ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute)

GISBox is a one-stop 3D GIS data editing, conversion and publishing platform that supports editing in multiple GIS formats such as OSGB/GEOTIFF/RVT, converting to 3DTiles/Terrain and publishing.

Introduction

ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute) is a leading global provider of geographic information system (GIS) software, headquartered in California, USA. Founded in 1969, the company focuses on providing geospatial data collection, management, analysis and visualization solutions. ESRI’s products are widely used in urban planning, disaster management, environmental monitoring, transportation, agriculture, disaster prevention and other fields, and are widely adopted by government agencies, enterprises and research institutions around the world.

File Structure

ESRI supports a variety of data formats, the most common of which include the following:

Shapefile (.shp)

An industry-standard vector data format developed by ESRI, used to store geographic information such as points, lines, and surfaces.
Shapefile consists of three or more related files (.shp, .shx, .dbf).
This format is highly compatible, widely supported, and can communicate with other GIS software.

Geodatabase (.gdb / .mdb)

ESRI’s unique database format, used to store spatial data and attribute data.
File-based geographic database (.gdb): suitable for large-scale data, fast processing speed, and high data management efficiency.
Personal geographic database (.mdb): Based on Microsoft Access, suitable for small-scale data processing.

Layer file (.lyr / .lyrx)

Used to save the style and setting information of map layers.
Stores attribute display rules, symbol styles, etc.
Can be reused in multiple map projects for unified management and display.

Tile Cache (.tpk)

Map tile cache format, which stores map data in the form of tiles to improve loading speed.
Suitable for fast display of large-scale map data, and can still be used in offline environments.

GeoJSON / KML

Common spatial data format for Web GIS.
GeoJSON: lightweight, suitable for Web applications, easy to parse and share.
KML: Common format for Google Earth, also supported by ESRI software.

Pros

**Reliability of industry standards: **ESRI has many years of industry experience in the GIS field and is adopted by many government agencies, enterprises and research institutions. The data is reliable and compatible, and supports multiple formats.
**High-performance spatial analysis: **It provides multiple functions such as spatial analysis, geoprocessing tools, 3D modeling, and time series analysis, which can easily visualize and analyze complex geospatial data.
**Rich data and content: **It provides ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World data catalog, covering global demographics, environmental data, land use, etc., which can be used for free or for a fee.
**Cloud integration: **With ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Enterprise, desktop GIS and cloud can be seamlessly connected, supporting real-time data sharing and analysis.
**High-quality visualization: **It supports multiple visualization methods such as 2D/3D maps, dashboards, story maps, etc., which can intuitively display data.

Cons

**High licensing cost: **ESRI products require commercial licenses, which are expensive, especially ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Enterprise, which require annual licensing fees.
**High learning cost: **The functions are powerful but complex, and the learning curve is steep. Novice users need to invest more time to become proficient in using them.
**High system requirements: **ArcGIS Pro and other software have high hardware configuration requirements and require a high-performance computer environment.

Application Scenario

ESRI’s GIS products are widely used in various fields. In disaster management, ESRI can visualize disaster conditions in real time to assist in quick decision-making. In urban planning, ESRI can be used for traffic congestion analysis and infrastructure design to optimize urban transportation and space utilization. In environmental monitoring, ESRI can track deforestation, soil degradation and other phenomena to assist in the formulation of sustainable management plans. In the agricultural field, ESRI combines meteorological data to monitor crop growth and predict yields. In addition, in business intelligence, ESRI can visualize customer purchase data, market analysis and other information to provide data support for sales strategy optimization and new store site selection. ESRI’s powerful GIS solutions have become an important decision-making tool for government agencies, local governments, enterprises and educational institutions.

Example

ArcGIS.

Screenshot of the ArcGIS web page developed by Esri.