Publishing data in ArcGIS Open Data / Hub

Owned by Veronica Hines
Last updated: Apr 07, 2020 by Zhaoying Wei

Data Preparation

  • Preferably delete any unnecessary fields – for vector data, at a minimum, make them not visible in the map document.
  • For vector data, consider changing field names and aliases to the clearest possible names with 10 characters or less.  Open Data will make the data downloadable as a shape file, which will truncate field names.
  • If necessary, project the data to Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere, and copy/import the data to a file geodatabase on the production GIS server, along with the corresponding map document (for vector data).
  • For raster data only, compress and copy the data to the Amazon S3.  Export a standalone metadata file to include with the compressed data, as downloads may occur outside of Open Data.  The S3 URL should be included in the metadata.


Metadata Preparation

  • For Open Data purposes, metadata may be created with EME, the USGS Metadata Wizard, or any of the ArcCatalog editing styles available in Customize \ ArcCatalog Options \ Metadata \ Metadata Style.
  • Regardless of how it is created, ensure that it is upgraded to the ArcGIS Metadata Format using the Upgrade Metadata tool in ArcToolbox \ Conversion Tools \ Metadata.
  • Metadata can be cleared for existing layers, if necessary, by creating an empty feature class and importing its metadata.


  • For raster data, include the link to the data on the S3 site.
  • Create new USGS template?
  • When entering tags/categories, include at least one of the following, which are used as data categories in Open Data.

    • Boundaries

    • Modeling

    • Monitoring

    • Land Resources

    • BMP
    • Water Quality
    • Toxic Contaminants
    • Healthy Watersheds
    • Sustainable Fisheries
    • Vital Habitats
    • Land Conservation
    • Public Access
    • Environmental Literacy
    • Stewardship
    • Climate Resiliency


Map Preparation

  • Metadata in map and layer properties
  • Need layer-specific description in Description field on General tab in Layer Properties
  • Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere


Publishing

  • Publish map service on gisage1p-solo
    • Service description comes from Item Description in Service Editor (available during publishing process or from Service Properties in ArcCatalog)
    • Keywords entered in Tags field in Service Editor automatically populate tag field in Add Item from Web dialog in ArcGIS Portal when registering a service.  These can be edited, if necessary, particularly if keywords should vary for layers within the same service.
    • When entering tags/categories, include at least one of the following, which are used as data categories in Open Data. See the detailed list in Metadata Preparation.
  • Register each layer separately with ArcGIS Portal
    • Description in map layer properties will carry through to ArcGIS Portal/Open Data entry automatically
    • When entering tags/categories, include at least one of the following, which are used as data categories in Open Data. See the detailed list in Metadata Preparation.
    • Once an Open Data URL is available, copy this URL into the metadata.
  • Import metadata to ArcGIS Portal so that it is available from a link on the corresponding Open Data page where users can download the data
    • ArcGIS Portal can only import metadata from an XML file in ArcGIS format
    • Exporting the metadata from the ArcCatalog item to a standalone XML file is a two-step process
      • First, right-click on the folder where you want the XML file to go, and select New \ XML Document
      • Then use the Import Metadata tool in ArcToolbox \ Conversion Tools \ Metadata to export the metadata from the source ArcCatalog item to the target XML document created in the previous step.
      • For some source formats, the content of the Description/Abstract may be enclosed in HTML tags.  This does not affect the readability of the Open Data metadata page.
      • This process is preferable to the Export Metadata tool available in ArcCatalog, because the Export tool requires the use of a Translator file, which work with a limited number of metadata standards and do not appear to be reliable.


  • Add URLs to apps/rasters/documents etc
    • Log into ArcGIS Portal, Content -> My Content -> Add Item -> From Web
    • Enter URL, Title, Description, Tags, Catergories from Web dialog



Data.gov

CKAN sites can be configured (via extension(s) to harvest data from ArcGIS Open Data.  This then somehow enables harvesting by data.gov.