Create a Quick Web Map with Kepler.gl and Jupyter Notebook

Author: Jeremy Singh

SA8903

GeoVisualization Project Fall 2019

Background: This tutorial uses any csv file with latitude and longitude columns in order to plot points on the web map. Make sure your csv file is saved in the same folder this notebook is saved (makes things easier).

I recommend downloading the Anaconda Distribution which comes with jupyter notebook.

There are 3 main important python libraries that are used in this tutorial

  1. Pandas: Pandas is a python library that is used for data analysis and manipulation.
  2. kepler.gl: This a FREE open-source web-based application that is capable of handling large scale geospatial data to create beautiful visualizations.
  3. GeoPandas: Essentially, geopandas is an extension of Pandas; fully capable of handling and processing of geospatial data.

The first step is to navigate to the folder where you want this notebook to be saved from the main directory when juypter notebook is launched. Then click ‘new’ -> Python 3, a tab will open up with your notebook (See image below).

Next, using the terminal it is important to have these libraries installed to ensure that this tutorial works and everything runs smoothly.

For more information on jupyter notebook see: https://jupyter.org/

Navigate back to the directory and open a terminal prompt via the ‘new’ Tab’.

A new tab will open up, this will function very similarly to the command prompt on windows. Next type “pip install pandas keplergl geopandas” (do not include quotes). This process will help install these libraries.

Below you will find what my data looks like the map before styling

With some options

KeplerGL also allows for 3D visualizations. Here is my final map:

Lastly, if you wish to save off your web map as an HTML file to host somewhere like GitHub or AWS this command will do that for you:

Link to my live web map here:

https://jeremysingh21.github.io/

The code and data I used for this tutorial is located on my GitHub page located here:

https://github.com/jeremysingh21/GeoVizJeremySingh