ArcGlobe
The other software package in 3D Analyst is ArcGlobe—a startlingly effective piece of software that ought to be used in every elementary school in the nation. ArcGlobe is to a manual globe what ArcMap is to a paper map. It is a software lever that gives you an intellectual advantage in looking at the world.
With ArcGlobe you can
- Get marvelous views of the Earth, rotating and panning its surface
- Add large data sets which are made part of the Earth’s surface, correctly placed regardless of their coordinate systems.
- Automatically spin the globe around its axis, looking from any vantage point.
- Measure distances along great circle routes.
- Rotate an image either around the center of the Earth or around the center point of the image—doing global or local navigation.
- Make animations of the images you generate.
Again, the capabilities of 3D Analyst are best experienced rather than described. You do that next.
1 Using ArcGIS 3D Analyst Tutorial—available through Esri
2 Data in Three Dimensions: A Guide to ArcGIS 3D Analyst by Heather Kennedy. Full disclosure: Heather Kennedy is the author’s daughter.
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