Indiemapper tools

http://indiemapper.com/

Why “indiemapper”?

- +

Easy

Variety of maps/tools

No registration

Free

English only

Limited graphic tools

Non-available offline

Historical note• It was developed as a tool useful to map-makers, whether

casual or professional, who may not need advanced functions of modern GIS, but do want a multitude of symbology and design options.

• First version was presented in 2008.

GIS (Geographical Information Systems) tool-kit

Indiemapper

Visualise data

2D maps +3D maps -

Animations -Manipulate spatially

Calculate distances and adjacencies -Change projections and scales +

Integrate disparate sources +Analyse spatially

Quantitative analysis -Qualitative analysis +

Libraries, shape files, own maps

…To download*.kml, *.shp та *.gpx files

*.shp makes life easier…

What is *.shp file? Nontopological format for storing the geometric location and attribute information of geographic features: • .shp – form• .shx – index• .dbf – attribute

Each of the component files of a shapefile is limited to 2 GB each!

Free libraries of *.shp files:• http://www.diva-gis.org/gdata - maps for any

country in the world http://www.naturalearthdata.com/downloads/ - world political map

• http://geocommons.com/ - lots of different patterns

• http://www.mapmakerdata.co.uk.s3-website-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/library/stacks/Africa/index.htm - Africa map library

Graphical tools in Indiemapper

Projections (perspective views of the Earth)

Why projections?• Projections = coordinate system. • Projection converts coordinates on the round

Earth to coordinates on the flat map. • Each projection has distortions. • Choice of the “appropriate” projection is

determined by objectives.

Different ways of visualization

Cartograms• Re-sizes the global land masses

according to which variable is mapped. • Isolates one variable and provides a

different world view.

Deaths due to HIV infections that progressed to AIDS – 2002

Territories are sized in proportion to the absolute number of people who died from HIV/AIDS in one year.

Map credits/source: WorldMapper, Map No. 374; http://www.worldmapper.org/display.php?selected=374#

Proportional Symbols • Size of symbol is proportional to size of

data value.• The larger the symbol, the “more” of

something exists at a certain location.

Map credits/source: created by K. Tummino (4/21/08), http://personal.frostburg.edu/kctummino0/HIV_prisons_square.jpg

Choropleth Choros (place) plethos (filled)

When to use:(1) Data are attached to enumeration units

(countries, provinces)(2) Data are standardized to show rates or ratios

• Never use with raw data/counts!

Map credits/source: WHO (2011), http://gamapserver.who.int/mapLibrary/Files/Maps/HIV_adult_prevalence_2011.png

Dot Density • Describes density over area• 1 dot = some quantity of data value

• one-to-one dot density maps• one-to-many dot density maps

• You can map raw data/counts!

Map credits/source: Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHSTP), Centers for Disease Control.

Combining data sets

Map credits/source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/90884073@N07/8273784596/

• Population of African countries and % of their population living with AIDS

Playing with intervalsMethods to create intervals in Indiemapper:• manually• equal intervals (ignores data distribution; unequal

number of observations in each interval)• “optimal” breaks (takes into account data

distribution)• quartiles (top 25%, 25% above middle, 25% below

middle, bottom 25%; equal number of observations are in each interval)

• standard deviations (mean+1s, mean-1s)

Export in SVG, JPEG, PNG

Additional instruments for efficient use of indiemapper• OpenOffice – editing of *.dbf files1

Steps:

1. Open *.dbf file in OpenOffice.

2. Add a new column with an indicator of interest.

3. Save the file in the same format (*.dbf )

• Inkscape – graphical tool: correction of legends, text notes etc.

Export your map as an *.svg file and open it in Inkscape. Use Inkscape to improve the look of the map.

1 If you use Excel, unless you have Excel 2003 or earlier, it will not save .dbf files – you will have to export to Access first!

Missing data in *.dbf file • If table contains missing cells, *.dbf usually

assigns “0” value (starting level of the 1st rank). • It is common to assign “impossible” values like “-

99”.• So, we can use some different shading for this

data.

1 If you use Excel, unless you have Excel 2003 or earlier, it will not save .dbf files – you will have to export to Access first!