Whether you call them chem boxes, analytical callouts, spider diagrams, or exceedance tables, chances are you’ve been frustrated by putting them on a map. The process to plot these tables, typically displayed on maps for environmental remediation, Phase I and Phase II site impact assessments, and environmental compliance projects, is nothing less than laborious.
Test results of air, soil, and water values of chemical analytes are compared against the Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLs) and Regional Screening Levels (RSLs) to determine if there are anomalies on a project site. The formatted tables have typically been manually added to maps. After getting the lab results as flat Excel files and formatting them into tables that correspond to specific locations at a project site, GIS staff then copy and paste the tables as static images onto a map, taking care to ensure the leader lines pointing from a table to the mapped location avoids crossing any other lines or tables.
If that doesn’t sound tedious enough, test results are continuous throughout the project lifecycle and therefore changes are inevitable, requiring revisions and updates to the information inside the tables or to their placements on the map. There could be changes needed to style and scale, too. Sound daunting? We agree and there is a better way. Streamline the workflow and create tables that can be more easily modified by leveraging ArcGIS Arcade.
Download the zip file linked below, which includes an ArcGIS Pro project with sample data as well as a foundational Arcade script to build the data tables in both ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online. The zip file includes (...\Analytical_Callout_Chem_Box_Files\):
For a more detailed breakdown of the Arcade scripts and workflow, take a look at this AEC industry blog titled, "Use ArcGIS Arcade to Step Out of the Static Environmental Callout Box and Into Dynamic Results".
If you are new to Arcade, this learning path is a great place to begin.
In addition, this blog post “I’m a developer. Do I really need Arcade?” provides context with use cases, which can help demonstrate the benefits of adding Arcade to one’s existing arsenal of programming languages.
Additional resources: Updated Arcade documentation, this post from a November 2022 release, and a blog on pop-up Arcade essentials.
We can’t wait for you to tell us what you do with it, and how you plan to spend all that free time now that you’re spending less time moving around static table images.
Arcade can provide a dynamic approach to visualizing environmental analyte results as a table on a map. We can’t wait for you to tell us what you do with it, and how you plan to spend all that free time now that you’re not moving around static table images.
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