What's new—ArcGIS Earth

ArcGIS Earth 2.2.1 (July 2024)

ArcGIS Earth 2.2.1 includes bug fixes and performance enhancements incorporating ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET 200.4.

ArcGIS Earth 2.2 (May 2024)

With the latest ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET 200.4, new features and enhancements in ArcGIS Earth 2.2 are described below.

OGC 3D Tiles layer

This release of ArcGIS Earth adds support for a new layer type, 3D Tiles. 3D Tiles is an Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standard that is designed for streaming and rendering large volumes of 3D geospatial content, similar to Indexed 3D Scene Layer (I3s). ArcGIS Earth supports Batched 3D Model (.b3dm) and 3D Tiles Archive Format (.3tz) 3D Tiles formats for visualizing continuous meshes or discrete 3D objects.

Add a tileset from a local directory in a supported file format (.json or .3tz) or from online sources such as 3D tile services hosted in ArcGIS Online or a third-party web server. Services hosted outside of ArcGIS must not require authentication or use token-based authentication.
3D Tiles layers can be used with interactive analysis tools such as line of sight and viewshed.

WGS 1984 basemaps

When users change the ArcGIS Earth spatial reference from Web Mercator to WGS84, the application will automatically source the associated WGS84 basemaps from ArcGIS Online within the basemap gallery. This change improves overall performance for those who use WGS84 as their default spatial reference.

Star background

NASA's realistic stars background replaces the generic space background.

Bookmarks

You can now export bookmarks as video. Videos created from bookmarks will be rendered at 1080p, 30fps. You can choose between the efficiency or balanced modes for processing.
Bookmarks can now be imported into a movie project where they can be further edited and customized.

ArcGIS Earth Movie enhancements

The following movie enhancements have been made:

New toolbar options have been added to improve the overall user experience when working with blocks and tracks.
New and unique narrative possibilities come with three added marker types: GIF, Video, and Billboard.
In-app voice-over is now supported. Click the record button in the audio track to begin narrating your video in real time.
Three new export modes have been added to give you more control over processing time and output quality: Efficiency, Balanced, and Quality.

App link

ArcGIS Earth now supports universal app link with parameters. See Integrate with other apps for supported parameters.

Base URL: https://earth.arcgis.app/.

Other key enhancements

PKI authentication has been enhanced to improve client authentication from content originating from a third-party PKI server.
Support for <NetworkLinkControl><message> syntax has been added. This enhancement enables the delivery of pop-up messages, such as data licensing and use guidelines, when a KML network link is loaded.
Enhanced time animation of KML:Track, providing better play back performance and experience of playing tracks by time intervals.
Placemarks can now be created by right-clicking the globe.
Improved handling of referenced files (icons, image overlays, attachments, and so on) when saving as .kml and .kmz.
Support for KML ground and screen overlays has been enhanced. You can expect improved support for large image sources, improved performance in localized environments, and clear indicators for unsupported image formats.
Portal manager includes enhancements to the user experience, including improvements to editing and refreshing connections.
Enhanced text selection in layer name and title input boxes. Double-click to select part of the text and triple-click for the entire string.
Enhanced symbology reset of a feature layer. Now, resetting a feature layer's symbology to default also considers symbol styles predefined in web maps, web scenes, or group layers, not just the original feature layer style.
The camera Update button and Zoom To button action are updated in Movie. The button will be unavailable if you click to avoid duplicated or incorrect actions.
User interface enhancements:
- Improved drag-and-drop experience in the table of contents, especially with layers that use a multiple-line snippet.
- Support keyboard shortcuts for a stacked pop-up window navigation.
- Support zooming to the custom startup view snapshot in Settings.
Enhancements to feature layer editing, respecting the default field value predefined in the service, and a clear appearance of the Null field in a layer's attribute table.

ArcGIS Earth 2.1 (December 2023)

With the latest ArcGIS Maps SDK for .NET 200.2, new features and enhancements in ArcGIS Earth 2.1 are described below.

ArcGIS Earth updater

When a new software version is available, you will receive a notification when opening the application. The notification will assist you in downloading and installing the update, keeping you up to date on the latest features, enhancements, and security updates.

Workspace management updates

ArcGIS Earth uses workspaces to manage and store a working history of your data and settings. Workspaces allow you to organize and manage projects, maintain a consistent work environment, collaborate, and share your work. They are managed in settings, under the General tab. A few minor changes have been made to workspace management in this release:

Open—Open an existing workspace directory folder.
Save as—Save your current workspace to a new destination.
Import—Import a workspace folder.
Export—Export a workspace folder.
Clear—Remove all content in the current workspace.

Label KML lines and polygons

Support for KML labels has been significantly improved. In addition to placemarks, labeling is supported for lines and polygons. You will no longer have to create a separate placemark layer or multigeometry for labeling line and polygon geometries. Placemark, line, and polygon labels are handled the same and will become visible when enabled in the Properties window.

KML enhancements

The following KML enhancements have been made:

Layer highlight—A highlight effect has been applied to selected layers in My Drawings and KMLs. This highlight effect will help identify which layer is selected in your scene when a line or polygon uses the cyan color.
Visual status indicator for screen and ground overlays—Visual indicators have been added to the user interface to help identify the status of ground and screen overlays. These indicators are in the properties window and on the overlay itself. If an overlay fails to load, the overlay will display an image indicating there was a problem.
KML icon enhancements—ArcGIS Earth supports KML icons in both a connected and disconnected environment. See Administrator configuration to learn more about enabling KML icons for offline use. By default, ArcGIS Earth has icon groups paddle, pushpin, and shapes preinstalled. Beginning with this release, additional KML icon groups are supported. See the directions below to add more KML icons. In addition to supporting more KML icons, transparency is now respected for all placemark icons.
- Download desired KML icons as needed.
- Create a folder in the following directory with a KML icon group name: \ArcGIS Earth\bin\ArcGISRuntime200.x\resources\symbols\kml. The image below provides an example *\kml directory with icon groups pal2, pal3, pal4, and pal5 added.

Move KML icon .png files to their appropriate group folder.

Respect the level of detail—KML level of detail is now respected. When working with very large datasets, KML regions can be used for increased performance. Level of detail is a subcomponent of KML regions and allows you to define what data is rendered based on the number of pixels present on the screen. When level of detail syntax is applied, you can expect a more dynamic visualization experience and an increase in performance. For more details on KML regions and level of detail, refer to the OGC KML 2.3 specification.
Pop-ups—Additional support of '<BalloonStyle>' has been added to pop-up behavior controlled by KML syntax. For example, you can configure KML layers to block pop-up balloons by specifying <displayMode> in KML data. In addition, a bug that was causing edits to KML description and HTML to be erased or modified has been fixed.
Custom background colors—Background colors can be applied to KML items in the table of contents. Background color is set using the following syntax:
```
<ListStyle>
<bgColor>colorcode</bgColor>
</ListStyle>
```
Physical units—Support for gx:physicalWidth has been added, which allows you to assign a physical width of a line in meters. This enhancement provides additional customization options for visualization. The physical line width displayed in the view is calculated according to the scale and should be interpreted as an approximate value. The width measured in the view may differ from the defined physical width.
Complex snippet styles—Snippets are used for displaying short descriptions of KML layers in the table of contents. Various enhancements have been made to respect more complex snippet styles, providing you more control over how KML layers are displayed in the table of contents.

Navigation enhancements

The following navigation enhancements have been made:

Disable default fly to angle—An option has been added to settings to disable the default fly to angle. When the setting is set to none, flying to layers will maintain an overhead perspective.
On-screen navigator options—Three on-screen navigator options have been added to settings. These options are as follows:
- Default—The on-screen navigator is collapsed by default unless you hover over it. When hovered over, it will become expanded.
- Collapsed—The on-screen navigator remains collapsed.
- Expanded—The on-screen navigator remains expanded.

Added support for location unit input

Support for Degree Decimal Minutes coordinates has been added. In addition, support for negative latitude and longitude coordinates has been added.

Reorder and rename GeoPackage and mobile geodatabase sublayers

Enhancements have been made to GeoPackage and mobile geodatabase support. ArcGIS Earth supports the renaming and reordering of layers residing inside a mobile geodatabase or GeoPackage. In addition, changes are recorded within the active workspace and will be remembered between sessions.

Scene layer elevation offset

You can adjust the elevation offset of 3D point scene layers when in Absolute mode. In addition, a bug was fixed which resulted in 3D object scene layers being locked in drape mode. 3D object scene layers render in Absolute mode by default and allow you to apply an elevation offset if needed.

Time-enabled data

Improvements have been made to the handling of time-enabled data in ArcGIS Earth. The first improvement was made to the time slider. The time slider dynamically adjusts its range based on which KML layers are activated. Prior to this release, the time slider range was locked to the full range of the source KML. In addition, playback animation of time-enabled data has also improved. KML nodes are only visible when they fall within the desired playback range.

Layout

Improvements were made to the export layout feature. When adding marginalia elements, you can use undo/redo and copy/paste hot keys. In addition, the user experience has been improved when adding text boxes and a legend element.

Export elevation profiles as CSV

You can export elevation profiles as .csv files. Export options include the default interval or custom nodes drawn on the globe for detailed line analysis.

ArcGIS Earth 2.0 (July 2023)

New features and enhancements in ArcGIS Earth 2.0 are described below.

Highlights

The following are new or improved in ArcGIS Earth 2.0:

ArcGIS Earth Movie includes improved video creation and exporting, providing 3D customizable options.
Enable the ability to edit feature services directly in ArcGIS Earth.
Customize ArcGIS Earth to suit your needs by personalizing tool preferences and settings.

Features

The following features have been added or improved:

ArcGIS Earth Movie—The ArcGIS Earth Movie interface and features allow you to create and export customizable videos as part of your geospatial storytelling.
Feature service editing—Support to edit feature services directly in ArcGIS Earth has been added, with the capability to customize attributes and geometry to suit your needs.
Enhanced user interface—The overall user interface has been optimized with a cleaner look.
Quick dock customization—Support to personalize your tool preference by customizing the quick dock area has been added. Click Settings > Customization.
User notification—Stay informed with user notifications that provide updates with messages, important information, system alerts, and activity updates.
Startup tips—Follow the new startup tips to get started with a tutorial after starting ArcGIS Earth for the first time.

Enhancements

The following enhancements have been added:

Keyboard shortcuts—Find relevant keyboard shortcuts with the new query window added to the About page.
CSV-related workflow—The workflow to add .csv files has been enhanced to provide a more user-friendly experience.
Pop-up improvements—Support for ArcGIS Arcade expressions, more HTML styles, more media content, and hyperlinks to external web browsers have been added.
KML node batch editing—Multiple KML nodes can be selected and edited at the same time. Symbology configurations are applied to the viewport for an improved editing experience.

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