Work with oriented imagery layers (Map Viewer)

An oriented imagery layer is a type of feature layer for visualizing oriented imagery in the context of a map. Oriented imagery layers can be viewed and managed in Map Viewer using the oriented imagery viewer.

When added to the map, each point in an oriented imagery layer indicates the camera location where an image was acquired. The point attributes include the path to where the image is stored as well as key metadata required to visualize the image in the oriented imagery viewer.

An oriented imagery layer is published as a sublayer item in a hosted feature layer in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Enterprise (version 11.2 or later), and in ArcGIS Server feature layers in ArcGIS Enterprise 11.2 or later. There may also be an optional oriented imagery footprint sublayer that indicates the areas on the map where the oriented imagery layer has coverage. When the oriented imagery layer or the feature layer item is added to the map, if an oriented imagery footprint layer exists, both the oriented imagery and footprint layers will be added together as a group layer.

View oriented imagery layers

The oriented imagery viewer allows you to view assets from multiple directions and adjust contrast, brightness, and sharpening to enhance imagery visibility. As you pan and zoom in an image, you will see the camera’s field of view dynamically update on the map. This allows you to see how the oriented imagery data relates to vector data displayed on the map.

Note:

The oriented imagery viewer supports JPG, JPEG, TIF, and MRF image formats.

To visualize the images managed by an oriented imagery layer, do the following:

1. Confirm that you are signed in and, if you want to save your changes, that you have privileges to create content.
2. In Map Viewer, open a map containing an oriented imagery layer or add a feature layer containing an oriented imagery layer to a new map.
3. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click Layers if the Layers pane is not open.
4. Select the oriented imagery layer.

   Note:

   If the feature layer includes both oriented imagery and footprint layers, expand the group layer and select the oriented imagery layer.

5. On the Settings (light) toolbar, click Oriented Imagery to open the oriented imagery viewer.

   The viewer includes tools that support exploring and managing images in an oriented imagery layer.

6. Click anywhere on the area covered by the oriented imagery layer to view the best image of the location. Use the footprint layer as a reference if available.
7. Pan and zoom to navigate the image.

   This dynamically updates the image footprint on the map.

View current footprints, additional footprints, and additional camera locations

There are three graphics layers you can visualize to better understand how images in an oriented imagery layer relate to the map. These include current footprints, additional footprints, and additional camera locations. These layers can be turned on and off using the oriented imagery viewer.

Note:

In the oriented imagery viewer, the footprint of an image is displayed as a red polygon on the map. As you navigate the image, its footprint will dynamically update on the map to highlight the area that is visible in the image. The current footprint, additional footprints, and additional camera locations graphic layers cannot be accessed from the Layers pane, and their symbology cannot be modified.

To view current footprints, additional footprints, and additional camera locations, do any of the following:

• Click Current footprint to show or hide the footprint on the map.
• Click Additional footprints to show or hide the footprints of additional images for a location. Additional footprints are displayed as blue polygons on the map.
• Click Additional camera locations to show or hide the camera locations of additional images for a location. Additional camera locations are displayed as blue point features on the map.

Explore additional images

To visualize additional images of the same location, do the following:

1. Follow the first five steps of the View oriented imagery layers workflow.
2. Select the Navigation tool to explore the images that contain the selected location on the map using a compass.

   Note:

   The selected location on the map is visualized as a red X in the center of the Navigation tool (and as a red X on the map). Camera location for images that include the selected map location are shown as points on the tool, arranged based on their distance and heading relative to the red X. The tool is divided into four quadrants (north, south, east, and west); each quadrant is divided into three segments, which show the relative distance of each camera location from the selected location on the map.

   For the current image in the oriented imagery viewer, the camera location and heading relative to the red X are shown in red. Additional camera locations depicting the selected map location are shown in blue.

   To view a different image of the selected map location, click a blue dot, or click a segment to view the best image from that segment (segments with images are shown in white; segments without images are gray).

3. Select Image Gallery to explore a carousel of low-resolution thumbnails of all images that depict the selected map location. Click a thumbnail to view the full-resolution image in the oriented imagery viewer.

   Note:

   Image Gallery only supports image formats that are internally tiled, such as MRF or COG. It does not support JPEG images. If the image format is not supported by Image Gallery, the tool will be unavailable.

Enhance images

Select the Image enhancement tool to adjust brightness, contrast, and sharpness of the image using interactive sliders. Any settings will be preserved for subsequent images loaded into the oriented imagery viewer. Click the Reset button to reset all settings to their original values.