Tag Archives: Cartographic Design
Favorite tools and resources for cartographers
This post is a compilation of some of the most popular tools and sources of information about maps and cartographic design. These links were originally posted on the Esri Mapping Center site several years ago, but are updated below. Blogs & … Continue reading
Using spatial analytics to study spatio-temporal patterns in sport
By Damien Demaj Late last year I introduced ArcGIS users to sports analytics, an emerging and exciting field within the GIS industry. Using ArcGIS for sports analytics can be read here. Recently I expanded the work by using a number … Continue reading
Updated Canvas Basemap Template Available
A map template for the light gray canvas basemap and reference map is now available in ArcGIS Online and the Community Maps Resource Center. The Light Gray Canvas Map Template is an ArcGIS map document that can be used to … Continue reading
Over the edge 3D: designing the deaths in Grand Canyon map
This blog entry explores a little of the design, authoring and publishing approaches we took when creating a map of all known deaths in Grand Canyon. Actually it’s two maps…a print map and a web map and we’ll think about the different design and technical constraints we dealt with and opportunities we were able to leverage with the different mediums to make each version work effectively as an information product. We also share the style files and other components so you can try out some of the 3D cartographic effects yourself. Continue reading
Using ArcGIS for sports analytics
By Damien Demaj, Cartographer The statistical component of sport has always provided a fascinating way to analyze performance and success. This might simply be the final score, but for some sports, such as football, baseball, cricket, golf and tennis, meaningful … Continue reading
Telling thematic stories in ArcGIS Online
By Kenneth Field (Research Cartographer), Damien Demaj (ArcGIS Online Cartography) and Linda Beale (Geoprocessing)
At the 2012 Esri Education GIS Conference and the 2012 Esri International User Conference, we demonstrated how you can build informative thematic maps using the ArcGIS System. The purpose of the sessions was to take relatively simple datasets and create a range of alternative thematic map types that told a story in different ways. This demonstrated the techniques for creating the maps using ArcGIS for Desktop as our authoring environment and ArcGIS Online as our publishing mechanism. As the XXX Olympiad is currently taking place in London, UK we illustrated how alternative maps can be made to tell different stories of the relative success of nations over the period since the first Olympic games in 1896. Continue reading
Using a binning technique for point-based multiscale web maps
By Kenneth Field, Esri Research Cartographer
Presenting point-based data on a web map is challenging because of the problem of overlapping symbology, particularly as you zoom out of the map to view data at smaller scales. So-called push-pin web maps are very easy to make with ArcGIS Online but making the map make visual sense at the smaller scales requires a little more work. In this blog entry we illustrate how data binning can be used to aggregate large point-based datasets into hexagonal polygons to overcome the problem and improve the web map across all scales.
Hydro Basemap Gone GLOBAL
by Caitlin Scopel, Cartographic Product Engineer, Esri
The Hydro Basemap is now the WORLD Hydro Basemap. The World Hydro Basemap uses the same design as its predecessor, but extends the coverage to the World at scales of 1:147 million to 1:2.3 million. The World Hydro Basemap includes the map tiles from the original Hydro Basemap, providing coverage of the United States down to the 1:18,000 scale.
The World Hydro Basemap is comprised of two map service layers: the World Terrain Base, and the World Hydro Reference Overlay. The World Terrain Base provides the elevation context necessary to understand why the world’s surface water flows where it does.
The World Hydro Reference Overlay provides the streams, waterbodies, drainage areas, and cultural reference information necessary to make the World Hydro Basemap useful for scientists, professionals and researchers in the fields of Hydrology, Geography, Climate, Soils, and other natural sciences related to water.
Well count aggregation web map
By Mark Smithgall, Esri Cartographer
This well count aggregation web map shows how a complex data source, such as gas wells in a producing field, can be aggregated and portrayed in an easy-to-understand manner. This was designed as an ArcGIS Online web map to show the aggregation number as a proportional symbol of wells per administrative area. In this case, three levels of aggregation were used based on the most logical administrative areas: parishes, Public Land Survey System (PLSS) townships, and PLSS sections. Continue reading
Using alternative thematic basemaps with ArcGIS.com map viewer
By Kenneth Field, Esri Research Cartographer
The default projection for all basemaps in ArcGIS Online is Web Mercator. In a previous blog entry, Bern Szukalski explained using custom basemaps as an alternative to Web Mercator and the ArcGIS Resource Center provides information on how to build online basemaps. Mercator projections are very useful for certain mapping tasks but not so good for others because they dramatically exaggerate northern and southern latitudes. This exaggeration deforms the shape and size of areas. Whilst Web Mercator has become a widely adopted web mapping standard (because of the tiling system being well suited to this spatial reference), there are situations where you may want a different map projection. In thematic mapping, for instance, you might want to preserve areas or shapes or even use a more pleasing view of the world than Web Mercator provides at small scales. This blog entry describes how you can switch out the default basemap for your own, simplified thematic basemap.
