ESRI Archaeology and GIS News, Winter 2007
Welcome to the Winter 2007 issue of ESRI Archaeology and GIS News, a quarterly newsletter for and about the many resources available to the ESRI archaeology and GIS user community.
In This Issue
Call for Papers
3rd Congress of Cultural Atlases: Time & Space in Eurasia
Abstract Submission Deadline: March 10, 2007
The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative requests submissions for papers, sessions, and posters on
- Digital Cultural Atlases: Projects and prototypes
- Cultural Atlas Components: Gazetteers, time periods, biography and social networks, thesauri, technical infrastructure, content sources, and display models
- Humanities GIS
- Visualization in the Humanities
- Digital Deluge: Humanities e-science and e-resource management
The congress will be held May 29–June 1, 2007, in Moscow, Russia.
No Cost ESRI Software, Documentation, How-tos, and Tools
What's New in ArcGIS 9.2 [PDF-11.7 MB]
Key Functionality for Archaeologists
Animation in ArcMap
Animate data through time, make layers transparent or turn them off to reveal layers underneath, or alter the view by zooming in and out or panning the display.
Multidimensional Data and Time
Multidimensional geoprocessing tools improve visualizing and analyzing temporal change, patterns, and trends. Support is available for netCDF time-based and multidimensional data. Change can be displayed, graphed, and animated.
CAD
Georeference CAD layers using the Georeferencing toolbar. Move, rotate, and scale your CAD layer using the mouse and create control points.
Georeferencing
New Adjust and Spline transformations have been added. Support for the new file-based geodatabase greatly improves performance of geodatabase rasters.
Terrains
Store massive surface datasets such as lidar elevation data in the geodatabase.
Excel Spreadsheets
Work in ArcGIS directly with Excel spreadsheets as tables. Excel files are listed automatically in ArcCatalog. Access any specific range of cells in a spreadsheet as a table.
Tables
New Calculate Geometry dialog box makes it easy to calculate area; perimeter; length; x,y locations; and centroids.
Geoprocessing
ModelBuilder now supports iteration using list, series, and feedback loops.
Spatial Statistics
New Multi-Distance Spatial Cluster Analysis (Ripley's K function) tool analyzes features at multiple distances and scales to see where spatial processes causing clustering are most pronounced. Enhanced spatial statistics tools include Mean Center, Central Feature, Hot Spot Analysis, Cluster Outlier, Spatial Autocorrelation, and High/Low Clustering.
Help Search
The new search engine provides natural language capabilities and allows you to search using everyday language including keywords, phrases, and questions.
ESRI Tutorial Videos
Animation clips show you how to perform a variety of tasks. Each tutorial segment has additional text describing actions in the segment. Using the text with the new search engine finds more matches and information.
Script Tools at esri.com
XT Download SRTM File
Download Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) files from the U.S. Geological Survey Web site and mosaic the downloaded files.
Block Diagram
A script for ArcScene allows GRIDs or TINs to be displayed as solid block models.
Create 3D Polylines from Text File
Create 3D polylines from a comma-delimited text file with x, y, and z points.
Generate Lattice
Create a feature class populated with equally distributed polygons or points given a coordinate extent and values on how to divide it.
CAD Translation Using a Table-Driven Geoprocessing Script 1.2a
Two tools help in the building of a table-driven automated CAD translation.
Frequency Lite Tool
Generate a table of unique code occurrences and their frequency for a specified field within an existing table.
gps2shp
Convert GPS NMEA 0183 sentences to a point shapefile.
TapesG-ArcGIS and SRAD-ArcGIS
Compute 14 terrain attributes using Terrain Analysis Programs for the Environmental Sciences (TAPES) or 14 solar attributes for solar radiation modeling (SRAD).
Data, Maps, and Models
Newberry Library Atlas of Historical County Boundaries
This atlas includes interactive Web mapping and downloadable data on U.S. counties.
U.S. Geologic Survey Quad Maps and GIS Data Repository
Map and GIS data is available by U.S. state.
Books, Articles, and More
Shipwreck Central
This is an interactive shipwreck locator map.
A Cost-Effective Approach to GPS/GIS Integration for Archaeological Surveying
This article describes software, developed for an archaeological field survey in central Mexico, that serves as a bridge between a Garmin eTrex Legend GPS device and ArcGIS Desktop. It allows waypoints to be uploaded and downloaded from the GPS device, exports raw GPS data to shapefile and geodatabase feature classes, and provides functionality for synchronizing digital photographs with GPS waypoints to create hot link features.
Unlocking Antiquity Using GIS Technology
The Fall/Winter 2006 issue of Connect: Information Technology at New York University contains this article about using GIS in an archaeological study in Turkey.
Native Names Project
The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is working with the U.S. Geologic Survey to get U.S. Native American place-names into the Geographic Names Information System and provide pertinent information about these place-names on the National Map. The project also seeks to preserve word pronunciation and individual stories about the places.
Training
Tips on Georeferencing Scanned Maps and Aerial Photos
Harvard Graduate School of Design manual on georeferencing images using ArcGIS
Bringing Historic Maps into GIS [PPT-10.7 MB]
Harvard Map Collection PowerPoint presentation on using historical maps in a GIS
ArcLesson: Georeferencing Historic Maps with ArcGIS
Tutorial on mapping changes in a local landscape over time using historical map images
About Archaeology and GIS News
This newsletter is used only to distribute relevant information of interest to the group. You can use the online forum for GIS and archaeology discussions. To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit News and Publications.
If you have material to submit for the newsletter, or questions or comments about it, contact bbooth@esri.com.
|
