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Geospatial Data and Analysis

Geospatial Data and Analysis

by Bill Day, Jon Bruner, Aurelia Moser
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.
Release Date: February 2017
ISBN: 9781491984314
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Book Description

Geospatial data, or data with location information, is generated in huge volumes every day by billions of mobile phones, IoT sensors, drones, nanosatellites, and many other sources in an unending stream. This practical ebook introduces you to the landscape of tools and methods for making sense of all that data, and shows you how to apply geospatial analytics to a variety of issues, large and small.

Authors Aurelia Moser, Jon Bruner, and Bill Day provide a complete picture of the geospatial analysis options available, including low-scale commercial desktop GIS tools, medium-scale options such as PostGIS and Lucene-based searching, and true big data solutions built on technologies such as Hadoop. You’ll learn when it makes sense to move from one type of solution to the next, taking increased costs and complexity into account.

  • Explore the structure of basic webmaps, and the challenges and constraints involved when working with geo data
  • Dive into low- to medium-scale mapping tools for use in backend and frontend web development
  • Focus on tools for robust medium-scale geospatial projects that don’t quite justify a big data solution
  • Learn about innovative platforms and software packages for solving issues of processing and storage of large-scale data
  • Examine geodata analysis use cases, including disaster relief, urban planning, and agriculture and environmental monitoring

Table of Contents

  1. 1. An Overview of Geospatial Analytics
    1. Geospatial Analytics: Origins and Evolving Use Cases
    2. New Solutions for More and Complex Geospatial Data
    3. What This Report Covers
  2. 2. Core Concepts: Key Issues and Extreme Overgeneralizations
    1. Sourcing Spatial Data and Global Information Systems
      1. Formats for Low-Scale Spatial Data
      2. Assessing and Transforming Spatial Data
    2. Systems of Layers Plus Planes for Making Maps
      1. Tools for Adding Context to Spatial Data
      2. Layering in Maps
      3. Mapmaking Tools
      4. Unpacking Multilayered Maps
    3. Geocoding Plus Data Processing
      1. Spatiotemporal Notation
      2. Map Transformations and Projections in CARTO and PostGIS
      3. Summary of Geocoding Tools
      4. Toolkits for Geo Success
    4. Conclusion
  3. 3. Getting Started with Map Tools and Types
    1. Tools for Low- and Medium-Scale Spatial Support and Storage
    2. Tools for Simple and Static Maps
      1. Geoprocessing Libraries for Creating Cartograms
      2. Tools in the GUI Space
      3. Print to Digital Maps
      4. Historical Print Maps, Crowdsourcing, and Open Data
    3. Open Geodata Plus Tools for Quick Analysis
    4. Considerations When Using Choropleths
    5. Conclusion
  4. 4. Mapping Data, More Tools, and Analysis
    1. Mapping Tools
    2. Open Data for Medium-Scale Projects
      1. Use Case: Mapping Outcrops
    3. Open Tools and Toolkits for Medium-Scale Projects
      1. Mapping Software in Scripting Languages
      2. More Companies Producing Geospatial Analysis Tools
      3. Geo Tools in the Government Sector
    4. Conclusion
  5. 5. Innovations: Platforms, IoT, and Mathematics
    1. Fantasy Futures
    2. Progress in Real-World Geospatial Science
    3. Satellites and Sensor Systems
    4. The Internet of (Geocoded) Things
      1. The Software Stack for IoT Geodata
    5. Algorithmic Approaches to Geospatial Analytics
    6. Mapping Futures with Mobile Tech
    7. Conclusion
  6. 6. Big Data Analytics and Systems of Scale
    1. Anecdotes and Spatiotemporal Projects
      1. Satellite Imagery Scanning for Terrorist and Refugee Camps
      2. Network Analysis: From Bio-Climates to Social Study
      3. GDELT Project and Google BigQuery
    2. Tools for Big Spatial Data
      1. Platforms for Managing Geodata
    3. Techniques for Working with Big Spatial Data
    4. Systems of Scale
    5. Conclusion
  7. 7. Case Studies
    1. Case Study: Disaster Relief
    2. Case Study: Urban Planning and Real Estate
    3. Case Study: Agriculture and Environmental Monitoring
    4. Conclusion