Geocoding

OSU USA Geocoding Service

Geocoding is the process of converting tabular data to spatial data by using the information contained in the columns to determine the location of each record.  A common use case is to locate places on a map using their street addresses.  ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro provide the option to geocode data using the ArcGIS World Geocoding Service.  This is fine for small datasets, but because the operation consumes ArcGIS Online credits, we ask that users find an alternative for large datasets.  To provide a convenient alternative for OSU students, staff, and faculty, the OSU ESRI Support team operates a geocoding service based on ESRI Business Analyst data with coverage of the United States.

Usage Constraints

  • The geocoder is available for OSU students, staff and faculty for OSU-related activities or research and cannot be used for profit in any way or by 3rd parties not affiliated with OSU.
  • Data provided by the service cannot be delivered to off-campus entities without making a request to esri-support@osu.edu for approval.
  • There is no assumption of accuracy or quality of the service or its results. The service is provided as-is.
  • The service may be discontinued at any time due to abuse or changes to licensing agreements with ESRI.
  • We do not offer any instructions on the use of the service besides what is found on this page. ESRI has documentation on how to run geocoding analyses using their product.
  • There is a limit of 200,000 geocodes per batch.  Larger datasets may be geocoded using multiple batches.

Quick Start for ArcGIS Pro

  1. In the Catalog pane, add the following GIS server to your project:  https://cura-gis-web.asc.ohio-state.edu/arcgis
  2. In the Servers folder of the Catalog, view the contents of the server and browse to the geocoding folder
  3. Right-click on the USA locator and click Add To Project
  4. In the Geoprocessing pane,  find the Geocode Addresses tool.
  5. In the Geocode Addresses dialog, select the Input Table (i.e. the table of addresses you wish to geocode) and select the geocoding/USA locator from the Input Address Locator dropdown.
  6. Match the fields in your dataset with the fields required by the locator in the Input Address Fields settings.
  7. Specify the Output Feature Class where you want to the geocoded data to be saved.
  8. Click Run.

Detailed Instructions

For detailed instructions, see Getting Started with the OSU Geocoding Service.