interactive map – Page 2 – Master of Spatial Analysis

Mapping Toronto Green Space in Android

By Jacob Lovie | GeoVis Project Assignment @RyersonGeo | SA8905 | Fall 2018

Introduction

With today’s technology becoming more and more mobile, and the ability to access everything you need on your mobile device, it is more important than even to ensure that GIS is evolving to meet these trends. My GeoVisualization project focused on designing an android application to allow users to explore Toronto’s green space and green initiatives, making layers such as parks and bike stations accessible in the palm of your hand. However, it is not just having access to this that is important. What’s important when working with these technologies is that a user can explore the map and retrieve the information seamlessly and efficiently.

Data and Hosting Feature Services

All the data for the project was retrieved from the city of Toronto’s open data portal. From there, all the data was uploaded to ArcGIS Online and set up as hosted feature services. A base map was also designed using ArcGIS for Developers and hosted. The application was able to target these hosted feature layer and use them in the map, making the size of the app small. The symbology and setup of the hosted feature layers was also done in ArcGIS online, so the app didn’t have to make any changes or set symbology when it wasn’t necessary.

Methods

The developer environment that I worked in to design my app was Android Studio, the baseline for designing any android apps. The programming language used in Android Studio is Java. Within Android Studio, the functionality of ArcGIS Runtime Software Developer Kit (SDK) for Android can be brought in, bringing in all the libraries and functions associated with ArcGIS Runtime SDK for Android. With this I was able to use ArcGIS functionality in android, designing maps, accessing hosted feature services, and perform geoprocessing.

Understanding how ArcGIS SDK for Android worked with in Android Studio was an important key in designing my app. When creating a map, I first had to create a Map object. An object is a variable that is of a certain datatype. If you were talking about having a text object as a variable that could be called, it would be of datatype string, and the word itself would be an object that is callable and referential. The Map object is what is displayed in an activity window (more on this later), which is what the user visualizes when using the app. The map can be set to view a certain area, which was Toronto in my app. A user can pan around the map like they would on any interactive map without having additional coding in Android Studio (it is natural to the Map datatype). The Map also has associated Layer objects that have their own set of parameters.

While designing my app, any time I would want something done in my design, such as creating a map object or adding a layer to a map object, I created a function that wold performs an action. This reduces repetition in the code when I attempted to do something complex multiple times. I designed 3 functions. The first was to create a Map, the second was to add a Layer that could be activated and deactivated in the Map through a switch that would be displayed in the main Activity Window. The final function added a layer that could be queried and would extract information from that layer.

When designing an android app, there are many fine details that are not necessarily considered when using an app on your phone. Simple things like having a window or text appear, opening a second window, or displaying information were things I very much appreciated after designing the app. Within my app, I wanted to display a second activity window to display information on neighbourhoods in Toronto when the user touched them. Within Android Studio this required creating a second activity window, and transferring the information obtained in the map to the second activity. This was done through my displayInformation function. I was then able to create a second activity and display this information using a custom list display to show the attribute data of a selected neighbourhood.

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Setting up the display in Android Studio is relatively simple. There is an interface that allows you to anchor different objects to parts of the screen. This allows the app to run smoothly across all devices, not based on the size and ratio of the device. The switches in my Main Activity window were anchored to the top left, and to each other. My Map is in the background, but appears as white in this activity window.

The Application

Once all the coding and testing was completed, running the app was simple. I was able to bundle my code and send it to my personal phone, a Galaxy S9. The functions called the hosted service layers and displayed them in the map (Wifi or internet connection was required). I was also able to click on neighbourhoods and it would open my second activity that displayed the attribute information of that neighbourhood. If you want a more in-depth look at my code, it is available at https://github.com/jclovie/GeoVis-Ryerson/.

Creating an animated map with CartoDB Torque and QGIS

Author: Melissa Dennison, November 18, 2015
Course Assignment, SA8905, Fall 2015 (Rinner)

I chose the history of Native Title claims in Australia as the topic for this map. “Native Title” is a general term for the legal framework and process for indigenous land claims in Australia. Following the landmark 1992 Mabo v. Queensland (No. 2) case, which was the first legal recognition of the interest of indigenous Australians in their traditional lands and waters, the Australian Parliament passed the Native Title Act in 1993. Claims under the Act began in 1994. This video provides an excellent quick introduction to the topic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RBJhQ4hE_8

My goal was to create an animated map in CartoDB showing Native Title activity across Australia, both active claims and determined outcomes, from Mabo to the present.

My data source was the National Native Title Tribunal (NNTT) open data portal. I faced the following constraints in achieving my goal:

CartoDB’s animation (Torque) function is available on points only, on one layer only
The NNTT spatial data is for polygons, and comes in 4 datasets
My CartoDB account only provided 100MB storage
Native Title is an extremely complex topic while an animated map is simplistic

Step 1: Downloading and reviewing the data

On September 22, 2015, I downloaded the current Native Title claims and outcomes data, and the geospatial data model, from:

http://www.nntt.gov.au/assistance/Geospatial/Pages/Spatial-aata.aspx

The data came in four shapefiles, two for current claims and two for determined outcomes.

Current claims files

Determined outcomes files

Schedule of Native Title Determination Applications

Registered Native Title Determination Applications

Determinations of Native Title

Determinations of Native Title ‐ Native Title Outcomes

The Schedule of Native Title Determination Applications lists claims that have been filed but have not yet passed the registration test (the test involves meeting certain legal requirements in order for the claim to proceed). The Registered Native Title Determination Applications file lists those claims that have passed the test. Working with the files I found some overlap between them, in that they referred to many of the same tribunal cases and land areas. (I expect this has to do with a time lag between when various files are updated on the Tribunal’s main database, and then extracted and uploaded to its open data portal. By downloading them all on the same day I inevitably got some outdated information.) I chose to work only with the Schedule for this project, as it contained the most Tribunal cases.

The determined outcomes files also overlapped, but contained different information. The Determinations of Native Title file indicates areas of land where Native Title was found to exist, to have been extinguished and/or a combination of each. The Determinations of Native Title ‐ Native Title Outcomes file shows areas where Native Title exists, exclusively or non-exclusively, or where Native Title does not exist or has been extinguished. Because there is no unique identifier in the dataset for each land area, only for claims and determinations (which can refer to multiple parcels of land), it was not possible to combine the files in such a way as to capture all the determination information for individual parcels of land. I chose to use both files in order to retain this information and just live with the overlap.

Note that Native Title claims that are withdrawn, discontinued, rejected, struck out or pre‐combined are transferred to a historical dataset that is not publicly available, and are therefore not shown on this map.

Step 2: Merging files in QGIS

The three shapefiles were too large, over 130MB, for my CartoDB account, so I loaded them into QGIS and used the MMQGIS plugin to merge the files. I named the new shapefile NTmerge1.

What to click in QGIS to merge files: MMQGIS>Combine>Merge Layers

Step 3: Preparing the shapefile for uploading to CartoDB

NTmerge1.shp was 116.8MB, still too big for my 100MB limit on CartoDB, so I had to reduce its size. Fortunately converting the polygons to points, which I had to do anyway because Torque only works on point data, was the solution. I named the new file NTpoints1. Its size was 428KB, well below my CartoDB limit.

What to click in QGIS to convert polygons to points: Vector>Geometry Tools>Polygon Centroids

Step 4: Uploading the data to CartoDB and preparing it for Torque animation

Uploading the data on CartoDB went smoothly, literally just clicking “New Dataset” and then selecting the file. Preparing the data for animation was a bit more involved. I should note that I actually used the Torque Cat (Category) function, which is a refinement of Torque in that it enables depiction of categories within a variable. However, it is only possible to run Torque Cat on one time column and one category column. As a merged file, NTpoints1.shp contained multiple date columns (such as “date lodged” for active claims and “determination date” for determined outcomes) and null values for active claims in the “determination outcome” column. Using simple SQL statements (seen in the table below) in CartoDB’s SQL workspace, I created a single date column and a single outcome category column.

To create and fill new date column

To create and fill new category column

ALTER TABLE ntpoints1

ADD COLUMN dateall date;

UPDATE ntpoints1

SET dateall=datelodged

WHERE datelodged IS NOT NULL;

UPDATE ntpoints1

SET dateall=detdate

WHERE detdate IS NOT NULL;

ALTER TABLE ntpoints1

ADD COLUMN current CHAR(255);

UPDATE ntpoints1

SET current=’active claim’

WHERE datelodged IS NOT NULL;

UPDATE ntpoints1

SET current=detoutcome

WHERE detoutcome IS NOT NULL;

Step 5: Activating Torque Cat and finishing the map

In the CartoDB “Map layer wizard”, I selected Torque Cat, my newly-created columns as the time and category columns, and colours for each category. I set the duration of the animation to 60 seconds, and left the defaults for everything else.

In the CartoCSS editor (seen in the image below), I changed the default specification “linear” to “cumulative” so that the dots would remain on the map for a cumulative effect.

Finally, I added a title and some text for further information.

The end result can be seen at:

https://melissadennison.cartodb.com/viz/0673f7fe-866d-11e5-92d7-0e3ff518bd15/public_map

TTC Subway Stations and LRT Expansion Animated 1954-2021

An animated look at TTC’s subways and LRT expansion by when they first opened. Includes 2017’s Finch West subway expansion and 2021’s Eglinton LRT expansion.

By Khakan Zulfiquar – Geovis Course Assignment, SA8905, Fall 2015 (Rinner)

As a course assignment, we were required to develop a professional-quality geographic visualization product that uses novel mapping technology to present a topic of our interest. I chose to create an animated-interactive map using CartoDB to visualize the construction of Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) stations from years 1954 to 2021. The interactive map can be found at https://zzzkhakan.cartodb.com/.

Project Idea

This idea was inspired by Simon Rogers who animated the London’s Rail System. It was interesting to see an animated map slowly draw together a footprint of an entire infrastructure system. A number of (non-interactive) animations of Toronto’s subway system development were collected by Spacing magazine in 2007 and can be viewed at http://spacing.ca/toronto/2007/09/21/ttc-subway-growth-animation-contest/.

A feature within CartoDB called “torque” was used to create the envisioned map. Torque is ideal for mapping large number of points over time. Torque has been famously used in media for mapping tweets as pings.

Execution

As a beginner to CartoDB, I had to go through tutorials and online courses to get familiar with the interface. As I became comfortable with CartoDB and its features, I recalled an example I had seen in the CartoDB gallery. It was Simon Roger’s London Rail System map. I knew exactly the kind of data I would need to make a similar map for TTC stations. There was an instant halt as the data was not readily available. Using Wikipedia, ttc.ca, and OpenStreetMap I was able to compile the data I required. The data was uploaded into CartoDB and the following map was created.

Tutorial / How-to-Use

For the heading numbers above, please find the associated instructions below.

Title and Subtitle – Speaks for itself.
Toronto Subway/ LRT Map [full resolution]- A Map of Toronto’s Subway and future LRT produced by the TTC. This map is the most common visual representation of TTC’s subways and LRT. The map’s color scheme was mimicked to help viewers, especially those familiar with TTC, make the transition to the animated map smoothly.
Timeline – The timeline is in a continuous-loop. You can press pause to stop the animation and resume to start the animation again. You can also control the speed of the animation by sliding the play-bar back-and-forth.
Hover Window – As you hover over the stations, a window will pop up automatically with the name of the station. No clicks required. The names will only appear if the “ttc_station” layer is switched on (more on this in step 7).
Info Window – If you would like further information on a certain station, simply click on the station and you will be presented with the station’s name, line #, grade (above, at, or underground), platform type, and etc. The info window will only appear if the “ttc_station” layer is switched on (more on this in step 7).
Legend – as the name implies…
Layer Switch – a tool to turn on or off the layers being used in this map. The map was created with the intent to be both animated and interactive. The animated bit is the stations being plotted and the interactive part was for the user to find further information about the station. However, the animated bit is both intrusive and resource-heavy. Because of this, an option is being included to turn layers on-or-off as required. Be sure to try out the combinations.
MAIN SHOW – the main map area has a beautiful CartoDB Dark Matter basemap with all of the TTC stations plotted. Feel free to zoom in and out.

Enjoy viewing and exploring.

Story Swipe Map – 2011 / 2015 Election Results

Geovis Course Assignment, SA8905, Fall 2015 (Rinner)
Author: Austin Pagotto
Link to Web app: http://arcg.is/1Yf8Yqn
(Note: project may have trouble loading using Chrome – try Internet Explorer)

Project Idea:

The idea of my project was to comprehensively map the past two Canadian federal election results. When looking for visualization methods to compare this data I came across the Swipe feature on the ArcGIS Online story maps. Along with all the interaction features of any ArcGIS online web map, this feature lets the user swipe left and right to reveal either different layers or in my case different maps. As you can see in the screenshot below the right side of the map is showing the provincial winners of the 2015 election while the left side of the map is showing the provincial winners of the 2011 election. The middle line in the middle can be swiped back and forth to show how the provincial winners differed in each election.

Project Execution:

The biggest problem in executing my project was that the default ArcGIS online projection is web Mercator, which greatly distorts Canada. I was able to find documentation from Natural Resources Canada explaining how Lambert Conformal Conic basemaps can be uploaded to an ArcGIS online map and replace the default basemaps.

Another problem with my visualization of the project was that when zoomed to a national scale level, a lot of the individual polling divisions became impossible to see. This creates an issue because each polling division is designed to have a somewhat equal population count in them. So the small ones aren’t less important or less meaningful than the big ones. To solve this, when zoomed out, I changed the symbology to show the party that had won the most seats in each province, so it would show the provincial winner as seen in the previous screenshot. When zoomed in however the individual polling divisions become visible, showing the official name at increased zoom levels. The years of each election were added to the labels to help remind the user what map was on what side.

The methodology I used to create this project was to create two different online maps, one for each election year. Then I created the swipe web app which would allow both of these maps to be loaded and swipeable between the two. It was important here to make sure that all the settings for each map were the exact same (colors, transparency and attribute names).

The data that is shown on my maps were all downloaded from ArcGIS online to Arcmap Desktop and then zipped and reuploaded back to my project. It was important to change my data’s projection to Lambert Conformal Conic before uploading it so that it wouldn’t have to be reprojected again using ArcGIS online.

This project demonstrated how web mapping applications can make visualizing and comparing data much easier than creating two standalone maps.

Data Sources: Projection/Basemap information from Natural Resources Canada
Election Data from ESRI Canada (downloaded from ArcGIS Online)

Link to Web app: http://arcg.is/1Yf8Yqn