Creating Web Maps with ArcGIS Online
ArcGIS Online includes everything you need to create your own maps by accessing a gallery of basemaps, adding your own layers, and configuring mashups that you can share with others, embed in your own website, or incorporate into a story map.
In this section we will create some basic web maps by adding data from various sources.
1. Navigating in ArcGIS Online
Sign in arcgis.com with your Clemson ID account as mentioned in the section before. Once you are signed in, go to Map at the top of the page.
One of the main features of ArcGIS Online is the Map section, where you can explore content, add your own data, perform analysis and create your own interactive web maps.
In the upper left section, click the Basemap button and choose a different basemap.
Explore different basemaps and practice zooming in and out using the roller button in your mouse.
You also have a search button to find places. In the search box on the top right, type Charleston.
Change the basemap to Imagery.
2. Your first map: Sea Level Rise
2.1 Adding climate-related content (Sea Level Rise)
Go back to Arcgis Online. Click the Add button and at the bottom of the search results, click Done Adding Layers.
Take a look at this data layer. Expand its view on the Contents section (click the inverted triangle to the left of the layer) and notice there are two sub-layers. Click on the Show Legend button to understand what they represent.
This 3 ft Sea Level Rise layer from NOAA shows what 3ft of sea level rise would look like for the U.S. coast.
Levels represent inundation at high tide. Areas that are hydrologically connected are shown in shades of blue (darker blue = greater depth).
Low-lying areas, displayed in green, are hydrologically "unconnected" areas that may flood. They are determined solely by how well the elevation data captures the area's hydraulics.
ArcGIS Online has a wealth of data from many trusted sources such as NOAA and USGS. Next we will search for climate data and add a sea-rise layer to our web map.
On the top left section, click the dropdown menu to the Add button. Click Search for Layers.
In the Search for Layers window, type sea-rise level.
Make sure the box next to In: is set to ArcGIS Online.
Scroll down in the results until you find 3ft Sea Level Rise by SLR_noaa. In the Search results, click on the title and select Item Details. A new window appears at this link that has extensive metadata about this layer created by NOAA.
Zoom in downtown Charleston. To better see the area affected, change the transparency by clicking on the ... below 3 ft Sea Level Rise, select Transparency and change the slider to 25%.
You can see now that with a 3ft rise in sea levels a significant part of Charleston and the surrounding areas would be inundated with water.
2.2 Adding your own observations on the fly with Map Notes
Imagine you have some locations you would like to highlight on the map and want to draw these in yourself. For example, you notice a number of landmarks, parks, and historic parts of the city may be inundated by rising seas, but after searching ArcGIS Online, you didn't find the data you wanted. You can add on-the-fly data by adding Map Notes.
Name: Affected Landmarks
Template: Map Notes
You will see the Add Features panel. Click on the Stickpin and then click on the Waterfront Park along Charleston's east side to add a new point. Call it Waterfront Park Pineapple Fountain. Select a photo on the Internet for the Waterfront Park such as this one https://images.fineartamerica.com/images/artworkimages/mediumlarge/1/charleston-south-carolina-downtown-waterfront-park-pineapple-fountain-mark-vandyke.jpg to add as an image link.
Let's highlight the area around the Colonial Lake and Moultrie Park. Click the Freehand Area and trace a polygon around the park. For title: Park Area Affected by Sea Level. Description: Moultrie Park and Colonial Lake Park.
Click the Edit button again to leave the edit mode. Click on the stickpin at the Pineapple Fountain and see the pop-up window as shown in this page.
2.3 Saving your map
Above the center of the map, click Save. Select Save. Follow these settings:
Title: Sea Level Rise in Charleston, SC
Tags: sea level rise, climate change, Charleston
Summary: A web map displaying sea-level rise data for Charleston, SC
2.4 Sharing your map
Next to the Save button, click Share.
In the new window that appears, check the box to share with Everyone (public).
Notice that you can share the short link to the map. In the next section, you will be embedding your new map in your Google site that you created earlier.
3. Your second map: Total Annual Precipitation
You are now going to create a second map that looks at precipitation. On the upper right corner, select New Map. Create New Map.
Go to the Add menu. In the drop-down menu, select Browse Living Atlas Layers. This is a list of updated GIS datasets that are specifically curated for use in ArcGIS Online.
Click the All Categories drop-down menu to see the themes. In the Search box, type Precipitation.
Find the National Weather Service Precipitation Forecast and add it to the map as a Layer. This layer contains real-time data displaying the precipitation forecast for the next 72 hours across the Continental United States. Click the Close button to go back to the map.
Notice there is a time slider at the bottom. Click on the play button to see the data animation for the next 10 days. Are we getting any rain in South Carolina?
Remove your layer by going to the Contents section, clicking the ... below the layer and selecting Remove.
Using the steps that we demonstrated to you before, search and add a layer from ArcGIS Online called Total Annual Precipitation by e.barona_CIAT.
Once you add this layer, zoom to the extent of the layer by clicking on ... and selecting Zoom To. Notice this is a global layer. Find some more details about this layer by clicking on ..., Show Item Details.
This layer displays annual average precipitation for the entire world at a 1-km spatial resolution.
Add the legend for this layer your map. Notice the units are mm.
Change your basemap to Oceans..
Save your map with the following details:
-Title: Total Annual Precipitation 2013
- Tags: precipitation
- Summary: A web map displaying total annual precipitation.
Click Save Map.
4. Third map: Global CO2 Emissions
4.1 Adding data from a table - CO2 emissions per capita for each country
Click on the Add button -> Add Map Notes.
5. Managing your content in ArcGIS Online
Your map that you created is saved and is part of your content section in ArcGIS Online, where you manage all your data, maps, and apps.
In the upper left corner, click the Home menu and select My Content.
Notice you have three Web Maps that you created.
6. A Note on Creating Groups and Sharing Your Content
All of the maps that you saved in your Content section (as well as any datasets you upload and story maps you create) have different levels of access privileges. When you first create an item such as a map, it is only visible to you by default. You can make the item visible to various levels, which include:
Private - the item is only visible to your account. You must be logged in to ArcGIS Online to view the item.
Group - a group is a way of sharing items with specific users on ArcGIS Online. They are very useful for working on group projects!
Organization - anyone with an organizational account, such as Clemson University login, can see your item.
Public - anyone can see your items, even if they do not have an ArcGIS Online account.
You can utilize the Private and Group sharing settings while constructing maps and story maps before they are ready to present. All of your content should be set to Public when you are finished to ensure it can be accessed!
4.2 Changing the Symbology
Click the drop-down arrow on the feature layer (hosted) and select Add layer to new map. Once it appears, you can see the attribute table by clicking on the table icon below the layer's name. We are going to symbolize this layer by the CO2 emissions on 2013.
In the Contents section, click the Change Style symbol below the layer's name. Follow these settings:
- Choose an attribute to show: Year_2013
- Select a drawing style: counts and amounts (size).
If you want to change these symbols, click on Options > Classify Data and change the color and size individually by clicking directly on the circle for each category.
Change the transparency to 25%.
Add the legend to the map by clicking on the symbol below your layer.
Change your basemap to Dark Grey Canvas
4.3 Changing the Pop-up Window
Click on any country to open a pop-up window. Notice it displays all the fields and values from the attribute table for that country.
To change the pop-up window, go to the ... below your layer's name and select Configure Pop-up.
For the Pop-up Title, remove CO2_Emissions_WorldBank and leave {COUNTRY_NAME}. Click OK and check the changes.
Open up again the configure pop-up window and follow the instructions below:
Pop-up Contents: select Pop_Cntry. Change its alias to Total Population
Pop-up Media: click Add > Line Chart.
- Title: Emissions from 1963-2013
- Caption: Data sources: World Bank
- Chart Fields: Select the years from 1960 to 2013
Click OK twice to see your results.
Save your map as: CO2 Emissions in metric tons per capita by yourinitials
Share your map and content.
Notice that a new window opens up. It should say that 206 of 206 locations were matched. It is a good practice to review the data to ensure they are properly located. Click Yes to review the matched addresses and inspect the locations of the data points. When you are satisfied, click Done Reviewing. You now have the beginnings of the second map we will use in the story map.
- Click on Add Item. This will not only upload the csv file, but will create a Feature Service. A Feature Service allows you to serve your tabular data as a geographic service over the Internet as well as the symbology and query capabilities.
- Review your settings so they match the image on the left.
- Review the field types to make sure they match their functionality. Most of the fields should be integer or double instead of string types. Make sure that COUNTRY_NAME is selected as Location Fields.
- Choose Addresses or Places to locate features
- For In (Country): select World
Click to download a comma separated values file (CSV) CO2_emissions_WorldBank.csv to a location on your computer. Take note of the location! This is a file downloaded from the World Bank DataBank. You can get the original data here. Notice the units are metric tons per capita.Click on Add Item - From my computer and browse to the location in your computer where you saved the csv file by clicking the Choose File button.
- On the Title box, make sure to add your initials at the end of the file name
- Add a Tag: carbon dixiode emissions.
- Make sure the checkbox next to Publish this file as a hosted layer is selected. This will make any tabular content in your table available as interactive content.
