When speaking of web maps, Google set the pace and was the one who made these geospatial technologies mainstream. This workshop presents free alternatives. Often they are perhaps less streamlined but more professional and specific to a certain use case. The use case that will be treated here is statistical data which serves as input for a ‚story map‘. This story map tells a story, meaning an idea (provided by the participants) to be visualized by a thematic web map (syn. geovisualization, infographic).
Come with an idea - go home with a web map: Tools for sharing maps and vector dataGeosharing 2013 bern_ws_keller_hsr_slides
1. Come with an idea - go home with
a web map: Tools for sharing
maps and vector data
Prof. Stefan Keller
2. Tools for sharing maps and
vector data
Programme:
1. Basics of thematic mapping and geovisualization
2. From the idea and collection of data to the
making, publishing and sharing of maps
3. Discussion of some free online map making and
map publishing tools
4. About data access webservices (background
maps) and data formats
5. Excursus about TileMill and CartoCSS
6. Design and publish your own web map (using
TileMill)
7. Tools to extract and transform (i.e. convert)
vector data
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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3. Organization
Who are we?
Prof. Stefan Keller
Tobias Schmitz
Who are you?
Name, Education, Organization
Infrastructure/Prerequisites:
Two on one desktop (or your laptop w/Wifi)
A mail account
No programming
Report „Geo-Visualisierungs-Tools“
Register an account at MapBox.com now!
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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4. This workshop
Come with an idea - go home with a web map:
Tools for sharing maps and vector data
in 7 steps => see programme
Goals of this workshop:
Refresh the basics of thematic mapping
Learn how complex geoviz. still is
Learn to know some online, free tools
See demo with own data in action
Attempt to sketch a solution for own idea
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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5. «Come with an idea…“»
Based on
Base map CH: Gemeinden, Kantone, wichtige
Orte (‘workshop compilation’)
‘Hektarraster’, see http://bit.ly/1cwn3YY
OpenData, see http://opendata.admin.ch
– Base data: Gemeindegrenzen (polygons)
– Base data: PLZ/Zipcodes (polygons, 300 MB!)
– Zweitwohnungen nach Gemeinden
– Föhnindex nach PLZ
Either
follow our lab exercise
or tell us now!
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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6. Thoughts on geosharing…
What do you expect…? It‘s only 90 min.!
… sharing is good
We all want to share our
intentions => communication
knowhow => foursquare, stackoverflow
data => open data, gov.data/crowsourcing
Software => open source
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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7. 1 | Thematic mapping and
geovisualization
Cartography, (Neo-)Geography, Visualization,
Arts Design, Data Driven Journalism
Thematic Maps, Infographics
Most common features of thematic maps:
map (not graphics)
online (not printed)
interactive (not static)
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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8. 1 | Characteristics of
Geospatial Data (Geodata)
complex nature/structure/naming
different formats
difficult to access
big data
difficult to render
point, polyline, polygon and text
symbols/signatures/styles
generalization problem
– different content on different zoom levels
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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9. 1 | Thematic Mapping and
Geovisualization
Topographic Maps
Base maps
– OpenStreetMap
– Google Map
Thematic Maps
Choropleth Map
Proportional or Graduated Symbols
Dot Map
Isarthmic or Contour Map
Dasymetric Mapping
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10. 1 | Base Maps
OpenEcoMap
OSM Mapnik
Hike & Bike
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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11. 1 | Thematic Map Examples
NZZ Swiss Maps - Interactive Things
http://work.interactivethings.com/nzz-swiss-maps/
repository (TopoJSON, GeoJSON from publicly available
(but difficult to access) swisstopo
geodata.https://github.com/interactivethings/swissmaps
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12. 1 | Interactive Maps !=
Google Maps
Google Maps , provide out-of-the-box
DB (fusion table) / spread sheet (incl.
geocoding)
API
Base Maps
There are alternatives
web solutions, out-of-the-box: ArcGIS Online
and MapBox („challengers“)…
base maps, out-of-the-box: tiles
other kinds of base maps: customized, part of
own geovisualization config. (see in 4)
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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13. 1 | Tips about sharing maps
and charts
"Many Eyes“: www-
958.ibm.com/software/data/cognos/manyeye
s/
DocumentCloud:
www.documentcloud.org/
Tableau Public:
http://www.tableausoftware.com/public/
„Storytelling with maps“ (by ESRI):
http://storymaps.esri.com/
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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14. 2 | From the idea and collection
of data to the making, publishing
and sharing of maps
Tasks
Inception: invent, combine
Design: collect, make
Publishing (web): …
Sharing (web): tag it for discovery
Tips:
The Data Journalism Handbook
Handbook of Geojournalism
Geovisualization sources
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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15. Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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16. 2 | Most difficult tasks…
Goal: Matching thematic data with geospatial data
(coordinates)
=> „Join“ based on
Coordinates => within/overlap (overlay,
buffer), nearby
Postal Adress => Geocoding => Coordinates
Name => e.g. Community Name, BfS Nr., Zip
Code
Tools
Online Tools: Fusion Tables, ArcGIS Online
(other?)
Desktop Tools SQLite, GIS (QGIS)
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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17. 3 | Free Online Geovis. Tools
Report „Geo-Visualisierungs-Tools“ by
Geometa Lab HSR and GeoGR.ch
mostly online, freely accessible tools
some open source
Scenario
Data source prepared and ready locally
As well-known formats: CSV, Shapefile
(vector)
or as databases: SQLite/Spatialite,
PostgreSQL/PostGIS
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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18. 3 | Free Online Geovis. Tools
ArcGIS Online, GIS Cloud, CartoDB, QGIS
Cloud, TileMill
Evaluation criteria (see overview matrix):
Skill prerequisites
Application type (Desktop, Web)
Supported thematic maps types
Predefined base maps
Supported formats (and webservices) for
import and export or publishing
License
Remarks (e.g. hosting service avilable?)
GISpunkt-Lunch - Geovisualisierungs-Werkzeuge
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19. 3 | Free Online Geovis. Tools
ArcGIS Online
Find relevant and useful basemaps, data,
configurable GIS resources
Manage you organization’s geospatial content
Create maps and apps from APIs, templates,
and tools
Publish maps and data
Collaborate
Data capturing and deploying for
– Smartphones inclusing Windows Mobile
– Tablets (ArcPad)
http://www.arcgis.com/
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20. 3 | Free Online Geovis. Tools
GIS Cloud
Desktop GIS features in the cloud
Easy and efficient visualization, analysis and
exploration
Mainly hosting
http://www.giscloud.com/
CartoDB
Upload, query, analyze and integrate data
Quickly create and customize maps
Generate fast, interactive and stylish maps (tiles)
hosting – as well as all code based on Open Source
(PostGIS etc.)
http://cartodb.com/
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21. 3 | Free Online Geovis. Tools
QGIS Desktop and QGIS Cloud
Direct viewing of vector and raster data
Mapping and interactive exploration
Create, edit and export
Perform spatial analysis
www.qgis.ch and www.giscloud.com
TileMill / MapBox
CartoCSS
Shapefiles , SQLite, PostGIS
TileMill for Processing
http://mapbox.com/tilemill/
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22. 4 | About data access
webservices and data formats
Data access webservices
Tile API: fast raster tiles (many API variants)
WMS: data access service for single raster files
WFS: data access service for vector data
Raster vs. Vector formats
Raster:
– ‚dull‘, mainly one and only one attribute
– easy to handle
– formats: png, jpg, „tiles“
Vector:
– ‚intelligent‘, many attributes/any structure
– Complex to handle
– formats: Shapefile, SQLite/Geopackage, GeoJSON
„Grid“ (like Hektarraster): Special case
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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23. 4 | Stumbling blocks of geodata
publishing and sharing
Different formats
Coordinate Reference System (CRS)
Spatial Reference System (SRS)
Tips:
– EPSG:4326 = WGS84 = „GPS“ (default)
– EPSG: 21781 (CH1903/LV03)
– EPSG: 3857 or 900913 (Mercator/Google)
– http://giswiki.hsr.ch/CRS
– www.spatialreference.org
Geovisualization issues
…
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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24. 5 | Excursus about TileMill
and CartoCSS
Map design studio for webdesigner, cartographers and journalists
Integrated with MapBox
Multi platform, Open Source (Mapnik)
Portrayal language CartoCSS
Import formats:
File Formats: Shapefile, CSV (lat/lon, 'WKT'), GEOJSON
Databases: Spatialite, PostGIS
(Raster: see 'raster-colorizer' in dev. version, will be in next
version)
Export formats:
MapBox Online
MBTiles (SQlite)
Raster: PNG, PDF
SVG (Vector Graphics)
Mapnik XML
Schöne Karten mit TileMill erstellen...., S. Keller
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25. 5 | CSS/HTML
CSS = Cascaded Style Sheets
Nested styling template
Computer language for style templates (engl.
stylesheets) of structured documents
Especially with HTML and XML (e.g. SVG)
Nesting is default, can be overridden
There are rules. There are also rules. Then there are
ids (#poi), classes (.class), selectors ([zoom>3])
A basic CSS rule example:
/* Syntax: SELECTOR { property: Value } */
H1 {
color:red
}
Schöne Karten mit TileMill erstellen...., S. Keller
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26. 5 | CartoCSS/TileMill (1)
CartoCSS:
Extension of CSS of language elements (rules,
properties, functionen) for cartographic visualization
Doc.: www.mapbox.com/tilemill/docs/manual/carto/
Reference: www.mapbox.com/carto/api/2.1.0/
Example:
#earthquakes {
marker-width:6;
marker-fill:#f45;
marker-line-color:#813;
marker-allow-overlap:true;
}
Schöne Karten mit TileMill erstellen...., S. Keller
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28. 5 | TileMill Import/Export
SpatiaLite
Vector
Import
MBTiles
Raster tiles
Export
Info: http://giswiki.hsr.ch/MBTiles
Upload to MapBox
using your account
Schöne Karten mit TileMill erstellen...., S. Keller
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29. 6 | Design and publish your
own web map (using TileMill)
Hands on…
We have about 40 minutes time
Project and data on desktop
Start TileMill
Help
Reference in TileMill („{}“)
Online www.mapbox.com/tilemill/docs/
See also http://giswiki.hsr.ch/TileMill
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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30. 6 | Hands-On CartoCSS
(follow instructions…)
Schöne Karten mit TileMill erstellen...., S. Keller
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31. 7 | Tools to extract and
transform vector data
Online Geoconverter:
GeoConverter
OGR2KML (small datasets)
See http://giswiki.hsr.ch/Online_Geoconverter
etc..
Desktop Geoconverter:
Open Source: OGR, GDAL
GIS: QGIS (Open Source), ArcGIS
Tools: FME, Infogrips, Geocom
etc.
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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32. 7 | Outlook
Limitations of TileMill and CartoCSS
Not covered:
Full power of CartoCSS
Publication on own server
Programming
Publication on own server
Not yet available
HSR Project „TinyTileServer“
Programming, e.g. with Processing (.js)
Schöne Karten mit TileMill erstellen...., S. Keller
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33. Agenda (CH/DE related)
Kurse an der HSR im Januar 2014 u.a. zu
QGIS, Python, PostgreSQL
http://giswiki.hsr.ch/Agenda
GEOSummit 2014, 3.-5.6.2014, Bern
www.geosummit.ch
Swiss PGDay - die Schweizer PostgreSQL-
Konferenz, 24.6.2014, HSR Rapperswil
http://pgday.ch/2014/
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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34. Thank you!
Prof. Stefan Keller
Geometa Lab at Institute for Software
University of Applied Sciences Rapperswil
Oberseestrasse 10
CH-8640 Rapperswil (Switzerland)
Web
www.gis.hsr.ch
E-Mail sfkeller(at)hsr.ch
Twitter @sfkeller
Tools for sharing maps and vector data, 31.10.13, Prof. S. Keller HSR @sfkeller
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