Tip of the Month

How to access Free ArcGIS Online services:

Free maps are available to use in your ArcGIS applications. The maps and layers available include street maps, world imagery, topographic maps, shaded relief, and world physical maps. World boundaries, transportation, elevation, and place name labels are also available. The maps are available to GIS users at no cost for internal use or for non-commercial external use.

You can connect directly to these maps via ArcMap or ArcCatalog, and this tip will show you how.

•  In ArcMap, click the Add Data button, and use the “Look In:” dialog to select “Catalog”. Double click on “GIS Servers”, then double-click “Add ArcGIS Server”. In ArcCatalog, use the file tree on the left side of the window and expand GIS Servers, then double-click on “Add ArcGIS Server”.

•  In the “Add ArcGIS Server” wizard, select the radio button for “Use GIS Services” and click “Next”.

•  The Internet Server URL is: http://services.arcgisonline.com/arcgis/services . Leave the optional authentication information blank and click “Finish”.

There is now an entry entitled “arcgis on services.arcgisonline.com” under “GIS Servers” in your catalog. If you double click on it in your catalog tree in ArcCatalog, a + sign will appear next to the service and you can expand and preview any of the layers available on the server. In ArcMap, double clicking on it in the “Add Data” dialog will reveal all of the layers held on the server that you can add to your map layout.

Note: Data provided on this GIS server may change over time.

Past Tips
Bring in netCDF to ArcGIS.
Saving Data From ArcMap as KML.
Derive Slop from DEM