ArcGIS Blog

Mapping

ArcGIS Online

What's New in Community Maps (June 2018)

By Shane Matthews

Through the Community Program organizations contribute their local geographic content which is published and freely-hosted by Esri. Everything from basemap layers such as parks and trees, to imagery and stream gauge data can be contributed.

Detailed large-scale basemap layers and high-resolution imagery shared to the Living Atlas are what set Basemaps in ArcGIS apart from other mapping APIs. This is especially apparent when comparing some of the many college and university campuses. When our users contribute their data to the Living Atlas, basemaps are transformed into a valuable foundation that empowers them to accomplish more, as seen in the comparison of Penn State University’s campus below.

Bing Maps - Includes only roads and landuse. No value-added large-scale features for context.
ArcGIS Online - Highly-detailed map layer data that includes sports fields, pavement markings and parking lots, building footprints and more.

Latest Release

This month 51 communities have shared new and updated map layers in support of Esri’s expanding suite of high-performance basemaps and imagery services. Map layers include aerial photography, boundaries, buildings, owner parcels, parks, points of interest, trees, and similar large-scale features that enhance our foundational information sets for the world to use. Let’s tour our newest communities with these interactive Story Maps below.

Basemap Release June 2018
World Imagery Release June 2018

How does my organization contribute?

It’s easy! The Community Maps Program works with authoritative GIS data contributions to build the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World consisting of reference and thematic maps covering a wide variety of topics. Community Maps members participate by contributing data in one or more of the following categories.

Community Maps Program Categories

You can begin contributing by registering here!

Related Basemap Blogs

The recent update to Esri Vector Basemaps brings a handful of new features to the maps as well as a new style added to our collection. Read More >

Share this article