Table of contents:
1.............Considerations
2.............Big Data
3.............Art, Science, and The Scary
Places in the Middle
4.............Why CartoDB?
5............Making a Map with
CartoDB
6............Q & A
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Spatial is special.
“Everything is related to everything else,
but near things are more related than
distant things.”
- Waldo Tobler (1970)
Preface:
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Geographic visualization should be
forward thinking.
Step 1: Look ahead. What is your
goal? How will you accomplish it?
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With CartoDB your map could be
static...
...or animated.
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Your map could stand alone...
...or be part of a larger story.
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Big Data are
more than
just ‘big.’
“Big data is more than simply a
matter of size; it is an opportunity to
find insights in new and emerging
types of data and content...”
- IBM
Step 2: Consider your data.
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Volume Variety Velocity Vinculation
of big data
V’s
The four
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Geographic data are frequently big (one or more V’s).
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Step 3: Decide if you’re looking for answers or communicating results.
(or both)
- Andy Woodruff, “Apart from being dead, Art and Science are strong in web
cartography.”http://andywoodruff.com/blog/apart-from-being-dead-art-and-science-
are-strong-in-web-cartography/
“Web cartography is not about maps;
it’s about hacks for moving data
around.”
Graphic from MacEachren, A.M. (1994) “Visualization in modern
cartography: Setting the agenda.” Redrawn by Roth (2011).
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So how does this
relate to
CartoDB?
To find out, let’s look at
what other tools do.
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Some tools are great for
analysis.
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http://at-cam.blogspot.com
ArcGIS
http://blog.ushahidi.com
✓ De facto standard GIS
✓ 10.1 on campus labs
✓ 1-year licenses for students
✓ Raster and vector analysis
✓ Hundreds of tools
✓ Model builder (see left)
✓ Python
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ArcGIS Online
http://www.arcgis.com
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Quantum GIS
(QGIS for short)
✓ Windows, OS X, Linux
✓ Open Source
✓ GDAL
✓ PostgreSQL/PostGIS, OSM
✓ Raster and vector analysis
✓ Hundreds of tools
✓ Python
✓ Increasingly mainstream
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PostGIS
Spatially-enabled PostgreSQL
✓ Windows, OS X, Linux
✓ Open Source (GPL)
✓ Very powerful. Very fast.
✓ Often used in conjunction with
other tools
No direct GUI
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R
With Spatial Packages
✓ A stats favorite
✓ Excels at point patterns, trends,
and interpolation
✓ So-so visualization
✓ Recommend packages: ggplot2,
maps, splancs, spatstat, mapproj
R Studio w/ ggplot2 + maps
http://www.statisfaction.wordpress.com
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Other tools are great for
communication.
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TileMill
✓ A MapBox project
✓ CartoCSS for styling
✓ Smart selectors + compositing
✓ Shapefiles, PostGIS, SQLite,
GeoJSON, CSV...
✓ Export to web, mobile, tiles, PDF,
SVG, PNG...
✓ Publish to MapBox (free and $)
✓ Open Source
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MapBox
✓ Cloud-based map design
✓ Add public layers, base maps
✓ Load data from TileMill
✓ Embed or share
✓ Free account = 3,000 views per
month
✓ MapBox.js library
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D3
✓ JavaScript for SVG styled with
CSS
✓ Huge (and growing!) set of
examples
✓ Impressive geographic capability
✓ Steep learning curve
✓ Maps are only one facet of D3
Data-Driven Documents
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Where does CartoDB fit in all of this?
Communication
Analysis Cloud-ready
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Where does CartoDB fit in all of this?
DB-driven (PostgreSQL, PostGIS)
Scriptable tools and extensions
Support for SHP, CSV, GeoJSON
Tie into R for analysis
Cloud-based online editor
Pair with JavaScript libraries (D3,
MapBox.js, etc)
Base map from TileMill, MapBox
SVG rendering
Animation
Interaction
Communication
Analysis Cloud-ready
You guessed it!
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Let’s make a map!
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2
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Let’s make a map!
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Any plans for academics?
“Yes we have. Contact us for getting
more information. We are quite
friends of academics so, you will
get a lot of benefits.”
- CartoDB
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Let’s make a map!
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Need data? No sweat: https://gist.github.com/jscarto/4541842
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Let’s make a map!
Need data? No sweat: https://gist.github.com/jscarto/4541842
5
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Let’s make a map!
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Let’s make a map!
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Let’s make a map!
Points, lines and polygons = geometric primitives essential to GIS + cartography
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Let’s make a map!
6
Data type can be String, Number (float), Date, or Boolean
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Let’s make a map!
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Let’s make a map!
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Let’s make a map!
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Let’s make a map!
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Let’s make a map!
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Let’s make a map!
Copy (ctrl- or ⌘-c) all 67 lines of MapStyle.css
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Let’s make a map!
Paste (ctrl- or ⌘-v) all 67 lines of MapStyle.css
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Let’s make a map!
More interesting heat map. Notice zoom level = 7.
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Let’s make a map!
Discrete points visible at zoom level = 10.
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Let’s make a map!
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CartoCSS Breakdown
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+ + +... = multilayer symbol for heat map Smart selectors enable variable-driven design