The H-GAC Community & Environmental Planning Department has developed several GIS web mapping applications that can be viewed in either web-browser, GIS desktop, or streaming methods. The following is a brief overview of how to access the GIS applications and the data contained within each application using these methods.
Method 1 - Internet Browser Access
The links provided on our website will launch the GIS application using your default browser application installed on your computer. We recommend using Microsoft Internet Explorer, and cannot guarantee that this application will work well with other browser applications. Accessing our GIS applications through the Internet does not require the installation of any software on your computer other than a Flash enabled Internet browser, which typically is installed on most new computers. If you do not have flash installed on your computer, you can download the latest version at Adobe.com at no charge. If you experience issues with loading any GIS applications and you are using a Flash enabled version of Internet Explorer, try either turning off add-ons or running Internet Explorer in the "No Add On Mode" mode (usually provided as a shortcut in your start menu).
Method 2 - ArcGIS Desktop Access (9.2 or higher)
If you are using ESRI ArcGIS Desktop version 9.2 or higher, you can stream our published GIS data layers used in these applications as well as many other data layers in our geographic database.
In order to stream GIS data layers, you will need to follow the instruction below to establish a connection with our GIS server from within your ArcGIS Desktop application. Once connected, you can add layers and geoprocessing tools to your desktop layers and toolboxes as if they were residing locally on your computer. Geoprocessing query results are provided in ESRI feature class format, so once you obtain the results of a query, you can export that data as either a shapefile or feature class.
The following are instructions on connecting to our layers and geoprocessing tasks and accessing them. For a complete list of our published map layers and geoprocessing services please visit our ArcGIS Services Directory.
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Step 1: Connecting to the H-GAC ArcGIS Server (only need to do this once)
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Open ArcCatalog and double-click on "GIS Servers" in the folder tree.
Double-click on "Add Arc GIS Server" to open the wizard.
In the dialog box select "Use GIS Services" and click "Next"
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In the "Choose the type of ArcGIS Server Connection" dialog box select "Internet",
enter this URL: http://arcgis02.h-gac.com/arcgis/services
and click "Finish"
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Look at your folder tree, "arcgis on arcgis.h-gac.com" should be listed.
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Step 2: Adding Map Layers to your ArcGIS Desktop
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Click on "Add Data" in ArcGIS Desktop
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Navigate to the "GIS Servers" folder and doubleclick
This will open the "arcgis on arcgis.h-gac.com" server directory
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Doubleclick the server name to establish a connection
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Navigate the folders on our server to find the map layers you are looking for.
For a complete list of our published map layers visit our ArcGIS Services Directory.
The map layers provided can be added to your map just like any other GIS dataset.
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Step 3: Adding Geoprocessing Tools to your ArcGIS Desktop Toolbox
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Open "ArcToolbox" inside your ArcGIS Desktop and right-click on the ArcToolbox root folder
Select "Add Toolbox"
Navigate to the "GIS Servers" folder, select "arcgis on arcgis.h-gac.com"
Doubleclick the server name to establish a connection
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Navigate the folders on our server to find the geoprocessing tools you are looking for.
For a complete list of our published map geoprocessing tools visit our ArcGIS Services Directory.
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Method 3 - Streaming Map Services within your Mapping Applications
If you have web mapping applications and would like to stream our map layers into your mapping applications, you can view a complete list of our published map layers and geoprocessing services by visiting our ArcGIS Services Directory. The directory contains the necessary information you will need to connect to our services.
Method 4 – Create a free account on ESRI’s ArcGIS.com website
ESRI has launched the new ArcGIS.com website which provides users with connections to a variety of free map layers and services. The ArcGIS.com website is an online catalog for geographic data, where users can subscribe to groups and even create their own groups and maps using available data. By creating an ArcGIS.com account, you will be able to save or maps as Favorites within the ArcGIS for iPhone/iPad application.
Once you have created your free account on ArcGIS.com, you can view the H-GAC C&E ArcGIS.com Group to view our maps layers and create maps of your own using our data as well as data from other sources.