Get to know ArcGIS Online

Part 1: Explore the basemap

Select “Map” on the top toolbar while on any main page within ArcGIS Online:

→ Map Viewer opens. Click “Open in Map Viewer” on the top toolbar. 

→ Click Save  >> Save and give your map a name: “Tutorial 1 <your name>”

You will see a topographic basemap but no additional layers. This is your starting map template to which you will add map layers.

A basemap provides a background of geographical context for the content you want to display in a map. When you create a new map, you can choose which basemap you want to use. You can change the basemap of the current map at any time by using the basemap gallery or using your own layer as the basemap. In this step, you will use the basemap from the basemap gallery. The basemap gallery includes a variety of choices, including topography, imagery, and streets.

→ Change the basemap to Imagery Hybrid

• How do the map labels change as you zoom in and out?

• What do you see in the remote sensing image basemap (Imagery Hybrid). What types of features and details can you see? What is the smallest object you can see?

At this point, you only have the Imagery Hybrid basemap, but the power of GIS lies in working with multiple layers of data. ArcGIS Online subscriptions include access to a wide range of data layers.

Part 2: Explore Social, Economic, and Environmental Indicators

In this section, you will add two demographic data layers, a health data layer, a remote sensing data layer, and a GPS point data layer (TRI sites), and interpret some patterns illustrated in the data.

→ Change your basemap to “Human Geography Map” (select basemap on the left toolbar and scroll down to find Human Geography Map)

Add a data layer to the map

→ Click the Add button and choose Browse layers → then select Living Atlas using the drop down menu

→ In the Search window, type “Median Household Income” and then press Enter.

→ Click “ACS Median Household Income Variables - Boundaries” (the author of the layer will be ESRI)

→ In the window, click +Add. Then close the search pane.

→ Rename the layer to "Median Household Income" using the 3 horizontal dot icon to the right of the layer name.

With the +Add button, you can search for layers in your content (My Content), browse Living Atlas or ArcGIS Online layers, add layers from the web, add layers from files, and add map notes. You can also get directions and add the route as a layer.

Living Atlas and ArcGIS Online layers include world traffic, land cover, demographics, and so on. Most of these layers are free to use on your maps and can be viewed by anyone.

Add a layer of your choice

Search for any topic that comes to mind and see what you find. Add a layer you find interesting. 

You will now explore the median household income and your layer of choice.

Choose a place to explore (choose a medium/large size city in the United States)

Note: not all layers you find will provide coverage of your area of interest.

→ Use the search tool to search for a city with which you are familiar. Zoom in and click any area of your choice. The area’s median household income details appear.

→ Select Bookmarks on the left toolbar → select Add bookmark and provide a title → click Add

Review Questions (provide short responses in a word processing document)

• Describe the spatial distribution of income. Where are the high‐income areas? Where are the low‐income areas? Use cardinal directions or place names in your response.

• Describe the geography / spatial distribution of your chosen layer. 

• Speculate on what may account for these differences? What landscape features (social, economic, natural) may help explain the location of clusters?

Add two more layers, stay zoomed in to the city of your choice

First, turn off the layers currently displayed on your map. Use the eye icon to the right of the layer name.

Race and ethnicity predominance data layer:

→ On the left toolbar select “+ Add” → “Browse layers” → select “Living Atlas”

→ Search for “ACS Race and Hispanic Origin Variables - Boundaries” in the Living Atlas

→ Click the three horizontal dots to the right of  the layer name → click “Rename” and title the layer “Race and Ethnicity Predominance (%)”

Note: you can drag the layers on your map to any order you choose using the six dot icon to the left of the layer name.

Review Questions (provide short responses in a word processing document)

• Describe the spatial distribution (or geography of) race and ethnicity in the city. Incorporate your local knowledge if possible.

Save your map

→ Click the eye icon next to the layer to deselect, then move on to adding your next layer.

Official CDC datasets focused on health disparities were removed on Jan. 28th, 2025. ESRI initially created a backup but then removed this file for a number of weeks. It was added back to the ESRI Living Atlas data library during the summer of 2025.

As needed, backups of these data can be found here:  https://archive.org/download/20250128-cdc-datasets. 

Asthma prevalence

→ On the left toolbar select “+ Add” → “Browse layers” → select “Living Atlas”

→ Search for “Asthma prevalence”

→ Select "PLACES: Local Data for Better Health" from the Centers for Disease Control

Dataset: PLACES: Local Data for Better Health

Indictor of interest contained in the layer: Asthma crude prevalence. The estimated annual prevalence rate (percentage) of adults aged 18 and over who report currently having asthma and also reported previously being told by a doctor/nurse/health professional that they had asthma.

Source: U.S. Centers for Disease Control data product (link to metadata)

→ Click “Add to map”

→ Before moving on, click on the source link above to learn more about the data. 

You have added a Group Layer. These contain several individual layers representing different geographic summary levels (e.g, data aggregated to state boundaries, county boundaries, and Zip code areas). 

→ Click ont the three dot icon to the right of the group layer name, and ungroup the group layer by selecting

"Ungroup."

→ Using the three dot icon to the right of the individual layer name, remove all health data layers except the "Tracts" layer. Census Tracts are approximately the size of neighborhoods, and contain 1,200 - 8,000 people.

→ Rename the tracts layer to “Asthma prevalence (%)”

Next, you will symbolize (color) the layer by the attribute that represents the prevalence of asthma:

→ With the Asthma prevalence (%) layer selected in the layer list, click the “Styles” option on the right side

toolbar

Take some time to explore and compare the distribution of the indicators by turning the layers on and off.

Take note of what you see.

Review questions (provide short responses in a word processing document)

• Describe the geography of asthma prevalence in your chosen city. 

• Is there any observable relationship between the spatial distribution of asthma and that of income or race/ethnicity?

Add a remotely sensed imagery layer

Healthy vegetation data layer

Click the Add button again, and then click Browse Living Atlas Layers.

→ Search for USA NAIP Imagery.

→ Click the “USA NAIP Imagery: Color Infrared” layer, and click Add to Map.

This map is a false color infrared image. In this type of image, healthy vegetation stands out as bright red.

As with the previous two layers, navigate around the map and explore the image layer.

Review questions (provide short responses in a word processing document)

• Describe the geography of healthy / unhealthy vegetation in your chosen area. 

• Is there any observable relationship between the spatial distribution of vegetitation health and the other indictors you have added?

Add a point layer: Toxic Release Inventory Sites

→ Search the Living Atlas for “toxic release inventory” sites.

→ Add the “EPA Facility Registry Service - Toxic Release Inventory (TRI)” layer from EPA Geospatial.

This layer provides facility information for the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). TRI is EPA's publicly available database that contains more than 650 toxic chemicals that are being used by industry groups and federal facilities, manufactured, treated, transported, or released into the environment.

→ Rename the layer with a shorter, descriptive title (e.g,, Toxic release facilities).

Save your map!

Review questions (provide short responses in a word processing document)

• Are there any areas with a high concentration of TRI sites?

• Is there any relationship between the location of TRI sites and the other data layers you have explored?

You have now successfully added different types of geographic data layers to your GIS map. Once you've saved your map, it appears in Content and you can edit the item details.

Submit on Brightspace

• A word processing document (Google Doc or Word doc) with your response to the questions posed throughout the tutorial

• The URL link for your Web Map. Copy and paste the url into the word processing document you submit.