Welcome to the locator.stanford.edu geocoding service

The Main REST API Service Endpoint is at: https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis

Introduction

The Stanford Geospatial Center’s geocoding service is now in full production for research applications and data augmentation.

Geocoding uses reference datasets (e.g., street networks, administrative boundaries, and gazetteers) to convert text-based locations (such as addresses, place names, or administrative units) into precise latitude/longitude coordinates. These coordinates can be used to extract values from other datasets or measure proximity to features and phenomena.

The service, powered by Esri's ArcGIS Server technology, provides:

• US Street Address Geocoding
• Geocoding for Street Addresses, Place Names, and Administrative Unit centroids across North and South America
• Reverse Geocoding, which converts coordinates into the nearest feature (e.g., address or place name).

Data documentation

Links to full documentation for the data and "locators" used in this service can be found below:

• StreetMap Premium, Latin America
• StreetMap Premium, North America
• StreetMap Premium, Europe
• StreetMap Premium Asia & Pacific
• StreetMap Premium, Africa & Middle East

Key Information About the Service

• Data Restrictions: The service must not be used with Protected Health Information (PHI) or other High-Risk data. Consult the IRB for guidance on data de-identification and privacy policies for human subject research. Avoid submitting data that can directly link to individuals.

• Security: All client-server communication uses HTTPS with TLS/SSL encryption.

• Privacy: The service does not log geocoding requests, and input data is not retained.

• Infrastructure: Hosted on Stanford hardware within the Stanford Network.

• Intended Use: Designed for bulk geocoding of thousands to millions of place names or addresses, specifically for Stanford researchers.

• Development Status: The service is under active development and does not currently include a Service Level Agreement (SLA) or guarantees of uptime. Temporary outages may occur during maintenance.

• User Notifications: Maintenance updates are shared via the stanfordgis@lists.stanford.edu mailing list and Stanford Geospatial Slack.

Connecting to locator.stanford.edu Services

The locator.stanford.edu geocoding services work natively with ArcGIS Pro, offering seamless integration for geocoding workflows. These services are IP-restricted to the Stanford Network, including VPN access. If you cannot connect, ensure you are using the Stanford AnyConnect VPN. For further assistance, contact stacemaples@stanford.edu.

Using Esri Desktop Clients

ArcGIS Pro

To connect to locator.stanford.edu services in the latest version of ArcGIS Pro:

1. Ensure you are connected to the Stanford Network or using the Stanford AnyConnect VPN.
2. Open ArcGIS Pro.
3. Navigate to Insert > Connections > Servers > Add ArcGIS Server.
4. Enter the following for the Server URL:
   https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis
5. Leave the Username/Password fields blank and click OK.
6. Once the connection is established, expand the locator.stanford.edu server to view available services.
7. To use a geocoding service, right-click it and select Add To Project.
8. The selected geocoding service will now appear in the Locators folder of your project, ready for use.

You can find more information on using geocoding tools in ArcGIS Pro in Esri's "Introducing Geocoding" documentation.

Accessing Through the REST API

The geocoding services are also accessible through the REST API at:
https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/.

Full REST API documentation is available here:

• ArcGIS Server 1.9.1 REST API: https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/sdk/rest/index.html
• Geocoding Tools Documentation: https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/sdk/rest/index.html#/Geocode_Addresses/02ss00000040000000/

These resources provide details for accessing and using geocoding services programmatically.

Service Endpoints

The following region-specific geocoding services are available through locator.stanford.edu:

• US Street Addresses
  https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/rest/services/geocode/USA/GeocodeServer

• Latin America Composite
  (Street Addresses, Place Names, Administrative Units, and Reverse Geocoding)
  https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/rest/services/geocode/LatinAmerica/GeocodeServer

• North America Composite
  (Street Addresses, Place Names, Administrative Units, and Reverse Geocoding)
  https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/rest/services/geocode/NorthAmerica/GeocodeServer

• Europe Composite
  (Street Addresses, Place Names, Administrative Units, and Reverse Geocoding)
  https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/rest/services/geocode/Europe/GeocodeServer

• Asia Pacific Composite
  (Street Addresses, Place Names, Administrative Units, and Reverse Geocoding)
  https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/rest/services/geocode/AsiaPacific/GeocodeServer

• Africa Composite
  (Street Addresses, Place Names, Administrative Units, and Reverse Geocoding)
  https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis/rest/services/geocode/Africa/GeocodeServer

Other ways to use locator.stanford.edu

R & RStudio

Our colleague, Claudia Engel, from The Center for Interdisciplinary Digital Research, has created a repository with support materials for accessing the locator.stanford.edu services, from R and RStudio:

• cengel's ArcGIS_geocoding for R Repo on Github

Python

You can access the locator.stanford.edu services directly using the ArcGIS REST API. The use of the API is well documented in the ArcGIS REST API Services Reference, and in particular the following sections:

• Geocode Service
• Geocoding Tools

The Stanford Geospatial Center has a Github repository that contains some resources for accessing the locator.stanford.edu services, using Python:
StanfordGeospatialCenter's SGC-Python-Geocoder repository on Github

More Information

Esri's "Introducing Geocoding" documentation