Geotagging is the process of attaching geographical metadata to media that provides its geographical location. Commonly, geotags are tagged onto photos. For example, if you take a photo of yourself in a specific place such as Lake Windemere in the Lake District, you can create a geotag that will reflect this location. The geotag is created through the metadata for the image which will/can contain: the latitude and longitude co-ordinates, altitude and bearings of where the image was taken etc. You may be familiar with geotagging photos when you tag your location on a photo that you have taken when uploading to social media such as Facebook or Instagram. ArcGIS will allow you to plot these geotagged images onto a visual map
Using similar metadata to geotagging, ArcGIS can help you map basic co-ordinates on a map. This is done through ArcMap. It uses a basemap (which is the map of the world which you can zoom in and out of) that you can put the co-ordinates on. It also can use attribute data in the form of tabular data (which is normally in a CSV file format (like an Excel spreadsheet) that you have linked to co-ordinates. The most important metadata to plot your data is through using the longitude and latitude co-ordinates. You can also have other types of files that provide this data such as a Shapefile (.shp). This is a file that stores location, shape and attributes of geographical features. You can also add layers to reflect features such as rivers and lakes etc. With the map you can either have examples of geotagged photos that create points on your map of co-ordinates, shapefiles or csv files that can provide this information.
Firstly, it is important to note that the metadata you need (longitude/latitude co-ordinates etc) are stored where metadata about your type of camera, the exposure for example are kept. Secondly, before you export the photos ensure the metadata needed has been tagged on the photos. ArcGIS can then turn your geotagged images into points on a map:
If you are using ArcGIS online, you can use Flickr to access your photos, or continue with normal procedure with using photos from your own device. To read more on how to geotag using ArcGIS Online, follow the link below which takes you through some steps to help you.
1) Add your basemap- press Add Data- Add basemap as shown in the picture. This is the same button you will need later to add data (ie. csv/.shp).
2) Select your basemap. You have a choice between different terrains, geographical features to select and Open Street Map. Consider how you need to display your data and which map is best for this. You will also be able to turn on/off certain layers within your basemap if needed.
3) To add your points, press the Add Data button. Add your data, be it a csv file or shapefile. With this, make sure your data has the reference points (co-ordinates) for the map to work with).
Once your layers have been added, you will then need to right click on them to manage them. Explore the options that this gives you. Look at the other tabs on overlaying and tabular data to learn more about how basics on how to get to grips with using this type of data within ArcMap.
Have a go at playing with stylistic choices such as changing the colour of the points on your map or change the look of the icon (Properties). For more on style, see the link below.
http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/map/working-with-arcmap/using-symbols-and-styles.htm
In ArcMap, make sure you copy all geotagged photos into a folder and you have a basemap to work with. Find the ArcToolbox- Data Management- Photos -Geotagged Photos to Points.
Next steps- the input folder is where your photos exist. For your output box, create a geodatabase for your images. See this link: http://desktop.arcgis.com/en/arcmap/10.3/manage-data/administer-file-gdbs/create-personal-geodatabase.htm Save these once created. Ensure both boxes (Include Non-Geotagged Photos and Add Photos as Attachments) are ticked. Press OK. These images should appear on your basemap. To see the metadata, press the HTML Pop-up button in your toolbar; click on a point which will bring up a pop-up box with geotagged information.
