Latest Contributions by Andy-Green

As we recently announced, the OpenStreetMap vector basemaps on ArcGIS Online will be updated to use OSM Daylight distribution data content. Another blog we posted details the impact to users of OSM basemap styles. Here in this post, we will provide details on the impact to ArcGIS Enterprise users who are using these services via Living Atlas. The changes to the map styles applies to both the Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere (WMA) and WGS84/GCS OSM vector basemaps. The change to the underlying source data that requires these new styles was released on Wednesday night, June 16, 2021. ArcGIS Enterprise organizations using these OpenStreetMap layers by referencing them directly from ArcGIS Online are not affected by this update. In this scenario, the styles are referencing the most up to date Online items. Impact to OpenStreetMap Vector Basemap Users in ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8, 10.8.1 or 10.9 To take advantage of the enhancements for OpenStreetMap vector basemaps in ArcGIS Enterprise and display OpenStreetMap tile layers correctly, your administrator will need to update the OpenStreetMap Living Atlas items installed on your ArcGIS Enterprise portal. OpenStreetMap tile layer items are included with Living Atlas default content at 10.8, 10.8.1, and 10.9. Use the table below for a complete breakdown of items included at each version. Step 1 There is an item on ArcGIS Online with the updated root.json styles for all the styles listed below. Download and unpack the contents of the zipped directory. Unpacked, the folders are organized by map projection/tiling scheme and by ArcGIS Enterprise version. Folder names for each style are listed by their item ID. Each folder contains a root.json file. This is the file you’ll use to update the different OpenStreetMap Tile Layer styles on your portal. Step 2 Update each OpenStreetMap item in your portal. Navigate to the item details page for each item. Select the “Update” button. Navigate to the correct folder containing the updated root.json file. Match the item ID of your portal item with the item ID of the directory Update each style. You may need to clear your browser cache to see the updates. Tile Layer Title (links here open the item in ArcGIS Online, use as a reference to the map title) ITEM ID (these match the style directory names to update the OSM tile layers in your portal) Web Mercator Aux. Sphere (WMA) OpenStreetMap 3e1a00aeae81496587988075fe529f71 10.8 10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (with Relief) 0d28c37f80f648238e32efce097450f1   10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Dark Gray Canvas Base) cb38f2afc497482a85579dce4c3ff4ed     10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Dark Gray Canvas Reference) b49a8db3fe6e4f9f99cb713aee150e8d     10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Hybrid Reference style) f240fe360b434afc87dd989bf0c0b825 10.8 10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Light Gray Canvas Base) 1932e7d4432d45dabc0d4d13109c1f09   10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Light Gray Canvas Reference) 29a71939af7a498584f44c4feca7249b   10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Street style) f455d84d5aab4d64b1191e0d2eed42b1 10.8 10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Street with Relief style) 8f9cb35cec274e25b4c5d6add631f1f0   10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Blueprint) 80be160f0ca1413d898ad4e90d197278   10.8.1 10.9 GCS/WGS84 Tiling Scheme OpenStreetMap (WGS84) cabd61a6cfc44843b2ccd6969bb88cf0 10.8 10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (with Relief – WGS84) 7ecc5e5a3ba445de9e118d42833e6dbb   10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Dark Gray Canvas Base – WGS84) 5d1479fbdb084edc8a91f44116181a5e     10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Dark Gray Canvas Reference – WGS84) 5bf7ce751e4a42e8b218bedc1f94798f     10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Hybrid Reference – WGS84) e67de4be72b349fd8f8ca114bac82a8c 10.8 10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Light Gray Canvas Base – WGS84) 6d9a3c4768bc4090931e9ed3d94fd385     10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Light Gray Canvas Reference – WGS84) ea59b79df5a24e4ebad9bb6db828a623     10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Street style – WGS84) 13100ed96b7a4e18b9a7c024c56910aa 10.8 10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Esri Street with Relief style – WGS84) 8eaddf4279684fc09abb2b61f1338be4   10.8.1 10.9 OpenStreetMap (Blueprint – WGS84) 58ca82eb9e1948a49e812fe90454e73e   10.8.1 10.9 Noticeable changes After the source tile set is updated with OSM Daylight content on Wednesday night June 16, 2021, if the OSM tile layers on your portal are not updated, some map features will not display. View the Esri blog post to see examples of what the maps will look like if they are not, as well as are, updated. Customers with questions can contact Esri Technical Support for assistance. ... View more

As we announced last week, the OpenStreetMap vector basemaps on ArcGIS Online will be updated to use OSM Daylight distribution data content. Map styles will also be updated on the OSM tile layers. This change in data source and map style applies to both the Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere (WMA) and WGS84/GCS OSM vector maps. This change is scheduled to occur on Wednesday night, June 16, 2021. After these changes occur, there are no impact to users who directly reference: an Esri OpenStreetMap web map in their map or app or an Esri OpenStreetMap vector tile layer in their map or app. Your maps will automatically display updated OSM Daylight content in updated map styles without any impact to you. Impact to OpenStreetMap Vector Basemap Users There will be an impact to users in following scenarios. You’ll need to act if you are using maps in one or more of these examples. After our update, the maps in the following situations will draw, but will be incomplete. Administrative boundaries, parks and forests, and buildings will be missing if no action is taken to update to your maps. Users with a copy of either a vector OSM or OSM Daylight (beta) style in their Content will be affected. This includes users with a direct copy of the map (no style change) or users with a copy with a customized style. Customized styles are created by the Esri Vector Tile Style Editor or by editing your own copy of the tile layer style file. In both examples, the tile layer items are owned by the user in their Content. Users will need to make a new copy of the OSM maps after our update the night of June 16. Customized styles need to be reapplied onto a new copy of the tile layer after this this date. Users of OSM Daylight (Beta) items will be affected. These beta items are entering mature support and no longer getting updates. OSM Daylight (Beta) items will be deprecated and removed from ArcGIS Online. Use one of the OpenStreetMap items as they contain OSM Daylight data and styles after the June 16 update. Living Atlas for Enterprise users will be affected. Customers using these layers via Living Atlas in ArcGIS Enterprise 10.8, 10.8.1, and 10.9 will be affected. The root.json style files need to be updated on the OpenStreetMap tile layers after the June 16 date. More details are available for ArcGIS Enterprise users at this blog, along with a set of root.json files to use for updates. Moving forward, OpenStreetMap vector tile layers and web maps will continue to be updated on a regular release cycle using the OSM Daylight distribution data. ... View more

This was originally posted to the Esri blog page by Andy Skinner. Recently, users have asked us about basemaps that are accessible and/or color-blind-safe. In particular they have asked for maps that comply with WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) standards, and the US Federal ‘Section 508’ equivalent. This presents a few challenges. A map can be a complex structure that relies on a well-developed hierarchy, and a basemap is an extreme example of that. Imposing a new set of rules on top can be a daunting prospect! What follows is an attempt to get to grips with the graphic aspects and to present you with some alternatives. What are the standards? This is a difficult question, at least in how these standards relate to maps. The graphic requirements tend to concentrate on legibility of text (WCAG-AA standards call for a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 between text and background). It suggests that for many of our maps we could meet this requirement simply by changing labels to black, placing a halo behind them to act as the ‘background’, and leaving the rest of the content alone. A map is much more than just its labels though, and we want to improve the accessibility of the map content as well. What is different about a basemap? John Nelson has talked about ‘BASE-maps’ versus ‘base-MAPS’. A BASE-map is a deliberately subdued background map used as an underpinning for your information (think ‘Light/Dark Gray’ or ‘Topographic’). This is challenging if it is an accessible map, where contrast between symbols is important. A ‘base-MAP’ is a stronger reference map (think ‘National Geographic Style’), where your information is added to the overall picture. That makes accessibility easier to build-in. Either way there needs to be some room in the map hierarchy for the user’s information. How can we approach this? We need to find a balance between accessibility and functionality. So, we can use a color-blind-safe palette and increase contrast between map features, to make the map work for a broader audience. This means that the map will use at least some strong colors and tones. We can avoid ‘fussy’ fonts that might be difficult to pick out of the background. And we can increase the size of labels (but carefully – we don’t want to swamp the basemap with words!). Haloes help with the legibility of labels, but they can be destructive to the rest of the map information. Ultimately, we may have to consider cutting some of the content of the map. The Results I have created a map design that tries to walk a line between accessibility, and functionality as a basemap. It is more of ‘base-MAP’, but I’ve tried not to go overboard with it. The Topographic Basemap and the new ‘Accessible’ design Two versions of the map are available: This one is a single layer basemap that sits below your information. This one breaks-out the city and boundary information into a separate reference layer. This is placed over a base layer with the rest of the map content. Here are the details: Some content is removed, mainly at large scales, and some of the remaining categories have been amalgamated. Scale ranges are adjusted, so that some features (for example, road shields) appear later as you zoom in. This simplifies the content at smaller scales. Contrast is increased between those features remaining. Specifically, a strong color is applied to water areas so that they help to define the geography of the map. The palette is designed to be color-blind safe. Some colors may merge, but I have tried to restrict that to features that are otherwise distinctive, or that operate at different scales Color blindness simulations I have chosen Ubuntu as the font to use throughout the map. It has some character to it, but it is clear and legible. All labels are in black or white. Smaller labels are increased in size, but not to the point at which they take over the map. I use capitalization for some features (such as road/street names) to create a contrast with other labels. All labels have haloes, but in most cases, I’ve tried to soften the impact of them by blurring the edges and adding a touch of transparency. Using the basemaps These basemap layers will be available for you to use at the URLs linked above for the foreseeable future. The map content is updated with our regular basemap data updates. I may make periodic changes to these map styles as needed based on your feedback and our experience using the maps. If they prove popular, we’ll consider incorporating them into the core basemap set. We’ll try to give you plenty of warning if we decide to shut these URLs down and replace them. I would appreciate any feedback you care to provide, either via the comments section below, or directly at askinner@esri.com. Thanks!  Andy Skinner Color-blindness suitability was assessed using ‘Color Oracle‘. Color contrast was assessed using contrast-ratio.com. Thanks to Mark Harrower and Emily Meriam for their input. ... View more

This article was originally posted to the Esri blog website. The newest feature available in Esri Vector Basemaps is a tile set of contour lines. We’re including contours in a new multisource tile layer, as part of a web map named Topographic (with Contours). This detailed content covering the globe is available as a beta release for viewing through the new ArcGIS Online Map Viewer Beta, ArcGIS Pro 2.5 and newer, and Runtime apps built on 100.5 and newer. Users on older versions of the clients will only see the topographic map layers, not the additional contour layers. Topographic (with Contours) web map Esri Vector Basemaps provide users with a rich collection of map styles to choose from. The vector tile format allows for a nearly unlimited amount of customization of styles. Although available in ArcGIS Online for the past few years, we continue to roll out new features to enhance the experience. These vectorized contours are published as their own hosted tile layer (World_Contours_v2). You can add them to any map, including your own custom style by using the World Contours tile layer. In our new Topographic (with Contours) web map, the contours are not just draped on top of the map. In fact, the contours are not even added to this web map as a separate layer. The contours are included within a single topographic vector tile layer, integrated with the rest of the basemap features. The contours start displaying at LOD 11/1:~144K scale. The new World Topographic Map (with Contours) vector tile layer has a root.json file that includes two vector tile sources. This tile layer with multiple sources is an example of a multisource tile layer. Displaying two or more vector tile sources in a single tile layer, i.e. as a multisource tile layer, is possible when using the new Map Viewer Beta. Open the web map in Map Viewer Beta, or open the Map Viewer Beta and add the layer or web map. The JSON code in a multisource tile layer includes paths to two or more vector tile services. In our World Topographic Map (with Contours) layer style, the two sources are named esri and contours. The esri source includes all the features drawing the topographic map. This includes land color, water fill, park polygons, roads, and map labels. The contours source includes features that draw the contour lines and contour labels. The benefit of a multisource tile layer is that the features in the map are drawn from both sources and displayed in the proper display order. This is achieved by including the JSON layers from both set’s vector tiles. Layers to draw contour lines are ordered in their proper position of the code, above the land tints and below the water lines. Layers for the contour labels are ordered with other map labels near the end of the root.json code. Single source root.json style file (basemap source = esri) Multisource root.json style file (basemap source = esri, contours source = contours) Topographic web map without contours (top) | Topographic (with Contours) (bottom) We encourage users to migrate and use the Esri vector basemaps. The addition of contours brings parity between the vector topographic map and raster topo version in terms of map content. Review our plan for moving many Esri raster basemap services into mature support in the next year. How else can users take advantage of multisource tile layers?  Users can create a VTPK in Pro from their own data and publish it as a hosted tile layer. It can be combined with any of the Esri Vector Basemap styles, much like our contours. By editing the style JSON and adding the additional source and feature layer code, user-generated tiles can be integrated in the map display at any level of the map stack. For example, users could position the code for their content below other map labels without having to use separate base and reference layers. Using a multisource tile layer, there is only one map layer rendering all the content. Users can create their own tiles in Pro and combine any multiple number of layers in the same coordinate system and tiling scheme. In addition to the new Map Viewer Beta in ArcGIS Online and Enterprise 10.8.1, multisource tile layers can be viewed in ArcGIS Pro version 2.5 or newer, apps using Runtime version 100.5 or newer, & StoryMaps. Users on older versions of the Esri clients will only see the topographic map layers, not the addition of the contour layer. What’s next for the Esri Vector Basemaps? A vectorized hillshade layer to replace the current raster service that’s included in vector maps such as Topographic or Street Map (with Relief). The multisource Topographic (with Contours) tile layer will include three vector sources: esri, contours, and hillshade, providing a full vector map solution. Multisource tile layers are a new addition to the display and use of vector basemaps in ArcGIS Online. The ability to combine these multiple layers into one single vector tile layer allows a better representation of basemaps, especially in the case of our Topographic map with Contours, with the addition of our vectorized contour layer. Bookmark this Esri blog link to keep current on vector basemap releases. ... View more

Note:  This blog was originally published on the Esri Blog site. The Esri vector basemaps were updated this week with new content from our commercial data provider and community contributions. The content below details how you can influence map content and styling. Additionally, we’re sharing details on new and expanded map features. Check in on the Vector Basemaps blogs for related information. Data Contributions and Community Map Editor The Community Maps Program for Basemaps uses the best available data sources to produce a wide variety of multi-scale, online basemaps. These maps serve as a foundation for almost any GIS task. Provide your organization’s authoritative data to enhance the map. If you don’t have a collection of data layers to provide, but still want to contribute, consider adding content through the Community Maps Editor app. Edit parts of the Esri Community Maps basemap to add detailed features for universities, schools, parks, landmarks, and other special areas of interest. Style Editor A key benefit using Esri Vector Basemaps is custom cartographic styling. Through the Vector Tile Style Editor, put a unique touch on your map’s look. The Quick Editor feature single click color changes across the map. Don’t like the results? Click again. Fine tune the map style through layer control changes. Turn features off. Change colors. Replace typefaces. Adjust line widths. These are the tip of what can be done to make your mark on your design. The editor is accessible through this app or from the “change style” icon in the map viewer. See supporting documentation. Localization Esri Vector Basemaps are now available in 24 localized languages. Another expansion in the Localization efforts is the map styles available. Our creative vector styles (Charted Territory, Modern Antique, Nova, etc.) are now included in the language/regional basemap galleries. Refer to this FAQ answer for the list of available languages of the Esri vector basemaps. Places As reported earlier this year, our collection of Beta layers include extended points of interest. We initially included millions of places in the United States using SafeGraph Places as the data source. In this week’s release, we expanded our global reach outside the U.S. Millions more restaurants, stores, businesses, and other POIs are in the map from HERE Places Extract data.We’ll continue to improve the Beta items before a production release. Esri User Conference This year’s Esri User Conference is a virtual event on July 13 – 16, 2020. Many sessions related to the ArcGIS Living Atlas are available this year. Basemaps, the Style Editor, and Community Maps are a few of the topics covered. The U.C. event also provides an opportunity to connect with Esri cartographers and other staff. Navigate to the Basemap & Community Maps page. We’re part of the Living Atlas and Location & Data Services area. Register today and check us out. Feedback Need to make a correction to one of our maps? Our Feedback Services are built for this purpose. Mark up the map and enter the details. We’ll review and publish the edit to the basemaps. GeoNet | The Esri Community Visit the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World product page on GeoNet. Ask questions, share custom styles, and browse for the information you need! ... View more