ArcGIS Earth allows users to quickly display data on the globe, sketch place marks, measure distances and areas, and add annotations to easily understand spatial information.
Esri has this week launched ArcGIS Earth, a free desktop-based interactive globe that anyone can use to explore the world and work with a variety of 3D and 2D map data formats such as KML and KMZ, shapefiles, imagery and web services. ArcGIS Earth allows users to quickly display data on the globe, sketch place marks, measure distances and areas, and add annotations to easily understand spatial information.
Esri indicated that the release comes as demand for 3D mapping continues to grow among customers in industries as diverse as national and local government, urban design and planning and commercial space management. These customers are increasingly using 3D data to visualise plans and conditions, understand the behaviour and aesthetics of proposed development, and communicate ideas in the context of real-world imagery and data.
ArcGIS Earth allows users of all skill levels to easily examine interrelationships of assets in 3D, report project status and present work to stakeholders or clients in a compelling and interactive experience. ArcGIS Earth is designed to provide a high-performance globe viewer with an immersive user interface.
In addition to support of KML and KMZ data, shapefiles, imagery, and web services, ArcGIS Earth users can tilt and rotate the view; measure distances and areas on the globe; and supplement maps with sketches and annotations. ArcGIS Earth includes free content that encompasses global imagery, topographic maps, world ocean maps, OpenStreetMap and publicly available maps shared by millions of ArcGIS users around the world.
Screenshot of ArcGIS Earth in action. The surface geology of Australia is one of the many available data layers included in ArcGIS Earth that can be used in conjunction with user data.
ArcGIS Earth is also fully integrated with the ArcGIS platform—on-premises and in the cloud—for the secure access, sharing, and publishing of enterprise maps and data, and continued operations with minimal interruption. Users with an ArcGIS account can access secured data in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS for Server including feature, scene, map, and image services.
“ArcGIS Earth is a revolutionary desktop application that offers GIS to the world,” said Jack Dangermond, Esri founder and president. “It supports spatial data formats and workflows that are familiar to your enterprise. It is a core component of Esri’s secure, stable and mature ArcGIS platform, and it’s another tool for serving all your internal and external users through GIS.”
ArcGIS Earth is also part of Esri’s offer for Google customers and partners looking to transition to Esri software following the deprecation of Google Earth Enterprise. Along with other capabilities of the ArcGIS platform, ArcGIS Earth provides an alternative to Google Earth Enterprise Client.
To learn more about the offer and download ArcGIS Earth for free today, visit the Esri Australia website.
