Intro to Mapping

Lauren Jacobson

@lauren_cjay

Goals for Today

• Mapping fundamentals

• Open source software

• How you can make turn your data into pretty maps

• Mapping your hometown

A bit about me

• Geography at GWU
• Open mapping tools for disaster mitigation
• Spent a year in Indonesia- personal project, collecting Open Street Map data
• Now- Open Data advocate @ Development Seed 

GIS

It's all about the visual

Raster vs Vector

Open Source Tools

Open Source Tools

Step 1: Data Acquisition

• Is your file already georeferenced? (.shp, .geojson, .kml)
• If not, you will need to make edits 
• Most forms of raw data CAN become map layers 
• .csv, .xls - Easier, .txt- More Challenging

Step 2: Data Cleaning

Suggested Fields:

• Object_ID
• Object_Name
• Address
• City
• State 
• Zip
• Country
• Latitude
• Longitude
• Geometry

Step 3: Import it!

• Here is when we will make the pretty map
• Best for making changes to individual points

https://github.com/katerabinowitz/OpenDataDayDC2016

First exercise: Mapbox Studio

OpenStreetMap

 Established in 2004

Open Sourced, Community driven Map

Data Collection

Let's Map

bit.ly/1LF4Mhf

Hit me up!

@lauren_cjay

lcj1188@gmail.com

What Can I do Next?

DC Mapping Meetups:

• Maptime: http://www.meetup.com/Maptime-DC/
• Mapping DC: https://mappingdc.org/
• GeoDC: http://www.meetup.com/Geo-DC/