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Week 9: Arc GIS Earth Assignment
10/30/2025
For this week’s assignment, the Arc GIS Earth software was examined. In this software, one can get maping data from all over the world, place it on a basemap, and create a map. This tool is a lot like Arc GIS Pro in practice, but it has less tools in order to modify the imagery and customize the products made. This lab began with an exploration of the available functions of the software, and I must admit, there were many. To begin, there were many icons across the top of the beginning page, and each function was examined. As seen in Figure 1 below, there is also a three dimensional aspect to the relief of the map, seen especially in mountainous areas.
Figure 1: Rocky Mountain relief
While the map examined above is pleasing to the eye, there are many other maps which require a different look. Thankfully, the base map can be changed, and a few of the available options can be seen below in Figure 2. Also, as seen in Figure 3, wherever the user zooms into, there will be coordinates displayed for that location. This function is very useful in determining the location of very specific points, and it is shown at the bottom center of the screen.
Figure 2: Base map options
Figure 3: Coordinate display
After these items were explored, three more tools were experimented with. These were the elevation profile, the line of sight, and the viewshed tools. An applicable drop down menu from the software can be seen below in Figure 4. The elevation profile provides a side view of the elevation of terrain along a straight line, and an example of this tool in use is seen in Figure 5. The line of sight tool graphically displays how far the eye can see unobstructed in an area, and the options for this tool can be seen in Figure 6. The viewshed tool shows a radius of what a person can see based on distance, and the tool menu and tool use can be seen in Figure 7. All three tools are very important in planning visual line of sight flights with unmanned aircraft.
Figure 4: Tools menu
Figure 5: Elevation profile map
Figure 6: Line of sight options
Figure 7: Viewshed options menu
After these tools were examined, imagery imports were practiced. The most notable used was the National Agricultural Imagery Program (NAIP) imagery which was found in the online data addition box. An image of this menu is displayed below in Figure 8. This imagery is used in agriculture to understand which areas are the most prosperous for crop production. Figure 9 shows central Indiana under this scope, and shocker, much of the state is prime farm land. Just below that, in Figure 10, the infrared version of the NAIP imagery is shown with a focus on Lafayette, IN, showcasing vegetation health in red.
Figure 8: NAIP imagery options
Figure 9: Central Indiana NAIP imagery
Figure 10: Infrared NAIP Lafayette, IN
After experimenting with the NAIP imagery as it relates to agriculture, another type of imagery was examined: fires and hotspots. Selecting new data to view allowed current MODIS Satellite detected fires to show on a world map, and a projection of this is shown below in Figure 11. California, having been in a draught at the time of the image capture, was also found to have many fires, but the map creation function did not pick these up off the imagery for some reason. Figure 12 shows the map created without fires for some reason, and Figure 13 shows the fires that actually existed.
Figure 11: MODIS fires global
Figure 12: California fires map
Figure 13: California fires imagery
After examining the fires imagery, local data was downloaded and used for the project. This data was from Professor Hupy’s flight of the Martell Forest near West Lafayette, IN, and it used such tools as thermal imagery and RGB post processing kinetic (PPK) technology to produce accurate and in depth scans. It should be noted that all the below images were supposed to be zoomed out to see the entire scan, but the scan would disappear upon zooming out, so close up images were taken in some cases. In Figure 14, the thermal imagery of the forest is shown wich bare soil sections appearing to have the most heat. In Figure 15, the RGB PPK imagery is shown, and it appears similar to how a bird’s eye view would. Figures 16 and 17 show the two imagery types zoomed in on the same area, and similarities and differences between the two imaging type of the same sample are illustrated. Finally, Figure 18 shows the Martell Trail lined up on the Western border of the thermal imagery, highlighting the usefulness of the scan as it relates to forest management. A full version of this assignment is available upon request.
Figure 14: Thermal IR Martell Forest
Figure 15: RGB PPK Martell Forest
Figure 16: Thermal comparison image
Figure 17: RGB PPK comparison image
Figure 18: Martell Trail thermal
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