Making Authoritative Geospatial Maps and Datasets Available to Indian GIS Users | Esri India

To promote the use of geospatial technology in the country, Esri India, in collaboration with various government and private data providers, has launched the ArcGIS Living Atlas of India. This platform offers authoritative geospatial maps and datasets, frequently updated based on available source data. The ArcGIS Living Atlas of India is a curated collection of geographic content, including ready-to-use basemaps, maps, layers, apps, and tools. 

Data/Layers Available in ArcGIS Living Atlas of India 

As of May 2024, the ArcGIS Living Atlas of India includes over 900 data layers of Indian geospatial content. The datasets cover the following categories: 

Administrative Boundaries

This category includes the administrative boundaries of states, districts, sub-districts, and villages, linked with over 200 demographic variables published by the Government of India. For key towns, ward boundaries are also available. Additional boundaries include postal code and election boundaries for legislative assembly and parliamentary constituencies.

Satellite Imagery

The platform provides satellite imagery from various sensors and resolutions, including a high-resolution satellite basemap of the entire country and a repository of imagery from the past 10 years, enabling users to visualize changes on the ground.

Elevation and Bathymetry

The Elevation Terrain service offers detailed elevation maps using multiple-resolution elevation data for India. It includes layers such as slope, aspect, and hillshade, and bathymetry datasets are part of the TopoBathy and TopoBathy3D services.

Land Use/Land Cover

The platform provides land use and land cover (LULC) data derived from ESA Sentinel-2 imagery at 10m resolution from 2017 to 2022, as well as LULC from Bhuvan Thematic Services (NRSC, ISRO) at varying scales over the last two decades.

Soil and Geology

Soil data from Soilgrids.org (ISRIC) includes predictions of organic carbon density at six depth ranges. This multidimensional layer can be integrated into applications, analytics, and decision-making tools.

Water Resources

This dataset covers 12 major river basins in India with catchment areas over 20,000 sqkm, including the Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna basin, which accounts for more than 43% of the catchment area of major rivers in the country. It also includes data on 46 medium river basins.

Environment

This category encompasses data on weather and climate, freshwater, habitat, species, and conservation.

Transport

Data layers for land transport include the road network (national and state highways, expressways, national corridors), Indian railway tracks, railway stations, and airports. 

Points of Interest/Landmarks

Points of Interest (PoI) cover public and private businesses, education, and leisure services, providing comprehensive location-based information. Examples include museums, amusement parks, beaches, parks, observatories, zoos, churches, airports, hospitals, hotels, schools, and city squares.

Building Footprints

Building footprints are derived from high-resolution satellite imagery and are useful for applications like population estimation, urban planning, humanitarian response, and environmental and climate science.

Live Feeds

Live data provides real-time updates from a database, supporting time-sensitive activities and real-time analytics. 

How to Use These Datasets

These datasets are available as ready-to-use services and are categorized into Maps, Layers, Scenes, App/StoryMaps, and Tools. Users can filter content on the Esri India Living Atlas home page, search within the map viewer, browse through thumbnails, or access content in ArcGIS Pro via the Catalog pane's Portal tab.

The layers mentioned above offer a glimpse into the extensive content available in the ArcGIS Living Atlas of India. Keep exploring to discover more. 

Fig 1 - How to Use these Datasets 

Alternatively, you can access Living Atlas layers in ArcGIS Pro. In the Catalog pane, the Portal tab includes a "Living Atlas" option that allows you to search for and add content directly within ArcGIS Pro.

Fig 2 - How to Use these Datasets 

The layers listed above offer just a small preview of the extensive content available in the ArcGIS Living Atlas of India. Continue exploring to discover more!  

To Know More Visit : Esri India