Latest Contributions by RosemaryBoone

If you’re studying GIS or geography, imagery and remote sensing skills can open the door to exciting opportunities in environmental analysis, disaster response, urban planning, conservation, and more. Satellite imagery helps GIS professionals monitor changes across the planet, uncover patterns in the environment, and better understand how places evolve over time.  One of the best ways to build these skills is through hands-on practice. With ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, students can access ready-to-use imagery layers and work with real-world geographic data directly in ArcGIS.  Here are three Esri tutorials to get you started with applying imagery analysis in Living Atlas to help further your skills in your GIS journey.    Get Started with Imagery    If you're new to image analysis, this is the perfect place to begin. In this tutorial, you'll explore Landsat imagery with the Esri Landsat Explorer web app and learn essential concepts about multispectral imagery. You'll monitor vegetation in the Sundarbans mangrove forest, visualize the growth of a city in China, inspect an oasis in Egypt, delineate flooded areas in Chad, and more. When you finish, you'll have a better understanding of the vast applications of multispectral imagery and be ready to explore the world on your own.  Try the Tutorial >    Explore Landsat imagery of a volcano eruption    In this tutorial, you'll prepare and explore Landsat satellite imagery captured before, during, and after the eruption. Landsat is the longest running satellite program for Earth observation in the world. It has captured millions of images that provide continuous, global coverage over several decades, making Landsat an unparalleled resource for analysts and decision makers. You'll access this data as a ready-to-use online imagery layer available through ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World.  Try the Tutorial >    Monitor algae bloom in a lake    In this tutorial, you'll use Sentinel-2 satellite imagery from 2019 and 2024 to understand changes in the lake's algae activity. Algae produce chlorophyll during photosynthesis, so you'll monitor algae activity by analyzing chlorophyll concentrations. Sentinel-2 can detect chlorophyll concentrations through specific spectral bands, so it's an important dataset for early detection and environmental monitoring.  Try the Tutorial >    Imagery and remote sensing continue to play a growing role across the GIS industry. Imagery skills are increasingly valuable for students preparing for careers in GIS and geospatial technology. Check out the article The Future of the GIS Analyst: 4 Skills Every GIS Student Needs Before Graduating to know what skills will be relevant for the GIS analyst in the next 5–10 years.   ------------------------------  Esri Tutorials Spotlight Blog Series   Here is a list of the previously published Esri Tutorials Spotlight blog posts:  Get A Head Start on Your GIS Project With Esri Tutorials Esri Tutorials Spotlight: GeoAI  Esri Tutorials Spotlight: AI Assistants in ArcGIS  Esri Tutorials Spotlight: Image Analysis  ... View more

This is your year to to grow professionally, gain valuable insight, and build meaningful connections in the GIS field by getting involved in the Geospatial Professionals Network Mentoring Network. Applications are open for both mentors and mentees! This program connects early-career GIS professionals with experienced mentors who can offer guidance, share knowledge, and support your growth. The GPN Mentoring Network is designed to foster impactful, long-term professional relationships perfect for students, recent grads, or GIS professionals wanting to refine their skills. As a participant, you'll receive resources to help guide your mentoring journey and ensure a strong, productive match.   2026 Application Timeline Cohort 1: January 1 – February 15 Cohort 2: May 1 – June 15 Cohort 3: September 1 – October 15   Mentor Qualifications to Ensure Success Is genuinely excited at the opportunity of guiding a mentee Able to prioritize and devote time to honor mentoring commitments Shows interest in their mentee while exercising patience, encouragement, and motivation Accomplished within their industry/field Embodies self confidence and provides honest, constructive feedback to mentee   Mentee Qualifications to Ensure Success Able to prioritize and devote time to honor mentee commitments Is receptive and motivated in gaining skills the Mentor offers Takes initiative in seeking advice and able to receive constructive feedback Focused on goals and works towards achieving them Well prepared in discussing areas of strengths, weaknesses, needs, and interests   Sign Up to Become a Mentee/Mentor >>    ... View more

Join us for the next GIS in Higher Education Chat   Topic: Getting Started with ArcGIS Reality for ArcGIS Pro Description:  ArcGIS Reality is a suite of photogrammetry software designed to support end‑to‑end reality capture workflows. In this session, we’ll focus on ArcGIS Reality for ArcGIS Pro, a powerful solution for turning drone, aerial, and satellite imagery into visually compelling and highly accurate 2D and 3D products—directly within ArcGIS Pro. With ArcGIS Reality for ArcGIS Pro soon to be included in the Education License Program, this session will help educators and students understand how to get started and make the most of this technology. In this session, you will: Get an overview of ArcGIS Reality suite Explore the capabilities of ArcGIS Reality for ArcGIS Pro Understand the workflow and key steps to get started Apply best practices and access available learning resources Speakers:  Christopher Patterson – Principal Product Engineer, Esri Canserina Kurnia – Senior Solution Engineer, Esri When: Tuesday, June 2, 2026 at 9:00 AM (PT)   Register to attend >>   ... View more

ArcGIS offers a comprehensive collection of tools and capabilities to perform image analysis including classification, change detection, time-series analysis and feature extraction using geospatial artificial intelligence (GeoAI). You can perform analysis on data from various resources such as from satellites, aerial sources, drones, and various modalities like multispectral, LiDAR, and Radar. Conducting image analysis is a valuable skillset that can elevate your projects and open doors to new career pathways.Below are five hands-on tutorials designed to help you get started and build confidence working with imagery in ArcGIS. These tutorials offer a hands-on way to explore image analysis in ArcGIS. As a student, investing time in these skills not only strengthens your academic projects but also prepares you for careers in fields like environmental science, urban planning, agriculture, and remote sensing. Get Started with Imagery If you're new to image analysis, this is the perfect place to begin. In this tutorial, you'll explore Landsat imagery with the Esri Landsat Explorer web app and learn essential concepts about multispectral imagery. You'll monitor vegetation in the Sundarbans mangrove forest, visualize the growth of a city in China, inspect an oasis in Egypt, delineate flooded areas in Chad, and more. When you finish, you'll have a better understanding of the vast applications of multispectral imagery and be ready to explore the world on your own. Try the Tutorial >   Assess Hail Damage in Cornfields with Satellite Imagery Step into the role of an analyst supporting agriculture by using satellite imagery to assess crop damage after a hailstorm. In this tutorial, as an imagery analyst for a local farmer organization, you'll perform a first damage assessment, using ArcGIS Pro. You'll explore multispectral imagery captured before and after the hailstorm. Then, you'll perform change analysis, applying a vegetation index to both images, computing the difference between the two, and extracting the average loss of healthy vegetation per field. Try the Tutorial >   Calculate impervious surfaces from spectral imagery Urban environments are constantly changing. Ground surfaces that are impenetrable to water can cause serious environmental problems, including flooding and contaminated runoff. Because impervious surfaces are such a danger, many governments, like the City of Louisville, Kentucky, charge landowners who have high amounts of impervious surfaces on their properties. In this tutorial, you’ll analyze spectral imagery to map impervious surfaces like roads, rooftops, and parking lots, using a supervised object classification approach. Try the Tutorial >   Extract High-Resolution Land Cover with GeoAI High-resolution land cover layers are valuable tools for mapping and understanding the environment. One approach to creating such layers is to use GeoAI applied to drone imagery, classifying the imagery pixels into their corresponding land cover types. In this tutorial, focused on the Township of Alexandra, South Africa, you'll try out this approach in ArcGIS Pro, with the goal of identifying green spaces and computing their overall surface area. Try the Tutorial >   Monitor Forest Change Over Time Forests are an important natural resource that provides wood products, wildlife habitat, clean water and air, carbon sequestering, recreational opportunities, and more. Monitoring forest disturbances, such as tree logging activities, forest fire, and pest infestation is an important task for forest management. In this tutorial, as a GIS analyst for the Oregon Department of Forestry, you'll use tools based on the LandTrendr algorithm (Landsat-based detection of Trends in Disturbance and Recovery) to better understand the spatial and temporal patterns of timber harvest and detect other potential disturbances. Try the Tutorial >   Esri Tutorials Spotlight Blog Series   Here is a list of the previously published Esri Tutorials Spotlight blog posts: Get A Head Start on Your GIS Project With Esri Tutorials Esri Tutorials Spotlight: GeoAI Esri Tutorials Spotlight: AI Assistants in ArcGIS ... View more

Mentorship plays a critical role in shaping successful GIS careers across industries. Join us for a YPN webinar on May 13, 2026 from 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM (PT) to explore practical strategies for building impactful mentor relationships, both formal and informal. You’ll gain actionable insights on how to seek out mentors, maximize mentorship opportunities, and transition into mentor roles themselves. What you’ll learn in this webinar: Understand the value of mentorship across industries and career stages Identify practical strategies for finding and building mentor relationships Recognize how to be an effective mentee Determine when and how to transition from mentee to mentor Commit to a clear next step to advance their mentorship journey   Register  >>    ... View more

Join us for the next GIS in Higher Education Chat   Topic: Geospatial Storytelling at Esri: Stay Up-To-Date With the Latest Updates Description: The ArcGIS Storytelling team will share updates on the latest resources available to support users getting started with geospatial storytelling. This will include new enhancements to ArcGIS StoryMaps, sequenced resources for learning best practices, and demos of new release features in ArcGIS StoryMaps. Join this education chat to get your questions answered. In this session we'll cover: The latest enhancements to the ArcGIS StoryMaps builder New Tutorial Series Classroom ready stories Updated links and resources Live question-and-answer  Speakers: ArcGIS Storytelling Team When: Tuesday, May 5, 2026 at 9:00 AM (PT)   Watch Recording | Resources   ... View more

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of modern GIS workflows, and now you can interact with ArcGIS in a whole new way using AI assistants. These tools allow you to use natural language prompts to explore data, build workflows, and complete tasks more efficiently. For students studying GIS, learning how to work with AI-powered tools is quickly becoming an important and transferable skill. This blog post highlights several hands-on learning resources that will help you start using AI assistants in ArcGIS.   Use an AI Assistant to Explore the Pickleball Market   In this tutorial, you will expand a business that sells pickleball equipment. Using the assistant, you'll generate a color-coded map showing pickleball activity to help inform where your next target market should be located. You'll also learn how the assistant can provide tips to improve your map. Get Started >   Choose Candidate Areas for a Convenience Store   In this tutorial, you'll use ArcGIS Business Analyst Web App to find candidate locations for a new store. First, you'll use the Business Analyst AI assistant to perform a points of interest search. Then, you'll perform suitability analysis and compare the results to historical traffic data. This way, you'll consider all three criteria within your area of interest. Get Started >   Create and Translate a Survey With an ArcGIS Assistant   ArcGIS Survey123 has an assistant for building surveys in the web designer. In this video, you’ll learn how to quickly turn your ideas into a draft survey design using the assistant. This approach makes it easier to design forms and surveys while keeping your focus on the questions and data you want to collect. Watch the video: Create a survey > Watch the video: Translate a survey >   Prompt Writing for AI Assistants   Just like learning a new GIS tool, using AI effectively requires practice. Writing clear prompts helps AI assistants understand what you want to accomplish and provides more accurate results. This blog post explains best practices for prompt writing so you can get the most out of AI tools in your GIS workflows. Read the Blog > -------------------------- As AI becomes more integrated into GIS technology, understanding how to work with AI assistants and craft effective prompts will become an increasingly valuable skill. After getting some practice and insights from these resources, consider using an assistant to enhance your next GIS project! -------------------------- Esri Tutorials Spotlight Blog Series   Here is a list of the previously published Esri Tutorials Spotlight blog posts: Get A Head Start on Your GIS Project With Esri Tutorials Esri Tutorials Spotlight: GeoAI ... View more

If you are interested in publishing a blog post to the YPN blog, download the YPN Blog Authoring Guidelines below.    Why publish to the YPN Blog? If you're considering becoming a YPN Content Ambassador you will need access to the YPN Blog space to publish a post. Those pursuing a GISP need a space to publish GIS content and the YPN blog can be an option depending on the topic. You're a seasoned or emerging GIS professional and want to give back to the community by publishing content around professional development or GIS career growth. You're a student or recent graduate and want to get involved in contributing content to the GIS. community   YPN blog audience College students  Recent graduates Emerging GIS professionals Season GIS professionals or mentors   Topics that suit the YPN blog GIS career pathways Career advice and professional development Innovative GIS projects  Mentorship advice and opportunities Training opportunities Conference/event experience   Download the YPN Authoring Guide below to get started 👇 ... View more

The annual Los Angeles Geospatial Summit recently took place on February 27, 2026, hosted by the Spatial Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California (USC).   Each year, this one-day event brings together students, faculty, and professionals from across Southern California to share the latest GIS tech trends, showcase student projects, and touch on the future of geospatial technology.  For the past five years, Esri has sponsored the Los Angeles Geospatial Summit ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition. The challenge invites students to explore a topic using geospatial technology—conducting research, performing spatial analysis, and communicating their findings through an interactive StoryMap.  Submission are evaluated in three main categories:  Most Innovative Use of Technology  Most Compelling Communication Using Maps  Most Suitably Applied Methodology or Analysis  A panel of judges reviewed this year’s submissions and selected one winner in each category. The projects demonstrated not only strong technical skills but also thoughtful storytelling and creative approaches to spatial analysis.  Winner for Most Innovative Use of Technology    Project: Sidewalk Management: Walking the Walk  Student: Nicholas Mora, University of Redlands  This project stood out for its creative use of GIS and complementary technologies to examine sidewalk infrastructure and accessibility. It clearly demonstrated how geospatial tools can be used to analyze urban environments and support better planning decisions.      Winner for Most Compelling Communication Using Maps    Project: Gotham City Emergency Evacuation and Response Guide  Student: Khouri Evans-Dangerfield, University of Redlands  This StoryMap excelled in visual storytelling. With strong cartographic design and a clear narrative, it effectively communicated complex emergency response concepts through maps, graphics, and multimedia.    Winner for  Most Suitably Applied Methodology or Analysis    Project: Between Flames and Affordability  Student: Brian Pidduck, University of Southern California  This project showcased a well-structured analytical approach, applying appropriate spatial analysis tools and clearly explaining the methodology used to investigate the relationship between wildfire risk and housing affordability.     Winner for Best High School Submission (New Category)    This year marked an exciting first for the competition which was the introduction of a high school category. Opening the challenge to younger students highlights how early geospatial skills can start developing.  Winning Project: Clark Magnet Bus Optimization  School: Clark Magnet High School  Their project explored ways to optimize bus routes, demonstrating how GIS can be applied to real-world logistical challenges even at the high school level.  You can view all the storymap submissions here in this gallery.     Resources for Students and Emerging GIS Professionals    For students inspired by the work presented at the summit, there are many ways to continue building geospatial skills and connecting with the community. Esri offers several resources to help students and early-career professionals grow in the field:  Join the Esri Young Professionals Network (YPN) to connect with peers and mentors.  Explore free training opportunities through Esri Tutorials and Esri Academy.  Attend local events through regional YPN chapters.  Become a YPN Ambassador to build your visibility in the GIS community  ... View more

Join us for the next GIS in Higher Education Chat   Topic: Interactive Suitability Modeling with the Suitability Modeler in ArcGIS Pro Description: Through demonstrations, you will be introduced to the Suitability Modeler—a dynamic, interactive environment that provides continuous feedback to help you achieve more effective results. As the session progresses, we will increase the complexity by incorporating competing objectives through submodels. Model outcomes will be analyzed from multiple perspectives using the Evaluate tools, including summarizing results within parcels and comparing them with field observations. We will also explore various what-if scenarios using the Model Comparison interface. Rather than recommending a single definitive solution, the emphasis is on exploring multiple possibilities to support informed decision-making. Finally, we will use distance analysis to connect the resulting locations with optimal paths. Speakers: Dr. Kevin M. Johnston – Sr. Principal Product Engineer, Product Engineering Lead, Spatial Analysis and Data Science Jin Yin – Product Engineer, Spatial Analysis and Data Science When: Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at 9:00 AM (PT)   Recording | Slide Deck | Resources   ... View more