Did you know that it is International Map Year? 2015-2016.
The International Map Year (IMY) is a worldwide celebration of maps and their unique role in our world. Supported by the United Nations, IMY provides opportunities to demonstrate, follow, and get involved in the art, science and technology of making and using maps and geographic information.
http://mapyear.org/about-international-map-year/
Think about ways in which maps can be integrated into your work!
Students, researchers, mappers, and big data enthusiasts took place in an exciting 2 day Google Earth Engine workshop this last week hosted by the GIF and the Google Earth Engine Team. We had an exiting overview of the latest and greatest research adventures from Google by Kelly lab alum Karin Tuxen-Bettman including advances in some of what Google Earth Outreach team is involved in...
- The HALO Trust Clearing landmines with Google Earth Pro
- Jane Goodall Institute
- Appalachian Mountaintop Removal
- Chief Almir and the Surui Mapping indigenous culture in Google Earth and monitoring the Surui Carbon Project with Open Data Kit
- WWF & Eyes on the Forest Mapping forests and wildlife ranges in Sumatra with Google Maps Engine
In May, the GIF will be hosting a 3-day bootcamp on Spatial Data Science.
What is the significance of Spatial Data Science?
We live in a world where the importance and availability of spatial data is ever increasing, and the value of Spatial Data Science: big data tools, geospatial analytics, and visualization is on the rise. There are many new and distributed tools available to the geospatial professional, and the ability to efficiently evaluate and integrate the wide array of options is a critical skill for the 21st century marketplace. Spatial Data Science offers a modern workflow that includes the integration of data from multiple sources and scales; with open-source and web-based technology for robust data analysis and publication; with core spatial concepts and application of spatial analysis methods; and allows for the collaborations of people – companies, scientists, policy-makers, and the public.
Why come to the GIF to learn about it?
The Geospatial Innovation Facility (GIF) at UC Berkeley is the premier research and educational facility in the Bay Area that focuses on a broad vision of Spatial Data Science. The GIF has a decade-long history of successful GIS and remote sensing research projects. The GIF has also trained many students, researchers, and community members in geospatial techniques and applications through our popular workshop series and private consultation. With more recent advances in web-based mapping capabilities, the GIF has been at the forefront of complex web-based spatial data informatics (web-based data sharing and visualization), such as the Cal-Adapt tool, which provides a wealth of data and information about California’s changing climate. Participants will get the benefit of our decade-long focus on Spatial Data Science: collaborative project development, rigorous spatial analysis methods, successful interaction with clients, and delivery of results to project managers, the public, and other stakeholders.
What are the key elements of the Bootcamp?
This Bootcamp is designed to familiarize participants with some of the major advances in geospatial technology today: big data wrangling, open-source tools, and web-based mapping and visualization. You will learn how and when to implement a wide range of modern tools that are currently in use and under development by leading Bay Area mapping and geospatial companies, as well as explore a set of repeatable and testable workflows for spatial data using common standard programming practices. Finally, you will learn other technical options that you can call upon in your day-to-day workflows. This 3-day intensive training will jump start your geospatial analysis and give you the basic tools you need to start using open source and web-based tools for your own spatial data projects.
Sign up here!
The Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, in conjunction with Stephen F. Austin State University, will soon launch a new scholarly journal titled “Journal of Geospatial Applications in Natural Resources”. The focus of the journal will be to publish via a rapid double-blind peer-review process articles that apply geospatial technology to quantify, qualify, map, monitor, and manage natural resources.
There is no website yet, but I will keep you posted.
Thanks to Dave Thau, Karin Tuxen-Bettman, John Bailey, and Emily Henderson who came to visit the GIF and give a demo of the GEE toolbox. We went over the guts of GEE, Timelapse (very cool: make your own! Here is mine), the GEE GUI framework, and the GEE API. Very fun afternoon!