Embedding maps with data/files, like online data portals.

05-17-2021 12:41 AM
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New Contributor II


For my Masters Thesis, I have put together groundwater geochemical maps for an enormous region. The maps contain polygons that I delineated, which reflect areas in the groundwater system with distinct groundwater chemistry. Each polygon was constructed from a few to several groundwater chemistry data points.

I have a variety of data I would like to add to the map. I have developed box plots for the groundwater properties of each of the polygons I delineated, and I have calculated mean residence times and a few other parameters for each of of the polygons, as well. I also have cross sections, well logs, and all the groundwater chemistry data (which is already in the attributes table of each layer file).

I have worked with several online data portals, where you can select data points or areas containing data points and a variety of data for the respective data points will pop up. I am hoping that I can turn my map into something like that where it is somewhat "interactive". My goal is for someone to be able to select one or a few of the groundwater chemistry data points (by clicking them), and a well log, the chemical data, and/or information on the polygons will pop up.

I'm wondering if this is possible to do in ArcMap.

Any help or comments would be appreciated!

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3 Replies
MVP Esteemed Contributor

What ArcGIS applications do you have access to? Who are your intended audience/ user(s)? Do you want to share interactive maps with those user(s)? Do these users have ArcGIS Desktop/ ArcMap licenses?

ArcMap is an interactive interface where the user can get spatial/ related information by clicking the feature(s), among other functionalities. But this is a standalone Desktop Application.

Adding Attachments to Features 

Using Hyperlinks 

In case your expected user doesn't have an ArcGIS Desktop license (and they would like to interact with the map through web browser), you could publish the data as web layers, and create Webmap/ Web Application, as desired.

ArcGIS Storymaps are also a great way of presenting your work where you could include not only maps, but also relevant images, videos and descriptions, etc. Here are a few samples,

1. Nitrate Groundwater Pollution.

2. Groundwater in the Colorado River Basin 

3. California's Groundwater Online 

Check with your department, if they have ArcGIS Online account, and add you as its member. Else, check out the 21 days trial of ArcGIS.

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New Contributor II

Thanks for the reply! Those examples are pretty much exactly what I'm shooting for - especially the third example. Something very similar, at least. You're definitely getting an acknowledgment in my Masters Thesis!! Haha. 

I'm putting the maps together for the government, so I imagine they will end up as an open source online data portal somewhere. It would be really cool if I could put a simple version of it together first. I guess the intended audience would be people with ArcGIS licensing, for now. More than likely, I'll be sharing the results with my supervisors through my own computer, so the intended audience won't really need a license.

I just set up ArcGIS Pro software on my computer, but I don't have access to ArcGIS Online. Perhaps I'll get a trial when I have everything ready for the final map. It will be a few months at least, but I'd like to plan it out now.

Do you think I can have it all together in ArcGIS Pro and then just transfer everything to ArcGIS Online, or is it a fairly different platform? I would love to check it out, but I don't want to waste my trial! Lol.

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MVP Esteemed Contributor

Is the ArcGIS Pro license provided by your academic institute? Please check with them for the availability of ArcGIS Online as well. In case they are not aware if they have an ArcGIS Online account (or they are eligible for a complementary account), they need to reach out to their local Esri distributor.

Your workflow consists of 3 broad steps.

1. Authoring: Creation of Maps, layers and linked tables with appropriate symbology, labels, extent, bookmarks, etc. All these will be done in ArcGIS Pro.

Also collect all other media details like pictures (static/gif), video, description, presentation slides, etc.

2. Publishing: Once appropriate maps and layers are authored, they need to be published to ArcGIS Online. Once the layers are published, add them to webmap / scene (for 3D). 

3. Use: If interested in storymaps, you could create one by adding the webmaps along with the additional non-map content that you have collected. You may also choose to include a web application (e.g. ArcGIS Dashboard application). Choosing an appropriate template is essential.

*Storymaps can be shared with public, thus all your faculty members, students, and others can access it from their respective machines. If you need to present your work at any conference, the storymap can act as your interactive presentation (just need to access the URL over internet).

All the best.

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