#Making interactive maps Brown-bag session: Maps!
###Points and polygons
This is a point:
This is a polygon:
###Choropleths
###Using Fusion Tables Today, we're going to use Fusion Tables, a Google data management and visualization tool. You can use SHPescape to get your shapefile into Fusion Tables, or you can open it in, say, QGIS and save as a different format, or if you're comfortable using the command line you could use ogr2ogr to convert.
###Do you really need a map? Is geography/location important to your analysis or presentation? If not, maybe you don't need a map.
###Data sources Whenever you come across something like this in a report --
-- chances are you can request the underlying data to make your own map. ESRI is the GIS vendor for a lot of government agencies, so they'll probably at least have a shapefile to give you.
Typically, a shapefile comes packaged with a group of related files: .prj, .dbf, .cpg, .shx, etc. (You can read up on the file format specifications here, if that sounds like a thing you would enjoy.) Other formats you might encounter: KML/KMZ, geoJSON, topoJSON.
###Some agencies that post GIS data online:
- Census TIGER data
- data.gov
- National Weather Service
- USGS
- State data portal
- Sarpy County open GIS
- Douglas County/City of Omaha open GIS
- Open Nebraska
A non-exhaustive list of some locally available GIS data. (If you can't find it online, ask a geek to help you locate it.)
- Counties
- School districts
- Legislative boundaries
- Congressional districts
- Schools
- Tornado touchdowns/tracks
- ZIP codes
- Census tracts
- Leaking Underground Storage Tanks
- Hazardous spills
- Water quality
- Dams
- DEQ permitted facilities -- air/water
- Game and Parks land
- Public hunting access
- Trails
- Public fishing areas/spots
- Mountain lion established populations
- Mountain lion units (available for other game, as well)
- Voting precincts
- Property parcels
- Zoning
- Zoning board of appeals
- TIF districts
- Roads
- Speed limits
- Mile markers
- Rivers and streams
- Neighborhood associations
- Fire stations
- Fire districts
- Fire hydrants
- Census blocks
- Trash pickup
- Emergency sirens
- Bike lanes
- Red Cross shelters
- Bridges
- Flood maps
- SIDs
- City boundaries and ETJs
- Polling places
- Restaurant inspection scores
- Omaha parking meters
- Omaha growth since 1850
- Omaha city and ETJ limits
- Papio NRD dam sites, current and future
- Omaha lead contamination
- Omaha bike racks
- Blight
- Omaha planning inspector areas
###More Links