Cool Maps
Spatially intelligent maps and apps for science
Science is the basis for fighting climate change together. Esri is committed to providing resources to help create a sustainable future.
Scientists communicate with policy makers and sectors of society by transforming geospatial data into actionable information in geo-enabled apps. Designed to run on the web, smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices, many of the GIS apps below work on any device with no coding required.
- Explorer apps
- Online analysis apps
- Dashboards
- ArcGIS StoryMaps
- ArcGIS Hub
Explorer apps
These web applications let you take a close-up look at science topics and observations around the world.
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A collection of maps that use the Esri Mapping Platform, for demonstration, to show how solutions can be enriched with the power of location.
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Landsat Explorer
Navigate the world with Landsat satellite imagery. Landsat uses the electromagnetic spectrum, revealing what's invisible to the human eye. -
Sentinel Explorer
Visualize and understand how our planet has changed over time through the power of Sentinel satellites, which gather data beyond what we can see. -
World Imagery Wayback
Experience dynamic historical exploration and discovery of previous versions of the World Imagery basemap. -
Ecological Tapestry of the World
Explore global ecology in unprecedented detail via the Ecological Land Units (ELUs) for land-use planning and ecosystem services assessment. -
Ecological Marine Unit Explorer
Explore this unique collection of 37 full-ocean-depth categories for classifying and preserving marine environments. -
Arctic DEM Explorer
Explore Arctic elevation based on the Polar Geospatial Center's Arctic Digital Elevation Model (DEM). Arctic Landsat imagery is updated daily. -
Antarctic REMA Explorer
Investigate and explore the Reference Elevation Model for Antarctica (REMA), as a DEM created by the Polar Geospatial Center. -
Hurricane Aware
Understand hurricane forecasts and impacts using layers from the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. -
Sea Ice Aware
An app to help visualize monthly changes in Arctic and Antarctic sea ice extent, courtesy of the National Snow and Ice Data Center and Esri. -
Topobathy Explorer
Explore the rich history of US topographic maps from 1882-2006, courtesy of the US Geological Survey (USGS) in collaboration with Esri. -
Manhattan Population Viewer
Explore the difference between daytime and American Community Survey resident population on Manhattan in New York City. -
European Climate Adapt Viewer
Explore a large collection of EU climate forecast models and derivatives, courtesy of the European Environment Agency (use in Chrome). -
Explore Mars
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) 3D application provides detailed visualizations from 50 years of NASA exploration. -
US High Tide Flooding Probability Scenarios
Learn about the issue of nuisance flooding throughout the US and explore a range of mean sea level rise scenarios through the year 2100.
Online analysis apps
These applications allow you to view or perform online analytics on a variety of science subjects.
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Distribution Mapping and Analysis Portal
See how the ranges of many marine species are shifting in response to changing ocean conditions, courtesy of NOAA Fisheries. -
Olympia and Pacific Oyster Portal
Explore over 2000 records of oyster data from 1602 to 2020 by the Pew Research Center and the Native Olympia Oyster Collaborative. -
CroplandCROS
Access US cropland commodities, conduct statistical area analysis of crop commodities over the past several years, and map areas of interest. -
Water Balance App
Access data from NASA's Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) and analyze changes in freshwater availability over time. -
US Precipitation Forecast
Access and analyze the real-time precipitation forecast for the next three days, updated hourly from NOAA's National Weather Service. -
Drought Aware
Access drought monitoring data to analyze drought intensity in the US from March 2000 to the present. -
Heat Waves
Assess various climate model scenarios within a chosen year when levels of temperature and humidity may pose a considerable threat to human life. -
Future Heat Events
Assess how temperatures are changing according to both historical data and future projections of temperature. -
Heat Events and Social Vulnerability
Analyze the projected impact in the US as the number of heat days increases. The social vulnerability is ranked for each county. -
Cumulative Exposure to Climate Change
Assess indices of climate hazards such as warming, drought, heat waves, fires, precipitation, floods, storms, water scarcity, and sea level rise. -
Intact Habitat Near Me
Analyze your community's potential for green infrastructure, including remaining intact habitat and other measures of natural and human assets. -
How Green Is Your Community?
Compare changes between aggregated 2011 National Land Cover Database categories with The Clark Labs 2050 Conterminous US Land Cover Prediction. -
Policy Maps
A myriad of maps and apps aid social scientists in identifying trends, making policy decisions, and communicating with policy makers. -
SSURGO Downloader
Download ready-to-use map packages for a variety of analyses with more than 150 attributes from USDA's Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO). -
Sea Level Rise and Critical Infrastructure
This app displays critical US infrastructure assets that would be affected by sea-level rise as you move the flood stage slider. -
Interactive Vegetation Change Mapping
Interactively investigate the change in vegetation indices between dates you choose, in the area you choose, using a Landsat 8 imagery. -
Viewshed Analysis
Perform viewshed analysis via the Esri REST API against data hosted by Esri and learn more about other elevation analysis services. -
National Water Model
Analyze daily stream flow on 2 million segments across the US. Brought to you by the National Water Center’s Office of Water Prediction. -
Compare Global Land Cover Change
See global land cover change at 300 meters from, 1992–2018, using time series data from the European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative maps. -
The Climate Explorer
Explore projected climate conditions for every county in the contiguous United States that may put people, property, and other assets at risk. -
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Dashboards
These applications increase the use and value of scientific projects and environmental management strategies by providing near real-time displays for monitoring instruments, events, or activities, oftentimes for at-a-glance decision-making.
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Coronavirus COVID-19 Global Monitoring
Prof. Lauren Gardner’s group at Johns Hopkins University is tracking the spread of COVID-19 in real-time. -
The Science of Coronavirus
This dashboard allows you to explore research areas currently focused on by scholars worldwide seeking solutions to this global pandemic. -
WHO Novel Coronavirus Situation
Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases are reported by World Health Organization (WHO) and National Health Commission. -
ICAO Coronavirus Web Globe
The air traffic display shows the spread of COVID-19, based on the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) dashboard, updated daily. -
Argo Float Status
Summary from th Argo floats that have delivered data within the last 30 days – Esri Living Atlas Team in collaboration with WMO JCOMMOPS & UNESCO -
Tempe Opioid Abuse Probable EMS Call
City of Tempe Opioid Abuse Probable EMS Call Dashboard. -
Wildfire Status Dashboard
Wildfire Status Dashboard by International Association of Fire Chiefs -
USDA Forest Inventory Analysis
USDA Forest Inventory Analysis Pests Impact Portal with an imbedded story map. -
Hurricane Impact Assessments and Triage Dashboard
This dashboard provides up-to-date summary of diver-collected data from Puerto Rico's Hurricane Impact Assessment and Triage efforts. -
Batman Villains
Even a Batman Villains Dashboard! Created by Esri -
Coral Reefs at Risk of Bleaching
Coral Reefs at Risk of Bleaching Created by Esri's Living Atlas Team . -
Global Active Fires and Hotspots
Displays locations and stats of detectable global thermal activity from the MODIS sensor on-board NASA's Aqua and Terra satellites. -
Australian Bush Fires
January 2020 -
Summary of "Biodiversity"
Indicators linked to Urban Vegetation – “in French” -
World Database of Protected Areas
Search and view protected sites in your local area. See what year they were given protected status, their size, and what IUCN protected category. -
Differential Privacy in the US Census
Explore the negative implications of instrumenting census data with ‘differential privacy.’ Will small towns ‘disappear’ as a result? -
Austin, TX Onion Creek Flooding Simulation
Provides prototype 3D web scenes to choose flood height and see various impacts of flooding on buildings, bridges, and roads in Austin, TX. -
National Weather Service SAFER Dashboards
View dashboards providing situational awareness for emergency response to several types of hazards, and access additional resources. -
ArcGIS StoryMaps
ArcGIS StoryMaps and Esri Story Maps let you combine authoritative maps with narrative text, images, and multimedia content. They make it easy to harness the power of maps and geography to tell your story. Check out these science-themed stories.
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Provisional State of the Global Climate 2022
The World Meteorological Organization outlines seven key indicators to provide a broad view of the global climate. -
Community Scientists Observations
ArcGIS data collection applications provide options for volunteers to contribute information. -
Protecting our pristine seas
Dr. Enric Sala discusses ocean conservation and an application to help governments around the world identify and prioritize protection areas. -
Addressing the Climate Crisis
Learn why geospatial solutions are key to understanding and responding to climate change. -
COVID-19 Trends for U.S. Counties
This series of interactive maps, which are calibrated and updated by county, can help determine when a local economy can safely reopen. -
The Half-Earth Project
The Half-Earth Project focuses on conserving half of Earth's land and seas to ensure the long-term health of species and the planet. -
Speaking the "Language" of Spatial Analysis
Explore this catalog of stories that focus on spatial analysis, scientific workflows, journal articles, and scientific work in the field. -
USA Wildfires
Use the maps in this story to access a live feed of current wildfire locations in the United States that shows acreage and containment data. -
Extreme Heat
Discover how prolonged periods of unusually hot weather can be dangerous to human health and safety. -
Global Heat Action Plans
This crowdsourced story shows how cities worldwide are including extreme heat data in disaster response planning initiatives. -
Action Landscapes
The Nature Conservancy shares its strategy for advancing and taking action toward healthy agricultural systems in Latin America. -
Urban Adaptation Map Viewer
Learn about current and future climate hazards European cities face, the vulnerability of cities to these hazards, and their adaptive capacity. -
DTN WeatherOps GIS Catalog
Discover how WeatherOps GIS can aid scientific storytelling with one of the largest selections of weather layers available. -
The Nature Conservancy Conservation Gateway
The Nature Conservancy Conservation Gateway features maps on resilient and connected landscapes and stories about conservation strategies. -
Mission Blue Hope Spots
In this collection of stories, Mission Blue showcases all of their existing Hope Spots—areas critical to the health of the ocean. -
Nature and Environment
Esri created this album of dozens of spectacular environmental science maps, collections, and articles to educate, engage, and inspire. -
KAZAVA Project
Discover stories for a project funded by the National Science Foundation in Southern Africa’s Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area. -
National Geographic Explorer Stories
Experience the groundbreaking work of National Geographic Explorers in this collection of stories. -
Earthly Stories
This collection, courtesy of Esri’s Application Prototype Lab, includes 18 stories that scientists are sure to enjoy. -
ECCO dashboard
The Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (ECCO) consortium provides estimates of ocean circulation and its role in climate. -
Coronavirus SoS
The Center for Information Convergence and Strategy shares contributing research fields and scientific concepts in the battle against COVID-19. -
Geospatial technology. Mapped.
Access the first comprehensive knowledge reference system, spatialization base map, and exploration platform for the geospatial domain. -
What is Under the Ocean’s Hood?
Discover how the Ecological Marine Units (EMUs) 3D data project uses geostatistics to map the bottom of the deep ocean. -
Permafrost in a changing Arctic
Learn about recent studies of coastal and offshore permafrost as well as the specific interests of Arctic peoples who live along the coast. -
World Climate Regions
This global dataset, visualizing 18 World Climate Regions, is documented in the publication accessible at the end of the story. -
Accelerating Agricultural Research
Explore the United States Department of Agriculture Partnerships for Data Innovations’ 2019 seminar in this narrative story. -
World Terrestrial Ecosystems
This new approach for developing a World Terrestrial Ecosystems Map is documented in the publication accessible at the end of the story. -
NASA Products for the Australian Fires 2019/2020
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) can measure smoke and aerosols generated by Australian fires. -
Spatial Analysis and Differential Privacy
Explore the possible negative implications of instrumenting census block data with a ‘differential privacy’ methodology. -
Killer Heat in the United States
The Union of Concerned Scientists' narrative map shows the projected increases in extreme heat across the United States due to climate change. -
Ecological Marine Units
Explore the background of Ecological Marine Units (EMUs), a 3D baseline mapping of the ocean based on environmental data. -
Explore a Tapestry of World Ecosystems
Access this narrative story featuring the new global ecosystems map published by the United States Geological Survey. -
An Ocean of Story Maps
This catalog of stories focuses on ocean and coastal science, as well as conservation, resource management, and maritime industries. -
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ArcGIS Hub
ArcGIS Hub brings open data, web apps, dashboards, StoryMaps, and more into one online platform to help science organizations engage and collaborate more effectively with their communities.
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UNH/CCOM-JHC GIS Portal
Explore a wide range of open mapping web apps and data layers, including those for the US continental shelf and global Seabed 2030. -
Geospatial Conservation Atlas
The Nature Conservancy’s Hub, featuring local initiative portals and conservation data, focuses on four global priority areas of conservation. -
Unstable Ground
The Woodwell Climate Research Center shares ongoing research on climate change in the Arctic and what it means for the rest of the planet. -
The Deep Ocean Observing Strategy (DOOS)
DOOS, a National Science Foundation-funded project, promotes a deep ocean community whose members collaborate across disciplines and fields. -
Alaska Coastal Mapping Strategy
The Alaska Mapping Executive Committee shares goals, resources, and other information about its coastal mapping strategy and implementation plan. -
GIS for Climate
Esri shares resources including climate data, visualizations, ArcGIS lessons, and more to spur analysis and help develop advanced workflows. -
Oceans
Esri’s Hub for ocean resources includes apps for analytics, blog posts, StoryMaps, and information on the Esri Ocean, Weather, and Climate Forum. -
Global Earth Challenge
This Hub engages millions of people worldwide and integrates a wealth of data points from new and ongoing community science projects. -
Indexing Critical Coastal Infrastructure
The University of Rhode Island Marine Affairs Coastal Resilience Lab catalogs land and structures vulnerable to climate change in the Caribbean. -
Mapping the Deep with Deep Sea Dawn
Esri shares the mission and maps behind Chief Scientist Dawn Wright's historic dive to Challenger Deep, the deepest place on Earth. -
Esri COVID-19 GIS Hub
One of the most reliable and community-driven ways to map and monitor the ongoing pandemic, including updates on access to the latest vaccines. -
HHS Protect Public Data Hub
An authoritative resource on the current state of the American health care system, based on the latest health sciences data and analyses. -
SCDHEC hub
COVID-19 dashboards, StoryMaps, open data, public notices, and more from South Carolina’s collaborations in GIS with field programs and partners. -