How to visualize high volume grid data in web map application?

[NiklasSädekoski]

I'm trying to make a web map application with several heat maps from high volume grid data (over 60 000 cells), but it appears to be too heavy for the application and the rendering is really slow and with smaller scales (when all the cells should be visible) the application renders only part of the cells (picture).

I have tried converting the data to raster layers, but as I found out, raster layers aren't that easy to add to ArcGIS Online. I tried converting the rasters to KML, which almost worked, but for some reason the data was misplaced a bit (pic 2).

I also tried adding the raster layers as image service, which worked, but was quite credit costly. I'm not an expert with tile layers, but I think I could also create the tiles in my own computer and upload them to online after that (I looked into that, but the layer ended up being about 2 gb so I didn't upload it).

So what would be the best way to proceed with the data, is there a way to somehow enhance the performance with the grid (that would be the easiest way in terms of creating the maps)? Or is there a way to get the raster layer to the web map without using tiles (or a solution for the KML problem)?

Regards,

Niklas

[KellyGerrow]

Hi Nicklas,

If you are finding that the data is slow drawing due to geometry or the amount of vertices (I'm sure there are a ton), I'd definitely suggest creating a tile service. This will improve the performance of layer drawing, and you can still query attribute information if your feature layer is still available. This workflow is outlined in this blog:

Best Practices for using Tile Layers as Operational Layers 

There are 2 options when publishing a tile layer, you can either generate tiles automatically or publish from a tile package,

Publish hosted tile layers from files—ArcGIS Online Help | ArcGIS 

Generating tiles automatically creates tiles in ArcGIS Online as the layer is requested. You will be charged for tile generation, when the tiles are generated. The cost of tile generation has been significantly reduced, 1 credit per 10,000 tiles generated. You can reduce the cost of tile generation by using automatic tiles and switching over to a feature layer at large scales.

Publishing tiles from features: efficient, automatic, and economical 

You could also create a tile package, upload the tile package and then publish the tile package as a tile service in ArcGIS Online. If you follow this method, you will be charged file storage for your tile layer and won't be charged for tile generation. File storage is 1.2 credits per GB stored per month. If you only host the data for an hour, you will only pay for the hour that your data was hosted.

Please let me know if you have questions or if creating a tile layer gets your grid performing faster.

-Kelly

[NiklasSädekoski]

Hi Kelly and thanks for the answer!

I found a decent way to present the data by creating raster maps and publishing them as tile packages. This method works but it is not very efficient and if i want to change something in the tile layer it requires a lot of work (publishing a new package). 

I also tried creating tiles from the original vector grid feature layer as you suggested, this could also work, but is it possible to use only one tile layer from feature layer in several web maps with different visualizations? If I understood correctly the tile layer should update it's style if I change it in the original feature layer, but is it somehow possible to use different styling with the same tile layer in different maps, or do I need to make a new tile layer for every map (for every attribute I want to show) and moreover do I need to make a copy of the original feature layer for every tile layer so that the style doesn't update in the maps I have made earlier? Also the tile layer from the feature seems quite large (about 130 mb compared to the rasters tile layers which are about 6 mb), if I need only one tile layer from feature this is not a problem, but if every attribute needs its own, I think I will use the rasters instead.

Just to clarify, the grid has about 20-30 attributes that I would need to visualize in different maps (aand there is 3 grids with different year/future scenario). So the final application should have about 50+ maps in a story map series with an own tab for each attribute and each tab should contain 1-3 maps to compare (with layer control or embedded applications). So what ever would be the "lightest" way to present the data would probably be the best. I know this might be too much for one app and I might have to split it up to several apps but I'm still finding out my options

Thanks, Niklas

[KellyGerrow]

Hi Niklas,

As tiles are pre-generated you would need to generate tiles for each service that required different symbology. You could do this by creating hosted feature layer views and publishing the tiles from each different view, but you would need to create a new layer for each rendering.

-Kelly