There have been some extraordinary sunsets where I live. One day as I ran through the orange groves, I turned a corner and was stopped in my tracks—not by a snake, as has occasionally happened, but by the beauty of an amazing cloudscape. The sky was painted all sorts of colours looking as if a painter had crafted it with a magic brush. What struck me most was the intensity of the sunbeams slashing through the clouds and across the sky.
My first thought: I must paint this.
My second thought: I must find a way to put this on a map.
So what to map? I have several in-the-works ideas about incorporating clouds in projects because, to be honest, if I get to add a cloud to something, it makes me happy. However, I specifically wanted to incorporate those sunbeams. Finally, the idea came to me. I could map the sunniest cities in America and use those beams thematically to showcase those cities.
I enjoyed the idea so much that I decided to make two maps! The first was more of a drawing, and the second was a 3D example.
I ran over to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to find out what the sunniest cities in America are.
1. Yuma, Arizona
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun_yuma.jpg)
2. Redding, California
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun_redding.jpg)
3. Las Vegas, Nevada
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun_vegas.jpg)
4. Phoenix, Arizona
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun_phoenix.jpg)
5. Tucson, Arizona
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun_tucson.jpg)
6. El Paso, Texas
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun_el_paso.jpg)
Map One
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun-Ray-Small.jpg)
As this map was more painterly, I did most of the work in my favourite drawing package, but ArcGIS Pro was extremely useful in getting this right.
1. In ArcGIS Pro, I found the perfect angle.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/angle_1.jpg)
2. But it is amazing how flat the earth actually is, so I bumped up the vertical exaggeration 25 times.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/angle_2.jpg)
3. Then I painted it.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/angle_3.jpg)
Map Two
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sun01.jpg)
In case you are like me and appreciate the potential of 3D and enjoy working in it, here are the steps I took to make the map above:
1. I wanted to maintain that painterly look, so I exported the imagery, applied some effects in a graphics package, and georeferenced that image back into place.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/posterize.jpg)
2. I then drew some suns.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Sun-01.png)
3. Next, I included some clouds (my favourite part).
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/clouds.jpg)
4. And I added some sunbeams.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sunbeam.jpg)
5. I placed the sun, sunbeam, and cloud icons into the scene. You can totally have these assets too. I went on to place
• The sun at each city’s centre.
• The sunbeams at the city centre as well.
• The clouds in aesthetically pleasing positions, adjusting their height with the handy placement tools.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/controls.jpg)
Also, I symbolized each feature with a picture marker and, importantly, I made sure the rotation was set to Billboard with signpost rotation. This ensures that the image is always facing the screen.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/symbolforsun.jpg)
6. I changed the Atmospheric lighting and Illumination settings.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/scene-settings.jpg)
7. I changed the vertical exaggeration and shading.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/elevation.jpg)
Here are a couple of stills from that scene.
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sun04.jpg)
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sun03.jpg)
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sun02.jpg)
![](https://www.esri.com/arcgis-blog/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/sun01.jpg)
Hopefully, this gives you some ideas for your projects. I had a blast making these maps.
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