Viewing Data on an Air Photo

One of the most common tasks that people want to do is view several pieces of data on an aerial photo.  At RMBL, we have several aerial photo options. We have the USGS black and white ortho aerial photos which were taken around 2000. These aerial photos have 1 meter pixels, and a horizontal accuracy between 10-20 feet. Our new aerial, taken in August 2006, has 6″ pixels, and a horizontal accuracy between 2-3 feet.

Either of these aerial photos can be used as a base layer with which to overlay other datasets, such as streams, vegetation, roads, or GPS points/lines/polygons.

You can only view data simultaneously using ArcMap. In Barclay classroom, open ArcMap. Click on the black and yellow + symbol in the toolbar. Navigate to Database Connections  GISdatasets.sde select the desired dataset. Keep in mind that all the RMBL datasets in the geodatabase have the following prefix: RMBL.DBO.

If you are looking for the black and white aerial, you want one of the files with the following prefixes:  RMBL.DBO.DOQ. If you are looking for the color aerial, you want one of the files with the following prefixes: RMBL.DBO.COLOR.

Highlight the file(s) and click Add.

Now you have the aerial photo as the base layer. Now you need to add in the other data. If you are using one the RMBL datasets, repeat the above steps (click on the plus sign +, navigate to database connections  GISdatasets.sde  select desired datasets).

If you are using one of your own files (either one you brought with you, or GPS data that you collected at RMBL), you should click on the plus sign +, navigate to where the data is stored (it needs to be saved somewhere on the hard drive of the computer you are using)highlight the dataset (probably a shapefile), and click Add.