Geography 292: Geospatial Analysis with Web GIS

The readings from Chapters 3 and 4 focus on ArcGIS Experience Builder and ArcGIS Web AppBuilder, both of which expand the capabilities of Web GIS by allowing users to create fully interactive applications. Simply put, these tools take web maps to another level. They provide a framework for designing customizable, user-focused GIS experiences that integrate maps, data, and interactive tools into a single platform. ArcGIS Web AppBuilder emphasizes convenience through prebuilt widgets and templates, allowing users to quickly create functional apps without coding. The art of coding is something I struggle with, so the use of this system is innovative. Beginners are especially being benefitted from this network for projects that need to be completed efficiently. In contrast, ArcGIS Experience Builder offers more flexibility and a modern design approach, allowing users to create more dynamic and visually engaging applications. Its drag-and-drop interface makes it adaptable across devices, which reflects the growing importance of mobile-friendly GIS.

 One of the most important takeaways from these chapters is how user interaction and design play a major role in Web GIS. It is not just about displaying data, but about how users engage with it through tools like filters, search functions, and interactive dashboards. This highlights a shift from simply presenting geographic information to creating meaningful, user-driven experiences. An application of these ideas using my own data could involve creating an interactive map of meaningful locations in my life, such as places I have lived or traveled. Using Experience Builder, I could design an app that allows users to filter locations by category and view images or descriptions tied to each point. This would create a more immersive and organized experience compared to a basic web map. These chapters also raise questions about when to prioritize simplicity versus customization, and how design choices can influence how effectively users interpret geographic data.

The readings from Chapters 1 and 2 focus on introducing Web GIS and how it has evolved into an accessible system for sharing and analyzing geographic data. Simply describing Web GIS as online mapping would be an understatement – the merging of cloud computing, web services, and GIS has completely transformed how spatial information is used. Web GIS allows users to access data from anywhere and create interactive applications without needing advanced programming skills; in other words, it is quite user friendly. One of the most important concepts discussed, in my opinion, is the role of the geospatial cloud. Particularly in ArcGIS Online, this platform allows users to store, manage, and share geographic data through hosted feature layers, which can be created from simple formats like CSV files. These layers act as the foundation for building web maps and apps, which can then be customized with symbology, pop-ups, and attachments such as images or videos. The workflow from data to layer to map to app highlights how interconnected each component of Web GIS is.

Another key takeaway is how Web GIS supports a wide range of applications, from government decision-making to everyday navigation. The shift toward real-time data and mobile access makes GIS more relevant, making it more used than ever before. This also raises questions about data accuracy and management, especially as more users contribute information. An application of these ideas using my own data could involve creating a map of places I have lived or traveled to. By uploading location data and attaching photos, I could build an interactive app using the Attachment Viewer template. This would allow users to explore each location in a structured and visually engaging way, demonstrating how Web GIS can be used not only for analysis, but also for personal experience.

Chapter 5: This chapter goes over the intricacies of ArcGIS Enterprise, which to my understanding is a form of ArcGIS online. It includes data from the Esri cloud, with the difference being that Enterprise is a locally managed app/databank to be used by members of an organization. It has a wide variety of apps and features that can be implemented, such as ArcGIS Servers, ArcGIS Web Adaptor, ArcGIS Data Store, etc.  This chapter also goes over the different web layer types that can be created in ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise, such as raster tile layers that are created from image files, vector tile layers that are more customizable and use the PBF file format, and map image layers that can be drawn by the server or by using files from a cache.

Chapter 6: This chapter is about spatiotemporal data, which includes things like moving data points that can be used for EMS purposes (tracking ambulances, fire engines, squad cars), and fixed data points like crimes, points of interest, and car crashes. The chapter also covers real-time GIS which covers continuous data points which change over time. Examples of this are temperature, wind speed, and precipitation. An interesting topic in this chapter is IoT, or Internet of Things. This refers to the modern phenomenon where a lot of the things we use to live our day-to-day lives are capable of sensing conditions and communicating with one-another. A good example of this are smart cars that are capable of self driving. These cars use the IoT in tandem with built-in sensors and computers to calculate their own position as well as the position of things around them, even in conditions that humans would not be able to see well in.  It was also interesting to do the tutorials for this chapter and see that the map was updating in real time.

An application for chapter 6’s information could be used on trail maps to report things like trail obstructions, hazardous conditions, and sightings of dangerous wildlife. Trail cams could be used along with hiker reports to create a map for the trail that could be used by park rangers.

Payne Week 4 

Chapter 5 talks about how ArcGIS Enterprise allows organizations to build high performance WebGIS systems through on premises hosting and tile caching. Unlike ArcGIS Online Enterprise runs on private servers which gives organizations flexibility to match their needs. Tile caching is a big focus in this chapter and is a technique where map tiles are pre-rendered at different scales so they can be quickly ‘delivered’ to users rather than being generated every time a request is made.This makes working with large datasets on smaller devices like phones much easier. This chapter also discusses different layer types such as raster tiles, vector tiles, map image layers, and feature tiles. I found this chapter a little more confusing and technical than some of the others and I had to reread a few parts but after that it was easy to understand. 

Chapter 6 goes over spatiotemporal data, which is information that tracks where things are and how they change over time. GIS tools like ArcGIS Velocity and ArcGIS Dashboards can take the raw information given from this data and turn it into something useful and visual. The concept of spatiotemporal data seemed to be pretty straightforward but I think that it would be a challenge to both handle the large amounts of data that are collected on a daily basis and to create a successful visualization of the data that leaves out the non important information. 

Possible applications: With modern weather apps and navigation apps collecting so much data I imagine there could be an interface where severe weather patterns are mapped alongside directions to allow drivers to know what is coming in real time. An example of this would be if you were driving down the highway in light rain but there is a pocket of very heavy rain with limited visibility ahead and your navigation app could both warn you and give a real time radar image that is laid over your navigation screen. 

Payne Week 3 

Chapter 3: This chapter starts by introducing the Experiences Builder which is a primary tool in this chapter. This tool deals with 2D and 3D data and seems to be pretty tuneable to what you need. This tool was pretty easy to use and get used to. The step by step tutorials helped clear up a little bit of confusion I had with the tool and I only had to go back through a few sections of the tutorials. I overall struggled a little with this chapter but not anymore or less than I have with the others. 

Chapter 4: This chapter focuses on how to build mobile GIS apps and the benefits of doing this. A large focus is how the use of this allows for more accessibility to a larger audience of people as practically everyone has a phone on them. After the introduction of this the chapter focuses on the three step process/approach to building mobile apps with GIS. These three different types of approaches to building a mobile app are browser based, native based, and hybrid based. The last part of the chapter describes different useful Esri mobile apps and what they are meant for. 

Possible application: One possible application could be creating an app to map and track animals’ trail uses over time and include data such as daily weather, seasons, and elevation to try to identify patterns with certain groups or species of animals. 

Chapter 5 focuses on caching and on-premises in WebGIS. This focuses on making a secure and private WebGIS using ArcGIS enterprise. This chapter explains tile caching, which enhances map performance by rendering tiles at different scales rather than just drawing maps when it is requested. By caching the maps being used, they load much faster. This is especially the case when large datasets are being used. I found this to be a super cool feature and would help not crash your personal device. This is helpful in the web version because a large desktop computer that is more efficient is not the device being handled. Although the performance is much faster there are still tradeoffs. This tradeoff being that it gets harder to update data dynamically. One question I have after this chapter is how organizations decided to used cached data rather than real time data that we previously learned about. On-premises is when the GIS infrastructure is hosted on your own private server. This additionally adds to the map being more secure and customizable. The catch to this feature is that it requires more knowledge on IT compared to the typical GIS server. These are helpful for organizations to create private maps and have full control over over the infrastructure. This also can assist companies in following their strict regulations for the GIS maps. The tutorial explains how to create a portal and compare raster and vector tiles on top and side by side. This chapter was much more confusing compared to the last few weeks, but it was explained well throughout the textbook.

An application that could be created using this chapter is a map of a local park. This map would include all the features, including where each individual tree, bench, bush, etc is located. By using the tile caching explained in this chapter the map would not need to be re-rendered each time a user zooms in and out. This is very similar to how Google Maps works, but would be smaller and have more specific data for the location being mapped.

Chapter 6 is focused on spatiotemporal data and real-time GIS. Spatiotemporal data is data that combines time and location. This allows for users to analyze how things change over time. With how long the term is, I was pleasantly surprised with how simple the concept of it was to grasp. Real-time GIS systems create live data streams. It explains IoT, which is a network of things (a variety of sensors on things such as cars, planes, biochips, and security cameras). IoT is utilized for smart cities, infrastructure management, environmental quality monitoring, management, and precise agriculture. This also includes connected cars, health, and smart homes. This was interesting to see how random objects that many people have acquire data and transform it into useful information. A specific example the book provided was extensive routing through smart cars. This led me wondering how much of our world and technology we use is a part of GIS. However, like the last chapter there are additionally many challenges with real-time data. This include managing the large volume of data, fast processing and visualization, and making sure the data continues to stay accurate. The tutorials of this chapter take you through finding data and fitting it into the functional requirements they want the map to include. It also includes how to create a dashboard app based off the web map created.

An application idea for this chapter is tracking deforestation with spatiotemporal data. This could be done in an urban area, for example Columbus due to it being the closest large city.  The real-time data could be utilized to alert city planners when too many trees are being removed rather than replanted. This can ensure further construction in the area considers parks and small gardens within the city to keep the nature alive in the area.

Chapter 3: 

In the very beginning, the chapter starts off with information and details about the experience builder app, which is what we would be using for pretty much the rest of the chapter. I thought it was interesting because it talked about it as if it were the “end all be all” of webGIS. I think it was somewhat of an understandable explanation because it has overall been pretty easy to use, quite similar to ArcGIS Pro, but quite a bit easier to use. Throughout the beginning of this chapter, it reminded me quite a lot of working with Adobe, which is a system that I always struggled to use, but with the detailed tutorials for this section, it wasn’t too hard to work through. I did have a slight hiccup at the beginning while trying to add the data for the map. I think GIS has definitely continued to be very tedious, and as I add in both the maps for the beginning sections of chapter 3, it was not a very complicated process, but I did accidentally skip over the parts where I needed to actually select the maps, which made it a little confusing, but I eventually figured it out.

Chapter 4: 

Throughout the beginning of the chapter, it talks a lot about the advantages of mobile GIS and the avenues that allow for the system to be used and curated in such a way. It mentions how beneficial it is, including how a wider range of people are able to use it, also with the wide range of technologies curated for it as well, mentioning the several apps and systems that were created to support it. On the other hand, it does mention how this creates some technological limitations for the systems as well. In my experience in this course, having a web GIS system has definitely made it quite a lot easier to do the work in this course. 

It was also really interesting to learn about the mobile aspects of field work and GIS, which I thought was just fun to learn about since I hope to do field work in the future. It was also interesting learning about Survey123 because I hadn’t really expected there to be a surveying component of GIS, although it makes sense. Also, the differences between web design and Connect that allow for different levels of complexity for the surveys themselves. Tutorials: I was a little confused working on the tutorials for this chapter, especially during 4.3, because the instructions were a little different from what they actually looked like, so I was kind of just clicking around trying to find different stuff in the instructions. 

Ideas: 

An idea I have, using mainly chapter 3, would be to use the mapping style to track rising water altitudes to also watch the impacts they have on communities, agriculture, etc., in the areas close to such.  

Chapter three talks about the Experience Builder app. This app can work with 2D and 3D data, has a lot of pre-made widgets, and is very customizable. To make a web experience, you pick a template and theme, add data, add and customize widgets, and then share it. A web experience has a single theme, and each page has a template. A window can be added to a page, and it only has body content. A widget is a JavaScript or HTML component that executes specific functions. Basic widgets perform as app tools such as map, query, and survey. A layout widget helps organize widgets such as sections, rows, and a sidebar. A widget can perform message or data actions. A message action performs actions automatically when triggered, while data actions require users to click and select an action to perform. A message action has a trigger, a target, and an action. The tutorial for this chapter took me much longer to complete. There were a lot more discrepancies in the textbook versus the actual interface. I had an especially hard time figuring out the triggers, but I eventually did. Besides the setbacks, I had a fun time creating a web experience.

Chapter 4 talks about mobile GIS, how to build mobile apps, and use Survey123. Phones do not need wires and can be used anywhere. Feature layers are read-only on Mobile GIS. To be able to edit them, you have to enable editing on the feature layers. You can make a view layer from a hosted feature layer, which allows you to have specific people able to edit, so the public sees any edits immediately. A feature layer can contain a feature template, which makes editing easier and ensures data integrity. You can have preset symbols, data, and default attribute values, which help make sure that no invalid values are entered. Mobile app development includes a browser-based approach, a native-based approach, and a hybrid-based approach. A browser-based approach uses HTML, Java, and CSS. This costs less but has a limited number of features. A native-based approach requires development skills. They are more expensive, cannot run on multiple platforms, but have deep-level access to the hardware of the device. A hybrid-based approach combines browser-based and native-based. Field maps capture locations. Track viewer allows administrators to manage the security of those locations. Survey123 provides two ways to design forms: Survey123 Web Designer and Survey123 Connect. The web designer is easier to use, but connect supports more advanced questions. LBS provides information or entertainment. VGI is spatial data produced by citizens rather than data producers. VR is a computer-generated simulation of a 3D map that can be interacted with. AR overlays computer-generated information on the live view. I had a lot of trouble with tutorial 4.4.

Idea: I could use chapters 3 and 4 to create a survey for people hiking in Colorado to report Mountain Pine Beetles. Chapter 4 can be used to create the survey and map with POIs, and chapter 3 can be used to make an infographic about Mountain Pine Beetles and include maps of where they are located.

Chapter 3

This chapter focuses on Web AppBuilder for ArcGIS, one of the most user-friendly tools that allows individuals to create interactive web applications without coding. Instead, Web AppBuilder uses a visual, real-time editing interface with many premade widgets. It further explains how users can build apps by selecting a theme, adding a web map, and configuring various widgets that provide functionality such as navigation, data visualization, filtering, and analysis. Through this system, it is the most flexible and configurable of all the other apps. Regarding widgets, the chapter highlights the importance of them and distinguishes between those that require data and those that do not. The tutorial at the end shows you how to create a web app displaying data on hurricanes and earthquakes. Also included were quick mini-tutorials on how to configure various widgets, like data-independent widgets, chart-type widgets, and filter-type widgets. I liked exploring all the different widget options and drawing graphics with different pre-made symbols.

Chapter 4

Similar to the previous chapter, this one focuses on another app- this time Mobile GIS. This chapter explains how necessary it is to have mobile geographic information system functions in a world that is very smartphone-heavy. After an introduction of the main mobile concepts, the chapter discusses three approaches to building mobile apps. I noticed that this organizational approach was similar to chapter 2’s process of making a configurable app in that it was another three-step process. I guess processes come in threes! There are browser-based, native-based (downloadable and installed), and hybrid-based (combination of browser and native) approaches to developing a mobile app. There are a handful of Esri mobile apps and their different purposes are described. The tutorial also relates to these apps, particularly Collector, Survey123, and ArcGIS.

Potential Future Applications

Sticking to last week’s bird theme, I could create a web app to display bird migration tracking data. This is especially important right now, as birds are beginning to migrate north for the breeding season. Using Web AppBuilder from Chapter 3, I could create an interactive web app that displays bird sightings on a 2D or 3D map allowing users to see where different species have been observed. The app could include widgets like filters to sort by bird species, date, or location, and chart tools to show trends in sightings over time. Using chapter 4 concepts, I could make this app compatible in a mobile setting. It would be much more convenient to be able to observe bird activity from your phone when you’re outdoors. This would probably use the location-based services (LBS) and volunteered geographic information (VGI). It might be best to use a hybrid-based approach to build the mobile app for easier access via download or browser. I’d need to look further into it.