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Week 07 Online GIS_GCPs

Lab 1: AT30901 – Introduction to ArcGIS Earth and Online Geospatial Data

Introduction

This lab introduced ArcGIS Earth as a powerful GIS data viewing platform and demonstrated how various forms of remotely sensed data can be visualized and used in support of UAS mission planning. ArcGIS Earth functions similarly to Google Earth but offers significantly more capabilities, especially when working with GIS layers, remotely sensed imagery, and analytical tools. Through this assignment, multiple datasets were explored, including NAIP imagery, NDVI, thermal fire data, and UAS-derived imagery, highlighting how ArcGIS Earth can support situational awareness, planning, and data interpretation for UAS operations.

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Figure 1.

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Part 1: Introducing ArcGIS Earth

Question 1a: Name each of the icons in the top-left toolbar

The icons available in ArcGIS Earth include:

Expand Table of Contents

Add Data

Draw

Realtime GNSS

Measure

Interactive Analysis

3D Effects

Bookmarks

Movie

Export

Basemap and Terrain

These tools provide a wide range of capabilities, from adding GIS layers to performing terrain analysis and exporting map products.

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Question 1b: Mouse Navigation Controls

i. What does scrolling the mouse wheel do? Scrolling the mouse wheel zooms in and out of the map.

ii. What does the “house” icon in the upper-right corner do? The house icon did not appear to exist or perform any function.

iii. What happens when holding the left mouse button and moving the mouse? This allows the user to rotate and move the Earth around.

iv. What happens when holding the right mouse button while zoomed into an area of relief? This changes the viewing angle, allowing the terrain to be viewed in three dimensions.

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Question 2: Logging into ArcGIS Earth

ArcGIS Earth allows users to sign in using organizational credentials. Purdue University provides an enterprise ESRI license, allowing students access to professional GIS software. The login process involved entering purdueuniversity.maps.arcgis.com and attempting to sign in using BoilerKey credentials; however, the sign-in process did not function correctly during the lab session.

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Question 3: Basemaps and Terrain Analysis

3a. List the available basemap options

Imagery

Topographic

Navigation

Light Gray Canvas

Streets

OpenStreetMap

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3b. How could elevation, latitude, longitude, and eye altitude be useful for UAS mission planning?

While exploring terrain basemaps, elevation values such as 1,167 meters were observed in areas of higher relief. This information is useful for UAS mission planning because it helps pilots understand terrain variability, adjust flight altitudes, avoid obstacles, and ensure consistent data collection when flying over uneven landscapes.

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3c. Interactive Analysis Tools

What three options are available under Interactive Analysis?

Elevation Profile

Line of Sight

Viewshed

How could elevation profiles be useful for UAS mission planning? Elevation profiles help visualize changes in terrain elevation along a flight path. This is especially useful for maintaining safe altitudes, avoiding terrain collisions, planning smooth flight paths, and ensuring consistent image overlap when mapping areas with hills or valleys.

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3d. How do Viewshed and Line of Sight relate to UAS missions?

Viewshed and Line of Sight tools help determine visibility between the aircraft and the ground or controller. These tools are useful for identifying terrain obstructions, ensuring communication links remain clear, and supporting safe and effective mission planning.

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Question 4: Adding and Interpreting Remotely Sensed Data

4b. NAIP Natural Color Imagery

NAIP imagery provides high-resolution aerial imagery collected by manned aircraft. This imagery showed fine detail across the landscape and can be used for land use analysis, agriculture, and baseline mapping.

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4c–4d. NAIP NDVI Imagery

NDVI imagery highlights vegetation health.

Green areas represented healthier vegetation, such as agricultural fields and areas with limited human disturbance.

Red areas appeared along the Wabash River and in residential or urbanized areas, indicating less healthy or stressed vegetation.

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4e. Exporting Maps

The share/export icon could not be located during the lab session, preventing map export at that time.

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4f–4i. NAIP Color Infrared Imagery

Color Infrared imagery emphasizes vegetation health, where darker reds represent healthier vegetation and urban or bare areas appear bluish-gray.

Comparison between NDVI and Color Infrared: Both layers show similar vegetation patterns. Areas appearing red in the NDVI layer corresponded to lighter or stressed vegetation in Color Infrared imagery, while healthier areas aligned closely between both datasets.

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Question 5: MODIS Fire Data

5c. Are wildfires limited to the western United States?

No. Wildfires were observed across the globe, excluding Antarctica.

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5f–5l. US Wildfire Activity Web Map

This map included information such as:

Hotspot detection

Current wildfire activity

Wind speed

Wildland fire potential

Red flag warnings

Topographic basemaps

This information could be extremely helpful for UAS fire response missions, allowing responders to prioritize hotspots, assess conditions, and potentially deploy drones to gather real-time data.

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Question 6: Adding UAS Data

6a. Martell_ThermalIR

Thermal layers did not display as expected compared to previews, limiting interpretation.

6c–6e. Martell_RGB_PPK

The RGB imagery displayed clear surface features. When compared with thermal data, the RGB imagery emphasized visual detail, while thermal imagery would normally highlight temperature differences.

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6f. Martell Trail

The Martell Trail passed partially through the Martell RGB PPK imagery.

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Question 7: E-Portfolio Summary

This lab demonstrated how ArcGIS Earth integrates multiple forms of remotely sensed data for visualization and planning. By combining basemaps, elevation tools, and datasets such as NAIP and MODIS, ArcGIS Earth supports informed UAS mission planning and data interpretation.

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Assessment

Prior knowledge: 2 – Very little knowledge

Post-lab knowledge: 3 – Know enough to repeat what was done

Hands-on learning effectiveness: 5 – Strongly Agree

Suggested improvements: More guided walkthroughs and troubleshooting support for login and data export issues

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Lab 2: AT309 – Introduction to ArcGIS Pro and Multiband UAS Imagery

Introduction

This lab focused on using ArcGIS Pro to analyze multiband UAS imagery collected with a MicaSense Altum sensor. The assignment emphasized understanding spectral bands, metadata, raster properties, thermal imagery, and vegetation indices such as NDVI. Through hands-on exploration, this lab highlighted how multispectral data supports environmental analysis and UAS-based research.

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Question 2: Metadata Review

Vehicle: Bramor ppX Sensor: Altum (1 ms, 16-bit TIFF) Flight Number: 2 Takeoff Time: 12:18 PM Landing Time: 12:35 PM Altitude: 121 m Sensor Angle: Nadir

Why is metadata important? Metadata allows analysts to trace flight conditions, validate data quality, and troubleshoot issues. It ensures transparency and accuracy when processing and interpreting UAS data.

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Question 3: Spectral Band Peak Reflectance

Blue: 480 nm

Green: 560 nm

Red: 670 nm

Red Edge: 720 nm

NIR: 840 nm

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Questions 4–5: Individual Band Analysis

Blue Band: Brightest features were bare soil and roads; lowest reflectance was tree lines.

Green Band: Crops and soil reflected strongly; tree lines remained dark.

Red Band: Bare soil was highly reflective; dense vegetation had lower reflectance.

Red Edge: Subtle differences in vegetation health; roads remained most reflective.

NIR Band: Vegetation reflected strongly; tree lines and crops stood out.

LWIR: Detected emitted thermal radiation; roads appeared hottest.

Post-burn LWIR: Burned plots appeared as the brightest features.

Difference between NIR and LWIR: NIR detects reflected light, while LWIR detects emitted thermal energy.

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Question 6: Raster Properties

Radiometric Resolution: 16-bit

Cell Size (Blue Band): 5.6 cm

Cell Size (LWIR): 85.7 cm

Projected Coordinate System: WGS 1984 UTM Zone 16N

Understanding raster properties ensures accurate analysis and prevents misuse of data.

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Question 8: Composite Bands Tool

One-sentence summary: Creates a single raster dataset from multiple bands.

Why is it useful? It allows users to combine specific band combinations for targeted analysis.

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Questions 9–11: Multiband Composites & NDVI

False Color IR: Vegetation appeared hot pink; stressed or burned areas appeared dark brown.

Swipe Tool: Enabled clear before-and-after burn comparisons.

NDVI: Dark green areas aligned with healthy vegetation; red areas showed stressed or burned regions.

Custom Band Combination:

Red: Band 3

Green: Band 2

Blue: Band 5

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This combination emphasized differences between vegetation and bare soil.

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Conclusion

Together, these labs demonstrated how ArcGIS Earth and ArcGIS Pro support UAS operations from planning to analysis. ArcGIS Earth excels at visualization and situational awareness, while ArcGIS Pro enables detailed spectral and thermal analysis. These tools are essential for interpreting remotely sensed data and applying it to real-world UAS missions.

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