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Summer 2015 Topographic and Imagery Basemap updates

More Canadian content updates to the topographic and imagery basemaps on ArcGIS Online.

Admittedly, the Community Maps team had been hoping to spend a bit more time on the beach this summer, enjoying the water, sand and sun but the work of updating the ArcGIS Online basemaps continues.

No more warm weather, hot sand, and baked afternoons at the beach.

Since our last update at the end of June, we’ve published a number of imagery and topographic basemap contributions, all of which have helped make these maps more current and more accurate than before.

Here is a short run-down of what we’ve been up to this summer:

Topographic Basemap Updates

The following four communities are new to the Community Maps Program and had their content published for the first time this summer:

  • Kitchener, ON
  • Haldimand, ON
  • Grey County, ON
  • The Blue Mountains, ON

The latter two communities share overlapping geographies. In addition, all areas along the Trans Canada Trail are now published down to 1:1,128.

Topographic basemap at 1:18,056 before (left) and after (right) data contributions from the City of Kitchener, ON.

And suddenly there were houses and property lines: Data contributed by Haldimand (right) has really enhanced the topographic basemap.

As well as these new communities and areas, updates to various communities across the country also occurred. These include:

  • Airdrie, AB
  • Calgary, AB
  • Canmore, AB
  • Colville Lake, NWT
  • Fort McPherson, NWT
  • Fort Laird, NWT
  • Fort Simpson, NWT
  • Jean Marie River, NWT
  • Kingston, ON
  • Nahanni Butte, NWT
  • Paulatuk, NWT
  • Sachs Harbour, NWT
  • Sault Ste. Marie, ON
  • Strathcona County, AB
  • Sudbury, ON
  • Sunshine Coast, BC
  • Trout Lake, NWT
  • Tuktoyuktuk, NWT
  • Ulukhaktok, NWT
  • Wrigley, NWT

Imagery Basemap Updates

In additional to the topographic basemap, the imagery basemap was updated with various contributions from across the country:

  • Brandon, MB (7.5 cm, 2013)
  • Domaine-du-Roy, QC (20 cm, 2012)
  • Kenora, ON (10 cm, 2014)
  • Okanagan-Similkameen, BC (15cm, 25 cm & 40 cm, 2013)
  • Stony Plain, AB (10 cm, 2013)
  • Whitehorse, YT (25 cm, 2011)

Now in colour: imagery for Domaine-du-Roy, QC as it was (on the left) before being updated (on the right)

Stony Plain, AB: updated imagery (right) keeps pace with development basemaps imagery online GIS

About the Author

Paul Heersink is a cartographer and Program Manager of Esri Canada’s Roads & Addresses Program: an initiative that is aiming to build a seamless topographic basemap using contributor data. He has over 25 years of cartographic experience, working in both the public and private sectors. Paul has always been interested in mapping and drew his own atlas at the age of 10. He took a detour in his career through the fields of psychology and social work before returning to cartography.

Profile Photo of Paul Heersink