Add data to a project

With ArcGIS Pro, you can create maps and scenes by adding data from your own computer, from a local network, or from a package, such as a map or project package. You can also add data from your ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise portal, or another portal such as ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World.

Overview

Add data to your project overview video.

• Video length: 9:28.
• This video was created with ArcGIS Pro 2.8.

In this tutorial, you'll add data from ArcGIS Living Atlas, from your project geodatabase, and from a folder connection.

• Estimated time: 30 minutes
• Software requirements:
  • ArcGIS Pro
  • ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise portal connection

Open the project

You'll view the impact of potential flooding in Wellington, New Zealand, using a 2D map and a 3D scene. Your data will include hillshade and slope layers to show relief, neighborhood boundaries and buildings, and a layer showing the area susceptible to flooding in an extreme weather event.

1. Start ArcGIS Pro and sign in if necessary.
2. On the start page, under your recent projects, click Open another project.

   Note:

   If you already have a project open, click the Project tab on the ribbon. In the list of menu items on the left, click Open. On the Open page, click Portal and click Open another project at the bottom of the page.

3. On the Open Project dialog box, under Portal , click ArcGIS Online .

   Note:

   If you see ArcGIS Enterprise listed instead, you must add a portal connection or set your active portal to ArcGIS Online. Alternatively, you can download the tutorial data from a browser.

4. At the top of the dialog box, in the Search box, type Add data to a project tutorial and press the Enter key.
5. In the list of search results, click Add data to a project to select the project package.

   Note:

   If there is more than one project package with this name, look at the Owner column. Select the item with the owner name ArcGISProTutorials. If you don't get any results, see No search results are returned.

6. Click OK.

   The project opens with a map centered on Wellington, New Zealand. The project also contains a local 3D scene.

   

Add data from ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World

The basemap layer in the Wellington map is the World Ocean basemap. It shows topographic relief for land areas at a generalized level. A relief layer with higher resolution would make it easier to see the impact of potential flooding. In addition, a more detailed layer of place-names would add context to the local geography.

You can find map layers to meet many of your needs in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, a curated collection of global geographic information. Maps and layers from ArcGIS Living Atlas can be added directly to ArcGIS Pro.

Note:

If you are signed in to ArcGIS Pro through an ArcGIS Enterprise portal, you have access to a smaller set of ArcGIS Living Atlas content than if you are signed in through the ArcGIS Online portal. However, you should have access to the web layers used in this tutorial.

1. On the ribbon, click the View tab. In the Windows group, click Reset Panes and click Reset Panes for Mapping (Default).

   This ensures that the Contents and Catalog panes are open and that other panes are closed.

2. At the top of the Catalog pane, click the Portal tab.

   Under the Portal tab are six tabs you can use to add data:

   • My Content —Maps, layers, and other items you have added to the active portal.
   • My Favorites —Items you have marked as favorites in the portal software application: in this case, ArcGIS Online.
   • My Groups —Items shared with groups of which you are a member.
   • My Organization —Items from My Content and items shared by other members of your ArcGIS organization.
   • ArcGIS Online —Items shared publicly on ArcGIS Online as well as items in My Organization and My Content. (If your active portal is ArcGIS Enterprise, you see ArcGIS Enterprise instead.)
   • Living Atlas —Curated items shared through ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World.
3. Click the Living Atlas tab .
4. Next to the search box, click Filter .
5. On the drop-down menu, expand Categories and expand Environment. Click Elevation and bathymetry.

   

   In the Catalog pane, the list of ArcGIS Living Atlas items is filtered to show maps and layers related to elevation. Above the list of items, a drop-down list labeled +1 indicates that one filter has been applied.

6. In the search box, type world hillshade tile and press the Enter key.

   The layer appears at the top of the search results.

7. In the search results, hover over the World Hillshade tile layer .

   

   A pop-up displays the layer's metadata. The Modified date and time you see may be different.

8. Right-click the World Hillshade tile layer and click Add To Current Map .

   

   By default, the map zooms to the extent of the new layer, which covers the whole world. However, the extent is constrained by the local New Zealand map projection that has been set for the map.

9. On the ribbon, click the Map tab. In the Navigate group, click Previous Extent to return to Wellington.
10. In the Contents pane, drag the World Hillshade layer beneath the World Ocean Base layer.

    Partial transparency has been applied to the World Ocean Base layer, so the World Hillshade layer shows through it. You can turn the World Hillshade layer off and on in the Contents pane to see the difference in terrain detail.

11. In the Catalog pane, click Filter again, expand Boundaries, and click Administrative.
12. In the search box, type light gray reference and press the Enter key.
13. In the search results, right-click the Light Gray Canvas Reference (Local Language) vector tile layer and click Add To Current Map .
14. In the Contents pane, right-click the World Ocean Reference layer and click Remove .

    Now you have just one layer of place-names in the map.

15. In the Contents pane, click the Light Gray Canvas Reference (Local Language) layer to select it.
16. On the ribbon, under Vector Tile Layer, click the Appearance tab.
17. In the Effects group, in the Transparency box , highlight the default value of 0.0% and type 25. Press the Enter key.

    Tip:

    Alternatively, click the Transparency drop-down arrow and set the value with the slider.

    At very large map scales, the place-names are not necessary. You'll set a visibility range so the layer doesn't display when you zoom in beyond a specified scale.

18. In the Visibility Range group, click the drop-down arrow next to In Beyond and click 1:24,000.

    The place-names won't display when you zoom in closer than 1:24,000.

    Tip:

    If you don't have this value in your drop-down list, you can type it in the text box.

19. In the Contents pane, right-click the Light Gray Canvas Reference (Local Language) layer and click Properties .
20. On the Layer Properties dialog box, on the General tab, change the name of the layer to Reference. Click OK.
21. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click Save to save the project.

Add data from a geodatabase

Every ArcGIS Pro project has a project geodatabase, which is the default location for storing your project's spatial data. You'll browse to the project geodatabase and add data to the Wellington map.

1. In the Catalog pane, click the Project tab. Browse to Databases > Add_data_to_a_project.gdb.

   

   The project geodatabase contains two feature classes: Buildings and Suburbs. It also contains a raster dataset named slope. You'll add the Suburbs data now.

2. Right-click Suburbs and click Add To Current Map .

   Tip:

   You can also drag and drop the layer from the Catalog pane.

3. In the Contents pane, drag the Suburbs layer under the Reference layer.
4. Right-click the Suburbs layer and click Zoom To Layer .

   The Suburbs layer has a solid fill color that prevents you from seeing the basemap under it. You'll change the symbol fill color and outline.

5. In the Contents pane, right-click the Suburbs layer and click Symbology .

   The Symbology pane appears. At the top of the pane, the Primary symbology tab is selected. The primary symbology method is Single Symbol, which means that all features in the layer have the same symbol.

6. In the Symbology pane, click the symbol for the layer.

   The pane changes to show symbol formatting options. At the top of the pane, the Gallery tab allows you to choose predefined symbols. The Properties tab allows you to change symbol properties.

7. In the Symbology pane, under Format Polygon Symbol, click the Properties tab.
8. On the Symbol tab , under Appearance, click the Color drop-down arrow and click No Color.
9. Change the Outline color to Black. At the bottom of the pane, click Apply.

   

   Tip:

   To learn more about symbology, try the Symbolize map layers quick-start tutorial.

Add data from a folder

An ArcGIS Pro project may include datasets that aren't stored in the project geodatabase. For example, this project includes a shapefile representing the flood risk zone for Wellington. A shapefile, like a geodatabase, is a spatial data format for storing feature classes.

Typically, when you access data from a location on your computer or a local network, you connect to a folder. However, in this case, the shapefile is part of the project package and the folder connection already exists.

1. In the Catalog pane, browse to Folders > Add_data_to_a_project_1 > commondata > userdata.

   

   The userdata folder contains a shapefile named Flood_Zone_Wellington.shp.

   Note:

   In a project package, files that can't be stored in a geodatabase, such as shapefiles, CSV files, and text files, are included as attachments. Within the project package folder structure, attachments are stored in the commondata > userdata folder.

2. Right-click Flood_Zone_Wellington.shp and click Add To Current Map .
3. In the Contents pane, drag the Flood_Zone_Wellington layer under the Suburbs layer.
4. In the Contents pane, click the symbol for the Flood_Zone_Wellington layer.

   Tip:

   Clicking a symbol in the Contents pane opens the Symbology pane directly to its symbol formatting options.

5. In the Symbology pane, under Format Polygon Symbol, click the Properties tab if necessary.
6. On the Symbol tab , under Appearance, change the Color to Big Sky Blue.

   

7. Change the Outline width to 0 pt and press the Enter key. Click Apply.

   The map shows that most of the flood risk zone lies within one suburb.

   

8. In the Contents pane, right-click the Flood_Zone_Wellington layer and click Zoom To Layer .

   The place-names from the Reference layer no longer display because the map scale is larger than 1:24,000.

   Tip:

   If your map scale is smaller than 1:24,000, zoom in closer. Click the Map tab on the ribbon. In the Navigate group, click Fixed Zoom In as needed.

9. On the map, click the suburb containing most of the flood risk zone.

   The Pop-up pane appears and identifies the suburb as Te Aro.

   Note:

   By default, pop-ups are displayed for the topmost layer in the Contents pane (excluding reference layers). You can change this setting by clicking the Explore tool drop-down arrow on the Map tab.

10. Close the Pop-up pane.
11. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click Save .

Visualize data in 3D

You'll look at the data in a 3D scene to visualize the potential impact of flooding in the Te Aro suburb. The 3D scene in the project already contains a topographic basemap and a layer of buildings. You'll copy and paste the flood zone layer from the map. You'll also add a slope dataset from the project geodatabase.

1. In the Contents pane, right-click the Flood_Zone_Wellington layer and click Copy .
2. Click the Wellington 3D view tab to make the scene active.

   

3. In the Contents pane, under Drawing Order, right-click the Wellington 3D scene name and click Paste .

   The layer is added to the scene. You'll add the slope data to get a better sense of how water flows and accumulates in the flood risk zone.

4. In the Catalog pane, browse to Databases > Add_data_to_a_project.gdb. Click the slope raster dataset to select it.
5. Drag the slope dataset onto the scene.

   The default layer symbology is a black-to-white color scheme. You'll change it to a conventional color scheme for slope.

6. In the Contents pane, click the slope layer symbol (the black-to-white color scheme).
7. In the Symbology pane, click the Color scheme drop-down arrow. At the bottom of the drop-down list, check the Show names check box.

   Names appear above their associated color schemes.

8. Find the Slope color scheme (bright green to bright red) and click it.

   The symbology is applied to the layer.

   The project contains two bookmarks to help you explore the potential flood zone in the Te Aro suburb.

9. On the ribbon, click the Map tab if necessary. In the Navigate group, click Bookmarks . Under Wellington 3D Bookmarks, click Flood View 1.

   

   The scene zooms to the bookmark. In the lower left corner of the view, notice the direction of the north arrow on the on-screen navigator. Your view is facing south, or slightly southwest. It looks like a flood would affect most of the buildings in the foreground of the view.

10. Click Bookmarks again and click Flood View 2.

    This view shows how floodwater may flow through the landscape at the western end of the suburb. Use the Explore tool on the Map tab or the on-screen navigator to continue exploring the suburb. You may want to create bookmarks at locations where flooding may cause additional damage.

11. On the Quick Access Toolbar, click Save .

For many projects, you'll need to search for relevant data to complete your mapping and analysis. In addition to ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, you can use the ArcGIS Online tab in the Catalog pane to search for maps and layers shared to ArcGIS Online. You can also search for data on ArcGIS Hub to find open-access data from thousands of organizations that share their authoritative data.