Want to set up a 3D scene in ArcGIS Online?  Meg shows us how.

G-day! Crile and everyone, Today’s GIS Blog I will talk about “How to Make a 3D web scene to illustrate the Christchurch city council plan of Tsunami Evacuation Zones.” in ArcGIS Online.

In my GIS team project last semester, my team and I worked on a similar topic, a report based on the Christchurch tsunami evacuation zone released by the Christchurch City Council. However, we were not proficient in ArcGIS pro and did not know how to use the ArcGIS Online website, so I have researched it and I will give you a brief step-by-step guide on how to create a 3D view on ArcGIS Online.

You can present your information in a more realistic manner by extending your 2D maps with 3D technologies.

To create the scene, you’ll need to sign in and search Christchurch also need to find  two layers(1. Tsunami Evacuation Zones;2. Christchurch 3D Buildings 2018 WGS84 – Models) as described in the following steps:

1. Sign in to your official Lincoln ArcGIS account.

2. Once you’re signed in, click Scene at the top of the site to open Scene Viewer.

3. Click the New scene in the gallery and a new scene opens.


4. Next, you’ll zoom to the location you want. Click the Search button. In the Search box, type Christchurch and press Enter.

5. Add a 2D data layer to a new scene and all the layers are from ArcGIS Online.

Click Add layers and click the drop-down list at the top of the pane and select ArcGIS Online.

Type Christchurch Tsunami into the search box. Press Enter or click the Search button. The search results appear in the list. (Tsunami Evacuation Zones) Click the Add button

Then click done.

There are three tsunami evacuation zones for Christchurch city and the Banks Peninsula, and a layer is added to the scene as 2D map.

There are three colors in this layer:

Red evacuation zone: This is the location where a tsunami is most likely to strike. The sea, estuaries, rivers, beaches, and harbors are all part of it. Strong currents and surges in the sea could be caused by any magnitude tsunami.

Orange evacuation zone: This is an area where a tsunami is less likely to strike. This comprises land locations that could be flooded in the event of a major tsunami.

A yellow evacuation zone has been established.

Yellow evacuation zone: If you sense a long or violent earthquake, you do not need to leave this zone.

6. Change your 2D points to 3D objects

You can use the layer attributes to turn the areas into authentic-looking areas with heights. Apply a layer style with 3D symbols that use heights and are colored by evacuation zones to gain a better understanding of the Tsunami evacuation zone in Christchurch.

In the Layers pane, click Tsunami Evacuation Zones to change layer style.

For Choose the main attribute to visualize, choose Status to style your zones

For Choose a drawing style, click Select to change the selected style to 3D Types and apply it to the scene.

Toggle on the rotate tool by clicking the rotate button in the scene.

*Zoom in and rotate the scene to observe your changes.

However, the three colored areas now show the same height (different colors)and it is not possible to tell the difference between severe and non-severe tsunami hazards, so, next, you’ll change these 3D areas to custom symbols that can be visualized in Scene Viewer.

7. In the Layer Style pane, click Options to open and modify the 3D style.


First, click on COLOUR in the bottom left corner and change the colors of the three areas to the same red, orange and yellow, plus set the rest to be colorless and transparent. Next, set an initial height for each of the three areas, for example, 100 meters for red, 50 meters for orange, and 20 meters for yellow, to differentiate between the areas affected by the tsunami. Then Click Done. You will get a new layer with real Height and the same color.


Comparing the previous photos again, it is already possible to tell very well which one was affected by the tsunami based on the correct color and the different setting heights.

8. Add an additional layer

To get a better sense of the threat of the tsunami, add an additional layer of buildings to further compare by realistic heights. Unfortunately, only layers of buildings in Christchurch CBD can be found. However, it is also possible to compare the areas affected by the tsunami in the center of Christchurch.

Click Add layers and search for Christchurch 3D Buildings

Click the Add button and click Done.

Navigate around the scene. Zoom out some so you can see zone areas and buildings in the city.

To get a better sense of the threat of the tsunami, add an additional layer of buildings to further compare by realistic heights. Unfortunately, only layers of buildings in downtown Christchurch can be found.

9. To set transparency in the zones layer, click the layer options button and choose Layers properties.

Under Transparency, set the transparency to 60 percent so you can see the trees, and Click Done twice to return to the Layers pane
Zoom in on the overlap between the building and the area

It is easy to see that when a tsunami occurs, the areas of Christchurch city that would be affected are in the north-east corner of the city center and along the Avon River (as the tsunami would raise the level), but in general the damage would be minor.

10. Save your scene

Now you can save your scene by clicking Save the Scene. Also, you can share with others.


Thanks for reading!

Meg