ArcGIS Resource Center

04/07/10–The World Topographic basemap, one of the many basemaps you can use directly via ArcGIS Online, is a true worldwide community basemap with contributions from a variety of users such as the USGS, EPA, and users and organizations worldwide. At recent conferences we’ve showcased content that has been contributed from local governments, such as the area shown below with detailed data from the City and County of San Francisco.

But the detailed contributions aren’t limited to urban areas and contributions from local governments. For example, here’s a detailed view of the topo basemap in Yosemite Valley with data contributed by Yosemite National Park including buildings, trails, place names, and detailed terrain data.

And the contributions are also from a variety of international sources. Here’s a section across Canmore, Alberta, which is a sampling of the topographic basemap that’s been developed across all of Canada.

ESRI Canada developed the basemap from the best available sources including Natural Resources Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and others. The large scale topographic map template, available from the map template gallery on the ArcGIS resource center, was used to plug-in data and enable it to be seamlessly merged into the existing basemap with the same cartographic style. 

In addition to the World Topographic basemap, the World Imagery and World Street basemaps also include contributions from the user community. Here’s an example from the World Streets basemap showing detailed data obtained from local providers and compiled by ESRI China (Hong Kong) using the street map template.

The Community Maps Program offers a framework for your organization to contribute geographic content. If you’d like to participate in the program read the description and download the participation form to get started. We’ll be highlighting new content from users as it becomes available here on the blog.