126
votes
39answers
19k views
Examples of Beautiful Maps
Often times when we make maps it is based on our subjective interpretation of what is aesthetically pleasing. I would like if people posted examples of beautiful maps, displaying any phenomena in any ...
94
votes
47answers
6k views
What free programs should every GIS user have installed?
I'm not necessarily referring to ESRI extensions or open-source products, but others that increase your productivity and ability to handle GIS tasks.
For example, Notepad++ for writing code snippets ...
91
votes
9answers
17k views
What's the difference between a projection and a datum?
What's the difference between a projection and a datum?
87
votes
14answers
23k views
Comparison of JavaScript mapping libraries?
I am working on a web-based mapping system and I'm trying to figure out the best/most appropriate library to use. There are a few of them about and they each have pros and cons. Even after trying a ...
58
votes
5answers
7k views
How do I access ArcObjects from Python?
I want to be able to script some things that aren't exposed via arcgisscripting or ArcPy. How do I access ArcObjects from Python?
I'm working with ArcGIS Desktop 9.3.1 right now, but will be ...
57
votes
34answers
3k views
GIS Pros - what lives on your bookshelf?
What books, journals, electronic resources have you found most valuable for expanding your knowledge in the GI field? To which of them you come back most often?
One item per post please.
56
votes
11answers
2k views
Colour blind cartography
Depending on what you read, 7 to 15% of the general population has some form of colour blindness. That's a significant amount of people. Do you try to account for this in your map designs? If so, how? ...
53
votes
13answers
3k views
How much math does a GIS Analyst need to know?
For someone studying to pursue a career as a GIS Analyst, what math courses should he/she take?
Update
Here's a long list of free Math courses from MIT to serve as a frame of reference.
Which are ...
52
votes
11answers
8k views
Examples of badly designed maps
A poorly designed map can not only look visually unappealing, but can convey the wrong message, which could lead to bad decisions being made.
I would like to ask people to post examples (that are in ...
51
votes
12answers
12k views
Concave Hull: Definition, Algorithms and Practical Solutions
Convex Hull
A convex hull of a shape is defined as:
In mathematics, the convex hull or convex envelope for a set of points X in a real vector space V is the minimal convex set containing X ...
48
votes
19answers
33k views
How can I convert between KML and ESRI's shapefile format?
My users are sending me point data that were digitized using GoogleEarth. How can I convert their KML to a shapefile?
47
votes
16answers
3k views
How do I explain what GIS is for the 11 year old kid?
Well, since it was one of the highest rated proposed questions, hasn't been asked yet, and I would love to know the answer, I thought I'd ask it.
How do I explain what GIS is for the 11 year old kid?
...
46
votes
6answers
2k views
Best practices for managing geospatial data
How do you manage your geospatial data? I have terrabytes of data spread out over hundreds of datasets, and have an ad-hoc solution using symbolic links within projects which link back to an ...
45
votes
5answers
2k views
How to calculate most efficient route passing through all the houses in the world?
I'm new to GIS.
I need some help in determining the best or most efficient route, using a flying sleigh, through all the houses in the world. One of my coworkers told me that this site would be the ...
44
votes
7answers
1k views
How do I get started with PostGis
I have been reading a lot about it, but I am struggling to find a good beginner's guide.
Which tutorials/books do you recommend? My past experience involves python and arcgis. But I have never worked ...
41
votes
11answers
2k views
Best practices for visualizing speed
Imagine you're tracking, for example, vehicle or animal movement and receive regular GPS position updates. How would you visualize speed of movement on a static (= printable) map? I've been coloring ...
41
votes
6answers
990 views
Are there any attempts to replace the shapefile?
Recently I've been spending a lot of time converting perfectly good field names like "Percent of citizens age 25 and over with a bachelor's degree or higher" into things like "edbchogtr" to meet the ...
40
votes
19answers
4k views
What are some Free and Open Source GIS Desktop packages
Can someone please give me a list of free and open source GIS desktop packages?
40
votes
8answers
1k views
One dimensional map of the world?
Bit of a strange question but hope this is OK to ask here.
Has anyone heard of a '1-dimensional' projection of the world map - that is mapping all the points on the globe to a single line?
I was ...
40
votes
13answers
1k views
The GIS of War - Tracking Conflicts and Their Effects
I was idly speculating on the many sorts of things people are keeping track of these days with GIS - natural/human catastrophes, demographic and economic patterns, climate change, etc. In that vein, I ...
39
votes
14answers
20k views
List of GIS applications for Android Tablets
I know that ArcGIS will someday be available for Android, but does anyone know of any other GIS apps that are available for Android tablets?
38
votes
2answers
17k views
How to measure the accuracy of latitude and longitude?
I am very new to GPS stuff. Suppose I have latitude and longitude as 19.0649070739746 and 73.1308670043945 respectively. So now both co-ordinates are 13 decimal places long. But sometimes, I also get ...
36
votes
12answers
3k views
How to Start Web Mapping?
I know I want to start working on a web map at work. We'll be mapping some of our statistics by city.
I have an idea, but I'm not exactly sure where to start. Are there any definitive resources ...
36
votes
4answers
11k views
How to build effective heat-maps?
Using ArcGIS, QuantumGIS, Grass, and/or GVSIG
What are some of the tools and processes involved in building effective heat maps?
What are the plugins involved?
What are the major data requirements?
...
35
votes
13answers
11k views
Interview questions for hiring a GIS Analyst
What are the best interview questions for candidates for a GIS Analyst position?
I am looking for techniques for interviewing analysts at varied experience levels (we are currently looking at hiring ...
35
votes
7answers
5k views
How to create Vector Polygons at the same amazing speeds GISCloud is able to render them?
EDIT (outlining new bounty added):
I have added the largest bounty possible to this question in hope of getting a very detailed answer. Your solution should outline a step-by-step guide utilizing open ...
35
votes
4answers
1k views
What are the FOSS equivalents to these ArcGIS products?
I'm a long-term user of ESRI software, and I now have a need to use free and open source software.
I've been reading about Open Layers, PostgreSQL, PostGIS, GeoServer and MapServer but I can't find ...
35
votes
7answers
2k views
What strategies, criteria, or rules to use for selecting coordinate systems?
What strategies, criteria, or rules do you use for selecting coordinate systems for
(a) storing,
(b) analyzing, and
(c) displaying GIS data?
(I humbly offer my reply to a related question ...
34
votes
31answers
2k views
What is the most annoying fact about the GIS market/industry?
What are the most annoying facts about our industry/market?
What makes you angry? Is there anything that you can't stand it?
34
votes
5answers
3k views
Why is the 'straight line' path across continent so curved?
This is the result of mapping the straight line path from a point in US to Poland using Distance Measurement Tool.
Also, planes from Asia to US would travel almost over North Pole.
Why is the path ...
34
votes
10answers
3k views
What is the most useful spatial R trick?
R is becoming pretty strong tool for handling and analyzing spatial data. I learned some useful things through questions like these at SO and thought it might be useful to have something simmilar, but ...
34
votes
10answers
3k views
Where can I find QGIS tutorials and resources?
After several recommendations, I thought I'd familiarize myself with the capabilities of QGIS.
I downloaded the program, but apart from basic loading of data, I got lost (the help file wasn't much ...
33
votes
3answers
8k views
What is the current Web Mercator projection code?
The web mercator projection, popularised by Google Maps, seems to be given a new EPSG code every couple of years.
EPSG:900913 (Google in calculator text) was an unofficial code
EPSG:3785 - is the ...
33
votes
3answers
4k views
Openlayers Animation Examples and Algorithms
i wonder for a long time if people in this community uses openlayers for animation needs.
we have know this that animating on browser is a little bit exhausting for it but when a map meets with ...
31
votes
9answers
2k views
Alternatives to using Arcpy
I seem to use ESRI's Arcpy site package for virtually all of my python geoprocessing. To ESRI's credit, these are an incredible suite of tools that can help accomplish a great deal. However, I would ...
31
votes
5answers
854 views
When to use Model Builder over Python Scripting and vice versa?
I'm new in python scripting in ArcGIS but not Model Builder. I'd like to know what's the benefits of Python VS Model Builder. Why should we write script for GIS automation while we can use Model ...
31
votes
3answers
4k views
Are there newer routing algorithms (than Dijkstra, A*) in GIS databases?
There are works like Reach for A* from Microsoft researchers and Highway Hierarchies by Sanders and Schtolz (if I spell the name correctly) from Karlsruhe Uni. Both of them reduce the calculations ...
31
votes
6answers
3k views
Free GIS workshops, tutorials, and applied learning material
Note 1: Please enter answers separately or feel free to edit this post directly
Note 2: Please report on any broken links so they can be removed
This thread lists free as in $0 workshops in GIS and ...
30
votes
14answers
2k views
Is there any experience using Computer Games to display GIS data?
besides being a GIS use I'm a big computer game fan.
Games like Civilization, Minecraft, World at War and many others have a very powerfull engine to display huge maps in a beutifull way. I was ...
30
votes
3answers
5k views
Spatial clustering with PostGIS
I'm looking for spatial clustering algorithm for using it within PostGIS-enabled database for point features. I'm going to write plpgsql function that takes distance between points within the same ...
30
votes
7answers
5k views
Creating drive time polygons using open source tools
Is anyone using open source tools and/or data to generate drive time polygons that radiate out from a given location? For example, I have used ESRI products like Network Analyst and Business Analyst ...
30
votes
4answers
3k views
Why has Web Mercator (auxiliary sphere) become the web map standard?
I understand what the difference is between the Web Mercator projection and Web Mercator Auxiliary Sphere (WMAS). I also understand that both Google and Esri have adopted this projection as their ...
29
votes
31answers
4k views
Great GIS, maps & cartography quotes
Programmers' list has been a pleasure to read. Stats' list is growing fast as well. So perhaps there is a place for separate one on this site?
Please share your nuggets of wisdom / humour / ...
29
votes
32answers
2k views
What software do you use as complementary to your GIS desktop/server?
What software do you use as complementary to your GIS desktop/server in your work as GIS programmers/analysts and what programs are an absolute must you can't do without?
29
votes
13answers
8k views
Why do you use ArcGIS?
I'm new to GIS, having only dabbled with ArcGIS for about 4 weeks in 2007. The business I am at wants to target writing complete solutions that involve GIS as it would benefit their hardware sales. ...
29
votes
11answers
4k views
What are the best resources for learning GIS programming with Python?
In your opinion, what is the best book/site to learn Python with GIS goals in mind?
By "best", I mean:
not very long (book)
easy to understand (book/site)
good practical examples (book/site)
29
votes
6answers
4k views
Downloading OpenStreetMap Data
Is there a straightforward way to download data from OpenStreetMap (OSM)?
Using North America as an example, I realize Cloudmade (http://downloads.cloudmade.com/north_america) and geofabrik ...
29
votes
7answers
3k views
How can I effectively debug arcpy Python scripts?
I have written many Python scripts using arcpy in ArcGIS 10, and so far my only means of debugging is restricted to printing messages to the geoprocessing results window using arcpy.AddMessage(). Are ...
29
votes
8answers
8k views
QGIS and gvSIG comparison
Many debutant GIS users are asking me which one is better QGIS or gvSIG. Since I use Qgis and I don't have any experience in gvSIG, I aways say that both are very nice softwares and the chose is a ...
29
votes
9answers
526 views
What are the best news resources for the GIS community?
I currently rely on a mixture of mailing lists, twitter and a couple of blogs. What do you find as an indispensable part of your GIS media intake?
