Aviation Charting Resources for Getting Started
Want to thank Kiyoshi and David for the guidance above first off.
I was brand new to this entire process. Combining the above posts of very helpful information/videos with the existing getting started documentation, I was able to successfully plot some airports in ICAO style based on an area of interest. If it’s helpful at all to any I’ve tossed together some notes as a "get started down this path" exercise.
This exercise loads Airport data provided by https://aip.dfs.de/datasets/
- Open a blank project and save. Download the project files referenced in below URLs referenced in the opening paragraph, then load the sample layout into your project. I ended up adding this folder as a shortcut in my project (Folders -> Add Folder Connection -> Sample Files Folder):
- Now, follow the instructions to build your Aeronautical Geodatabase. I converted this projects Default/Project database to the AIS database: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/production/aviation/set-up-an-aviation-geodatabase.htm
- Hop back over to the Enroute Template and follow the instructions from Step 6 onward to link your chart layout to your projects AIS database. On the Top left of this Catalog tab, notice that Items is currently selected. Click Workspace to update all layers to your AIS database at once. Be sure to click Validate and Apply.
- Import Data: Now import our ADHP AIXM file since our AIS database is set up. In your geoprocessing toolset, go to Import AIXM 5.1 Message and select the downloaded sample file. Click Run: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/aviation/import-aixm-5-1-message.htm
If you navigate to Main -> ADHP and open the attribute table, it should be populated.
- Create an Area of Interest in Germany. I just drew a box around Frankfurt (i ended up making it much bigger than this example to get AD/HP and LS types), following the below steps: https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/production/aviation/define-areas-of-interest.htm
Note: After configuring the Area of Interest, right under Drawing Order, Right click your ICAO ENR Map and Click Properties. Under the color management option is Aviation AOI. Update that to the created AOI to the shape you drew and click Apply.
- The instructions point you to Generate Aviation Cartographic Features first, but I found you should create the Annotation layer first instead since generating new Cartographic Features populates the Annotation Feature Class. Be deliberate in following the steps up until Step 21. As a Note, Step 14 asks you to link annotation to the following feature class. Choose ADHP_C since our sample file uses Aerodromes/Heliports (ADHP_C): https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/production/aviation/create-annotation-feature-classes....
- Step 21 says to add the label classes you want to use for the annotation features as a note. If you’ve set everything up right (including step 14/15 so the label classes do not error out with a Main_Info field error), go ahead and copy the code from the adhp_c_label_arcade_icao.lxp file in the charting tools and add it to the Class 1 Label:
Complete the Configure feature-linked annotation feature classes section, pasting the sample code provided in the instructions in the rules section
- Next, the instructions say to Generate Aviation Cartographic Features https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/help/production/aviation/cartographic-features.htm, set exceptions, and then prepare features. What this means is:
- Generate - This fills out the ADHP_C table with data based on your AOI. This step is done first. the _C just means Cartographic
- Prepare Features. This will take metadata from your ADHP table and add it into the ADHP_C table in a format aviation charting uses to do some magic.
- Generate features first. In the Geoprocessing toolset set your source to ADHP (Mine was Main/ADHP). And the Target to ADHP_C. I opted to keep it simple and only include things within the Area of Interest drawn.
- Prepare Aviation Data (https://pro.arcgis.com/en/pro-app/latest/tool-reference/aviation/prepare-aviation-data.htm). This toolset will basically take the <Null> Main_Info column currently in the ADHP_C table and add the Airport name & type to it for the charting symbology and label text to parse through via an Arcade Script. The configuration file is part of the product files located at ArcGIS Aviation Charting\Product: Files\3.3\SampleConfigs\ICAO\Enroute\PrepareAviationData\adhp_c_config_icao.json
- This should produce something akin to the below (my final product will differ a bit since I messed around with additional symbology and annotation classes for Landing Strips and Helipads a bunch.
Note 1: I had a blank annotation feature class since I ran the Create before running the Annotation steps. If you do things out of order you can install the Aviation toolkit under \ArcGIS Aviation Charting\Product Files\3.3\Utilities\Scripts\Aviation Tools.pyt (just import it via right click catalogue -> add toolset), then run the Create Aviation Feature Linked Annotation tool.
Note 2: In the first few failures, I never could get the symbology to apply on the ADHP_C layer. I ended up having to use the “Match Layer Symbology to a Style” tool and set it up as:
Input Layer: ADHP/C
Match Values: Expression Builder -> Copy and Paste the Arcade script located at \ArcGIS Aviation Charting\Product Files\3.3\SampleConfigs\ICAO\Visual\ArcadeExpressions\Symbol\adhp_c_symbol_arcade_icao.lxp
Style: Aviation Charting ICAO (If this is not imported, you can add it from Insert -> Styles -> Add Style -> \ArcGIS Aviation Charting\Product Files\3.3\Styles\Aviation Charting ICAO.stylx. It should be in there if you’ve imported the ICAO Sample Map.
Note 3: If you want to annotate more things like the HP and LS records, during the Annotation Feature Class creation step where you can click the Pencil and update Class 1 to the adhp_c_label_arcade_icao expression, Scroll down and just change the “AD” to “HP” or “LS” to create new classes. You can also add them to the Array as 1 class if you want. I kind of liked having 3 individual Classes for toggling.
Note 4: If you end up messing anything up, you can delete the Annotation Feature Class from the gdb, then delete the records from the ADHP_C table (keep the Feature Class obviously don’t delete it). Build out your Annotation class again via the steps, Generate Carto Features, and Prepare Aviation Data.
Best of luck. This tool is a beast but it's amazing.
