GIS Data

We will be mapping and analyzing GIS data as the course progresses. There are several standard formats for mapping GIS data:

Here's an excellent summary & comparison of these formats.

Note for the future: In Lab 9, we will introduce the Folium Python package that creates HTML maps. For the honors section, we will use additional features in folium for creating choropleth maps using geoJSON files.

github

We introduce github, the standard way to share and collaborate on code, in Lab 6. It also has a nice feature for quickly previewing geoJSON files. If you do not already have a github account, follow the directions in Lab 8 to set one up to use below (you can also submit the corresponding programming assignment on it early).

geoJSON

We will be primarily using geoJSON files for this course. Use the geojson's mapper, locate your favorite L-train neighborhood. Mark the L-train station in the neighborhood as a point (select from the menu on the right of the map).

Here's a nice description of basic concepts of geoJSON: