Mapping Center: map projection distortion
Really good blog entry on map projection distortion from Aileen Buckley over at the Mapping Center. Even if you understand the principle by which a projection is created, this really helps illustrate the net effect of it. And download the template as its a good way to experiment with different projections.
posted on: Fri, 25 Mar 2011 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
History of Web Mapping
Very interesting blog entry from Steven Feldman on the history of web mapping. The mind map and slides are well worth looking at by all as it is one of the few detailed and succinct summaries around and is based upon his extensive experience and interviews with many in the industry. Spend the time as its well worth it!
posted on: Fri, 18 Mar 2011 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Spatial pattern analysis in ArcGIS
New free training seminar from ESRI.
posted on: Tue, 15 Mar 2011 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
GPS: The First Global Navigation Satellite System
Useful free e-book from Trimble on GPS. Download and read!
posted on: Mon, 14 Mar 2011 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
ESRIs Essays on Geography and GIS
ESRI have just published volume 3 of "Essays on Geography and GIS". EGG (nice!) is an irregularly produced volume series (almost annual) that accumulates together a selection of papers from ArcNews. Its a nice dip in to topical items in the ESRI world. I couldn't find a single landing page for EGG, although volume 1 has one. Just use this search.
posted on: Thu, 03 Feb 2011 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
ArcGIS for Android?
Well it looks like ArcGIS is coming to the Android platform. The more general smartphone area shows that iOS and Windows will also be supported. Indeed to iOS version is out, Windows due imminently and Android to follow shortly thereafter. The mobile blog keeps things up to date. Not surprising the choice of platforms; difficult for any large-scale developer as the mobile space is so varied at the moment. It'll be interesting to see how it develops. Smartphones are the modus operandi for alot of work the; integrated GPS and fast processors make it a no-brainer and if they aren't careful, Google will very rapidly fill this spot.
posted on: Mon, 27 Dec 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
FGDB Support coming to software near you.....
James Fee notes that ESRIs file geodatabase is finally to be (sort of) opened up with a beta of the API coming out in January (C++ based). The binaries (but probably not the source code) are being released and as the blog notes:
"This API is targeted for advanced developers who require access to the File Geodatabase without an ArcObjects license for purposes of interoperability."
So you won't need to buy ArcGIS by the sounds of things to read FGDBs, but it will be a Windows only solution (until its reversed engineered anyway).
posted on: Wed, 15 Dec 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
UK Public Data Corporation
Interesting article over at The Guardian on the creation of a public data corporation next year potentially to include the OS, Met Office and Land Registry. This has the potential to reorganise Trading Funds as we know them at the moment and possibly sell of parts of the businesses to the private sector. If nothing else, this government is moving at a fast pace...
posted on: Fri, 19 Nov 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
The Geospatial Revolution
For those who missed it first time around on the blogs, Penn State University Public Broadcasting are putting together a 4 episode series on The Geospatial Revolution. This is a (relatively!) high budget project that is executed to a very high standard. The first episode covers why geospatial is important, what it's used for and where we are going. Almost a who's who of interviews. Episode 2 is now out covering the use of geospatial in different "market" areas.
Not to be missed.
posted on: Tue, 02 Nov 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Licensing Updates
Ed Parsons has a couple of useful recent blog posts on data licensing. Specifically the clarification of derived data for OS licenses and open government licensing (which might include OS OpenData but I'm not entirely clear)....
posted on: Fri, 08 Oct 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
TLS to 3D shapefiles
We have taken delivery of a new GeoWall system at Kingston which Ken has been painstakingly putting together....
posted on: Mon, 20 Sep 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Creating earlier versions of geodatabases
I'm amazed it's taken this long, but ESRI has now produced geoprocessing tools for creating earlier versions of geodatabases. I did a roundup blog on this 2 and a half years ago.....
posted on: Tue, 24 Aug 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
WMS Benchmarking 2010
OSGeo have announced the WMS benchmarking for 2010 which has seen a long list of products taking part. Last year it was MapServer and GeoServer, with ESRI having to pull out due to time commitments. This year its MapServer, GeoServer, CadCorp GeognoSIS, Constellation SDI, ERDAS Apollo, Mapnik, Oracle MapViewer and QGIS mapserver. Great to see such an extensive line-up.
posted on: Sat, 21 Aug 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Using Postcodes
I've been playing around with postcodes a little more recently, particularly since the OS released CodePoint under the open licensing model....
posted on: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
PySAL
Note the recent announcement that the full v1.0 release of PySAL (Python Spatial Analysis Library) has been finalised. Slashgeo has a good introductory paragraph, but note that this work has come out of two Python based geoprocessing projects that wanted to write a core Python library to avoid duplication of effort. It is not a front-end, but provides core spatial functions.
posted on: Thu, 05 Aug 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
UI Design and 3D Interfaces
Remember Minority Report? That cool UI that Tom Cruise uses to interface with the computer and sort and analyse data?? Well the UI design was real at the time and early prototypes in use. John Underkoffler provides a fascinating looking at current 3D user interfaces and, as he says, its where the input and output are the same location, all built within a 3D spatial paradigm for manipulation. And the obvious early uses (as he demonstrates) are spatial which raises lots of interesting questions about future interfacing with GIS.
posted on: Wed, 02 Jun 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Preservation of (spatial) data clearinghouse
A very interesting press release last week from the Library of Congress about an NDIIP funded project on digital preservation....
posted on: Tue, 01 Jun 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Where's my stuff??
We're moving to a world of TOIDs.... well not, the OS implementation of TOIDs, but the idea that "objects" in the world can be, and are, interesting....
posted on: Tue, 01 Jun 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Schooloscope.. what, where and its up to you about the why
The Guardian reports on the recently launched Schooloscope site, a 4ip funded project to make better (and fairer) sense of school performance data....
posted on: Thu, 13 May 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Python Modules
I blogged last year on the increasing use of Python as the preferred language for geospatial automation driven, in no small part, but ESRIs uptake. Anyway, a useful post on essential Python modules for the geospatial programmer.
posted on: Thu, 22 Apr 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Spatial Stats in ArcGIS
The Geoprocessing blog over at ESRI highlights an interesting (well, in an academic sense!) book on spatial statistics which they have contributed a chapter to on ArcGIS. The chapter has been made available for download so is well worth checking out.
posted on: Sat, 10 Apr 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Effect on EDINA of OS data release
It is clearly going to take some time for the dust to settle, but GoGeo have a nice summary of the datasets "in" and "out" of each prospective license....
posted on: Thu, 08 Apr 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Digimap for Schools
I was reminded to day of the EDINA run Digimap for Schools service which offers access to twelve different datasets (including Mastermap) for Primary and Secondary schools at an incredibly reasonable cost (£60-120). For those schools needing geospatial data for teaching its a very good place to start.
posted on: Wed, 07 Apr 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
More OS Licensing
Ed Parsons covers the licensing for the free OS data, which as he notes is Creative Commons style and means no problems for derived data. Good news indeed.
posted on: Thu, 01 Apr 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
OS Data
Yes, OS data is here. Download to your heart's content and, more importantly, it is going to be fascinating to see the new uses that this data is going to be put to. With unhindered access the potential for some really good mashups and web services is great. The Guardian nicely summarise the datasets. For DEM users note that the vector version of Panorama is included which, in my mind, is *better* than the higher resolution Profile (although Profile Plus is a different beast). And MySociety have already produced some derivative products (e.g. WGS84 version of CodePoint).
posted on: Thu, 01 Apr 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
OS data release in April
It's old news, but yes some OS data will be released in April. This is good news as it can only drive the innovation of "geo" applications and, perhaps more importantly, drive the linked use of base mapping with other government datasets released over at data.gov.uk. Of course, the nagging problem remains postcodes...
posted on: Tue, 23 Mar 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Tim Berners Lee:on government data
Great 5 minute talk from Tim Berners-Lee on linked geodata. The driving force behind the new data.gov.uk portal, he shows some of the profound applications of geodata.
posted on: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
UKMap makes ground
That's a horrible pun! But its true.Free Our Data have a nice summary roundup of news at UKMap, most notable of which is the acceptance by Land Registry of submissions using UKMap data. That is big news. And also a growing list of clients; as Charles Arthur notes "London councils and emergency services? That’s what I think you call an inroad into OS’s market, isn’t it?"
posted on: Sat, 06 Mar 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
ESRI at YouTube
Well it had to come; funny none-the-less!
posted on: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Tallest Eucalyptus tree mapped
Nice story over at GIS Development on mapping the world's tallest eucalyptus tree using LiDAR. OK, it's an ESRI plug, but a great example. And at just shy of 100m its damn big!
posted on: Mon, 22 Feb 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Bing Maps at TED
Great presentation by Blaise Agueray Arcas of Microsoft at TED recently. Its specifically about the augmented reality features of Bing maps, going from the traditional "panels", through to "slippy" maps and then the integration of crowd sourced information all overlain together and explorable searchable. It is smooth, exquisite and thoroughly compelling. He saves the best till last which was the full integration of Flickr photography, including imagery inside buildings, then on top of this he overlaid a live video feed for true real time augmented reality. Then go back outside, look up at the sky and get full details of the visible night-sky.
posted on: Fri, 19 Feb 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Great ESRI graphics
The Mapping Center blog points to supporting materials for the ESRI Press book "Map Use". And rightly so; the Powerpoint slides are excellent and provide some really good illustrations of underpinning GIS concepts as well as some nice examples. Well worth leafing through, staff and students alike.
posted on: Mon, 15 Feb 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Your health depends on where you live
TED has recently released a talk by Bill Davenhall entitled "Your health depends on where you live". Presented at TEDMED, the talk provides a very simple exposition of "geo-medicine" (or more broadly epidemiology). In fact, when you watch it, it really espouses, first and foremost, the significance of geography and then the importance of GIS.
posted on: Mon, 01 Feb 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Zoomable Map
Check out the Zoomable Map which uses a clever set of folds to give the effect of zooming in from an overview map to a streetmap. I can see this taking off for alot of city maps, so thought I would order the London one. Its not cheap but a really nice idea. I hope it takes off.
posted on: Sat, 23 Jan 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Trouble and strife with OS data
I recently had a map submitted to the Journal of Maps that made good use of Mastermap data. Although not an extensive amount was used, it is primarily based upon it so I suggested he check out the JISC-OS license with particular reference to my post on what this means for PDF based maps....
posted on: Thu, 21 Jan 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Gentle Introduction to GIS
GIS Lounge have a good summary of a Gentle Introduction to GIS, a PDF manual and accompanying datasets for use with QGIS....
posted on: Fri, 15 Jan 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Map-OSM-atic
Great automated service for creating a town plan and index over at MapOSMatic using OpenStreetMap data. The site developed out of Hackfest2009 and is based upon the entire worldwide OSM data using the default OSM stylesheet. A really useful service. If your map doesn't already exist (and there currently doesn't appear to be a search engine for existing plans) then you can define a bounding box around your town of interest and queue it for processing. The queue is currently around 200 maps which seems to take about 24 hours to process, but of course it depends upon the complexity of the jobs. Outputs are PNG, PDF and SVG.
posted on: Wed, 06 Jan 2010 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
Consultation on release of OS data
As reported by FoD and Mapperz, DCLG have begun the consultation concerning the release of OS data. There is an accompanying impact assessment. Well worth leafing through both.
posted on: Wed, 23 Dec 2009 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
ERDAS goes where ESRI fears to tread
Slashdot reported earlier this year on the FOSS4G web server benchmarking. The big news was that ESRI were taking part, but then pulled out. The hope was to get both ESRI and MapGuide in to the frame to see how they did. With the recently announced ERDAS 2010 released, Chris Tweedie over at ERDAS took it upon himself to run some benchmarks (also reported in Slashdot). The results certainly look impressive (up to twice as fast as Mapserver) which I guess is why they were happy to put the product forward. ESRIs silence is deafening....
posted on: Thu, 17 Dec 2009 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
A Practical Guide to Geostatistical Mapping
Tomislav Hengl has just published an open-access book on geostatistical mapping. The PDF is freely available with the printed version very modestly priced. The website links to datasets with the analysis performed in R, ILWIS and SAGA, whilst the book itself comes out of the courses he teaches at ITC. Well worth a look.
posted on: Sat, 12 Dec 2009 | path: /GIS | permanent link to this entry
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