a prompt to change your password.

Read more helpful tips about the application process.

ArcGIS Explorer 500 Released

tbaker — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 09:55:00 GMT

The ArcGIS Explorer Team is pleased to announce that ArcGIS Explorer 500 was released just a few minutes ago.

This is an update release that includes:

Support for ArcGIS Online subscription services.
Proxy server support improvements.
A change to allow installation on machines running Windows 2000.

The new ArcGIS Explorer 500 home server files will be available later this week. For those that deploy ArcGIS Explorer from your own home server, you'll need to swap your versions and update your version.html file to push out the new release to your users.

ArcGIS Explorer 500 Released

ArcGIS-Explorer-Team — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:15:00 GMT

The ArcGIS Explorer Team is pleased to announce that ArcGIS Explorer 500 was released just a few minutes ago.

This is an update release that includes:

Support for ArcGIS Online subscription services.
Proxy server support improvements.
A change to allow installation on machines running Windows 2000.

Exploring Paragliding

ArcGIS-Explorer-Team — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:13:00 GMT

There been a couple of post on the GIS Education Community Blog using Explorer for visualizing GPS tracks taken while paragliding. The first post uses data from a flight from Mount Herman, near Colorado Springs.

The second post shows what seems to be a daring glide from the Alyeska Ski Resort near the Cook Inlet in Alaska.

Data from both is intended to provide a lesson in GPS tracking and visualization, and is available at the ArcLessons Web site.

Hot Job: SEO Specialist

Careers-Team — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 15:53:00 GMT

A Web professional with expertise in search engine optimization is needed to take ESRI’s Web marketing initiatives to the next level. This is an exciting opportunity to use your Web knowledge and analytical skills to execute all aspects of an SEO program and maximize the quality of search engine results. Develop and implement search engine optimization processes; develop and implement a quality link popularity program; and perform optimization through site coding, presentation, and structure. Requirements include a bachelor's in business, economics, computer science, statistics, or other relevant discipline; a minimum of two years of online marketing experience; and knowledge of and experience with search engines such as Google, Yahoo!, Ask, etc. Apply now.

Studying Paragliding Using ArcGIS Explorer: Calculating Vertical Change

tbaker — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 09:23:00 GMT

I recently discussed how one might map and study a 3-D sport such as paragliding using ArcGIS Explorer. Mapping paths in the horizontal and vertical dimensions is just one of many interdisciplinary activities possible from paragliders or any other object from which you can obtain GPS tracks. Integrating mathematics and physics is easy through the analysis of the resulting coordinates and elevation values.

For example, examine the GPS track below from my ESRI colleague Matt as he began his flight at Alyeska Ski Resort near the Cook Inlet, Alaska (http://www.alyeskaresort.com).

Latitude, Longitude	Date, time	Altitude(m)
61.041198,-149.051793	06/21/2007,06:21:20	1802.609
61.041198,-149.051342	06/21/2007,06:23:13	1809.819
61.041241,-149.051471	06/21/2007,06:24:06	1812.703
61.041219,-149.051535	06/21/2007,06:24:41	1813.664

Have students calculate the rate at which Matt’s altitude rose during his launch: He rose 11.55 meters in 3 minutes and 21 seconds, at a rate of 3.44 meters per minute, or .057 meters per second.

Soon after, Matt rapidly lost altitude as he flew down the valley toward the Cook Inlet, as shown in the data below:

Latitude, Longitude	Date, time	Altitude(m)
61.014011,-149.046321	06/21/2007,06:59:57	1240.238
61.014290,-149.049239	06/21/2007,07:00:14	1217.167
61.014075,-149.050763	06/21/2007,07:00:23	1204.669
61.013303,-149.052222	06/21/2007,07:00:35	1188.327

Have your students calculate Matt’s descent: 51.911 meters in 38 seconds, or 1.366 meters per second. His descent was 24 times faster in the vertical dimension than his increase in altitude during takeoff. At this rate, I am sure that Matt felt the wind in his hair! Ask students to visualize these numbers by showing them a photograph of this part of the flight:

The numbers also make sense when one maps the data using ArcGIS Explorer:

Paragliding is only the beginning. Try mapping and analyzing other objects for which you can obtain horizontal and vertical data. Today, phenomena are tracked on, above, and even below the surface of our world as never before. For example, after analyzing the paragliding data that I have posted on ArcLessons, you might analyze whale migration data using WhaleNet (http://whale.wheelock.edu/Welcome.html).

In the next blog, I discuss how one can calculate Matt’s total distance traveled.

-Joseph Kerski, Education Manager.

Tele Atlas Scholarship Winners Blog About Their Experiences at the 2008 EdUC

ESRI-UC-Team — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 11:25:00 GMT

G. Salim Mohammed
Maps/GIS Librarian
University of Hawaii at Manoa Library

This year's conference was quite different from last year-that one was my first. I actually knew some folks, so that made a difference.

While the EdUC labs were helpful, and I dabbled a bit in ArcGIS Server, the sessions that talked about portals were particularly interesting. As a maps/GIS librarian, I can't think of anything more important than considering how a portal might benefit the University, and in my case, a portal for the entire state. I am excited that I might be able to implement this on my own (so-to-speak), as my library has very little money at this time to do a full-blown implementation.

It does sound like the portal has many neat features that might be a hand-in-glove fit for our needs. Both Marten Hogeweg and Clive Reece from ESRI did a really good job of answering questions at the portal technical workshop and the showcase island. And it does seem that the rollout of 9.3 by all indications would point to successful implementations and migrations among the various deployments worldwide.

I know there's a lot that goes on, but if you can come away with at least one great possibility (and have your head tipped to some others) that's a good conference!

Robert Jones
Technology Teacher

Kenney Middle School, Hannibal School District, New York

I was fortunate for the opportunity to attend the 2008 ESRI UC and EdUC in San Diego this summer. It was one of the highlights in my career as an educator to be able to hear from geospatial leaders both in our county and from around the world.

ESRI is one of the leading companies I have had the privilege of working with. The company has a clear vision of developing strategies, software, and support to look at our world to help make informed decisions.

I have met many of the ESRI educational leaders and have gained many insights into the direction of geospatial curriculum throughout the U.S. and some insight into international geospatial technology curriculum development.

Conference Friends

From left to right: Robert Jones, Amy Work, Meegan Maguire, and Abu Badruddin

As we move forward to infusing spatial literacy into the Hannibal curriculum, hopefully many will see geospatial technologies is a means to enhance student achievement and interest without adding anything extra content to their curriculum. From my observations and discussions with geospatial educational leader's, geospatial technology can provide students with meaningful real-world connections, higher-level skills and learning, and a possible career pathway into one of the fast growing areas in the world.

This was a great opportunity and awesome conference!

From Theodolites to GIS

GeographyMatters — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:50:00 GMT

Originally set up in 1767, the Survey of India is the government's oldest department and in charge of all of the its mapping and surveying efforts. Since coordinating the Great Trigonometric Survey, it has expanded over the years to 23 geospatial data centers and 18 divisions that range in responsibilities from tides to aerial survey. The agency uses GIS extensively in its mapping activities.

The Great Arc (ISBN 0-00-257062-9) by John Keay details the challenges in completing the Survey of India's Great Trigonometric Survey or Great Arc, an epic project that both carefully mapped the country and measured the curvature of the earth.

Begun in 1800 by William Lambton, an English army captain, and completed by his assistant George Everest, for whom the famous Himalayan Mountain was named, the project stretched for nearly 50 years and 1,600 miles.

The survey process was based on triangulation, a method in which a baseline is accurately measured and the angles of the desired triangle are calculated by sighting a point with a theodolite, an instrument used to measure both horizontal and vertical angles. One side of the calculated measurements of the first triangle is then used as the base line for the next triangle and so on. The end result was a triangulation network of varying sizes that progressively moved towards the Himalayas.

This procedure is complicated because the earth is uneven and shaped like an oblate spheroid. This means that the angles of the calculated triangles did not add up to 180 degrees and spherical excess had to be calculated and removed.

Lambton's Great Theodolite used by both William Lambton and George Everest during the Great Trigonometric Survey of India was capable of measuring both the vertical and horizontal access, it weighed approximately half a ton and needed twelve men to carry it. This image was taken from the 'Historical Records of the Survey of India 1830 to 1843', Volume IX plate 6.

Where Did Everyone Come From?

ESRI-UC-Team — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:01:00 GMT

As you roamed the halls of the San Diego Convention Center last week, did you ever wonder where everyone came from? Southern California? Back East? The Far East?

Thousands of users from all over the world attended the 2008 ESRI UC, traveling from as close as San Diego itself to the southern tip of Africa or the northern reaches of Russia.

Check out the Map of User Conference Attendees and learn more about your fellow visitors to the event. Zoom, pan, view the number of attendees from each city, and find out attendee statistics based on country, type of organization, and first timers. You'll be amazed.

Keen Eyes Take Where in the World Contest

ESRI-UC-Team — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 14:32:00 GMT

Perceptive users picked out places depicted by QuickBird Satellite images and came away from the conference with first, second, and third place honors. From Versailles, France to Petra, Jordan, the Where in the World contest was a sizable challenge. Congratulations to the winners!

• First Place
    Travis Boese
    Oklahoma 4-H
    Cordell, OK
Prize: Xplore ix104C4 Plus Rugged Tablet PC

• Second Place
    Dale Bertelson
    Clean Water Services
    Hillsboro, OR
Prize: Laser Tech TruPulse 360 Laser Range Finder

• Third Place
    Juan Cancel
    Seminole Tribe of Florida
    Clewiston, FL
Prize: Adapx Capturx for ArcGIS Desktop

Take a look at the images yourself.

10th Anniversary of GIS Day

GeographyMatters — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:54:00 GMT

This year we celebrate the tenth anniversary of GIS Day. Since its beginning in 1999, more than 10,000 organizations in more than 80 countries have participated in this worldwide event. Events have included everything from map drawing contests to treasure hunts, all with the same goal, to increase global awareness of GIS. Read more about the memorable past ten years of GIS Day. Visit http://www.gisday.com/ to learn how to start planning your own event. GIS Day 2008 is November 19.

PDFs in Popups

ArcGIS-Explorer-Team — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:02:00 GMT

Recently we had a question about whether or not it was possible to open a PDF file directly in a result popup, and the answer is - Yes.

In this particular case the user wanted to open a local PDF file in the popup, which is easy to do. But that also means that others would also need to have access to that local folder to see the PDF appear in the popup. In a corporate network this is easy enough to do by places these out on a shared network location. But another way to provide broad accessibility extermal to your organization is to publish them from your server and use a URL in the popup content. Let's take a look at how this is done.

Here we've used the Find Address task to create a result, in this case it's the location of ESRI's Redlands campus. Opening the result properties you'll see the popup content is currently the address we used.

Now let's change that to open a PDF file, in this case a PDF document on our C: drive. Just enter the complete path for the PDF, but remember that other users will not be able to view the PDF since it's in a local location.

Here we've improved our accessibility by pointing to a PDF published from a server, in this case it's a PDF document published on the esri.com Web site.

In all cases, this is what you'll see in Explorer

As you can see it's easy to do, and you can popup other types of documents, media, and URLs. We've covered some of these in a previous post.

Click here to view the result and open its properties to see how it's been done.

For more information view the Result Properties Help topic.