Carson Farmer

I’m sure everyone has seen this already, but I’m going to post it anyway, as I think the more exposure open-source tools get, the better off we’ll all be!

Check out this New York Times article which features R, the open-source statistical programming language. R now has quite an extensive range of spatial analysis options, and is the software of choice for researchers using spatial statistics and geographic information analysis.

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OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a project designed to create and provide free spatial data (street maps) to anyone and everyone who wants them. It is based on an open-source philosophy, and combines wiki-like user generated data, with free access, allowing users to create, edit, download, and use OSM data to their hearts content. According to the OSM website, “the project was started because most maps you think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back people from using them in creative, productive or unexpected ways.” There are now tones of websites and open-source software projects that incorporate OSM data, and the growing popularity of the site means that the data is only going to get better (more accurate) and bigger (more data).

Read the rest of this entry »

For those of you who are still unclear about what exactly a spatial reference system is, how it is used, and what it means for your data, I found a pretty good quick guide to spatial references, coordinate systems, projections, datums and ellipsoids. This article was written by Morten Nielsen (who works for ESRI), and it does a good job of quickly and simply describing what makes up a spatial reference system, and some of the errors that people make when talking about their spatial data.

Having a good grasp of this stuff is important when working with spatial data, so guides like the one above should really only be used as a quick reference to more in-depth material covering these concepts. Check out the links below if you want to learn a little bit more:
An ESRI overview of map projections
spatialreference.org/
Carlos A. Furuti’s Map Projection Pages
Knippers, R.A. - Map projections

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