Latest Contributions by SimonKettle

Can you include Pie Chart into ArcGIS Pro Tabular Charts? There are currently 8 chart options as per version 2.2 including Bar Charts, Scatter Plots, Histograms, Lines Charts etc... It is possible to use Bar Chart's, rather than Pie charts, to show proportional divisions of data but sometimes Pie Charts look so much better. Can you introduce Pie Charts as a tabular chart type? ... View more

Web Map of the World Port Index Twenty Fifth Edition is now on Living Atlas. The Twenty-Fifth Edition of Pub 150, World Port Index gives the location, characteristics, known facilities, and available services of a ports, shipping facilities and oil terminals throughout the world.                               World Ports Index Web Map The World Ports Index Web Map includes enriched information combining the information found throughout all the released information from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. Created and shared from ArcGIS Pro and through the use of Attribute Domains the feature attribution is readable and hopefully useful to your mapping. Layers within the web map include ports by their physical type (e.g. Natural Coastal, River Basin etc), maximum size of vessel and ports that include an oil terminal. Have a look to explore the ports of the world!   ... View more

Announced via Press Release on the 24th October 2017. OGC announces a new standard that improves the way information is referenced to the earth | OGC  Release Date:  Tuesday, 24 October 2017 UTC The membership of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC®) has approved the Discrete Global Grid System (DGGS) as OGC Abstract Specification - Topic 21 [OGC 15-104r5]. The goal of DGGS is to enable rapid assembly of spatial data without the difficulties of working with projected coordinate reference systems. The OGC DGGS Abstract Specification standard defines the conceptual model and a set of rules for building highly efficient architectures for spatial data storage, integration and analytics. “DGGS will provide the capability to properly integrate global geospatial, social, and economic information. It also allows communities with data attributed to fundamentally different geographies to integrate this information in a single consistent framework,” said Dr Stuart Minchin, Chief, Environmental Geoscience Division at Geoscience Australia. “DGGS will revolutionise the way we perceive, work with, and visualise spatial information,” said Dr. Matthew Purss, Senior Advisor at Geoscience Australia, co-chair of the OGC DGGS Standards and Domain Working Groups, and Editor of the OGC DGGS Abstract Specification – Topic 21 [OGC 15-104r5]. “DGGS are a technology that allow the harmonisation of raster, vector, and point cloud data in a common, globally consistent framework – enabling the spatial industry to overcome some key challenges presented by traditional GIS approaches; namely, the ‘raster-vector divide’, as well as the use of map projections.” DGGSs represent the Earth as hierarchical sequences of equal area tessellations on the surface of the Earth, each with global coverage and with progressively finer spatial resolution. Individual observations can be assigned to a cell corresponding to both the position and size of the phenomenon being observed. DGGS come with a standard set of functional algorithms that enable rapid data analysis of very large numbers of cells and, by their very nature, are well suited to parallel processing applications at multiple spatial resolutions. “It is timely for DGGS to become the de facto standard grid referencing system globally for geographic Big Data,” said Dr Zoheir Sabeur, Science Director at University of Southampton IT Innovation Centre, United Kingdom, and co-chair of the OGC DGGS Standards and Domain Working Groups. “DGGS will fit extremely well in the stack of big data necessary for intelligent processing levels that will enable fast and accurate exploration, mining, and visualization of Big Data.” “We have reached a tipping point in our ability to make effective use of Big Data to derive economic and societal value,” added Dr. Purss. “DGGS represents the paradigm shift that will allow us to overcome some of the critical barriers preventing us from realising the true potential that Big Data promises to deliver.” There is explosive growth in both the variety and the volume of spatial data and processing resources, along with a growing understanding of the tremendous benefit that can be derived from enabling interoperability between them. On the other side of this deluge of spatial content is a growing demand by decision-makers for a participatory environment where content can be accessed directly from diverse contributors and used with other content without reliance on time-consuming and costly geographic transformation processes. “Decision-makers who require situational awareness exist across all sectors of the economy: public health, agriculture, natural resources, land development, emergency response, supply chains, transportation, outdoor recreation, etc,” said Perry Peterson co-chair of the OGC DGGS Standards Group and founder of PYXIS. “Most of us in fact, from scientists to citizens, regularly seek answers to spatial questions. However, assembling the array of spatial data available in a way it can make sense is presently an expensive challenge requiring an expert. DGGS offers a solution.” One of the core contributions of a DGGS is geospatial data fusion on demand. In a multiple provider environment, fusion is only possible with an information system architecture based upon open standards. The OGC DGGS Abstract Specification provides a platform to enable interoperability within and between different DGGS implementations while promoting reusability, knowledge exchange, and choices in the design of individual DGGS implementations. As with any OGC standard, the open DGGS Abstract Specification is free to implement. Interested parties can view and download the standard from http://docs.opengeospatial.org/as/15-104r5/15-104r5.html. Read the press release here: OGC announces a new standard that improves the way information is referenced to the earth | OGC  ... View more

What does the "2000" mean at the end of the coordinate system names in the Solar System folder? You can also find reference to the number in the details of the *.prj file itself. GEOGCS["GCS_Jupiter_2000",DATUM["D_Jupiter_2000", SPHEROID["Jupiter_2000_IAU_IAG", 71492000.0,15.41440275981026]], PRIMEM["Reference_Meridian",0.0], UNIT["Degree",0.0174532925199433]] The number suffix is, in fact, a date. It refers to the currently used standard equinox (and epoch) which is J2000.0.  The prefix "J" indicates that it is a Julian epoch and the number refers to January 1, 2000, 12:00 Terrestrial Time. There have been other standard equinoxes (and epoch) where the previous version was B1950.0, with the prefix "B" indicating it was a Besselian epoch. Julian equinoxes and epochs have been used for every equinox since 1984. Why do we need to use a fixed date and time? In a phrase, J2000 is needed due to the precession of the equinoxes. Forming part of the Milankovitch theory of long term climate change the precession of the equinoxes refers to the observable phenomena of the rotation of the celestial sphere. A cycle which spans a period of (approximately) 25,920 years, over which time the constellations appear to slowly rotate around the earth, taking turns at rising behind the rising sun on the vernal equinox. Precessional movement of Earth (right). Earth rotates (white arrows) once a day around its rotational axis (red); this axis itself rotates slowly (white circle), completing a rotation in approximately 26,000 years Watch this video on Precession of the Earth What are the effects of the Precession of Equinoxes on reference systems? If the position of the celestial poles and equators are changing on the celestial sphere, then the celestial coordinates of objects, which are defined by the reference of the celestial equator and celestial poles, are also constantly changing and since the location of the equinox changes with time, coordinate systems that are defined by the vernal equinox must have a date associated with them. This specified year is called the Equinox (not epoch). Currently, we use Equinox J2000.0 The main epochs in common use are: – B1950.0 - the equinox and mean equator of 1949 Dec 31st 22:09 UT. – J2000.0 - the equinox and mean equator of 2000 Jan 1st 12:00 UT  The B1950 and J2000 reference frames are defined by the mean orientation of the Earth’s equator and ecliptic at the beginning of the years 1950 and 2000. ... View more