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SDI Snapshot – January 2019

Published Date
Author Gordon Plunkett

Here’s a look at what’s happening in Canada and globally in the world of Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI). This post contains a collection of the latest and most significant SDI news, data and products

SDI News

Hometown heroes: mapping out the birthplaces of every current Canadian NHL player

Check out this interactive online map dashboard to see what team has the most Canadian NHL players. CTVNews.ca has analyzed NHL roster data and has created this ArcGIS Online dashboard to answer some of the toughest questions about the NHL, its players and its teams.

S-121: A New Standard for Maritime Limits and Boundaries

The fundamental importance of maritime zones and areas is well understood for sustainably conserving and using oceans, seas and marine resources. Maritime Limits and Boundaries (MLBs) define and geospatially describe maritime and marine spaces, including the applicable rights, responsibilities and restrictions. The new S-121 standard provides a new method for exchanging digital representations of MLBs.

What's New in ArcGIS Online (December 2018)

ArcGIS Online is a complete, cloud-based mapping and analysis solution, delivering location intelligence to everyone. ArcGIS Online is updated regularly, and the December release adds useful new features and enhancements. A new resource called Esri Maps for Public Policy is introduced, in addition to a new user type licensing model, new 3D capabilities, new configurable apps and lots more.

SDI Data

Canada Land Cover map from 30-metre resolution Landsat-7 imagery now available

The Canada Centre for Remote Sensing (CCRS) at Natural Resources Canada produced a new high-resolution dataset of Canada’s 19 land cover classes from 13,350 Landsat-7 satellite images taken between 2009 and 2011 for cloud- and snow-free national coverage. The 30-metre resolution dataset will help improve the accuracy of local and regional-scale analyses and applications.

Using ArcGIS Online World Imagery Wayback

The World Imagery basemap is regularly updated. When updates are made, the older imagery is replaced and is no longer visible. In most cases, the latest imagery is always preferred, but there may be reasons to use older vintage imagery. In these cases, you may want to access a previous vintage of the World Imagery basemap or layers. Wayback Imagery is a digital archive of the World Imagery basemap that enables you to access 80 versions of World Imagery captured over the past 5 years.

Living Atlas Highlights in 2018

Here’s a reflection on some of the Living Atlas highlights from 2018. Throughout the year, Esri released several dozen updates to the content in the Living Atlas.  These include: vector basemaps, OpenStreetMap vector basemap, Wayback imagery, Sentinel imagery, community maps, global demographics, elevation enhancements, live feeds and Living Atlas websites.

SDI Products

List of US federal, state, county and city servers with ArcGIS Server addresses

This list contains hundreds of addresses of ArcGIS Server sites that contain at least some data and where no login credentials are required. The list promotes public access to government data by publishing the ArcGIS Server addresses. All levels of US government are included in the list which was created for educational purposes.

How to Capitalize on Free Esri Training

GIS always seems to be in a perpetual state of growth. It’s always expanding with new and dynamic ways to visualize, capture and analyze data. When it comes to GIS training, it’s more important than ever that you stay on top of the latest developments. Here’s a list of 7 free Esri training courses.

Think Tank: Blockchain Evolves into Geoblockchain

In a 2018 survey of global executives, Deloitte found that 65 percent of US organizations plan to invest more than $1 million in blockchain technology in 2019. This article discusses how blockchain technology works, which industries are driving the early business cases and what a geoblockchain is and how companies can benefit from it.

SDI Resources

White paper: Architecting the ArcGIS platform

The ArcGIS platform connects maps, apps, data and people in ways that help organizations make more informed and faster decisions. ArcGIS accomplishes this by making it easy for everyone to discover, use, make and share maps. This white paper presents some implementation guidelines in the form of a conceptual reference architecture diagram and associated best practice briefs.

ArcGIS Online Implementation Guide

The new ArcGIS Online Implementation Guide (PDF) gives administrators a quick overview of essential tasks and best practices for setting up ArcGIS Online. It’s a simple yet complete guide for managing your ArcGIS organization. It includes a checklist of the most essential tasks, tips, FAQ and links to detailed help topics.

About the Author

Gordon Plunkett is the Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) Director at Esri Canada. He has more than 30 years of experience in GIS and Remote Sensing in both the public and private sectors. He currently sits as a member of the Community Map of Canada Steering Committee, GeoAlliance Canada Interim Board of Directors, the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Technical Committee, the Canadian General Standards Board (CGSB) Committee on Geomatics, the University of Laval Convergence Network Advisory Committee and the Advisory Board to the Carleton University Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre. During his career, Gordon has worked on projects in more than 20 countries and has contributed to numerous scientific conferences and publications. At Esri Canada, he is responsible for developing and supporting the company’s SDI vision, initiatives and outreach, including producing content for the SDI blog.

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