Thursday, September 30, 2021

Mapping with Datawrapper

Datawrapper is just great and now it is even easier to add data & make interactive web-based choropleth maps (see example below): Use our completely redesigned data upload for choropleth maps

Wednesday, September 29, 2021

Learning R

Here are a few good resources:

The Projection Playground

The Projection Playground is fun: look at the world in different projections & you can even adjust the projection parameters to make things even more complicated. Plus you can get the D3 code.

Now: what is this useful for? No idea. For me, there are three challanges related to map projections:
  1. Make students realize that what (they think) the world looks like is actually just a function of the map projection / parameters.
  2. Understand the implications of 1).
  3. For students in my GIS courses: Be able to project GIS data (although that's become less and less important.

Saturday, September 25, 2021

Scatterplot vs. Bivariate Choropleth Map

Same data, different data viz - have a look at http://cartoblography.com/2021/09/24/get-vaccinated/ by Ken Field.

You can create a simple scatterplot to highlight the inverse relationship (here COVID-19 hospitalizations vs. vaccinations) or a bivariate choropleth map to show the spatial pattern(s). Cool!

Friday, September 24, 2021

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

The St. Louis Map Room

The St. Louis Map Room: a community space for exploring and creating original, interpretive maps of the city. These maps are currently on display throughout the community.

Saturday, September 18, 2021

The Traffic Simulation Game

Seen on Maps Mania: The Traffic Simulation Game

Download and then model traffic anywhere in the world: add bike lanes, sidewalks, etc. Not sure how it all works, but somehow OpenStreetMap is involved. 

Painting in ArcGIS Pro

This is cool: Painting in Pro. Reminds me a little of this: MS Excel Art.

Wednesday, September 15, 2021

Monday, September 13, 2021

Mapping Open Data Portalls

Mapping the specific location of an open data portal is a bit weird: is it the location of the server (if there even is a specific location) or the location of the data accessible via said portal? And: what about regional or global data sets? 

Still, I think the map is cool & the spatial patterns are interesting: A Map of Open Data Portals

Human Development Indices (5.0)

The Human Development Indices (5.0) are now available at the subnational level (e.g. states in the USA). Nice: the data are available for download. 

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Finland Might Have Solved Nuclear Power’s Biggest Problem

That title is an exaggeration, but at-least Finland has some kind of facility to handle nuclear waste. Is it safe? Sure! But: Is is save for long enough?

Climate Change = More Extremes

It's really not that complicated and here are two quick videos:

Tuesday, September 7, 2021

OSS and OSH/OSHW

Here's a great paper and some of the associated resources - it's pretty cool what you can do nowadays with open-source software and hardware. That being said: I have seen too many crappy weather stations for one reason or another (see pic below) - making consistemt and high-quality environmental measurements is complex, especially in harsh environments.



Sunday, September 5, 2021

Honest Government Ad | Carbon Capture and Storage

This is awesome: Honest Government Ad | Carbon Capture and Storage

Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE)

Unlearning Racism in Geoscience (URGE) ran a 16-week program in the Spring of 2021 using a cool 'pod' idea where interested individuals and organization formed pods of 12 people to work-through each of the 8 two-week units. The program is obviously over, but the curriculum remains accessible and it would not be too difficult to modify & run this program 'stand-alone' and include other STEM fields such as Biology or Environmental Science.

Laura Guertin shared her 'pod' experience over on her GeoEd Trek Blog.

Thursday, September 2, 2021

Climate at a Glance

Climate at a Glance (from NOAA) is simple and effective: see the data as a table or chart, then DL for further analysis.

Fires & Smoke

Plenty of maps like that - this one now has the smoke forecast layer: https://livingatlas.arcgis.com/wildfire/#@=-96.003,32.304,4

Cattle & Palm Oil = Deforestation

Great article from NASA: Sizing Up How Agriculture Connects to Deforestation. In-general, deforestation in South America is driven by cattle pastures whereas deforestation in Southeast Asia is driven by palm oil production.