GIS Tips & Tricks
We have lots of good ideas.
Our range of expertise is not limited to local government: GIS training, avoiding angry Bulls, fishing in Wisconsin. Our Blog will keep you entertained and learning.
Given the wide scope of work that GIS professionals complete, it's important for organizations to stay on top of the progress of various projects that are going on. No tool allows you to do this better than the Operations Dashboard application from Esri. The Operations Dashboard allows organizations the ability to monitor work, track field work crews, and view the status of tasks related to specific projects.
Last Week, I (Micah) drove Paul's Ford Focus out to Carson City, Nevada while he drove his Ranger truck and Smoky the Cat. This was an easy drive, directionally speaking. Interstate 80 goes all the way to Reno Nevada just 15 miles north of Carson City. It's 1,874 miles from Peoria to Carson City. (Aside from audio books, podcasts & windshield mounts) There are several maps apps & websites I used to help plan and document our 3-day journey
We all know that our web maps and mapping applications we create can be accessed via mobile devices, and the interaction is actually fairly seamless and smooth. But say you want to go one step further, and actually create a native app that is available from the app store of your choice - or that feels like it was designed for your device - where do you start?
Good relationships are important in Business, Sports, Personal Life...in anything, really. Good relationships are important with GIS data as well. Let's take a look at how relationship classes and related data can aid in the GIS data collection process.
A client from a Water Reclamation Department uses the Collector for ArcGIS app to edit Sanitary Sewer Network data. They requested additional attributes for a Lift Stations layer, as well as the ability to add multiple Pumps to each Lift Station. The solution to this request is a related table in a feature service that allows for editing via the Collector app. This is an overview of the process.
Our eyes don't see very much. Even less from far away. Technology has learned to augment our sight with sensors that can see other parts of the Electromagnetic Spectrum. This is especially important when it comes to plant health with NDVI. Part of the spectrum (Near Infrared) can actually visualize chlorophyll in plants. Cloudpoint is now happy to offer this service to our clients. One of our Certified UAS Pilots (we have 2) can fly a field, forest, golf course, subdivision or park and we can return a NDVI image of that area within 24 hours.
Are you stuck in a bad relationship ... with your GIS? You need help, you need out. Call the Cleaner. In all seriousness, time and time again, our professional services team has encountered potential clients that are just stuck using some antiquated version of ArcGIS or burdened by some legacy vendor because "That's the way we've always done it"
Most of us are familiar with this idea of dashboards. A quick overview of a set of data, system or project with supporting charts, dials or graphs that emphasize particular points about the data or view. There are some ESRI tools that have been around such as the Operations Dashboard, or the analysis-focused Insights. And now as of the June 2017 update, Web AppBuilder now has built-in functions for quickly creating configurable, informative dashboards on top of your web GIS.
Cloudpoint Geographics Inc. is proud to announce that Paul Stephenson, Matt Junker and Micah Williamson have all recently been awarded Esri Technical Certification which recognizes superior skill levels utilizing Esri’s software for geographic information systems (GIS). Paul and Matt were awarded the ArcGIS Desktop Associate Certification. Micah was awarded the Enterprise System Design Associate...
Earlier in my life, I never ran. I mean from bears, sure, probably I would have. I occasionally played a round-ball-type sport that required moving arms or legs quickly. If I had to actually run, I hated every second and would never consider running for health. Well, circumstances change and different things matter as you approach mid-life. Two years ago I found...
Anyone who's following this blog has some awareness of GIS and what a powerful tool it can be. Throughout my various demonstrations or presentations, I am asked, "I have paper maps and CAD data, so why do I need GIS?" I usually respond with a standard set of answers: a GIS lets you edit information in real time, CAD is not to scale so your features aren't where you think they are, and so on.
The Web Map and Widgets are the foundation of creating apps in Web AppBuilder (WAB), but there are customizations you can make to add a finishing touch to your app and make it unique.
Farmland Assessment Tool for GIS users.
We have developed a simple ArcMap (soon to be for ArcGIS Online & Pro) add on that will assist parcel managers with Farmland Assessment specifically in Illinois. And we're giving it away for free.
Removing Roadblocks
The State requires and overlay of three separate layers for proper valuation and assessment: Parcels, Soils and Land Use. It's a rather simple geoprocessing function of these layers that results in the required acreage calculation of each parcel polygon to be properly assessed
A fresh calendar year is upon us, and one of my goals this round is to give ArcGIS Pro a legitimate shot at being the go-to desktop GIS application. (TBD...)
As increasingly more development goes into ArcGIS Pro, we as GIS professionals are beginning to actually consider the gradual shift away from ArcMap. Many of us have dabbled with Pro by now, and many of us have been more or less disappointed by either our machines’ lack of drawing performance or the program's lack of familiar places or functions.
It's no secret to anyone who knows me, that when the temperature drops and the leaves start to change color, it's time to get into the woods. Chasing whitetail deer through various counties of Illinois is something that I long for and a passion that helps me rest and recharge the batteries of life. There is nothing that equals being able to silently enter the woods and have the wild slowly wake up around you. Hearing the first birds chirp in the soft morning light, followed by the crunching of leaves as two .....
Cloudpoint Aerial Services is a division of Cloudpoint Geographics, providing professional GIS and mapping services in the fields of surveying, engineering, transportation, utilities, and remote sensing. We are sharing some of our secrets of success to achieving professional, high-resolution aerial imagery using drones that will help you get up and running with your first drone (UAV) flight. This list is not all inclusive but gives you some key points that you will want to accomplish for providing quality aerial services with professional results.
Our travels here at Cloudpoint take us to many places throughout the state of Illinois (as well as many other states). In the spirit of our connections to the Prairie State, as well as our varied tastes in music, here is a Story Map that focuses on a selected set of songs that contain Illinois place names in their titles-The Prairie State Playlist.
The Prairie State Playlist is constructed using Esri's Story Map Journal template. Maps of each location comprise the "Main Stage", while information and a link to the song are in the "Side Panel." The maps for the Prairie State Playlist were created in ArcGIS Online as webmaps, and then converted to apps using Web AppBuilder, which allows for a better interface and the inclusion of widgets such as a Legend, Basemap Gallery, etc. The webmaps alone can also be included as content in the Story Map, as well as videos, images, and web pages.
Please browse the Prairie State Playlist and enjoy the music tour through the Land of Lincoln. Along the way, you might pick up some information about Bob Dylan, Tornadoes, and an EPA Superfund site.
