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AFF Mapper: Google Mapping the Census
posted by Satri
on Tuesday May 26, @02:22PM
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from the when-tiger-meets-the-people dept.
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from the when-tiger-meets-the-people dept.
geogprof writes "I have released a program called AFF Mapper. This is a Windows based package that was specifically designed for creating KML based mapping files from TIGER shapes and tables available from the Census Bureau's American FactFinder web page. While it was designed for these files, it can be used to create KML files for other shapes (that are in decimal degrees with NAD83 or WGS 84) and external attribute files. The resulting KML files can be viewed in several free mapping packages such as Google Earth and ArcGIS Explorer. To download a copy of the program and the user manual, go to http://tnatlas.geog.utk.edu/downloadfree.htm.
This is freeware, copy till you drop. Source code will be released at a later date."
See also related stories below.
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The Cartography blog links to a flash-based mapping tool to explore U.S. census data. From the website: "We have created hundreds of interactive data maps of the United States.
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living around you."
Industry: U.S. Census Data in Google Earth 2 comments
[+]
The JAGIS list links to an article on U.S. census data visualization in Google Earth. From the article: "[...] Having the data and a format to hold it wasn't enough. The Census Bureau has meticulously documented its data files—in a 635 page PDF file. To add injury to insult, even after playing with the files for a week, I couldn't find a good way to extract those specifications in a machine-readable format. [...] The final result is a web-accessible, open source GIS package using software accessible to the common public. The only piece of the puzzle that isn't open source is Google Earth itself; regardless, every piece (Perl, Linux, Apache, PostgreSQL, PHP, and Google Earth) is available at zero cost." Slashdot also discuss the article. Here's the gCensus project page.
Application Domains: Census Atlas of the United States
[+]
The Map Room introduces the Census Atlas of the United States, fully available free as a PDF. From the press release: "The atlas, with more than 700 full-color maps, is the first general population and housing statistical atlas published by the Census Bureau since 1925.
Featuring more than 300 pages and weighing about 7 pounds, the atlas presents data from 1790 through 2000. It is arranged by topic and grouped into three general themes — who we are, where we come from and what we do. Most maps feature county-level detail for the United States and Puerto Rico."
Application Domains: Neighborhoods vs Census Divisions
[+]
Directions Mag offers a two-part article named Mapping the World ... One Neighborhood at a Time. From the introduction of part 1: "This article will outline a process used for breaking down cities and towns into alternative regions structured on name recognition: neighborhoods, districts or other local areas. Based on the demographic data gathered using these techniques - collected from the 250 largest U.S. cities' neighborhoods - evidence will be given to support the potential benefits to quantifying city data based on neighborhood names and their accompanying structures rather than traditionally used U.S. Census regions. The process defines neighborhood boundaries based on commonly recognized characteristics such as widespread reference by community, as well as natural and human demarcations."
See also related stories below.
U.S. Census Released Tiger 2008 Data
[+]
The OSGeo-Geodata mailing list was amongst the sources indicating the U.S. Census Bureau released this week the 2008 TIGER/Line shapefiles.
From the site: "The TIGER/Line Shapefiles are extracts containing selected geographic and cartographic information from the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER® (Master Address File / Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) database. The MAF/TIGER database was developed at the Census Bureau to support a variety of geographic programs and operations including functions such as mapping, geocoding, and geographic reference files that are used in decennial and economic censuses and sample survey programs. Spatial data for geographic features such as roads, railroads, rivers, and lakes, as well as legal and statistical geographic areas are included in the product. Other information about these features, such as the name, the type of feature, address ranges, and the geographic relationship to other features, also are included. The TIGER/Line Shapefiles are made available to the public for no charge and are typically used to provide the digital map base for a Geographic Information System or for mapping software."
See also previous stories below.
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[+]
The GeoChalkboard blog alerts us of the new api release. From the official announcement page, here is a summary of what's new : "Welcome to the release of version 3 of the Google Maps API. This JavaScript API will look similar to the existing version 2 of the Google Maps API. However, much has changed under the hood: Version 3 (called V3 within this document) has been designed to load fast, especially on mobile browsers such as Android-based devices and the iPhone™. The initial launch has a smaller feature set than that available in the V2 API. We will migrate additional features from V2 while working to keep the size of the JavaScript code small and maintain our optimized loading speeds."
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