Historic Maps: Interpreting Stories of Place is a three-day short course on using maps as historical sources is being offered by the Institute of Historical Research in London from January 28 to 30, 2026. Although… More
I mentioned in my previous post that, at a previous career stop, I built open-source support into our IT lifecycle. Specifically, we used QGIS. The primary reason we made that choice is that we were a Mac shop. It’s true we could have run ArcGIS Pro inside Parallels, but I didn’t see the need to … Continue reading Supporting Open Source: A Case Study →
The Guardian has published a report exploring how global warming is affecting the natural migration patterns of different bird species. The article Bird Migration Is Changing is beautifully illustrated with a number of impressive animated maps.My favorite of these mapped illustrations tracks the path of a storm-chasing seabird, the Desertas petrel. The Desertas petrel spends almost all its life
Following on from yesterday’s curtains here are some pics Reinder sent of the carpets in the Inntel Hotel in Utrecht. A bit dizzying but for lovers of maps in the wild, quite a treat.
In this month’s edition of our OpenStreetMap interview series we speak with Mikhail Kuzin, one of the makers of OpenStreetMap editor OSMPIE
1. Who are you and what do you do? What got you into OpenStreetMap?
I’m Mikhail Kuzin, 41, married with two sons. I’ve spent over 20 years in software development, scientific research, and data science focused on road traffic. I hold a Master’s and Ph.D. in Computer Science (Mathematical Modeling). I lead a development team building Intelligent Transport Systems and co-founded a startup analyzing connected vehicle data.
Many scientific works rely on OSM data, and like other developers of road traffic modeling software and autonomous vehicles, we turned to it for road data. We had already developed several proprietary road network models for specific tasks, so naturally we started building a converter to import roads from OSM format into our systems.
Building accurate road networks is laborious, and we wondered: why recreate what already...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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A LATAM community with new energy, and the SotMs have a lot to do with it
I am very happy to observe and participate in a trend that, since 2024 in Belém (Brazil), has been moving forward: a very positive streak in the OSM Latam community —the community where I am most active— around people who have managed to mobilize more people and remain united and cohesive up to the next regional State of the Map, which has already been chosen together with our Mexican community to take place in the historic center of Mexico City, in the wonderful historical building of the Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso.
A very good alliance and a very good omen with the Instituto de Geografía of UNAM, a historical debt for the OSM Mexico community.
I have always been convinced that the regional level in Latam has the greatest potential to share its impactful experiences and to strengthen deeper dynamics, as seen at different times in its history. And we are precisely in one of those moments.
This same...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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Una comunidad LATAM con nueva energía, y los SotM tienen mucho que ver
Estoy muy feliz de observar y participar en una tendencia que, desde 2024 en Belén (Brasil), se ha movido: una racha muy positiva de la comunidad OSM Latam —la comunidad donde más activa soy— en torno a personas que han sabido movilizar a más personas y seguir siendo unidas y cohesionadas hasta el próximo State of the Map regional, que ya ha sido elegido con nuestra comunidad mexicana para suceder en el centro histórico de la Ciudad de México, en el maravilloso edificio histórico del Antiguo Colegio de San Ildefonso.
Una alianza muy buena y un muy buen augurio con el Instituto de Geografía de la UNAM, una deuda histórica para la comunidad OSM México.
Siempre he estado convencida de que el nivel regional en Latam es el que más potencial tiene para compartir sus experiencias de impacto y impulsar dinámicas de fondo, como se ha visto en diferentes momentos de su historia. Y estamos en uno precisamente.
Esta...
Welcome to GeoAI Unpacked! I am Ali Ahmadalipour and in this blog, I share insights and deep dives in geospatial AI, focusing on business opportunities and industry challenges.
By rethinking how we share information, we turn intelligence into real-world impact, building systems that react to crises and help us anticipate & respond together.
(This is the first of a series of posts aimed at helping parents home-school their children.) Although I love maps and use them extensively when teaching geography, I firmly believe that elementary instruction should begin with a globe. Throughout the first few years of instruction, a globe should always be at hand. A physical/political globe […]
The post Elementary Geography 1: Why Geographical Instruction Should Begin with a Globe appeared first on GeoCurrents.
You are already using open-source. I’ve said that time and again to various audiences. The most committed Microsoft and Esri users will immediately balk, but it’s easy to knock the objections down. Azure? Linux abounds. Esri? GDAL under the hood. And what does the “Py” in ArcPy stand for? Oh yeah, Python, the open-source programming … Continue reading Unless… →
By Sam Hume Even as the technology and methods used by cartographers to map the earth have improved over time, they still face one insurmountable obstacle in creating their maps: How to represent a three-dimensional object in two dimensions? No matter what decisions they make there must always be tradeoffs, because […]
TechCrunch: “South Korea is nearing a decision on whether to allow Google and Apple to export high-resolution geographic map data to servers outside the country. The detailed maps, which use a 1:5,000 scale, would show… More
The Library of Congress Street View Explorer allows you to view vintage photographs side-by-side with their corresponding modern Google Street View panoramas, letting you explore how America has changed (or not) over time.Matt Miller created the Explorer by carrying out a textual analysis of the approximately 95,000 comments on the LOC Flickr account, which includes over 40,000
I’m an obvious fan of GeoParquet and SedonaDB and it should be no surprise that I worked (still working!) pretty hard making sure SedonaDB could take advantage of all GeoParquet had to offer. This post talks about one of those things: lazy reads (or if you’re a databse nut, “pruning”).
Basically, GeoParquet was designed to allow traditional GIS software to take advantage of a decade plus of heavy investment in the Parquet format and the software that reads and writes it. Two spot examples are that (1) software that reads traditional GIS formats is not particularly good at splitting the work up so that all the cores on your computer are put to good use and (2) most formats are not particularly good at being plonked onto a web server and have sections of them selectively queried1 (which can often save data producers from standing up a 24/7 web service).
FlatGeoBuf, of course, is the shining example of being great at being plonked onto a web server in this way and it’s great as long as...
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.5.4.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 18beta1, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.12+ is needed.
SFCGAL 1.4+ is needed to enable postgis_sfcgal support.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 1.5+ is needed.
3.5.4
source download md5
NEWS
PDF docs: en
This release is a bug fix release that includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.3.
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
’Tis the season again: the #30DayMapChallenge by Topi Tjukanov returns this November, inviting #cartographers, spatial data scientists, and GIS enthusiasts to create one #map per day inspired by daily themes. Whether you’re crafting or simply admiring, it’s a month-long celebration of creativity, #geography, and data #visualization.
Diario SUR has created an interactive that allows you to listen to Málaga birds singing directly from a map. Mouseover any of the markers on This is how Málaga sings and you can listen to a sound recording of a Málaga bird species submitted by users of the website Xeno-Canto.Xeno-Canto is a community-driven online
As regular readers probably noticed, GeoCurrents abruptly ceased posting at the end of July, 2025, just after having promised a new series on the Druze. Family considerations figured prominently in this cessation. A few months earlier, my son and daughter-in-law announced that they would be opening a bookstore in Bozeman, Montana, where they have lived […]
The post New GeoCurrents Series on Elementary Geography appeared first on GeoCurrents.
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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Με τη βοήθεια της ιστοσελίδας του Σκλαβενίτη, έκανα ένα πέρασμα από τα καταστήματα σε όλη την Ελλάδα εκτός της περιφέρειας Αττικής που ούτως ή άλλως είναι σε πολύ καλό επίπεδο χαρτογράφησης.
Ήθελα να βρίσκω τη διεύθυνση σε κάθε κατάστημα που έχει συνήθως και σταθμό φόρτισης για να την περνάω και σε κάθε σταθμό.
Σημείωση, ότι υπάρχουν και επιπλέον καταστήματα “Franchise Σκλαβενίτης” που δεν εμφανίζονται στην ιστοσελίδα του Σκλαβενίτη. Σε αυτά κρατάμε το brand αλλά έχω δώσει τη σωστή ονομασία που είναι εμφανής έτσι και αλλιώς σε κάθε κατάστημα Franchise.
Σύνδεσμοι
Ελληνικές αλυσίδες supermarket στο name-suggestion-index (NSI)
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
Switzerland’s National #Cyber Security Centre (#NCSC) and the National Test Institute for Cybersecurity (#NTC) have completed a pilot test assessing the #security of #QGISServer and the #QGIS Web Client. The test identified six vulnerabilities — all of which have been fixed by developers within the allocated time window.
We’ve long thought that we’re onto something big here at Overture. And now the rest of the world does, too. I’m pleased to announce that Fast Company has recognized the...
The post Open Collaboration Wins: Overture Named to Fast Company’s 2025 Next Big Things in Tech appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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We released version 11.0 of the GraphHopper routing engine.
One of the new features is a better private road avoidance:
Read more about it in the blog post:
https://www.graphhopper.com/blog/2025/10/14/graphhopper-routing-engine-11-0-released/
Thanks to all contributors!
The AGS Globe: A Closer Look at Climate Change in Europe, the Fastest-Warming Continent by American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society’s Weekly Newsletter for Tuesday, October 14, 2025 Read on Substack
A single source of truth gives field and office teams shared access to real-time, reliable data across all field operations. This blog outlines the four core requirements for building one: a centralized geospatial foundation, live and offline access, seamless system integration, and workflows that teams can adapt themselves. The right field inspection app plays a critical role in capturing and syncing high-quality data directly from the field during site inspections.
La entrada How to build a single source of truth for your field operations using a field inspection app se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
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Ten years ago today I registered this domain. It was my final week on the job where I’d been for over a decade. There were giant unknowns ahead in the form of a new job, working from home, and a baby on the way. What a time. Things have gone wonderfully these last ten years …
Decision-Making Information Resources & Solutions
• By proximityone
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How many housing units are within a 1-mile radius of a given location? 5-miles? Use Site Analysis tools to count the number of housing units by census block as of 2020 and 2024. Use the use the VDA (Visual Data … Continue reading →
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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I am so excited to have Unique Mappers RSU chapter virtual event taking off today for the next 3 days.
I am also excited to have Favour and Adanna anchoring this event as part fo their internship program task
Prof .P Ede of Geography Dept and Dr . Erefama of Geology was in attendance along with so many others .
Cheers to Unique Mappers Nigeria
Is it NYC? allows you to discover which New York neighborhood most resembles your hometown. Simply enter your location into Is It NYC? and instantly discover if you're living in a trendy, SoHo-like area or a leafy, outer-borough haven like Forest Hills.Cosine SimilarityAt its core, Is It NYC? is an exercise in geospatial data analysis and similarity matching. Behind the curtain, the map
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
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David Oesch has open-sourced his workflow for generating #AI-driven #topographicmaps directly from #aerialimagery, following his earlier experiment in “vibe cartography”. The GitHub repository lets anyone reproduce the method using Python and a Google account, while also inviting collaboration on the proposed future improvements.
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
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A little while back I showed you how to make trippy AI-inspired isometric contour diagram things in ArcGIS Pro using terrain elevation data from Living Atlas. Many of you took the challenge and created amazing maps of your own! Here’s an update to that how-to, with a simplified process and a new focus area! The sea floor! …
Ownership and sovereignty of geospatial data is a key concern of our times and a topic we frequently address in this blog space. Jonathan Murphy has written what I consider to be the most important and thoughtful essay about digital sovereignty of our times, here: https://gogeomatics.ca/canada-can-no-longer-pretend-digital-sovereignty-isnt-at-risk/ Jonathan is the CEO, President, and Founder of GoGeomatics […]
QGIS comes bundled with a simplified version of the Natural Earth Countries shapefile that is suitable for quick map-making. The layer can be loaded into your canvas by typing the keyword world in the coordinates bar. While this is useful, there is no single political map of the world that is accepted by every country […]
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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Good day, friends!
We’re excited to announce the official launch of our OSM editor.
OSMPIE — OSM Perfect Intersection Editor
This specialized editor helps users efficiently add and correct road and intersection data.
The application enables you to:
Visualize roads and intersections based on the OSM semantic model.
Verify tags and road structures — inaccuracies and inconsistencies are instantly visible.
Share links to your edits for discussion and review before uploading data to OSM.
Export render data to GeoJSON.
The OSM semantic model is almost perfect but lacks a few elements for creating truly flawless intersections. OSMPIE provides several specific tags and extensions for existing ones. Their syntax and application are detailed in the documentation, which includes compelling examples.
Explore the key features:
Detailed rendering of lane graphs and area road models.
Comprehensive changeset viewer with git-style comparison.
Dynamic positioning on...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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It’s been a week since the State of the Map (SOTM) 2025 and this edition of State of the Map actually had a lot of firsts, it’s the first to be held in Asia and it was actually the first that I’m attending. I’ve been to a fair share of conventions and conferences but this is really my first time going to a one specifically about mapping and OpenStreetMap.
It was a rainy first day for SOTM in Metro Manila but that didn’t stop the conference from pushing through. The venue was packed with mappers and enthusiasts from around the globe. It was great to chat with other mapping folks on common interests such as FOSS apps or QGIS. I also had the chance to talk with local Philippine mappers and enthusiasts to discuss about local issues or things that we are currently working on.
The venue featured sponsors displaying their products, along with several informative posters. One poster that caught my attention was about the public transportation in Malaysia.
The rest of the day...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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I am currently trying to properly import bus stops data into OSM (see here for the details). I did tests upload on the dev server, but I didn’t find a way to revert a changeset : the osm-revert-scripts can get a changeset content, and seems to generate a revert changeset (the log list all created nodes and say it will delete them) but at the end don’t delete anything.
I found some tools than can act on the prod server but I’d like to test before on https://master.apis.dev.openstreetmap.org … does somenone know a good tool for this ?
Thank !
The Sea Level Rise 3D Map is a very effective visualization of the possible effects of rising sea levels. The map uses Google's 3D Maps API with deck.gl and three.js to create a very realistic demonstration of how locations around the world could be impacted by different levels of sea level rise.The map was created by combining Google’s Photorealistic 3D Tiles with a custom Three.js water
Den Feiertag nutzend haben sich am Wochende vom 3. – 5. Oktober 2025 32 Vereinsmitglieder in Teltow bei Berlin getroffen, um gemeinsam das 25. Jubiläum des FOSSGIS e.V. zu feiern und an Fragen und Entwicklungsfeldern zu arbeiten.
Eine ausführliche Auswertung ist im Wiki aufgeschrieben.
Durch eine professionelle Begleitung und Moderation war es möglich, in den zwei Tagen anhand eines strukturierten Fahrplans an den vorbereiteten Entwicklungsfeldern zu arbeiten, zu Ergebnissen zu kommen und trotzdem noch Gelegenheit für Feierlichkeiten und Austausch zu finden.
Der Freitag, 3. Oktober war als Anreisetag mit Start am Nachmittag geplant. So war Zeit anzukommen, einzuchecken, die anderen Teilnehmenden zu begrüßen, kennenzulernen und sich bereits zu gemeinsamen Themen auszutauschen.
Katja Haferkorn eröffnete die Veranstaltung. Nach etwas Warmup in einer Art Speeddating-Gespräch und der Betrachtung des FOSSGIS als Bauwerk bildeten sich Arbeitsgruppen zu den vorbereiteten...
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
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The last time I preprocessed the whole GeoLife dataset, I loaded it into PostGIS. Today, I want to share a new workflow that creates a (Geo)Parquet file and that is much faster. The dataset (GeoLife) “This GPS trajectory dataset was collected in (Microsoft Research Asia) Geolife project by 182 users in a period of over …Read More
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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The State of the Map (SOTM) conference in Nairobi gave me a great opportunity and motivation. From that experience, I realized that even a small contribution can create a huge impact. Since attending SOTM Nairobi, I have amplified my involvement in mapping contributing More than one million edits before attending SOTM Manila.
After the Nairobi conference, I was deeply inspired to make an even greater difference through mapping. I became more active in Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) projects, trained others to map, and became an advocate for bringing more people onto the OpenStreetMap (OSM) platform. I also participated in several projects in Rwanda, such as tree planting and tree mapping using EveryDoor which is aimed at promoting climate resilience and slope stabilization. Also , I engaged in mapping urban green spaces to support environmental sustainability, Mapping of Health Facilities in Rwanda etc.
Attending the SOTM Manila conference was another life-changing...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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I create POIs covering permanent buildings by providing addresses, coordinates, categories, photos, and general information in the latest or most updated POIs, based on real-world data from surveys on foot and by motorcycle.
Weather conditions play a significant role in POI creation. Heavy rain makes it difficult to create POIs because photos are unclear, and conversely, very hot days make it impossible to take objective photos. I create POI data for OpenStreet Maps. I hope it’s useful for everyone here. I’d be thrilled if I received support from all my friends.
You can see the POIs on my OpenStreetMaps profile.
Thank you.
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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I like to enable creating Notes in a MapLibre map. This should be possible both anonymously and while logged in. The following documents the learning steps using plain vanilla JavaScript. Improvements or feedback welcome.
In OpenStreetMap, a note allows users to leave feedback, report missing information, or provide hints directly on the map without editing it themselves. In other words, it serves as feedback or comments that other mappers can see and later act upon.
OAuth and Notes in OpenStreetMap
OAuth
OAuth on OpenStreetMap is a mechanism that allows third-party applications to perform specific actions in a user’s OSM account without requiring the user’s password.
The first step is to create a token.
Creating a Token
First, I log in to my account or register if you do not have one: https://www.openstreetmap.org/login
Then I go to the OAuth application management page:
https://www.openstreetmap.org/user//oauth_clients/new
Enter the...
Niklas Alt said “There probably is nothing more fitting to illustrate a tour with the editor of the forthcoming #HistoricTownAtlas of #Ljubljana than this #MapsInTheWild. This is a very accurate carved historical map of 17th century Ljubljana from the 1960s in an atrium on main street.”
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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EDIT: I had to rename the tag due to the more common UK usage, but I’m leaving the title of the diary entry: osm.wiki/Tag:historic%3Dtyring_platform
[On with original text:]
There is a strange site in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny where you have a circular stone and several iron hoops in the ground, and I’ve often wondered what it is, and presumed it had something to do with tying up horses.
This week, I bought Deirdre O’Neill’s excellent book “Remnants of Our Past” (which I’m incidentally acknowledged in and which has quite a few overlaps with topics I have covered in my videos). And lo and behold, now I know! It was the site of a smithy or forge (marked on old Ordnance Survey maps), and the circular stone is a “binding stone”. Those stones, often recycled millstones were sunk into the ground near the smithy, a cart wheel placed on top with the hub in the centre depression of the mill stone, and a new iron rim placed around the wheel that way.
Obviously, I will have to make a...
Decision-Making Information Resources & Solutions
• By proximityone
•
In 2020, centenarians (people of age 100 or more) accounted for just 2 out of 10,000 people. Centenarians in the U.S. increased by 50% from 53,364 in 2010 to 80,139 in 2020. The graphic shows patterns of centenarians in the … Continue reading →
Journeys of Resilience of Refugees from Ukraine is an interactive map tracking the movements of refugees from Ukraine amidst the ongoing war. Created for the UN’s International Organization for Migration (IOM), the map captures both the immense scale of forced migration and the stories of return and resilience that continue to unfold.Since Russia’s invasion, around 11 million Ukrainians
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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In Leaflet, I really enjoy using Leaflet.Control.Layers.Tree and find its possibilities amazing. That’s why I’ve named the control I describe here Layertree.
For now, I want to start small and document the learning steps I’ve taken with vanilla JavaScript.
Since I don’t have much experience yet, feedback or suggestions for improvement are very welcome! I hope this post will be helpful to others who are learning as well.
Layertree Control
Base Layers
A base layer is the lowest map layer that provides the general background or geographic context — things like:
Streets, buildings, rivers, landscapes
Satellite imagery or simple map drawings
It serves as the foundation on which other data can be displayed as overlays (e.g., markers, routes, thematic layers).
There is already an official control, maplibre-basemaps, which, however, only supports raster sources.
I want to make it possible to use vector sources as basemaps as well.
Here’s a simple code example showing how to...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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About a week ago, I was thinking about the height of the buildings of my campus from above, especially in relation to the relatively flat terrain and skyline around Daytona Beach. Other then Embry-Riddle and the speedway, the only other ‘tall’ buildings are literally just hospitals that I can see two of from my sixth-floor dorm.
I had figured that the OSM state of the map seemed pretty good from a first glance, but looking at the F4map Demo showed me that some the 3D data was scuffed, for lack of a better term. Think: flat buildings and parking garages, ghost buildings in place of flat terrain, etcetera. I figured I could go in and correct some heights and roof shapes during class. While I was doing this, I noticed that a bunch of the building footprints were also misaligned (and some were just straight inaccurate), so I figured it wouldn’t hurt to fix those in later changesets.
My first changeset that involved actually editing the shape of buildings was my first polish pass on...
How good are you at guessing the value of a house based purely on its curb appeal? Well, now you can find out with my new daily challenge Street View game - Curb Value.Each day, Curb Value loads a new set of real homes currently on the market. For every property, you’re shown a static Street View image, a frozen snapshot of the house captured by Google’s cameras. Based on what you see from the
Tonika Lewis Johnson, whose Folded Map Project explores decades of segregation in Chicago neighbourhoods, and Margaret Wickens Pearce, whom Map Room readers might remember for Coming Home to Indigenous Place Names in Canada, are among… More
CBC News reports on Strava’s lawsuit against Garmin, which alleges patent infringement and breach of contract. Strava claims that Garmin is violating Strava’s patents relating to heatmaps and segments, and also says Garmin’s new developer… More
Eldan Goldenberg spotted this tile mosaic map of Canada at the Rogers Pass Summit with the Trans-Canada Highway in black, and most provinces and territories in different colours except that it predates Nunavut being split off from the North West Territories.
TrueSize.net is an interactive map that allows you to compare the true size of countries and regions around the world. You’ve probably played with 'true size' maps before but TrueSize.net goes far beyond other 'true size' maps - t’s a fully fledged platform for exploring the real scale of countries, regions, and even historical empires.Unlike most 'true size' maps that focus solely on modern
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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La mia proposta delle aree di protezione civile di qualche tempo fa, è attualmente in fase di draft ufficiale.
Seguiranno le successive fasi quando avrò consolidato la proposta.
A voi il link della wiki osm.wiki/Proposal:Civil_Protection_Areas
As part of the GeoAI and Deep Learning Symposium at the 2026 AAG Annual Meeting in San Francisco, California we have a call for papers for sessions entitled "Geosimulation and Its Emerging Directions with AI"Call for Papers:Simulating past, present, and future events can empower humans to understand the composition and interactions in complex systems and explain their emergence and evolution from bottom up. In practice, geosimulations constitute a powerful tool in engaging different stakeholders, exploring what-if scenarios, and evaluating alternative policy outcomes.We invite interdisciplinary works for the exploration and understanding of complex social and environmental processes by means of computer simulation. We focus on all aspects of simulation and agent societies, including multi-agent systems, agent-based modeling, microsimulation, artificial intelligence (AI) agents, and the integration of Generative AI with simulation.As GenAI is impacting all aspects of our lives, we are...
Matthew shared this “this might be my last time in the Science Hall office of the history of #cartography project, as the building is about to get entirely rehabilitated before I next have to return in person! So here’s David Woodward’s blow up of 1651 Speed #maps … #maphistory … w photos of Woodward and […]
Yesterday I read Sylvain Lesage’s post Parquet with GEOMETRY type is not GeoParquet and started writing a reply for Linkedin but it ended up a bit too long to just be a comment, so I thought I’d just post it here as a blog. Overall it’s a great write-up and I appreciate that Sylvain took the time to share his understandings, and that he’s been diving deep to be able to support the geospatial + Parquet ecosystem. And most all of it is right on, but I wanted to provide some more context, and one tweak.
The only thing that I think is ‘off’ in the post is the timeline that says GeoParquet 1.1 was ‘published three months after the introduction of GEOMETRY and GEOGRAPHY in Parquet’. GeoParquet 1.1 was June 19th of 2024, while the geospatial types landed in Parquet core in March of 2025.
The original PARQUET-2471 discussion started about 1 month before the 1.1.0 release. And the main topic for the core GeoParquet group members after the 1.1.0...
November’s 30DayMapChallenge is fast approaching - and the daily themes for this year’s event have just been released!The #30DayMapChallenge is an annual, community-driven event that brings together mapmakers from all over the world. Started by Topi Tjukanov in 2019, it’s become a global celebration of cartography, creativity, and data visualization. Each day in November, participants
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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When I was in Hyderabad and Bengaluru, I used to map the roads and buildings of the places in my hometown in Bhubaneswar.
Today, I got a chance to visit those places physically.
It felt good on the mapping I did from more than a thousand kilometers away.
Those road additions helped me add other features like adding streetlamps and POIs easily. I have an obsession with streetlamps 1.
Moreover, the early morning walk also has a new motivation now.
I am using the Every Door and StreetComplete apps to add the POIs immediately as I walk past them. Thanks to these apps contributors.
I wonder, apart from streetlamp addition and road surface mapping. What else can I do?
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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ZuhaWorld Social Impact
The location and address belong to by ZwS Zuha and the ZuhaWorld Social Impact - Social Club Location and Surrounding Area. Full address is 265 Uttar Muradpur, Haji Lal Mia Sarkar Road, Muradpur, Dhaka, Dhaka Metropolitan, Dhaka District, Dhaka Division, 1204, Bangladesh.
Washington, D.C. — In a landmark moment for the global geography community, three women who each broke barriers to become the first female presidents of their respective organizations met in Washington, D.C. this month to celebrate their leadership, exchange ideas, and reflect upon a […]
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
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Треба да се доврши:
Додај/уреди долапе (ако постоје):
Долап код Кукурића врта (лијева обала) и узводно код јаза крај Студенца
Долапи на јазу у Дражин Долу, иза моста
Долап на Придворачком краку, на јазу код трафостанице
Провјери да ли је долап (на лијевој обали) на јазу, од ког ријека прелази у вјештачко корито (Рупе), функционалан
Покушај да ископаш називе
Додај насипe/подзиде:
Требишњица од Мале бране до новог моста у изградњи
Придворачки крак кроз Растоке
Придворачки крак уз Брадвице и низводно до села
Придворачки крак од Придвораца до ушћа
Требишљица на Рупама
Стазе:
Провјери проходност стазе на Рупама, од ушћа Поточине, преко јаза до кривине.
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
Date: October 08, 2025
Today I spent a few hours walking through parts of Baprola in Delhi, updating some OpenStreetMap data for local healthcare and wellness centres. While mapping, I came across Baprola Nasha Mukti Kendra in Delhi (Plot No. 1, Near Shiv Mandir Village).
The facility stood out not just because of its location, but because of the care with which local roads, access paths, and landmarks are maintained leading up to it. It’s clear this centre isn’t just a building — it’s part of the community. I was able to verify a few missing footpaths and alleyways around its boundary which will help people locate it more easily for those who need its services.
Inside, the atmosphere seemed calm and structured, with signage guiding visitors. I noted that it offers multiple branches across Delhi (Uttam Nagar, RK Puram, Shahdara, etc.) which I also updated in the map tags.
Mapping health and wellness facilities sometimes feels like a small thing, but I believe it matters. When...
This animated cartogram resizes countries around the world according to their annual number of births.In this “natal map” of the world, India appears as the largest country, with over 23 million babies born each year - roughly equivalent to the entire population of a country such as Chile (about 20 million people). China, with 9.54 million births per year, and Nigeria, with 7.51 million births
Following the earlier announcement that QGIS is moving to Qt 6 and launching QGIS 4.0, we want to share an… Read more Update on QGIS 4.0 Release Schedule and LTR Plans
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
I thought there wouldn’t be much on my bucket list for 2025, but everything has turned into something magical that fills my mapper’s heart with joy. So much has been happening in our country lately—exhausting and heartbreaking events that test our strength as individuals and as a community.
If only mappers could instantly make all our hopes happen, we would have done it already.
SOTM 2025 made me realize so many things: the effort every mapper puts in, the love they pour into their work, and the dedication to translating languages to make maps easier for everyone to understand. It reminded me that even small contributions can create big ripples.
SOTM 2025 highlights the importance of mapping in so many areas: for disaster response, for raising awareness, for promoting inclusivity—by marking safe spaces for women and the LGBTQ+ community, mapping pet-friendly areas, and ensuring that no one is left behind.
Mapping is no longer just about roads and buildings; it's about...
The AGS Globe: Fighting Fire in the Boreal Forests: Fire Management in the World’s Largest Land Biome by American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society’s Weekly Newsletter for October 7, 2025 Read on Substack
Save some room on the AI bandwagon for ArcGIS. This seems to be the central message of GeoAI: Artificial Intelligence in GIS, a slim (only 120-page) volume of articles and posts that previously appeared, for the most… More
FOSS4G:UK was on last week, here in Leeds and I really enjoyed the two days. Here are some highlights and thoughts.
I think the highlight talk for me was Weiming Huang “Pretraining Geospatial Foundation Models with OpenStreetMap”. Weiming is a new geographer in Leeds University School of Geography. The talk was about AI model and OSM data. Foundation models are not generative models (like chatGPT for example) and they are not task specific models. They are representative model, self supervised. The models are not focused on the use but on the data. They can then be used for multiple tasks. CityFM City Foundation Model.
For each feature in the model (e.g. from OSM) we can look at it from 3 perspectives, visual, textual and locational. For each road we can see that it contains nearby Points of interest, roads and routes. We can associate features with other features. e.g. hospital vs cafe. The models have to be trained by area. I asked Weiming if his models could run on a...
Am Montag, den 6. Oktober, durfte ich beim RLP NEXT Innovationkongress in Mainz einen Vortrag mit dem Titel „Data Science für soziale Innovation?“ halten. Im Gepäck hatte ich fünf kurze Geschichten aus der Landeshauptstadt des Landes Rheinland-Pfalz – rund um Open Data, Künstliche Intelligenz und nachhaltige Stadtentwicklung. Mein Hauptziel: dem Publikum auf der Innovation Stage zeigen, welche spannenden Themen wir an der Hochschule Mainz bearbeiten. Offene Daten und KI sind dabei nicht nur technische Spielwiesen, sondern können konkrete Impulse für gesellschaftliche Innovationen liefern.
Im Rahmen des Vortrags stellte ich ausgewählte Fallstudien aus Mainz vor – von der Analyse urbaner Datenlandschaften (Parkraumnutzung, Wohnlage, polizeiliche Meldungen) bis hin zu prototypischen Workflows zur Anreicherung und Qualitätssteigerung offener Geodaten. Besonders im Fokus standen neue Methoden wie multimodale Sprachmodelle und Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), die eine...
From Matthew Edney “First time at Cargo Coffee on E Washington in Madison WI – with their trademark #maps decor – but this lovely one painted!!” I’ll be looking in on Cargo Coffee when I get a chance.
Project Impact is an interactive asteroid-impact simulator that lets you drop different sized asteroids on the cities of your choice - and observe how they could be destroyed. Alongside the simulation, you can also learn about the mitigation strategies used to detect and deflect hazardous near-Earth objects, and even test your defense skills by taking command of Planetary Defense Command in a
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
•
Here is a map created in ArcGIS Online using Imagery and Terrain layers available in Living Atlas. Here’s how you can make it: If you’d like a straight up recipe to go along with this video, I’ve got you covered! Remember, the elevation image service is subscriber content, so it’s not for public-facing applications where …
Field teams managing critical assets can’t wait on slow software development cycles so they end up relying on costly workarounds. Fulcrum, a no-code field inspection app with intuitive digital form design, changes that dynamic by allowing teams to clone, adjust, and deploy apps instantly. With this approach, organizations move from reactive fixes to proactive, continuous improvement in how field data is captured and managed.
La entrada Fast lane to custom fieldwork apps: Clone it, tweak it, crush it se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
Each symbol on this interactive map represents an attempt by the Russian state to destabilize European democracy. The map visualizes Russia’s hybrid warfare against the West, which involves tactics as diverse as cyberattacks, disinformation campaigns, physical sabotage, and even possible assassinations — actions that might seem minor in isolation but form part of a broader strategy to undermine
Last week I had the pleasure of being a guest on a Cloud Native Geospatial webinar with my colleagues Jia Yu and Matt Forrest where we talked SedonaDB. In the webinar Matt demoed a fantastic blog post comparing a real-world workflow on SedonaDB, DuckDB, and PostGIS. In preparation, I came up with a few examples and only a small bit ended up making it to the live demo. Here’s the full version!
The gist of the post: let’s use SedonaDB’s top-notch (if I do say so myself) Arrow interop to ingest some totally bonkers real-world data and write it to nice clean GeoParquet.
Let’s get started: SedonaDB can be instealled with pip:
pip install "apache-sedona[db]"
We’ll create the handle to our session (sd) and turn on interactive mode to auto-print results (handy when not running queries against remote data!).
import sedona.db
sd = sedona.db.connect()
sd.options.interactive = True
Now let’s get into the problem a little. In 2012 I got a job as a Project Coordinator at a small environmental...
FOSSGIS-Konferenz 2026
Markieren Sie sich den Termin im Kalender: Die FOSSGIS-Konferenz findet im nächsten Jahr vom 25. bis 28. März in Göttingen statt!
Das Konferenzteam freut sich schon jetzt auf spannende Vorträge, lebhaften Austausch und viele bekannte (und neue) Gesichter!
Die FOSSGIS-Konferenz ist im D-A-CH-Raum die führende Konferenz für Freie und Open Source Software für Geoinformationssysteme sowie für die Themen Open Data und OpenStreetMap und findet jedes Jahr im März an einem anderen Ort im deutschsprachigen Raum statt.
Die Konferenz bietet eine Plattform für Austausch, Weiterbildung, Forschungsfragen zu Themen rund um Open Source Tools und Open Data im Geodatenbereich.
Die FOSSGIS-Konferenz 2026 wird vom gemeinnützigen FOSSGIS e.V, der OpenStreetMap Community in Kooperation mit dem Geographischen Institut der Georg-August-Universität Göttingen organisiert und wird auf dem Unicampus Göttingen stattfinden.
Es handelt sich bei der FOSSGIS-Konferenz um eine...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
This place and address belongs to Gagandeep Singh Dhatt and youth voice foundation society with residence of 180 Civil Lines near maya hotel session courts Jalandhar punjab -144001 India
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
This sounds like straight out of those “Falsehoods programmers believe …” texts: A major city where people rely on landmarks, rather than street addresses, for navigation and also postal delivery. Find out more in this short documentary by The New Yorker.
25/09/2025-01/10/2025
[1] The FOSSGIS booth at the Young Congress for Geography
Mapping
Voting is open until Monday, 13 October on these proposals:
beauty=* to indicate a hair salon’s specialisation in women, men, or mixed clientele.
information=*, a top-level tag defined as infrastructure intended to convey information.
Mapping campaigns
Microsoft’s Open Maps team is updating Brunei’s boundary data in OpenStreetMap, using open sources including geoBoundaries, adhering to OSM guidelines, with all edits done manually, properly sourced, and marked with the #MSFTOpenMaps tag.
Community
In the latest series of OpenCage’s OpenStreetMap interviews, Ed spoke with Thibaut Maïto, an OpenStreetMap contributor from Lyon, France.
Nick Doiron has visited and mapped Herm Island and Sark Island, both part of the Crown Dependencies in the British Isles.
Paul Norman has noted that the current OSMF vector tile service contains code from Street Spirit, a general-purpose vector tile map...
Another one from Matthew Edney “jungle adventures is an indoor black light crazy golf course in Old Orchard Beach, Maine – here’s the map of Africa (actually 3d); they also have a world map. (And I won!)”
Stephanie May is a geographic technologist and cartographer based in Seattle, Washington. In addition to being a founding member of CNG’s Editorial Board, she serves on the board of the MapLibre Organization, an open source ecosystem for webmapping, and is the Principal of Liminal Maps.
1. What geospatial trend or tool excites you right now?
I’m energized by how much easier it has gotten to build, host, and embed cloud-enabled web maps. A few technologies stand out: PMTiles allow for serverless hosting from anywhere that supports HTTP range requests, which means you can build a map in a GitHub repo and host it via GitHub Pages, or for larger projects shift to a cloud storage bucket. Pair with Protomaps for a full map solution: extract a region in PMTiles format paired with a stylesheet and all the other assets you need to embed a map in your project site or app via MapLibre, or customize it in a huge variety of ways, such as mixing in other sources (e.g....
New America has released an interactive map that reveals how the boundaries of U.S. school districts could be redrawn to create a fairer education system for all students.In most states, school district lines determine which local property taxes fund which schools. This means that children in affluent areas often benefit from far more school funding than those in nearby districts with lower
Unknown source
• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
Hello! I have finally finished my work in Teton Pines! Unfortunately, I learned recently that there is a big construction project(s) going on there at the moment. So, I will likely be circling back to update the area when new imagery comes in.
On another note, I have been experimenting with adding wooded areas (natural=wood) in the mountains directly west of Wilson. I am feeling some uncertainty about this effort so if anyone with experience in mapping forests wants to take a look at the work I have been doing, I am more than open to advice and suggestions!
Anyways, with this finished I am now moving on to the area I am calling South central Wilson, which I have outlined in red on the attached image below. I have gotten a bit of a head start by mapping a majority of the ponds in this area. My work here will include the following: Adding water features, improving roads, adding houses/structures, and driveways. I will provide another update once this work is completed.
South...
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
There is a gap in #lowcode tooling for geospatial #datamanipulation, with most existing solutions either proprietary, outdated, or not aligned with the needs of those users wishing for visual tools. #Geoflow, an emerging #opensource project with a visual workflow builder, could evolve into a suitable alternative.
On 4-6 September, we attended the State of the Map Latam 2025, the Latin American OpenStreetMap conference. This year marked the 7th edition, taking place for the first time in Colombia, in the vibrant city of Medellín. Medellín has been a model of urban transformation and community-led projects in the last couple of decades, with the conference venue being a perfect example of this. The Parque Biblioteca San Javier was the first Library Park to be built, a project aimed at bringing green, cultural, and educational spaces to the less affluent districts of the city.
Parque Biblioteca San Javier surroundings in Panoramax
Day 1
Day 1 started with the welcome speech by Juan Arellano and Andrés Gómez from the Organizing Committee. Afterward, we enjoyed a live performance of traditional Colombian dances, courtesy of Ballet Nacional El Firulete.
We at the OSMF had the privilege of conducting the first keynote presentation. Most attendees were unfamiliar with the...
The title of this book does not quite capture what Maxim Samson is doing. Earth Shapers: How We Mapped and Mastered the World, from the Panama Canal to the Baltic Way isn’t really about shaping the earth,… More
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
La prise en compte des pénalités par les GPS
La plupart des GPS se basant sur les données OSM utilisent la signalisation routière et le marquage au sol (stop, panneaux, feux de signalisation, ralentisseurs, passages piéton, îlots, …) pour fiabiliser le calcul d’itinéraire et améliorer le temps estimé d’un itinéraire.
La prise en compte dans les calculateurs se fait souvent via un système de pénalités impactant l’itinéraire en en associant une pénalité par défaut pour un type d’objets donné.
CoMaps regroupe les différents objets dans 7 types différents et OSMAnd applique une pénalité pour chaque type d’objets/valeurs possibles ce qui permet d’avoir une plus grande finesse.
Un travail d’ajout et de mise à jour dans la base de données est aussi nécessaire en utilisant les éditeurs ID/JOSM ou StreetComplete.
Contribution
J’ai souhaité contribuer à cette thématique notamment sur les clés valeurs crossing=* et traffic_calming=* suite à la prise en compte des pénalités dans CoMaps...
Matthew Edney said “3d cast braille/tactile map of the Garden of the Five Senses, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, Boothbay, ME, USA. Very cool place, even for an indoor-person like me!”
The Trace's An Atlas of American Gun Violence is an interactive map that uses data from the Gun Violence Archive to visualize gun homicides and assaults across the contiguous United States.The map has drawn a fair amount of criticism on the MapPorn subreddit, with many dismissing it as “just a population density map.” I think this criticism is somewhat unfair. If you were to zoom
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
Recently, ESRI World Imagery updated to include imagery from early 2025 in Gaza. Now, for the first time since the conflict escalated in October 2023, it is possible to update OSM using open satellite imagery to reflect the many features in Gaza that are destroyed or no longer standing.
If you are updating OSM in Gaza, please follow OSM lifecycle prefix conventions:
For features (buildings, roads, etc) that are destroyed or severely damaged, please use the demolished lifecycle prefix: for example demolished:building=yes or demolished:highway=residential. This prefix is most appropriate in Gaza.
A similar but alternative ‘destroyed’ prefix is only used for features that were destroyed by an event other than intentional demolition, such as a natural disaster. So this is most likely not appropriate in Gaza.
Please do not delete: It is only appropriate to delete a feature if there is absolutely no trace of the original feature, and the land has been repurposed. Note that in...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
The PCT exits Yosemite National Park though Dorothy Pass at the northern edge of the park. This marks the high point for through hikers after a 70 mile uphill.
Statationed there with a National Parks trail crew this summer season I noticed that mapping data was sparse and inacurate. Water and campsite markings were esspecialy lacking.
I have made a number of additons and adjustements based on my notes from this summer and added ponds/streams where they are vissible on satilite data. Any stream marked as intermintet was personaly verified by me, otherwise I have left them unknown.
I belive that the avaiable tags for backcounty conditions are insuficiant and that there would be a use for a point of interest to indicate cellphone reception points in mountain areas.
In Canada, we have an unfenced backyard and need to combine AI with satellites to solve a series of key geographic, political, sovereignty, and climate-related problems.
Ready to find your perfect camping spot anywhere in the world? Use the interactive tool above to discover campgrounds, RV parks, wild camping areas, and backcountry sites on any continent. Whether you are planning an American national park road trip, a European camping tour, an Australian outback adventure, a New Zealand holiday park circuit, a Canadian wilderness expedition, or exploring any other destination on Earth, your ideal camping location is just a click away
Ready to find your perfect Scottish camping spot? Use the interactive tool above to discover campsites, wild camping areas, bothies, national park facilities, and forest park locations across Scotland. Whether you are planning a family holiday in the Cairngorms, a wild camping adventure in the Northwest Highlands, a North Coast 500 tour, an island-hopping expedition to Skye and Mull, or a bothy-bagging trip through remote glens, your ideal camping location is just a click away.
Ready to find your perfect Irish camping spot? Use the interactive tool above to discover campsites, caravan parks, national park facilities, forest park locations, and wild camping areas across the Republic of Ireland. Whether you are planning a family holiday on the Wild Atlantic Way, a touring caravan trip through Ireland's Ancient East, a camping adventure in the Wicklow Mountains, or a coastal camping experience in Kerry or Galway, your ideal camping location is just a click away
Ready to find your perfect New Zealand camping spot? Use the interactive tool above to discover holiday parks, DOC campsites, freedom camping areas, backcountry huts, and motor camps across Aotearoa. Whether you're planning a family holiday to a Bay of Islands holiday park, a South Island motorhome tour, a Great Walks tramping adventure, or responsible freedom camping around the North Island, your ideal camping location is just a click away
By Alice Yee On September 25th, 2025, the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) released a new interactive map, in response to DOGE’s funding cuts to weather and storm tracking, atmospheric and sea life research, along with climate-related job availability. It displays National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) programs/services, such as labs and major offices by […]
I realize as I type this I should have said something sooner. So I’ll be in Reston November 3-5th 2025 talking, hanging out, and annoying people at FOSS4GNA 2025. If you’re at the conference track me down. If you’re in the area and you’re interested in QGIS track me down. This one hits a bit […]
The post FOSS4GNA is coming in November 2025 appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
🚀 O Projeto Mapeia Brasil foi lançado!
Tivemos a alegria de apresentar nossa iniciativa em uma entrevista publicada no blog da OpenCage.
https://blog.opencagedata.com/post/supporting-mapeia-brasil
O Mapeia Brasil nasce com a missão de atualizar e enriquecer os dados geográficos do OpenStreetMap, fortalecendo a comunidade e levando informação livre e colaborativa para todo o Brasil. 🌍
Na entrevista, eu (Raphael de Assis, presidente da UMBRAOSM)
converso sobre:
A motivação e trajetória no OpenStreetMap, Os desafios e as oportunidades de mapear ruas no Brasil, especialmente em regiões invisibilizadas;
O projeto Mapeia Brasil: seus objetivos, metodologia e impacto esperado;
A importância do apoio global e colaborativo, e como iniciativas como essa podem transformar realidades locais.
Esse espaço no blog da OpenCage representa um reconhecimento importante para o Mapeia Brasil.
Ao divulgar a iniciativa em um canal internacional, conseguimos:
Dar visibilidade ao trabalho da...
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
secretsofmaps.com built by Adam Kulikowski offers an interactive walkthrough of popular #routing algorithms like BFS, DFS, Greedy, and A*, complete with animated #visualizations. Explore and compare these pathfinding algorithms at your own pace.
Reinder said “My former employer – 82 by now – drew a primitive impression of a street in our old home town. On the right corner is his antiquarian bookshop that he actually still keeps running. In the window one can see a map of the Netherlands.” I love this
Tages-Anzeiger’s data team has published a striking interactive map that visualizes one of Europe’s most profound demographic challenges: in most of the continent's regions, more people are now dying than are being born.In Europe is becoming a “net death zone”: What the future would look like without immigration the newspaper uses regional data from Eurostat and national statistics offices
Use the interactive tool above to discover caravan sites, camping grounds, holiday parks, Caravan Club locations, and YHA hostels with camping across England. Whether you're planning a family holiday to a Devon holiday park, a touring caravan trip through the Lake District, a peaceful weekend in a Cotswolds campsite, or a coastal camping adventure in Cornwall, your ideal camping location is just a click away
Use the interactive tool above to discover national park campgrounds, state park sites, KOA locations, private campgrounds, RV parks, and dispersed camping areas across the United States. Whether you're planning a family vacation to a national park, an RV tour across multiple states, a state park camping trip, or a free dispersed camping adventure on public lands, your ideal camping location is just a click away.
Our Canadian Camping & Parks Finder is a comprehensive, free-to-use interactive mapping tool designed specifically for campers, RV enthusiasts, and outdoor adventurers exploring Canada's vast wilderness. With just a few clicks, you can locate campgrounds in national parks, provincial parks, private facilities, and backcountry sites anywhere across the country—from Pacific Rim National Park Reserve in British Columbia to Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland and Labrador, and everywhere in between
Unknown source
• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
In downtown Minneapolis, MN, USA, there are 80 linked blocks
of connected buildings, making up the largest distance of indoor navigation in the world[1]. The “Skyways”
are a mix of interior hallways, unmarked tunnels, stairs, pedway bridges, and occasionally outdoor 2nd Floor paths which
connect hundreds of local businesses. Each building sets its own hours and holiday schedules for it’s portion of the
skyway.
There have been a
few PDF maps
and maybe a defunct app here and there.
Sometimes the city publishes a
list of businesses as PDF.
But to truly improve the skyway, data needs to be accurate, editable, and updated for ever-changing city.
Skyway.run
I created Skyway.run (a web app) to make the skyway easy and fun to use. And an app that is easy to improve.
The app includes walking navigation filtered only to the skyway system, and highlights the changing hours and
holiday/event schedule of each building. You can click a building and see the businesses inside, and easily...
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
An innovative experiment: David Oesch tests an inventive approach leveraging #GenAI (#LLM and #LMM) to transform webmap style specs and an aerial image into an AI-generated topographic #map.
Tell Us About Yourself Hi, I’m Jan Paul Miene. I’m currently completing my Master’s degree in Geodata Technology at the Technical University of Würzburg/Schweinfurt in Germany. My background is in geovisualisation, and I’ve always been fascinated by the intersection of data, geography, and design. What I enjoy most about cartography is that maps have the […]
The post Maps and Mappers of the 2025 Calendar – Jan-Paul Meine – September appeared first on GeoHipster.
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
•
I just wrote a guest blog post for the Esri Young Professionals Network (I know, I’m neither young, nor professional) about my job at Esri (UX design, cartography, and education), what I did before that, and then I carelessly toss around some advice. If that sounds like a 3 minute read that you’re interested in, …
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
What are Super Mappers?
HOT’s Tasking Manager is about to undergo the most significant user experience upgrade since 2020. A brand new Super Mapper level will be introduced, one step higher than ‘Advanced’ mappers and much more rigorously assessed.
Entry to this new mapper level will require you to attain a series of new badges, which are automatically allocated to mappers based on the number of objects mapped. Once you have the required badges, a human assessment will then grant access to this most prestigious of mapper levels!
Wait, badges? Yes, badges are also a completely new feature with this upgrade. Users will automatically attain badges once they have made a certain number of edits, for example: mapping more than 1,000km of roads will grant you a highways badge. Once you’ve attained a badge you’ll see it against your public user profile page on Tasking Manager.
This is how the badges and Super Mapper level will appear on your user profile page in Tasking Manager (once...
The Open Geospatial Consortium names Ed Parsons as Board Chair, with Prof. Dr. Zaffar Sadiq Mohamed-Ghouse as Vice Chair to drive global geospatial innovation.
The post Ed Parsons Named Chair of OGC Board of Directors appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
From Reinder’s Tour de France: cartographically inspired decoration in the 18th C. library And that’s the end of Reinder’s Tour de France. He is an example to all of us in spotting maps in the wild wherever he goes.
Creating a truly beautiful and customized map can be a frustrating experience, requiring either expensive software or deep coding knowledge. Enter PaintMyMap, a new online custom map maker that lets anyone - from educators to professionals - design, style, and export custom maps in minutes, and all for free.What is PaintMyMap?PaintMyMap is an intuitive web-based editor designed to simplify
I am delighted to share news of our financial support of Mapeia Brasil, an initiative of UMBRAOSM (União dos Mapeadores Brasileiros do OpenStreetMap) to improve road data in OpenStreetMap (OSM) for strategic cities in Brazil.
We kick off the collaboration by interviewing Raphael de Assis, President of UMBRAOSM, as the next installment in our OpenStreetMap interview series.
1. Who are you and what do you do? What got you into OpenStreetMap?
My name is Raphael de Assis, and I am an undergraduate student in Computer Networks at Faculdade Estácio de Sá. I am a member of the Communication Working Group of the OpenStreetMap Foundation and currently serve as president of UMBRAOSM – the Union of Brazilian OpenStreetMap Mappers. I work as a mentor in collaborative mapping projects, notably Mapeia Belém (2023–2024), which aimed to improve data for the city of Belém in preparation for COP30, and I am the creator of Mapeia Crato 2025. I also participated in coordinating the State of the...
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• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
HeiGIT recently published an analysis together with the German Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG), comparing land cover data from OSM with the official CORINE Land Cover (CLC) dataset from BKG.
I want to use this opportunity to make an appeal to HeiGIT and similar projects analyzing OSM data: just because data is published by an authoritative (mostly government) source does not make it more correct than OSM.
I’ve often observed that OSM is compared to external datasets, and the analysis is framed around the question of whether OSM is “right.” This framing does OSM a disservice, because it suggests OSM is wrong and the other dataset is right.
In reality, all open datasets I’ve compared with OSM—whether bicycle parking, public parking spaces, buildings, cycling infrastructure, or cycling routes—have always contained errors in both datasets. The reality is: the publishing authority has no inherent influence on data quality.
Of course, this does not mean such...
Rocket Lab, a US-based launch services and space systems company, has announced an expansion of its partnership with Japanese SAR provider Synspective. The 10-satellite launch extension comes a year and […]
The post Rocket Lab, Synspective to Launch 10 More StriX Satellites appeared first on Geospatial World.
Planning your next Australian camping adventure? Whether you're searching for family-friendly holiday parks, budget-conscious free camping spots, or remote national park camping areas, our interactive camping finder tool helps you discover the ideal location for your outdoor getaway across Australia.
I have no problem with vibe coding. Yes, you can make bad code with it, and quite easily. The worst way to vibe code is to issue a monolithic prompt like “Build a word processor with the features of Microsoft Word.” But using techniques like chain-of-thought or plan-and-solve prompting in an iterative manner can yield … Continue reading Vibing Adjacencies →
The AGS Globe: Ancient Pacific Voyagers: Navigating the World’s Largest Ocean by American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society’s Weekly Newsletter for September 30, 2025 Read on Substack
When and where?
Geomob Edinburgh was held at 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm) on Tuesday, September 30th, 2025
at the office of Esri UK: Floor 2, Quartermile Three, 10 Nightingale Way, EH3 9EG Edinburgh Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
Summary Thread
Post by @[email protected] View on Mastodon
Agenda
Our format for the evening will be:
doors open at 18:00, set up and general mingling
at 18:30 we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
Matthew will show us the diorama / physical model of Fort William his team made!
We head to a nearby pub for discussion and #geobeers sponsored by OpenCage, Esri.
The speakers:
Noon van der Silk, Is this the worst school crossing in Edinburgh?
Peter Creasey, Raytracing large Scottish Lidar datasets
Matthew Akerman, Esri UK, Building a topographically correct diorama
We are always...
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
This article issues a compelling challenge to the community: to
collaboratively forge an open-source successor to the vital HIFLD portal.
We present a conceptual solution, not as a finished blueprint, but as a
compass to guide a collective journey forward. Join the critical
conversation on building a resilient, community-owned digital commons for
national infrastructure data, reclaiming our shared responsibility in the
wake of a crucial public resource going dark. This is a call to action for
mappers, developers, emergency managers, and all stakeholders to define the
future of accessible, authoritative geospatial data.
The growth of short-term rental properties is a serious problem in Portugal and is contributing to a housing crisis that makes it increasingly difficult for residents to find affordable homes. des AL ojamento is a Mapbox story-map that vividly illustrates the proliferation of short-term rentals in Lisbon and Porto.Users can choose to explore the growth of ALs (Alojamento Local —
Today's interconnected world faces mounting challenges such as food security monitoring, supply chain transparency, climate impact assessment, and sustainable development tracking.
The post Fields of the World: Building AI and ML Infrastructure for Global Field Boundaries appeared first on Taylor Geospatial Engine.
Articles, encouragements, and warnings about AI (Artificial Intelligence) in GIS are, as many of us in the geospatial industry knew they would, are appearing at an increasing pace. If you only have time this week to read one of these articles, I encourage you to make it the one by Eric Pimpler. Why? First, through […]
GIS Specialist and Clinical Assistant Professor - Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies, West Lafayette, IN USA posted on 2025-09-29
Unknown source
• By OpenStreetMap User's Diaries
•
시티 버스 매니저가 얼리 액새스로 나온게 2022년 11월 10일이다.
그때 처음에 구입하고서 한국 지도가 있다는것을 알게 되었고..
OSM을 그때부터 알게 됐는데.. 서울을 보는 순간 기겁했다.. 정류장 이름들이 언제적 기준인지.. 알지도 못했고.. 지도 편집이 꽤 되다보니까 버스정류장 위치도 맞지않아 게임을 플레이 하면서 꽤나 고생을 했다.
물론 소프트웨어적인 수정이기보다는 이런 정류장 이름을 갱신하고 위치도 갱신해서 좀 바꿔보자 라는 의미였으니까..
과거에 있었던 버스 정류장의 데이터를 존치할까 말까 라는 고민도 했었다.
다국어 한국어 정보는 냅다 지우고 새로 이름을 바꾸고 위치도 바꾸다보니..
지금은 마을버스 일부 정류장 / 공항버스 빼고는 다 된것이다.
서울시에 정보공개청구를 하면서 작년부터 공식적인 데이터를 가지고 작업을 하고 있는데 얼추 맞아가고 있지만 내가 혹시나 어떠한 사정이 생겨서 수정을 못하면 누가..할려나.. 걱정이 된다….
다시 포켓몬 고 열풍이 언젠가 오면 또 편집하는 사람들이 늘어날려나??
The interactive map The Human Safari sheds stark light on one of the most harrowing realities of the ongoing war in Ukraine. Kherson, a city divided by the Dnipro River, is home to roughly 71,000 civilians who live under the constant threat of shelling and drone attacks. Those remaining on the north bank face relentless bombardment from Russian forces positioned across the river to the south - a
As challenges such as accelerating urbanization, traffic congestion and data privacy continue to rise, so too does the need for more innovative transportation solutions. TomTom, a leader in location technology, […]
The post How maps and traffic data deliver actionable insights for smarter cities appeared first on Geospatial World.
Nat Case writes about the ethics of cartography in Psyche: You might think there’s not a lot to get moralistic about in the world of mapping. You would be wrong. For decades now, various critiques… More
Preliminary images are in from the newly launched NISAR Earth-observing radar satellite. A joint mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), NISAR will use L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radar to produce… More
Tokyo’s train stations are famous for their departure melodies - short musical jingles that play when a train leaves a station. Each station on the city’s extensive rail network has its own distinctive tune, creating a unique soundscape that signals the start of a journey. These melodies are designed to soothe passengers, catch attention, and add a touch of local character to the daily commute.
In this episode Chris and Krishna talk a little about their career paths, reply to some questions from listeners about Episode 1 concerning embeddings, and profess their undying love for Google Earth Engine.
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
Julie Tibshirani reflects on how the #R ecosystem uniquely manages dependencies through reverse dependency checks on #CRAN. R’s approach comes at a cost to developers, but also fosters a culture of empathy and responsibility among package maintainers, ultimately benefiting researchers and data scientists by minimizing dependency conflicts and easing migrations.
Geographical has an article about Oculus Mundi, the online home of the Sunderland Collection, a private collection of 13th- to 19th-century maps amassed over the years by its eponymous founder, Neil Sunderland, that sat in… More
T-Minus 6000 is a fascinating story-map by Aaron Koelker that chronicles more than six decades of humanity’s journey into orbit. Blending historical milestones with rich data visualizations, it traces the rise and fall of spacefaring powers, from the launch of Sputnik in 1957 to the surge of private companies in the 21st century.Embedded within this Esri story-map is an interactive dashboard
Last Wednesday the Apache Sedona project announced SedonaDB. There’s also a great post on the Whereobots blog that has a bit more context, or if you’re like me and you just want to see the code you can do that too.
I’ve been a sparse blog poster ever since I (1) got a job and (2) had kids, but if you’ve been vaguely following over the past few years you’ll notice that I mostly have written about what happens when spatial data gets a little too big to be comfortable for the standard R and Python tools to handle (mostly sf and geopandas). By “too big to be comfortable” I mean anything where the key part of your iteration takes more than 10 seconds, which is roughly the amount of time the average person is willing to wait before trying to do something else. The blog posts and the sofware I worked on over the past few years were cool but never solved anything: I basically found some great workarounds that people could implement if they were willing to write a pile of low-level R, C, or...
Decision-Making Information Resources & Solutions
• By proximityone
•
.. The United States 119th Congress is in session from Jan 3, 2025 to Jan 3, 2027. This post is focused on the demographic change of the 119th Congressional Districts from the 2020 (Census 2020) to 2023 (ACS 2024) by … Continue reading →
Last week Andrew Middleton (he of The Map Center) gave a presentation at the Dickinson Memorial Library in Northfield, Massachusetts. Titled “How Maps Lie,” it’s the kind of introductory talk that can never be done… More
By Alice Yee Let’s not get in a “dips”-ute over these chip rankings. Boulder Canyon, Utz and Zapp’s have all claimed the #1 spot across a few US states as the healthy snacking trends proceed to expand to western states and Florida. According to SeekingAlpha.com, Utz Brands has focused on investing into profitable plants and […]
A successful crop forecast is fundamentally dependent on the quality of the agriculture data used to build it, from geospatial data and crop imagery to agricultural statistics. High-quality data must be structured, timely, and comprehensive, integrating multiple sources like soil conditions, weather, and crop health metrics. Ultimately, leveraging this high-quality data allows farm managers and agronomists to make sharper, more profitable operational decisions and achieve a new level of control.
La entrada Why high-quality agricultural data is the key to crop forecasting se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
When and where?
Geomob Berlin took place at 18:00
on Thursday the 25th of September, 2025
in the office of Bettermile
at Oranienstr. 183 (Aufgang B), 10999 Berlin
(Google Maps, OpenStreetMap). The nearest station is Kottbusser Tor.
Summary Thread
Post by @[email protected] View on Mastodon
Agenda
Our format for the evening will be as it always has been:
doors open at 18:00, set up and general mingling
at 18:30 we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10-15 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
We vote - using Feature Upvote - for the best speaker. The winner will receive a SplashMap and unending glory (see the full list of all past winners).
We head to a nearby pub for discussion and #geobeers paid for by the
sponsors.
The speakers:
Michael Cruickshank, Anthropocene Analytics: Leveraging geospatial data and complex network...
Discover comprehensive interactive maps of US energy infrastructure including power plants, solar installations, wind turbines, electrical grid, natural gas pipelines, and hydroelectric dams.
Discover 12 powerful "near me" location finder tools to locate essential services, infrastructure, and amenities anywhere. Find everything from public toilets to power substations instantly with interactive maps.
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Uncover the future of Earth observation with Project Orbion, a
groundbreaking European initiative revolutionizing how we understand our
planet. This in-depth article explores how a powerful consortium is merging
cutting-edge satellite technology—combining all-weather Synthetic Aperture
Radar (SAR) with high-resolution optical imagery—to create unparalleled
"Synthetic Realities" and dynamic digital twins. Learn how Orbion is poised
to transform sectors from urban planning and disaster management to defense
and maritime safety, offering real-time, comprehensive insights into our
world. Discover the innovations driving the surging digital twin market and
the pivotal role of AI in bridging human interaction with vast planetary
data.
Reinder has been visiting France and has sent a few maps in the wild which I will post over the next few days. “The Jules Verne museum in Amiens, France. On the floor is a giant reproduction of the map that Verne used, while composing his most famous novel: ‘Around the world in 80 days’ […]
Climate Trace's new Pollution Plumes map uses animated markers to dramatically visualize the amount of air pollution people are exposed to worldwide. At the same time, the map reveals the locations of the largest emitters of PM2.5 pollutants into the atmosphere.By entering your location into the Pollution Plumes map, you can view the locations of all the super emitters near you. The tool also
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
The “#BaseMap” from Switzerland’s NMGA #swisstopo is an award-winning interactive cartographic product that integrates data from multiple partners and was recognized with the 2025 #ICA #MapAward. An article by Swisstopo explains how the map was refined through user-feedback and iterative design enhancing mobile #usability and readability.
The Best Practice builds upon OGC’s 30-plus years of modeling experience to ensure interoperability for data encoded using JSON.
The post OGC Publishes Best Practice for UML to JSON Encoding Rules appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
Reinder shared this – “This is an advertisement for a kind of party / festivity, for new students to make them feel comfortable, organised by the Humanities Faculty of the University of Amsterdam. To draw the attention, they created this kind of heart shaped image, that consists of [parts of] maps of Amsterdam
Chronotrains, pioneers of European train data visualization, are back with another superb tool. Their latest interactive map again reveals how far you can travel in Europe by train within set time periods - using an impressive animated isochrone layer.The original Old Chronotrains map features an amazing interactive isochrone layer that automatically moves around Europe to show you how
Janelle Daigle holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Geography and a Masters of Science degree in Geoinformatics. She began her integration of GIS and space weather during her graduate studies at Millersville University where she participated in Millersville’s SWEN (Space Weather and the Environment) program. Her Masters thesis focused on utilizing geospatial technology to assess the […]
The post I didn’t set out seeking to get into the geospatial field, it sort of found me. appeared first on GeoHipster.
The AGS Globe: Protecting One of the Wildest Places in the Americas: The Great Maya Jungle Biocultural Corridor by American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society’s Weekly Newsletter for September 23, 2025 Read on Substack
In conversation with Mr. Eric DesRoche, Director, Infrastructure Business Strategy, AEC Design, Autodesk, where he talks about the adoption of Digital Twin and its role in critical infrastructure, major opportunities […]
The post We’re going through a digital transformation in the AEC industry appeared first on Geospatial World.
We were having a geographical conversation over dinner with friends and Toby drew this map from the remains of pimentos padron and olive pips. Can you work out where the map is illustrating?
Rephotography is the fascinating art of capturing the same scene at different points in time. It involves taking a new photograph of the same location, object, or scene that was photographed in the past, with the goal of comparing the two images over time. The new photo is usually taken from the same vantage point, angle, and framing as the original, so changes in the landscape, architecture,
Ultra describes itself as “a web application made to simplify making maps with MapLibre GL JS using data from various file/query types.” In essence, it is a tool for turning geospatial data from OSM, CSVs, or GeoJSON into interactive maps using simple YAML “recipes” to define data sources, styling, and popups.Using Ultra, it is possible to visualize geospatial data from multiple sources,
Piloting technology is the smartest way to approach construction technology adoption. By using a construction reporting app to capture accurate construction data and streamline every construction field report, teams can test workflows, validate integrations, and build trust with crews before scaling. The result is adoption that feels controlled, measurable, and repeatable across projects while reducing risk, saving costs, and proving ROI in construction technology adoption.
La entrada Piloting construction data tech: Smarter adoption strategies se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
In our ongoing series on geospatial raster data formats, Julia
Signell and I have been exploring the
finer points of array data storage. Throughout our research, we’ve found that
chunking – breaking a large dataset down into smaller pieces for individual
storage and retrieval – is universally relevant regardless of data format.
Chunking, as we’ve seen, is an absolutely necessary strategy for making large
datasets usable, but in the cloud era, it has become something
tyrannical,
making data access efficiency strictly tied to chunk alignment.
Diverging from an access pattern aligning with the dataset’s chunking scheme and
compounding inefficiencies will cripple data access at scale. Pretend, for
example, we are an official in Chico, a city in the central valley of
California near the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, who wants to examine
changes in monthly average maximum temperatures in the city over the years 2010
to 2020 to understand possible increases in...
Geo for Good is Google’s annual conference focused on their geospatial and cloud offerings. The 2025 edition of the summit was hosted at both New York and Singapore. I was glad to take part in the Geo for Good 2025 Summit at Singapore that took place from Sept 8-11, 2025 at the Google Singapore office. […]
Google Maps Explained is an awesome walkthrough that breaks down how Google Maps figures out the best route when you ask for directions. The star of the show is Geo, a cute little green guide who walks you through the behind-the-scenes magic that makes Google Maps so smart.
At the heart of Google Directions is some seriously clever tech - powerful pathfinding algorithms. These are
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
•
In part 1, of this two-part series, we learned how to create texture layers in ArcGIS to give your maps a realistic lived-in appearance. Now we’re going to use those texture layers in a custom basemap, and we’ll also customize the content and appearance of existing vector tile layers along the way, to get exactly what …
VoteHub has released a precinct-level map of the 2024 U.S. presidential election results that includes vote density as well as margin—in other words, taking into account how many votes are in a district, not just… More
This plenary panel from AEC Forum 2025, moderated by Ananyaa Narain (Vice President – Consulting, Geospatial World), explored how the integration of geospatial, BIM, and digital twin technologies is transforming […]
The post Geospatial + BIM + Digital Twins: Enabling Connected Infrastructure Systems | AEC Forum 2025 appeared first on Geospatial World.
Falsified environmental data at over 400 Colorado oil and gas sites exposed how fragile field collection systems really are. This piece shows how weak environmental data collection processes enable fraud in oil and gas companies as well as other industries — and how verification-first workflows shut it down.
La entrada Fraud-proofing environmental data: from weak paper trails to digital proof se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
By Alice Yee More than 90 million across eastern and southern Africa are facing extreme hunger while 1.7 million children under five in Somalia are facing crisis-level food insecurity, as a result of widespread drought (Crowfoot, 2025). In another article, the Crowfoot states, droughts are expected to be the second-highest cause of mortality, with an […]
When and where?
Geomob Netherlands took place in Eindhoven on the evening of Thursday, September 18th, 2025 at the office of HERE: Kennedyplein 222, 5611 ZT Eindhoven - Maps:
HERE,
OpenStreetMap,
Google Maps
Agenda
Doors open at 16:30, set up and general mingling
Talks begin at 17:00 with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10-15 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
After the speeches, we vote for the best speaker. The winner will receive the best speaker prize and unending glory (see the full list of all past winners).
Discussion and #award and #geobeers paid for by the sponsors
The speakers:
Dean Carstens, Why does HERE support GeoMob, a warm welcome!
Joost Gevaert, Geotechnical Data = 3D Vector Data
Prof Hans van der Kwast, Digital Sovereignty and open source software
Daniel Escobar Valdivieso, Creating a Playground for Innovation through Digital Twin of the...
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Explore the dawn of Quantum-Geospatial Intelligence (Quantum GEOINT), a new
era catalyzed by IonQ's landmark acquisition of Capella Space. This report
dissects the fusion of quantum computing and Earth observation, detailing
how technologies like Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) are creating
unbreachable data security from orbit. Discover how quantum principles of
superposition, entanglement, and interference are set to revolutionize
geospatial analysis through advanced optimization for logistics and
disaster response, quantum machine learning (QML) for satellite imagery,
and high-fidelity climate simulations. We map the emerging ecosystem of key
players, from IonQ and D-Wave to GDIT, and provide a forward-looking
assessment of the challenges and strategic imperatives for navigating this
transformative frontier
Two books out this year, both from Batsford, explore London through maps. Vincent Westbrook’s Modern London Maps focuses on more than 60 maps from the 20th century. Like many books of this kind, Modern London… More
The AGS Globe: A River, a Dam, and a Big Decision: The Story of Ethiopia’s GERD by American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society’s Weekly Newsletter for September 16, 2025 Read on Substack
Uncertainty around funding, climate risk, and regulatory change is forcing utilities to rethink how they manage risk. This blog explores how utility risk management strategies grounded in structured data, adaptable workflows, and smart grid technology can help teams reduce delays, improve regulatory compliance, and keep grid modernization efforts on track. Learn how distributed intelligence enables better decisions, stronger coordination, and faster responses — even when conditions shift without warning. This approach unifies risk assessment and enterprise risk management (ERM) for utility companies, turning field observations into risk monitoring signals and actionable mitigation plans without slowing execution.
La entrada Navigating uncertainty through utility risk management se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
The following data source on the Tableau Public site invites data users to “Explore these sample data sets, data sources, and web data connectors to get started on your next visualization project. Download a data set and connect to it from Tableau to start creating. Data sets may be available in English only.” https://public.tableau.com/app/learn/sample-data I […]
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
“Spatial resolution” is one of the most often misunderstood terms in #EarthObservation and #geospatial. A Planet Stories article demystifies the underlying technical concepts such as Ground Sampling Distance, Ground Resolved Distance, and more, and shows how careful analysis is essential for accurately assessing image quality and separability of features.
This year, Sparkgeo turned 15. To celebrate, our annual meet up was held in Prince George, British Columbia, the place where it all began in 2010. As a remote team, face-to-face time matters, and it’s especially important that the things we do together are fun. This year was a chance to reflect on our roots […]
The post 15 Years of Sparkgeo: Maps, Adventure, and Endurance appeared first on Sparkgeo.
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
#Basemapkit is a new open-source library by Jonathan Lurie that provides customizable basemap styles for use with #Maplibre GL JS and #Protomaps #OSM #pmtiles. Its core style, avenue, is designed as a practical “one-size-fits-all” basemap, with optional relief shading for flexible cartographic use.
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Explore the future of 3D geospatial innovation as charted at the Cesium
Developer Conference in Philadelphia. This comprehensive recap covers
groundbreaking advancements in open standards like 3D Tiles and glTF, the
transformative impact of AI and Gaussian Splatting on reality capture, and
the widespread adoption of digital twins in industries ranging from AEC and
defense to climate resilience. Discover how Cesium's ecosystem—from
CesiumJS and the Cesium ion cloud platform to powerful runtime plugins for
Unreal Engine—is empowering over 400 innovators worldwide to build a more
connected and intelligent virtual world
At AEC Forum 2025, Tapan Mozumdar, Senior Vice President, The Global Network for Zero, unpacks the real challenges and opportunities of digitalization in construction. He highlights why interoperability in BIM […]
The post Interoperability, BIM & Digital Twins: The Road to Net Zero Infrastructure | AEC Forum 2025 appeared first on Geospatial World.
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
#DuckDB’s #spatial extension is about to support #Mapbox Vector Tiles (#MVT) with the newly merged ST_AsMVT and ST_AsMVTGeom functions. The two new functions are scheduled to be shipped next week in DuckDB version 1.4.
I've heard geospatial professionals describe GIS as Google Maps. But is this really true? We compare Google Maps vs other GIS software.
The post Is Google Maps Really a GIS Software? appeared first on GIS Geography.
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
•
The vector data format is unbelievably useful, but one artifact of the format is discrete boundaries. Vector has to draw a line somewhere, but the visual result can imply more certainty or discrete solidity than is really going on, in this case smoke concentration in the air. How can we benefit from the utility of …
Aligned with our theme of this blog of “be critical of the data,” consider the following recent fascinating story: An artist wheeled 99 smartphones around in a wagon to create fake traffic jams on Google Maps. An artist pulled 99 smartphones around Berlin in a little red wagon, in order to track how the phones […]
Wenn man sich mit Daten-Themen auseinandersetzt, ist „Datenräume“ schon einige Zeit ein geflügeltes Wort. Was die aktuellen Entwicklungen im Thema sind, habe ich am Swiss Data Spaces Forum in Rotkreuz mit anderen Interessierten diskutiert. Quelle Header-Bild: Swiss Data Alliance Datenräume Letzten Dienstag traf sich die Schweizer Daten-Community in Rotkreuz zum diesjährigen «Swiss Data Spaces Forum». …
Matt Harrison explains how his firm, Transport Designed, redesigned the network map for Northern, a train company that handles passenger services across northern England, from Liverpool to Newcastle. Northern’s historic network map, whilst representing the… More
The fifth biennial Ruderman Conference on Cartography, which will be held 8-10 October 2025 at Stanford’s David Rumsey Map Center, focuses on the cartography of “anything but the earth’s surface,” viz., astronomy, geology, oceanography. Schedule,… More
With the organizers of the Great North Run apologizing for printing t-shirts and medals with a map of Sunderland rather than Newcastle, the Guardian takes the opportunity to look at recent instances of map mistakes,… More
Sometimes things happen at a slow burn. One thing I’ve been trying to do in what spare time I have is resurrect the QGIS-US group. It’s starting. I’ve reached the point now where emails/virtual hangouts are about to start happening. So I made a google form and in general I’m just trying to figure out […]
The post QGIS-US User Group appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
At AEC Forum 2025, Satish MV, Executive Committee Member & Advisor to CMD, Larsen & Toubro, explores how digital technologies are redefining construction and infrastructure worldwide. From automated generative design […]
The post Digital Engineering at L&T: The Power of BIM, AI & Smart Construction | AEC Forum 2025 appeared first on Geospatial World.
Chris and Krishna discuss their experiences working with geospatial embeddings, search and remote sensing in general, and how they think through problems.
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
Discover the winners of the 2025 Prix Carto award of the Swiss Society for Cartography: Fabian Lang for his book “Schweizer Bergwelten”, Sachit Mahajan for the R package “greenR”, and Aubry Cholleton for the web app “isochrone.ch”.
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
For two decades, the Homeland Infrastructure Foundation-Level Data (HIFLD)
Open portal was the bedrock of U.S. disaster response and community
planning—a free, authoritative map of the nation's most critical assets.
Now, it's gone. This in-depth article explores the profound impact of the
recent shutdown of HIFLD Open, from its origins in the wake of 9/11 to its
vital role in responding to hurricanes and wildfires. Discover what made
this curated government data uniquely powerful for emergency managers and
researchers, and why its disappearance leaves a critical void that
commercial and crowdsourced maps cannot fill. We examine the consequences
of this decision for national resilience and the uncertain future of open
data in America.
Lots of coverage at Polish news network TVP World on suspected Russian GPS jamming in the Baltic region. A report submitted by the Baltic states to ICAO found that 123,000 flights were disrupted by GPS… More
Many small and mid-sized organizations find technology modernization daunting due to costs, complexity, and skill shortages. However, a strategic, step-by-step approach focusing on business goals and small, high-impact wins can ease the process. Embracing gradual changes and leveraging expert guidance helps unlock new efficiencies and competitive advantages.
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
Geospatial foundation models and the rise of Discrete Global Grid Systems (DGGS) are reshaping how we think about, and interact with, spatial data. In an episode of the #Geomob podcast, Luís Moreira de Sousa offers an overview of, and introduction to, #DGGS-s and their use-cases.
The USGS announced a new, more detailed national geologic map last week. The new USGS map, called The Cooperative National Geologic Map, was created using more than 100 preexisting geologic maps from various sources and is… More
Jennifer Mapes created a large corkboard map to illustrate the history of Kent, Ohio’s South End, a neighbourhood inhabited by railroad workers, immigrants, and African Americans moving north during the Great Migration. I purposefully created… More
Land subsidence threatens safety, compliance, and productivity across mining operations. Reliable GIS field data in mining ensures that every observation, from surface cracks to elevation shifts, flows into models that guide risk detection and response. Structured field measurements provide the foundation, while remote sensing, satellite imagery, and digital elevation models (DEMs) add the broader context needed to keep subsidence models accurate. Digital platforms tie these inputs together in real time, turning raw field observations into actionable strategies for safer, more resilient operations.
La entrada The role of GIS field data in mining for subsidence risk mitigation se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
On the Geographical magazine website, Tim Marshall explains how a 1907 topographical map fuels a current-day border conflict between Cambodia and Thailand. And without any imagery of the map at all (right). It’s about the… More
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
In the world of geospatial technology, two powerful currents shape our
digital maps: the polished, enterprise-ready ecosystems of proprietary
software like Esri's ArcGIS and the passionate, community-driven innovation
of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). This is not a story of opposition,
but of a complex, thriving balance. From corporate giants optimizing global
logistics to volunteer armies mapping disaster zones in real-time to save
lives, both models are fundamental to our modern world.
This article delves into the heart of this dynamic, exploring the
philosophies that divide and the open standards that unite these two
worlds. We deconstruct the powerful FOSS4G stack—featuring titans like QGIS
and PostGIS—and examine the sustainable business models that prove "free"
software is a viable, enterprise-grade choice.
More than just code, we uncover the soul of the movement: the Open Source
Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) and the global community that...
At AEC Forum 2025, Eric DesRoche, Director – Infrastructure Business Strategy, AEC Design, Autodesk, shares powerful insights into the global shifts shaping the AEC industry. From India’s rapid rise in […]
The post AI, BIM & India’s Infrastructure Boom: The Future of AEC | AEC Forum 2025 appeared first on Geospatial World.
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
An analysis drawing on ecosyste.ms data reveals that a large share of #opensource projects are maintained by just one person, for example nearly half of the 13,000 most-downloaded #NPM packages, with this pattern holding for all but the largest download counts. This insight puts a spotlight on the need to carefully think about project and #community health in the modern #software landscape.
Disasters are becoming more frequent, more intense, and more costly. From cyclones and floods to record-breaking heatwaves, the threat to global infrastructure is real—and growing. At AEC Forum 2025, Amit […]
The post Resilient Infrastructure in an Age of Disasters | AEC Forum 2025 appeared first on Geospatial World.
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
•
Here’s how you can take an image, turn it into a repeating texture, and apply it to the whole world. We’ll make a cement-sourced gritty texture and then a water-sourced wave texture. We’ll use the Vector Tile Style Editor to make these textures global layers for ArcGIS, ready to pour tactile charm and reality into …
Welcome to GeoAI Unpacked! I am Ali Ahmadalipour and in this blog, I share insights and deep dives in geospatial AI, focusing on business opportunities and industry challenges.
At AEC Forum 2025, Maj. Gen. Sameer Srivastava, AVSM, VSM, Additional Director General, Land Works and Environment, Indian Army, shares how the Army is reimagining infrastructure for the future. From […]
The post Indian Army’s Future-Ready Infrastructure: Resilient, Sustainable & Strategic | AEC Forum 2025 appeared first on Geospatial World.
Russia is suspected of engaging in GPS jamming that disrupted the navigation systems of a plane carrying European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on a flight to Plovdiv, Bulgaria: BBC News, The Guardian, Reuters.… More
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
Discover #Mapterhorn by Oliver Wipfli: a collection of global #terrain tiles in the lightweight #PMTiles format, built from open data sources such as Switzerland’s ultra-detailed #swissALTI3D model by #swisstopo. With open-source pipelines, ready-to-use code samples, and a live viewer, Mapterhorn makes it easy to add hillshaded relief and detailed 3D terrain to your webmaps.
At the AEC Forum 2025, Srikant Shastri, Chairperson of Geospatial Data Promotion & Development Committee, Govt of India, connects the dots between India’s National Geospatial Policy and the country’s new […]
The post Why Digital Twins Are Urgent for India’s Future | AEC Forum 2025 appeared first on Geospatial World.
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.6.0!
Best Served with PostgreSQL 18 Beta3
and recently released GEOS 3.14.0.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 18beta3, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.14+ is needed.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 2.2.0+ is needed.
3.6.0
source download md5
NEWS
HTML Online en ja sv fr zh_Hans
PDF docs: en ja, sv, zh_Hans, fr
Cheat Sheets:
postgis: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_raster: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_topology: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_sfcgal: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
address standardizer, postgis_tiger_geocoder: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
This release includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.3 and new features.
Topoprint now supports creating relief maps as RoundRects (rounded rectangles) alongside traditional disc shapes. Backend optimizations have accelerated 3D model processing significantly: a model that once took up to 10 minutes now completes in less than three minutes, complete with a progress bar update to keep users informed. Additionally, the Topodisc Designer web app has been revamped for mobile devices, making interaction more intuitive on the small screen.
This vegetation classification map layer for North America was recently released and is amazing! https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=66c13612635d4ee9bd4d6500cf462e7f Once there, examine the metadata, and you can open it immediately in ArcGIS Online or ArcGIS Pro (or another GIS package) and explore! You can also download the data as a layer package (see the bottom of the metadata page […]
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Cami Maselli
•
From the inky blackness at the edge of space, a slender silhouette patrols
the upper atmosphere, a silent sentinel against the gentle curvature of the
Earth. This is the domain of the Lockheed U-2, an aircraft known by the
mythical moniker "Dragon Lady". For nearly seven decades, from the iciest
depths of the Cold War to the complex surveillance demands of the 21st
century, this visionary aircraft has been a constant, often unseen, factor
in global geopolitics.
Born from a desperate need to peer behind the Iron Curtain, the U-2 was a
high-stakes gamble. Its story is one of groundbreaking technological leaps
forged in secrecy at Lockheed's legendary Skunk Works, but it is equally a
story of profound human endeavor. Discover the incredible skill and courage
required of its pilots, who flew solo for hours at over 70,000 feet,
navigating the razor-thin margin of the "coffin corner" while sealed inside
an early spacesuit.
Go behind the scenes of the U-2's most...
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
Update from the #SGS action #SWISSGEO: The first prototype of the Swiss geospatial platform aiming to unite various map, service, and data offerings from Swiss authorities is online for your testing and feedback.
Things to Learn Before Others in GIS (and Why they Matter)
Life in GIS
The field of Geospatial Development is vast and diving in without the right learning order can quickly turn...
The post Things to Learn Before Others in GIS (and Why they Matter) appeared first on Life in GIS published by Wanjohi Kibui
A conceptual model that enables interoperable representation of indoor navigation networks and spatial relationships
The post OGC publishes IndoorGML 2.0 Part 1: Conceptual Model Standard appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
High on a remote mountaintop, you spot a metallic glint set in the bedrock:
a weathered brass disk stamped with cryptic words and a perfect triangle.
What is this object? It's a geodetic survey marker, a physical anchor from
a two-century-long scientific odyssey to measure and map a continent.
This is the story of how a network of brass and sweat, laid down with
grueling labor and uncompromising precision, formed the invisible framework
of our modern world. Discover the audacious vision of Ferdinand Hassler,
the brutal life of a survey party, and the elegant science of triangulation
that transformed an unmapped frontier into a tangible nation.
But in an age of GPS, are these markers mere relics? Explore the paradox of
why these "silent sentinels" are more critical than ever, anchoring our
virtual, satellite-driven age to the solid ground beneath our feet.
Finding the right balance between Running-the-business (RTB) and Changing-the-business (CTB) can be challenging. This post explains that if RTB tasks are kept to a minimum, Scrum can be effective. However, if those tasks increase, adopting a hybrid or Kanban system can significantly help maintain smooth workflows and achieve operational excellence.
Reliable GIS starts with field mapping workflows designed for accuracy from the outset. These workflows keep field data and real-time data in sync with web maps and feature layers so spatial data stays trustworthy from collection to decision. By combining automatic GPS tagging, in-field validation, and mobile tools that streamline data capture, teams produce consistent data that drives dependable maps and actionable insights. With better data capture and digital workflows, projects stay accurate without wasted effort in the field.
La entrada When your field mapping workflows break your maps se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
Spatialty emphasizes a modern GIS approach centered on automation, accessibility, and education, transforming challenges into opportunities and enhancing organizational decision-making through geospatial intelligence.
Continuing my thoughts on deep horizontals, looking at AI and Geospatial economics. Another point of comparison is the use of consumer tools in enterprise workflows.
Overture is collaborating with the OpenTravel Alliance (OTA), which recently joined the Linux Foundation and Overture as a member, to solve a long-standing challenge in the travel industry: data interoperability. For years, the travel sector has struggled to standardize location data for hotels, attractions, and other points of interest across a complex ecosystem of providers.
The post Overture and the OpenTravel Alliance: Enabling the Future of Travel with Open Data appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
AI adoption is facing the same problems that Geospatial has been struggling with. Services-driven products are one solution, MIT, A16Z, and OpenAI all agree.
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.6.0rc2!
Best Served with PostgreSQL 18 Beta3
and recently released GEOS 3.14.0.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 18beta3, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.14+ is needed.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 2.2.0+ is needed.
3.6.0rc2
source download md5
NEWS
HTML Online en ja sv fr zh_Hans
PDF docs: en ja, sv, zh_Hans, fr
Cheat Sheets:
postgis: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_raster: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_topology: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_sfcgal: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
address standardizer, postgis_tiger_geocoder: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
This release is a beta of a major release, it includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.3 and new features.
Geospatial | Towards Data Science
• By Lee Vaughan
•
Use Python, GeoPandas, Tropycal, and Plotly Express to map the number of hurricane encounters per county over the past 50 years.
The post Where Hurricanes Hit Hardest: A County-Level Analysis with Python appeared first on Towards Data Science.
A data-driven approach to understanding, predicting, and preventing heat-related deaths in urban neighborhoods.
The post How Cities Can Beat Extreme Heat: Mapping the Invisible Killer appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
GIS Application Developer II - MassGIS / Executive Office of Technology Services and Security / Commonwealth of MA, 1 Ashburton Pl, Boston, MA 02108 posted on 2025-08-19
Geospatial AI can forecast infrastructure needs, model environmental changes, and support critical decisions, but its accuracy depends on reliable field data. Fulcrum equips teams to capture precise, validated information in the field and send it directly into GIS and AI workflows. By maintaining accuracy from collection through analysis, Fulcrum helps ensure geospatial insights reflect real-world conditions. This streamlined connection ensures that your geospatial artificial intelligence models receive the most accurate, real-time spatial inputs possible.
La entrada How Fulcrum amplifies geospatial AI with advanced field data analysis se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
The Washington County, Wisconsin USA GIS team (https://gisdata.washcowisco.gov/) has, using Esri Business Analyst, created an amazing set of resources so that their staff and communities can visualize situations and patterns and make effective decisions. I also believe this set of resources can be instructive for others to look at and derive inspiration from. Pat Walker, […]
Im ersten und zweiten Teil dieser Mini-Blogserie habe ich gezeigt, woher GNSS-Daten (umgangssprachlich GPS-Daten) stammen und wie sich diese in spezialisierten Tracking-Studien gezielt erfassen lassen. Im heutigen und letzten Teil widmen wir uns nun einer Anwendung, die den Nutzen solcher Daten greifbar macht. Ich zeige, wie sich der Einfluss von Hitze auf fussläufige Erreichbarkeiten quantifizieren …
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.6.0rc1!
Best Served with PostgreSQL 18 Beta3
and soon to be released GEOS 3.14.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 18beta3, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.14+ is needed.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 2.2.0+ is needed.
3.6.0rc1
source download md5
NEWS
HTML Online en ja sv fr zh_Hans
PDF docs: en ja, sv, zh_Hans, fr
Cheat Sheets:
postgis: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_raster: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_topology: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_sfcgal: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
address standardizer, postgis_tiger_geocoder: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
This release is a beta of a major release, it includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.3 and new features.
Spreadsheets fall short when it comes to capturing reliable horizontal construction daily logs. Fulcrum mobile workflows replace spreadsheets with structured, real-time documentation that improves consistency, strengthens claims, and reduces risk. By using a mobile app for construction workflows, field teams streamline business processes and replace slow, error-prone manual entry with workflow automation that works anywhere they do.
La entrada Fulcrum mobile workflows vs spreadsheets for horizontal construction se publicó primero en Fulcrum.
Welcome to GeoAI Unpacked! I am Ali Ahmadalipour and in this blog, I share insights and deep dives in geospatial AI, focusing on business opportunities and industry challenges.
Tell Us About Yourself Hi, I’m Aaron Koelker. I was introduced to GIS while pursuing an Environmental Science degree and quickly became hooked on its unique blend of problem solving, storytelling, and visual design. I then spent eight years with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection providing enterprise GIS support and working on a wide variety of mappy […]
The post Maps and Mappers of the 2025 Calendar – Aaron Koelker – July appeared first on GeoHipster.
Paul Shapley's Open Source Geospatial Blog
• By [email protected] (Paul J. Shapley)
•
With reference to the source 'Compiling SAGA on Linux'.https://sourceforge.net/p/saga-gis/wiki/Compiling%20SAGA%20on%20Linux/You can also simply run these modules in QGIS but you would miss out on some excellent advantages such as having multiple map windows synchronized and a simple interface.Current 'Debian/Ubuntu' libraries only go up to version 9.2.0. This will install the latest version (currently 9.10.0).1. ~$ sudo apt install libwxgtk3.2-dev libgdal-dev libproj-dev libpq-dev libpdal-dev libopencv-dev libhpdf-dev unixodbc-dev(You may see this error:) 'E: Unable to locate package libpdal-dev' this does not prevent continuation of compilation process.2. ~$ sudo apt-get install g++ cmake cmake-qt-gui make libtool git3. ~$ sudo apt install libwxgtk3.2-dev4. ~$ sudo apt install libcurl4-openssl-dev5. ~$ sudo apt install g++ make cmake git swig python3 python3-dev python-dev-is-python36. ~$ sudo mkdir /home/devel7. ~$ cd /home/devel8. ~$ sudo git clone...
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By NLT Staff
•
A Journey of Growth: NLT’s Evolving Role at TUgis
New Light Technologies (NLT) is proud to have served as the Platinum Sponsor of the 2025 Maryland GIS Conference (TUgis 2025). Our journey with TUgis has been one of significant growth and deepening commitment. Over the years, we have evolved from presenters and lower-tier sponsors to becoming a leading sponsor in 2025. This progression underscores our dedication to the geospatial community and our continuous efforts to advance geospatial solutions.
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
•
I heard regular people can just buy, and then remotely pilot, small flying robots with exquisite cameras. I figure these things have to have some utility in the mapping realm, so I got the cheapest one I could find that might get me going on making some basic maps. Why? Why not? Goals We’ll figure …
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
NIQ’s Oliver Pape explains how NIQ’s strategic partnership with Mapidea
transforms market and consumer data into powerful, actionable insights. By
uniting NIQ’s datasets with Mapidea’s geospatial intelligence platform,
clients gain faster, clearer decision-making capabilities—unlocking new
opportunities for growth and competitive advantage.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Pedro Moura
•
Every couple of years, sales organizations brace for the big territory
reorganization: costly consultants, months of meetings, anxious reps, and a
shiny “new map” that’s already ageing when it launches.
At Mapidea, we’ve seen this across industries—and we know there’s a better
way. Continuous Sales Territory Optimization uses a geospatial intelligence
system to track territory performance in real time, assess the impact of
changes, and make small, frequent adjustments collaboratively with the
people who know the field best.
It’s faster, less expensive, and far more effective. Why wait years for the
next reorg when you can optimize today?
It’s weird to say “Time for the 7 month check-in” but there I stood at the doctors office waiting for my 7 month evaluation. Long story short – I’ve got some form of Heart Disease. I say some form because people have said a half dozen things around me and they all resolve around that […]
The post Time for the 7 Month Check-in appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
OGC, Khronos, and the geospatial community are integrating 3D Gaussian Splats into glTF—unlocking compact, photorealistic, interoperable 3D.
The post OGC, Khronos, and Geospatial Leaders Add 3D Gaussian Splats to the glTF Asset Standard appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
CNG is the place where geospatial data users create the future together. To make the share of knowledge between those data users even smoother, we’ve refined our process for getting blog posts onto cloudnativegeo.org. Whether you want to share a deep-dive technical tutorial, highlight lessons learned from a recent project, or explore ways to strengthen our community, this updated approach makes it simple to propose, write, and publish.
The following information can also be found at CONTRIBUTING.md.
What we’re looking for
Evergreen topics - We are always open to content about new ways of using geospatial data, case studies that show the benefits of using cloud-native approaches, technical tutorials, open-source tools, best practices in geospatial data management, and tools that help data users share, access, and work with geospatial data more effectively.
Current priorities - This year, we are also interested in blog posts that address the following common community...
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
The end of the spatial join? Vikram Gundeti, CTO of #Foursquare, is reimagining #geospatial for #datascientists by eliminating traditional GIS hurdles and embracing #ML-friendly, agent-ready solutions. Will geodata be seamlessly accessible and “mapless” by default?
I hardly ever do Mergin Maps blog posts. I need to do more. So I’ve been mapping random things in Chattanooga for OSM – which puts me out with my Bad Elf GPS and Mergin Maps. I don’t do nearly enough field work these days. It sort of scratches an itch. It’s fun. I’m probably […]
The post Sketching in Mergin Maps appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
Adventures In Mapping | John Nelson Maps
• By John
•
In my mental model of a walkability map it’s not enough to know how far away something is, but also how long it takes me to get there. My perceptions of the same distances, but with different walk times, are much different. There are realities that slow me down like intersections, buildings, water features, or …
Spatialists – geospatial news
• By Ralph Straumann
•
The Swiss Territorial Data Lab (#STDL) is a collaborative initiative within Switzerland’s geoinformation strategy, running from 2020 to 2025, dedicated to advancing data-driven solutions for public administration using #geodata and #datascience. Their 2025 report highlights organizational and methodological insights gained over the past years, with further technical resources available at tech.stdl.ch.
Each month, we’re highlighting the community leaders who volunteer their expertise to guide CNG’s direction. Our Editorial Board Spotlight series features a different board member sharing their perspectives on geospatial trends and tools, what’s capturing their attention through reading or their current work, and the challenges they believe our community should focus on.
1. What geospatial trend or tool excites you right now?
I’m particularly excited about the growing convergence of geospatial data and AI, especially through open-source tools that lower the barrier to entry. Tools like the Segment Anything Model (SAM), combined with geospatial wrappers such as segment-geospatial and GeoAI, are enabling rapid experimentation in image segmentation and classification workflows. These tools empower researchers and practitioners to apply cutting-edge vision models to Earth observation data with minimal friction.
In addition, the emergence of geospatial foundation...
The focus of our book and this blog is geospatial data–how to find it, how to assess its quality, and understanding and teaching about societal issues such as copyright, location privacy, and ethics. Since the dawn of GIS in the 1960s, data has been central to successful vibrant use of GIS–seeing what was, what is, […]
In a previous post we talked about the potential of Generative AI for urban modeling, keeping with this theme at the 11th International Conference on Computational Social Science (IC2S2), Na Jiang, Boyu Wang and myself had a poster entitled Agent-based Models with Large Language Models: Two Modeling Examples. In this poster and extended abstract we detail how LLMs can help with many aspects of agent-based modeling development. If this sounds of interest, below you can see the abstract, the poster and the full referece and link to the extended abstract .Abstract:Large language models (LLMs) play an important role in AI-powered code assistants such as code completion, debugging, and documentation. Such models can be further fine-tuned on smaller amount of data for specific tasks, often with the improvement of performance compared to generic LLMs. However, such fine-tuning techniques are seldomly used in generating sophisticated agent-based models (ABMs), because they are often...
It’s that time of year! We’re excited to issue the call for maps for contributions for the 2026 GeoHipster calendar. Entries are subject to these rules and guidelines for entry are listed below. So, send us your maps! (The deadline is 2025-10-23.) Guidelines: I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to […]
The post 2026 Calendar Submissions appeared first on GeoHipster.
Armed conflict over the past few weeks in southern Syria between the Druze and Bedouin militias receiving help from the Syrian military have taken over a thousand lives. As reported in the Kurdish press, Tawfiq al-Hijri, Deputy Head of the Foreign Relations Office of the Spiritual Presidency of the Druze Community in Syria, argues that […]
The post Is Apple Maps Erasing Druze Identity by Calling the “Jabal al-Druze” the “Jabal al-Arab”? appeared first on GeoCurrents.
Joseph Elfelt is a software developer in the geo world as a result of a life-long interest in maps and self-teaching. His interest in maps began as a child looking at his father’s collection of USGS topographic maps for a large part of Minnesota. After college, Joseph moved to Seattle and went to work for […]
The post I curate a list of 5,000+ ArcGIS server addresses at all levels of USA government. appeared first on GeoHipster.
It’s been a summer full of side projects here. Which is a very good sign — I used to do many, many side projects, but for the last couple of years, poor health has left me with reduced energy, and my output dropped off significantly. It’s nice to feel inspired again, in so many directions … Continue reading A Sketch of Isle Royale →
The gray wolf is usually seen as a wilderness species, an animal that needs vast expanses of habitat far from human concentrations, as well as sizable populations of large herbivores to prey upon. Yet many distribution maps, including one featured in the Wikipedia article on the species, shows gray wolves currently inhabiting some densely populated […]
The post Wolves in the Gaza Strip? The Geography of the Coyote-Like Arabian Wolf appeared first on GeoCurrents.
Mike Long, Co-Founder of Spatialty, won the 2025 Esri SAG Award for his innovative contributions at Austin's CapMetro transit agency. His leadership in developing a geospatial platform integrated various operational systems, enabling automated data flows and enhancing real-time data access. This work improves transit operations and long-term planning efficiency.
News of the weird…or possibly normal. . I hit two “almost a problem” problems with the longest running install of this system: Things: Weird things: Not so weird things: Health Things: I leave you with a Cat pic.
The post Updates on the TN911 side of things appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
Today we are excited to announce the release of stac-fastapi-indexed! stac-fastapi-indexed is an implementation of the STAC API specification. Like several similar projects, it draws on the indispensable stac-fastapi package. This project implements a new approach to data management to reduce hosting overheads. STAC and STAC API The STAC and STAC API specifications have proven […]
The post Introducing stac-fastapi-indexed: Low Overhead STAC Metadata Support appeared first on Sparkgeo.
Tell Us About YourselfI’m Qianyi Cao, with a background in Geographic Information Science and currently part of the Erasmus Mundus MSc in Cartography program across TU Munich, TU Vienna, and TU Dresden. My academic path blends map design, geospatial science, and cross-cultural storytelling. I’m passionate about using cartography as a bridge — one that connects […]
The post Maps and Mappers of the 2025 Calendar – June – Cao Qianyi appeared first on GeoHipster.
Running together at CNG Conference 2025
On the last day of CNG Conference, we held a facilitated discussion to identify what our community needs to thrive.
As Chris Holmes noted in his opening keynote, the geospatial field has reached a pivotal moment. We have more data, better tools, and greater computational power than ever before. The question now is how we use these resources to address real-world challenges. The six themes below emerged from our discussions and will shape our collective work in the coming year.
These challenges are deeply interconnected. Progress in one area often enables progress in others. And with AI rapidly changing the landscape, we need to stay adaptable and collaborative. We invite governments, funders, educators, enterprises, and entrepreneurs to join our community in this ongoing effort.
Geospatial education isn’t helping people get good jobs
The problem
Workforce and talent development...
One of the most surprising aspects of the recovery of the gray wolf in the United States is the return of the species to California. Wolves had been eliminated from the state in the 1920s and were not expected to return any soon time, if at all. But in 2011, a single wolf made the […]
The post Mapping the Return of the Gray Wolf to California appeared first on GeoCurrents.
The new Standard integrates dynamic data from systems such as sensors, drones, and satellites into modern geospatial applications using RESTful APIs.
The post OGC Announces Publication of OGC API – Connected Systems and Updates to Supporting Standards appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
We are delighted to share that the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has been honored with the ‘Best Geospatial Enabler Award’ at the National Geospatial Awards...
The post OGC Wins ‘Best Geospatial Enabler Award’ at FOSSEE National Geospatial Awards 2025 appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
I have long been an admirer of the Colorado Geospatial Portal. My history of being a GIS professional in that state extends back to the days before our state even had a portal, so I am very thankful for it and for the efforts of our state GIS Manager Jackie Phipps Montes in coordinating, assembling, […]
Im ersten Teil dieser Mini-Blogserie habe ich gezeigt, woher GNSS-Daten (umgangssprachlich GPS-Daten) stammen und wie sich diese in spezialisierten Tracking-Studien gezielt erfassen lassen. Heute nehmen wir solch eine Studie genauer unter die Lupe und zeigen, wie sich mit moderner Tracking-Technologie und passenden Befragungen Verhaltensexperimente durchführen lassen, die komplexe Fragen der Verkehrs- und Stadtplanung beantworten. Die …
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Miguel Marques
•
Why using geography continuously across your business is essential.
Democratizing geospatial intelligence empowers every department to make
smarter, faster decisions and unlocks lasting competitive advantage.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Pedro Moura
•
A personal letter to BI and data leaders on why geography must become a
core dimension in analytics. It's not just a map—it’s the missing link in
your data stack.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Combine NielsenIQ’s market data with Mapidea’s geospatial intelligence to
empower retail & FMCG teams with continuous, actionable insights driving
smarter decisions & growth.
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.6.0beta1!
Best Served with PostgreSQL 18 Beta2
and soon to be released GEOS 3.14.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 18beta2, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.14+ is needed.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 2.2.0+ is needed.
3.6.0beta1
source download md5
NEWS
HTML Online en ja sv fr zh_Hans
PDF docs: en ja, sv, zh_Hans, fr
Cheat Sheets:
postgis: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_raster: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_topology: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
postgis_sfcgal: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
address standardizer, postgis_tiger_geocoder: en ja sv fr zh_Hans
This release is a beta of a major release, it includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.3 and new features.
In the past we have written about how one can study urban shrinkage with a specific emphasis on Detroit from both an agent-based modeling perspective and also from analyzing newspapers through natural language processing Keeping with the theme of Detroit and urban shrinkage we (Xiaoliang Meng, Yichun Xie, Junyi Wu, Heather Khan Welsh, Shi Zeng and myself) have a new paper entitled "Examining spatial expansion and stemming strategies of urban shrinkage: evidence from Detroit, USA" which was recently published in npj Urban Sustainability. In this paper we introduce a method for studying urban shrinkage by constructing multi-scale spatial structures based on urban network connectivity which we call gravity-networked spatial interaction zones-based spatial panel modeling or GSIZs-Spanel for short. We demonstrate this method by exploring the spatial processes and scopes of past urban shrinkage in Detroit between 2000 and 2020. If this sounds of interest, below you can read the abstract...
Landsat imagery and NDVI are used to monitor vegetation change, from invasive grass spread in rangelands to early stress detection in coastal marshes.
The post Using Landsat and NDVI to Map Vegetation Change appeared first on Geography Realm.
Discover how our natural language interface prototype has the potential to make satellite imagery accessible to everyone. By translating plain English queries into structured STAC queries, we're simplifying access to valuable Earth observation data. Learn how our system uses NLP, serverless architecture, and geospatial standards to search for satellite images
The post Making Satellite Data Searchable with Natural Language appeared first on Sparkgeo.
Many of you attended our webinar “3D: a new dimension!” Vincent Picavet was on the mic : 3D challenges in 2025: digital twins, publishing data on the web, sharing data,...
Do you deal with sensitive geospatial data ? Are you concerned by cybersecurity threats ? Oslandia and partners ( e.g. OPENGIS.ch) launched the « Security Project for QGIS » :...
As discussed in the previous post, the gray wolf has made a remarkable but controversial recovery in Europe. The same is true in the United States. In the mid twentieth century, wolves were found only in Alaska, far northeastern Minnesota, and the western half of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. A few may have lived in northern […]
The post The Controversial Expansion of Gray Wolves in the United States appeared first on GeoCurrents.
Photo: ESA/J. Mai (source)
Recently the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Living Planet Symposium (LPS) was held in Vienna, Austria.
This was likely the world’s largest gathering of the Earth Observation community. The LPS website claims there there were 6500+ registered participants and 4200+ presentations & posters in 250+ sessions, but those are conservative numbers… I counted 4428 presentations & posters in 453 sessions.
Also it says there were 2300 “Children at the School Activities”, and I can confirm there were lots of kids at the conference (and on the metro). Awesome to see!
I attended LPS on behalf of Radiant Earth and the Cloud-Native Geospatial (CNG) Forum.
I was there to learn how CNG specs and tools are being adopted by the Earth observation community and to help build awareness. Given the size of the conference (it had 30 separate content tracks!), my first challenge was to determine what content would be presented where and...
Ohne harte Fakten bleibt jeder Veloweg ein Bauchentscheid und jede Taktverdichtung ein Ratespiel. GNSS-Tracking, besser bekannt als GPS-Tracking, schliesst diese Wissenslücke, indem es Bewegungsmuster in hoher räumlich-zeitlicher Auflösung liefert. Dieser Beitrag zeigt, welche Datenquellen es gibt, welche Technik dahintersteckt und wie eine Tracking-Studie geplant und durchgeführt werden kann. Daten sind das Grundgerüst jeder Verkehrs- und …
As I was preparing to resume posting on GeoCurrents after a short hiatus, I decided to examine recent posts on the fascinating but unfortunately named Reddit site called “MapPorn.” As always, I was struck by many contributions, but what really caught my eye was a five-map sequence on the decline and resurgence of the grey […]
The post Mapping the Return of Wolves in Europe appeared first on GeoCurrents.
A global dataset of 700 mud volcanoes was recently published by geologists from Sapienza University.
The post GIS Data: Shallow Sea Mud Volcanoes appeared first on Geography Realm.
Iris is about unlocking the value of what you already have. Built on open source and proprietary tools, Iris enforces open standards and promotes integration.
FAO’s global dataset maps access to towns and cities of all sizes within reasonable travel times, identifying patterns of urban interconnectedness.
The post Explore the City-Regions Dataset from FAO appeared first on Geography Realm.
London made it a priority to create a environmentally friendly city where the pedestrian comes first. Our role was to help build the tools to make that possible.
Researchers mapped 540 million years of sea level change, showing major short-term shifts during ice ages driven by Earth's orbital cycles.
The post Mapping Short-term Sea Level Changes Over 540 Million Years appeared first on Geography Realm.
Saudi Arabia’s leading commercial satellite services company expands capabilities through strategic partnerships, executive appointments, and a rapidly growing client base, driving the Kingdom’s space leadership in line with Vision 2030. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Neo Space Group (NSG), a PIF company and Saudi Arabia’s leading commercial satellite services provider, celebrates its first-year anniversary, marking a […]
Neo Space Group (NSG) has officially finalized its acquisition of UP42, integrating the Earth Observation platform into the NSG organization. The acquisition strengthens NSG’s global geospatial capabilities while accelerating UP42’s growth and innovation for customers and partners worldwide. Riyadh, Saudi Arabia & Berlin, Germany – July 10, 2025 – Neo Space Group (NSG), a […]
The Partnership will Bring TrueView LiDAR and software to professionals across Canada HUNTSVILLE, AL— GeoCue, a leading provider of advanced LiDAR hardware and geospatial processing software, is pleased to announce a strategic distribution partnership with Measur, one of Canada’s premier unmanned systems distributors. This new alliance significantly expands GeoCue’s footprint across Canada, offering surveyors, engineers, […]
von Laurin Bertozzi (sieber&partners), Daniela Herzig (EBP Schweiz), Patrick Saxer (EBP Schweiz) Workshop-Inhalte Im Workshop 3 BIM in der Bauausführung – Informationsbedürfnisse und veränderte Möglichkeiten haben wir uns folgendem Inhalt gewidmet:Die Bauausführung ist ein komplexes Zusammenspiel zwischen Bauherr:innen, Unternehmer:innen und Planer:innen – drei zentralen Akteur:innen mit jeweils unterschiedlichen Informationsbedürfnissen und -verantwortlichkeiten. Im Zuge der fortschreitenden …
von Claus Maier (EBP) & Philipp Dohmen (QAECY) 30 Teilnehmende, eine Frage: Wie verwandeln wir vorhandene Daten in nutzbares Wissen für bessere Entscheidungen? Die Anwesenden schilderten ihr gemeinsames Problem: Unmengen von Daten liegen verstreut in Modellen und Ablagen vor. Doch wie können sie sinnvoll erschlossen und genutzt werden? Aus diesem Grund stiess das Thema des …
I may have done something terrible or something good. To get some of you up to speed: So I pulled every bike lane in Chattanooga as were defined in OpenStreetMap. I learned a few things – mainly was OSM was greatly out of date and greatly wrong in spots. That’s too be expected and is […]
The post I want to ride my bicycle: Third Act appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
Groundwater stored over many years is a significant contributor to streamflow in Western United States mountains according to a published study.
The post Water Can Take Years to Seep out of Mountains appeared first on Geography Realm.
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By Mario Field
•
DMVGIS Website launch: An Excellent Resource to drive and facilitate collaboration, coordination, and awareness of GIS in the DMV region.
New Light Technologies (NLT) is thrilled to launch the DMVGIS website, your new online platform for the geospatial community in the DC, Maryland, and Virginia region. This website is designed to be a central hub for DMVGIS, offering a handy resource for GIS information, data, and events. It will also help facilitate professional networking, participant collaboration, and information sharing. Whether you're looking for the latest GIS news or details on upcoming events, this website will serve as the nexus of activity for our regional geospatial community.
Bubbles created by the movement of waves can influence how much carbon dioxide is absorbed by the ocean.
The post Study Models How the Behavior of Waves Affects Blue Carbon Storage appeared first on Geography Realm.
Since launching in 2023, NASA’s Tropospheric Emissions: Monitoring of Pollution mission, or TEMPO, has been measuring the quality of the air we breathe from 22,000 miles above the ground.
Two meteorological missions, Meteosat Third Generation Sounder-1 (MTG-S1) and the Copernicus Sentinel-4 mission, launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on July 1, 2025.
VANCOUVER, BC, July 8, 2025 – Flowfinity Inc., a leading business process management platform, today announced Flowfinity Embedded Client, a new capability that allows enterprises to insert Flowfinity’s proven data capture and workflow automation technology directly inside their native mobile applications. By embedding Flowfinity directly in your custom apps you eliminate the need for users to switch […]
Renewal contract demonstrates valuable tip-and-cue utility of combined Gen-3 very high-resolution imagery and Gen-2 low-latency, high-cadence monitoring capabilities HERNDON, Va. (July 8, 2025) — BlackSky Technology Inc. (NYSE: BKSY) signed a Gen-3 early access agreement with a current international Gen-2 customer in support of Ukraine. The renewal contract adds Gen-3 very high-resolution imagery to the customer’s […]
VertiGIS Neo drives efficiency and flexibility across multiple sectors with its industry focused solutions Denver, US. July 8th, 2025 – VertiGIS, a leading global provider of spatial asset management solutions, today unveiled a new, secure cloud-based vision for the future, VertiGIS Neo, that revolutionizes sector-focused workflows using AI to accelerate business operations, solve problems faster, […]
GIS Is Disappearing and Nobody’s Talking About It
Life in GIS
“GIS is disappearing”. Not because it’s dying or becoming irrelevant, but because it’s becoming invisible, embedded and essential....
The post GIS Is Disappearing and Nobody’s Talking About It appeared first on Life in GIS published by Wanjohi Kibui
When Data is Easy, Geospatial Will Change Everything Geospatial technologies are transforming how we model the world, plan infrastructure, monitor change, and make decisions. But for that transformation to be realized at scale, one foundational element must be addressed: access to data. At Sparkgeo, we believe that improving access to geospatial data is essential for […]
The post The Industry Data Access Survey appeared first on Sparkgeo.
The public-private pilot aims to improve the detection and identification of harmful algae blooms and support water safety across Finland using cutting-edge Finnish hyperspectral satellite data and AI-powered analytics. Helsinki, Finland: Finnish hyperspectral satellite and AI-powered insights company Kuva Space is launching a pilot with the Finnish Environment Institute (Syke) to test the use of hyperspectral satellite […]
Data justice is an emerging set of discussions and research, involving the collection, analysis, sharing, and use of data entirely in service of and with accountability to participants and their communities. As our book and this blog focuses on spatial data and associated societal issues, this concept is an important one for the readers of […]
So I was flooded on linkedin the other day with “Congrats on your work anniversary” and it always makes me feel weird. I was also at a potential client’s location a few weeks ago and the comment was made “I heard you died”. All the congrats were for 19 years of working for myself – […]
The post 15 years plus a Few Days……. appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
This is a guest post by Guilhem Allaman. Mid-June, the French-speaking QGIS Users Meeting was held in Avignon, Southern France – a… Read more Presentation and feedback from the QGIS-fr Users Meeting in Avignon
In the current issue of Environment and Planning B, we (Boyu Wang, Na Jiang and myself) have a new editorial entitled "Generative AI and Urban Modeling". The premise of this editorial is that Generative AI (GenAI) is impacting all aspects of our daily lives and as such has we were wondering how will it impact urban modeling? For example, in the editorial we discuss how GenAI could speed up the overall urban modeling process. To demonstrate this we show how ChatGPT (and its built-in coding interface Canvas) can take published papers and build agent-based models from them (one being of an abstract space and another being spatially explicit). However, while model building is time consuming task, another challenge modelers face is how to incorporate decision making within them. To this end we also discuss how large language models (LLMs) have the potential to help with agent-decision making in the form of generating agent-personas or scheduling agent activities. We conclude the...
Stephanie Long, co-founder of Spatialty, has been recognized as Faculty Leader of the Year for 2025 at Austin Community College. This honor acknowledges her outstanding leadership in geospatial education, curriculum development, and mentorship. At Spatialty, she enhances consulting by providing tailored training and simplifying complex technology for clients.
After a long development cycle, Giro3D 0.43 is available. The Globe entity We were talking about it in a previous article, the main feature of this release is of course...
Frank Tierolff, chairman of the board of Kadaster, passed away on Wednesday, 2 July, due to a heart attack. He was only 57 years old. The news has been met with shock at Kadaster, and condolences are pouring in from both the Netherlands and abroad. As chairman of the board at Kadaster, the Netherlands’ Cadastre, […]
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Terradepth, led by CTO Andrew Lunstead, focuses on helping people make
better decisions about the ocean, an environment less understood than the
surface of Mars due to data collection challenges. Their approach involves
both developing high-endurance autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) for
massive data gathering and the sensor-agnostic Absolute Ocean data platform
. This platform, built on CesiumJS, provides an intuitive, world-view
interface for managing and visualizing current and historical undersea
surveys. Terradepth supports critical sectors like offshore energy,
resource management, and defense. While accommodating data from any source,
Terradepth has consolidated its cloud operations within AWS, including
GovCloud for enhanced security. A significant innovation is leveraging
edge computing with Absolute Ocean to drastically reduce the "scan to
decision" time from months to mere hours, greatly enhancing the speed of
critical operations
Before it was HIFLD, it was briefly FGDWG. Before that, it was a nameless thing in its infancy. In those early days, it bounced around between conference rooms in Norfolk, Dahlgren, and Chantilly. I was fortunate enough to be in the rooms where it was born and took shape. I was a contractor supporting an … Continue reading HIFLD Open Is Dead*, Long Live HIFLD →
It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to play with a new version of QGIS. The stars have aligned so I’m digging through the changelog and testing some things out. Not that I’ve been super attentive for a while – BUT I have noticed the DB Manager has been a bit stagnant. Which […]
The post Playing with QGIS 3.44 Solothurn: SQL appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
NatureServe has developed an updated 30-meter hexagon map of regional ecosystems in the contiguous United States and adjacent areas.
The post High Resolution Ecosystem Map of the Contiguous United States and Adjacent Areas appeared first on Geography Realm.
The Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) has officially approved OGC API – Records – Part 1: Core as a new standard. This modern, API-based specification enables seamless discovery, access, and search of geospatial metadata across federated systems. Supporting various catalog deployments, it bridges the gap between legacy CSW implementations and new open web technologies—paving the way for broader geospatial interoperability and innovation.
The post OGC Membership approves OGC API – Records – Part 1: Core as an official OGC Standard appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
I have just gotten back from attending the 19th International Conference on Computational Urban Planning and Urban Management (CUPUM) in London and thought I would share the two papers we presented at the conference. The first paper was with Qingqing Chen and Linda See and was entitled "Using New Sources of Data for Urban Climate Modeling Generated through MLLMs on Street View Imagery. "As the title might suggest, this paper was about how one can leverage multi-modal large language models (MLLMs) to extract information on building height, age and function from street level photographs. We demonstrate this using street view images from Mapillary and than ask ChatGPT to estimate the building height, age and function and compare the results to authoritative data sources. If this sounds of interest, below you can see the abstract to the paper, some if the figures (i.e., the work flow and prompts) while the results can be seen in the attached paper (see the link below).
Abstract:Urban...
The time since I’ve last posted has been quite busy. I’ve completely recovered from my previous eye issues and have been able to start traveling again. In fact, I’m writing this post from a hotel room. In addition to my consulting work at Cercana, I took on a role as the CTO of Photometrics AI, … Continue reading Geospatial, AI/ML, and Infrastructure →
This blog post outlines the process of creating multi-color 3D prints using the Bambu Lab X1 Carbon printer and the Topoprint software. I explain how to prepare multiple STL files for distinct landscape features, using OrcaSlicer for effective slicing. The final print, requiring extensive filament changes, showcases the Landwasserviadukt.
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
The QGISUC2025 team has done an awesome job recording and editing the conference presentations. All “presentation” type talks where the presenter has accepted to be published are now available in a dedicated list on the QGIS Youtube channel. I also had the pleasure of presenting our Trajectools plugin and you can see this talk here: …Read More
Paul Shapley's Open Source Geospatial Blog
• By [email protected] (Paul J. Shapley)
•
If your concerned about sharing QGIS projects on the web there are many options apart from the 'qgis2web' plugin. This just utilises a docker image containing a demo project.Share your QGIS projects with QGIS Server • Gispo
Today, Overture Maps Foundation announced the general availability of the Global Entity Reference System (GERS). GERS provides common, open, accessible IDs for geospatial entities like buildings, places, and roads, making...
The post Understanding Overture’s Global Entity Reference System appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
Unique IDs make it easier and cheaper to attach data to geospatial entities, such as buildings, streets, places, etc. SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—June 25, 2025 — The Overture Maps Foundation, a collaborative...
The post Overture Maps Launches GERS, a Global Standard for Interoperable Geospatial IDs, to Drive Data Interoperability appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
How Precisely’s Data Link program connects data from leading providers via unique ID systems, including GERS, to eliminate the “conflation tax” and unlock instant access to enriched location intelligence Precisely,...
The post Precisely Accelerates Data Integration with Overture GERS IDs appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
Lake Chapala was formed at the intersection of three grabens.
The post Lake Chapala: a Tectonic Lake at Mexico’s Triple-graben Intersection appeared first on Geography Realm.
When someone proposes an idea to you, smile and assure them that you understand (yes ...). Express your enthusiasm about it (... yes ...) with an even bigger smile. Then, offer to enhance and extend their great idea (... and ...). You can compare this creativity technique to rubber duck debugging, but always remember that you should not replace a human with an LLM.
The second half of my lecture on continents has been posted on YouTube and can be found here. It begins with the geological conception of the terms “continent” and “continental,” and then pivots to show why the continental scheme is of little if any use for understating either biogeography or human geography. The next section […]
The post Part 2 of “The Myth of Continents Revisisited” Video Posted on YouTube appeared first on GeoCurrents.
When and where?
Geomob London will place at 6:00 PM
on Wednesday the 22nd of October, 2025
at Geovation Hub at (Sutton Yard, 65 Goswell Rd, London EC1V 7EN)
DUE TO HIGH DEMAND SIGN-UP IS NOW CLOSED. WE ARE AT CAPACITY, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND UNLESS YOU HAVE SIGNED UP.
Agenda
Our format for the evening will be as it always has been:
doors open at 18:00, set up and general mingling
at 18:30 we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10-15 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
We vote - using Feature Upvote - for the best speaker. The winner will receive a SplashMap and unending glory (see the full list of all past winners).
We head to a nearby pub for discussion and #geobeers paid for by the
sponsors.
The speakers:
Joe Leach, Unique property reference numbers, a very British love affair
Rain Wu, Maps as desires
James Cheshire,...
When and where?
Next on our tour-de-Belgique is Antwerp, on Tuesday, 18 Nov. 2025.
The event’s venue is at Buurtcentrum Cortina in the Kerkstraat 68, Antwerpen.
We will welcome everyone at 6:30 PM and aim to start the talks by 6:45 PM.
Agenda
Our format for the evening will be:
6:30 PM: doors open, set up and general mingling
6:45 PM: we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10-15 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
This time we stay in the same place (we are already in a ‘pub’!) #geobeers paid for by the
sponsors.
The speakers:
To be announced shortly
Would you like to speak at Geomob Belgium? Volunteer here
The organizers:
Geomob Belgium is organized by Ben Abelshausen and Han Tambuyzer
Thanks
Geomob would not be possible without speakers and sponsors.
See the list of past speakers.
Please get in touch if you would like to speak at a future Geomob...
When and where?
Geomob Berlin will take place at 18:00
on Wednesday the 19th of November, 2025, at the offices of
HERE at Invalidenstr. 116, 10115 Berlin.
Maps:
HERE,
OpenStreetMap,
Google Maps.
The nearest stations are Nordbahnhof and Naturkundenmuseum.
Agenda
Our format for the evening will be as it always has been:
doors open at 18:00, set up and general mingling
at 18:30 we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10-15 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
We vote - using Feature Upvote - for the best speaker. The winner will receive a SplashMap and unending glory (see the full list of all past winners).
We head to a nearby pub for discussion and #geobeers paid for by the
sponsors.
The speakers:
Harald Koertge, What can you build with 512KB of memory?
Patrick Niklaus, of Kale Ai, How OpenStreetMap helps bicyle couriers to deliver...
When and where?
Geomob Lisbon will take place on the evening of Wednesday, November 19th, 2025 at Startup Lisboa, Rua da Prata 80, 1100-420 Lisbon (Google Maps, OpenStreetMap). Doors open at 17:30 and talks will begin at 18:00
Doors open at 18:00 and talks will begin at 18:15.
Agenda
Doors open at 18.00, set up and general mingling
Talks begin at 18:15 with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10-15 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
We vote the best speaker. The winner will receive the best speaker prize and unending glory (see the full list of all past winners).
Discussion and #award and #geobeers paid for by the sponsors.
The speakers:
João Manuel, from GeoInsight, will explain how Discrete Global Grids can help us creating geospatial insights.
MORE SPEAKERS TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON, Volunteers always needed.
The organizers:
Geomob Lisbon (GeomobLX) is organized...
When and where?
Geomob Edinburgh will be held at 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm) on Tuesday, November 25th, 2025
at CodeBase
at 37a Castle Terrace, Edinburgh EH1 2EL (Google Map,OpenStreetMap)
Agenda
Our format for the evening will be:
doors open at 18:00, set up and general mingling
at 18:30 we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
We head to a nearby pub for discussion and #geobeers sponsored by OpenCage, Esri.
The speakers:
Samarth Bachkheti, Geospatial machine learning for subsea engineering
Colin Blackburn, A QGIS plugin for geological field data capture
More speakers coming soon!
We are always looking for speakers, volunteer to speak!
The organizers:
Geomob Edinburgh is organized by Gala Camacho
Thanks
Geomob would not be possible without speakers and sponsors.
See the list of past speakers.
Please get in touch...
When and where?
Geomob Barcelona will takeplace at 6:00 PM on Wednesday the 3rd of December, 2025 at CoWorkIdea, at Carrer de Torres i Amat, 21, First Floor.
doors open at 18:00, set up and general mingling
at 18:30 we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10-15 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
The talks will be in English.
We vote - using FeatureUpvote - for the best speaker. The winner will receive a SplashMap and unending glory (see the full list of all past winners).
We head to a nearby bar for discussion and #geobeers paid for by the sponsors.
The speakers:
TO BE ANNOUNCED SOON
Want to speak?
Please volunteer.
The organizer:
GeomobBCN is organized by Ed Freyfogle
Thanks
Geomob would not be possible without speakers and sponsors.
See the list of past speakers.
Please get in touch if you would like to speak at a future Geomob...
Summary thread
Post by @[email protected] View on Mastodon
When and where?
Geomob Edinburgh was held at 6:30pm (doors open at 6pm) on Tuesday, June 24th, 2025
at room 1.26 in Paterson’s Land, The University of Edinburgh Holyrood Campus
(Google / OSM)
Thank you to The Community Access to Rooms project for providing this space for us, free of cost!
This event is part of The Data Lab’s Geospatial Month - other events listed here.
Agenda
Our format for the evening will be:
doors open at 18:00, set up and general mingling
at 18:30 we begin the talks with a very brief introduction
Each speaker will have slides and speak for 10 minutes.
After each talk there will be time for 2-3 questions.
We head to a nearby pub for discussion and #geobeers sponsored by OpenCage, Esri and on this special occasion also by Avineon Tensing.
The speakers:
Laura Munoz, Putting Marketing on the Map: My journey as a marketer in the geospatial edtech...
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Should you map influence areas using distance or time?
From retail site selection to public service planning, the way you define
"reach" matters. In this article, we break down the difference between
radial buffers and isochrones—when to use each, and why choosing the right
method can dramatically improve the precision of your location-based
decisions.
Read now to avoid the most common mistake in spatial analysis.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Pedro Moura
•
Discover how combining market intelligence from NielsenIQ with geospatial
analytics is helping retailers identify opportunities, outsmart
competition, and move faster.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Mapidea partners with NielsenIQ to bring together powerful market data and
geospatial intelligence—helping businesses make smarter, location-based
decisions.
When we began writing this blog on geospatial data and society, few articles and discussions existed about geospatial data trust. Certainly beginning with John Pickles’ book Ground Truth from the mid-1990s, people began to discuss the ethical decisions that are made when using GIS, and that GIS use was not an impartial act, nor was […]
As it has been more than a quarter century since the publication of my book The Myth of Continents (co-written with my wife, Kären Wigen), I have long thought that the topic deserved reconsideration. An opportunity came in May 2025, when I was invited to give a talk in Stanford’s Distinguished Faculty Lecture Series, associated […]
The post The Myth of Continents Revisited: GeoCurrents YouTube Video appeared first on GeoCurrents.
This is a slightly different post to normal, in the sense its not really about papers but my take on agent-based modeling, urban analytics and the growth of Artificial Intelligence impacting both. First up, while I was in Santa Fe last October for the 2024 International Conference of the Computational Social Science Society of the Americas I was interviewed by John Cordier from Epistemix for their Flux Podcast which resulted in this "From Micro-Behaviors to Macro-Patterns: Exploring Agent-Based Models with Andrew Crooks. Rather than me trying to sum it up I will just quote from the podcast episode "In this episode of The Flux, host John Cordier sits down with Andrew Crooks ..... They dive into the world of agent-based modeling (ABM) - what it is, why it matters, and how it helps us simulate and better understand human behavior in complex systems. From simulating traffic jams to modeling social influence on vaccine uptake, Andrew shares how data, geography, and synthetic populations...
Open source geospatial 3D innovation has just reached another important milestone, thanks to a Cesium Ecosystem Grant for a new 3D globe view in QGIS. This is the second grant that the team of North Road and Lutra Consulting received from Cesium, and we’re proud of what we’ve delivered for our QGIS users. The new 3D globe will be available to all in QGIS v.3.44. This was an extremely interesting project to undertake, as it required a heavy research and experimentation process by our developers. There’s many potential approaches for implementing a large-scale, 3D globe, and each have their advantages and trade-offs. We were very lucky to have insight from Cesium’s Kevin Ring to advise us at the start […]
The big goal with the TN 911 project is to eliminate steps and still enter good data. I’d like to fill out as much of the database as I could with minimal work from the person putting in data. Hence I’ve riddled the database with triggers and made drop down lists of about everything I […]
The post TN911: Adding Elevation appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
Landsat's Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) measures the Earth's surface temperature by focusing on the infrared part of the light spectrum.
The post Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) on Landsat appeared first on GIS Geography.
Credits: Pixabay (Pixabay Content License) The Importance of Compliance A geographic data layer must comply with many rules and constraints. For example: Geometric Topological Arbitrary rules – no angles smaller...
Jesse and Sue have been working on a new video series on Virtual Heritage called Recreatus. This first video episode focuses on the broader context of Digital Heritage before we […]
Read about how the Amazon once flowed east to west and how the strength of Hurricane Isaac once change the course of the Mississippi river.
The post Rivers that Flow Backwards appeared first on Geography Realm.
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/introduction-to-mergin-maps-tickets-1387725035939 One of the big questions I get asked on QGIS is “What’s the mobile environment like?”. Which leads to a whole discussion on Qfield and Mergin Maps. I’m more familiar with Mergin Maps (Plus a Business Partner). After talking to the Mergin Maps team we’re doing training. It’s going to be a mashup […]
The post Mergin Maps Training on July 10th 2025 appeared first on North River Geographic Systems Inc.
I’ve got into a bit of a habit of writing occasional posts with links to interesting things I’ve found (probably because it’s a relatively easy blog post to write). This is another of those posts – this time, written in June 2025. So, let’s get on with some links: Why COUNT(*) can be slow in […]
Alan Leidner shares how 9/11 revealed the need for better underground data—and how that insight led to the global MUDDI Standard for smarter, safer cities.
The post From Ground Zero to Global Change: Alan Leidner on the Power of Underground Data appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
The QGIS International User Conference 2025 happened in Norrköping, Sweden from 2-3 June 2025. I have been to the previous conferences in 2024, 2023 and 2019 and always look forward to the annual event. The conference keeps getting bigger and this year it attracted a diverse audience of 300+ participants from around the globe. This […]
Clark University has joined the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), reinforcing its legacy in GIS innovation and environmental sustainability through its Center for Geospatial Analytics.
The post Clark University joins the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) appeared first on Open Geospatial Consortium.
As noted in the previous GeoCurrents post, Alberta is Canada’s most prosperous and economically productive province. But it does have, as might be expected, by the country’s highest cost of living. Although living costs in Alberta are above the national average, they are below those of Ontario, Canada’s most populous province. The major factor is […]
The post Canadian Provinces and U.S. States Economically Compared appeared first on GeoCurrents.
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
The way we observe our planet from orbit is undergoing a seismic shift,
moving beyond the limitations of traditional satellite tasking to embrace a
future of intelligent, interconnected Earth observation. This revolution is
powered by the synergy of "virtual constellations" – diverse networks of
coordinated sensors – and sophisticated "tipping and cueing" workflows,
where broad-area monitoring by some assets automatically directs
high-resolution satellites to points of critical interest. Underpinning
this entire evolution is the transformative power of Artificial
Intelligence, which not only automates the detection of subtle changes and
orchestrates complex tasking but also distills vast streams of imagery into
actionable insights, promising a more transparent, responsive, and
understandable world.
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
In this interview from the 2025 GEOINT Symposium, Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial speaks with Phill Thomas from Innovate. Phill discusses his career path, starting at Accenture and moving into federal government work. He introduces Innovate as a woman-owned small business headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with a history primarily in federal civilian and commercial sectors. Innovate is now excited about bringing their solutions to the Intel community. Phill details Innovate's evolution, including their decision in 2012 to focus intensely on the Salesforce and Esri platforms, becoming "an inch wide and a mile deep". He highlights their extensive experience with over a thousand Esri deployments and over 800 Salesforce deployments, their gold level partnership with Esri, numerous specialty certifications, and the presence of Salesforce certified architects. This deep expertise allows them to build reusable component repositories for efficiency. Phill shares that GEOINT 2025 is...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons interviews Yuval Lorig, VP R&D at Asterra, at the GEOINT 2025 conference. Yuval shares his background in physical geography and the geospatial industry. They delve into Asterra's work, which utilizes satellite data, particularly SAR, to monitor critical infrastructure like dams, levies, and canals, in addition to their traditional focus on water leaks. Yuval discusses the company's expansion into APIs, a SAS platform called EO 2.0, their global reach across over 70 countries, and their focus on improving technology accuracy and developing in-house AI models.Highlights• Interview with Yuval Lorig, VP R&D at Asterra.• Astera focuses on monitoring critical infrastructure (dams, levies, canals) and the water industry.• They utilize satellite data, specifically SAR, for subsurface penetration to gain insights.• Expanding their offering to include APIs and a SAS platform (EO 2.0).• Customer base is now global, working in more than 70 countries with almost a thousand projects.•...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial speaks with Burt Wagner, a Data Architect at Broadcom, during the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Burt, with 25 years supporting the US intelligence community and federal law enforcement, discusses Broadcom's lesser-known big data solutions. While Broadcom is widely known for semiconductors and acquiring VMware, Burt highlights their significant data products, including Gemfire and Greenplum databases. He explains how Greenplum, based on PostgreSQL, provides massive scalability (up to tens of petabytes) for analyzing geospatial data, overcoming PostgreSQL's limitations. The conversation also covers Broadcom's Unified Data Management (UDM) solution, which includes capabilities for crossing network security boundaries and operating in environments with denied, delayed, intermittent, and latent communications. UDM facilitates bringing edge data centrally for detailed analysis and building AI/ML models that can then be exported for use on small edge...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons interviews Craig Brower from Unseenlabs US at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Craig discusses Unseenlabs' capability to provide satellite-based RF (Radio Frequency) data for monitoring and tracking, which is integrated into customer workflows for rapid tasking and delivery. He highlights the ongoing need to educate the community about RF data and SIGINT-type sources, noting that many, including traditional imagery analysts, may be unfamiliar with it. Craig describes their data as simple "dots on a map" where status changes indicate behavior, such as a vessel turning off its AIS. He mentions that Unseenlabs is unique in being a profitable company, recently secured a large investment to build 20 new satellites and next-generation birds, and currently has 16 satellites on orbit.Highlights• Interview with Craig Brower from Unseenlabs US.• Provides satellite-based RF (Radio Frequency) data for monitoring and tracking.• Data is integrated into customer workflows for quick tasking...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial interviews Dan DeGennaro (CTO), Bryan Cosme (CEO & Co-founder), and Brian Buttaccio (COO) of Trevity at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Bryan shares his background, including experience in the Marine Corps specializing in geospatial, which informs Trevity's focus. Dan, a physicist turned coder, focuses on AI, Augmentation, and integrating capabilities into analyst workflows. All of them discuss Trevity's mission to increase analyst productivity, believing they can nearly double it. They highlight their new software, Inkwell, which addresses the challenge of managing vast amounts of geospatial data. Inkwell allows for targeted data scraping and, crucially, enables analysts to interact with and filter data using natural language. This helps analysts quickly find and understand relevant data within an area of interest.Highlights• Trevity's founders have a background in the Marine Corps specializing in geospatial intelligence.• Trevity aims to significantly...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Mats Palsson, CEO of T Kartor Group, shares his journey from engineering to finding his passion in geospatial and maps. He introduces T Kartor Group, founded 40 years ago, which specializes in map and information management solutions based on the principle that maps represent information assets with a position. T Kartor provides solutions for major cities, defense organizations, and public safety sectors in Europe and the US. Palsson mentions T Kartor has significant operations in St. Louis and Sweden. He explains that "making maps" for them involves managing information and tailoring its presentation for diverse end-users, such as military personnel and public transport systems. The company has evolved to focus on information management with a cartographic element. Recent developments include providing customers with dashboards to monitor how their information is used. Palsson discusses the significant industry changes driven by the tremendous amount of data from satellites and...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial interviews Geoffrey King, Vice President of Strategy at Greater St. Louis Inc. (GSL), at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Geoffrey discusses GSL's role in growing and strengthening the geospatial cluster in St. Louis through the GeoFutures Initiative. He explains GSL's various functions, including business attraction, downtown revitalization, and supporting small and diverse businesses. Geoffrey highlights NGA as a key anchor institution for the region's geospatial growth. He talks about GSL's presence at GEOINT for over five years, showcasing St. Louis's assets to attract talent and investment. He notes that St. Louis is hosting GEOINT for the third time this year and will host again in 2029, emphasizing the significant effort invested in the 2025 event. GSL aims to collaborate with partners and connect different sectors and communities to maximize the economic impact of geospatial growth in the region.Highlights• Geoffrey King of Greater St. Louis Inc....
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons interviews Tim Klawa of Figure Eight Federal at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Tim discusses the critical importance of data validity for training effective AI programs, particularly for users like warfighters and operators. He emphasizes that understanding the attributes and relevance of training data to specific mission needs is essential for building confidence in the resulting AI models. Tim mentions that Figure Eight Federal's technology, including their enterprise data labeling platform Artemis and their Hydra AI platform for situational awareness and decision support, helps address this challenge. He notes that they will be demonstrating their capabilities at Amazon's booth.Highlights• Interview with Tim Klawa of Figure Eight Federal.• Emphasizes the importance of data validity for AI programs.• Understanding data set attributes and alignment with mission needs is crucial for AI confidence.• Discusses Figure Eight Federal's technology platforms.• Artemis platform is...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial speaks with Billy Sokol and Brent Perry of Progress Federal during the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Brent, with a background in full stack engineering and data analytics for defense and IC customers, highlights geospatial as one of the top ways to visualize intelligence. They introduce Progress Federal, a business unit within Progress Software that includes the capabilities of the acquired company MarkLogic. They explain that MarkLogic's history spans diverse industries and government, focusing on a multi-modal database that can aggregate data from multiple systems, regardless of format. This database is designed to operate at immense scale and also to scale down to a laptop for use in hostile environments with denied, delayed, intermittent, or latent communications. They emphasize the importance of being agile due to the rapid rate of change in user expectations and technology in the market.Highlights• Progress Federal is a business unit of Progress...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Guy De Carufel, CEO of Cognitive Space, shares his background as an aerospace engineer from NASA and Firefly. He introduces Cognitive Space as an AI software company dedicated to making the most effective use of space leveraging assets. De Carufel explains his motivation for starting the company was to apply modern AI to automate space operations, addressing the manual methods previously used. He describes their product focused on mission management for ground systems, which automates the process of generating effective schedules from mission priorities and integrates with C2 systems. Cognitive Space uses AI to orchestrate proliferated satellite systems, diverse sensors, and different organizations (national, commercial, allied). He also mentions their Sentient Earth product for aggregating data and providing predictive capacity analytics. Their primary customers manage constellations, including government and commercial entities. De Carufel highlights Cognitive Space's focus on...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial interviews Nicole Sullivan from Gateway Geospatial Group at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium in St. Louis. Nicole proudly states that Gateway Geospatial Group is St. Louis born and bred. She shares some of the company's capabilities and interests, including their work with low-cost mesh networks for data collection. A key area of focus is performing near real-time AI/ML on the data collected via their mesh network. They are also interested in the challenges related to different data formats. Nicole encourages attendees and viewers to visit their booth or website to learn more and share ideas.Highlights• Nicole Sullivan represents Gateway Geospatial Group at GEOINT 2025.• Gateway Geospatial Group is a company based in St. Louis.• They work with low-cost mesh networks for data collection.• A key capability is performing near real-time AI/ML on collected data.• The company is interested in exploring ideas related to their technology and addressing challenges...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons speaks with Will Clapperton from GDIT at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Will highlights GDIT's focus on supporting tactical missions with advanced technology. He provides an example of their innovative work using VR/AR technology for post-damage assessment scenarios. This allows users to immerse themselves in a virtual landscape containing geospatial data, identify areas needing attention like damaged infrastructure, plan subsequent steps, and share that critical information with other responders. Will stresses that GDIT's involvement goes deep into everyday missions, far beyond traditional IT support, and emphasizes their passion for working close to the tactical edge. He also offers advice to young professionals entering the field, encouraging technologists to prioritize understanding and addressing tactical mission needs.Highlights• Interview with Will Clapperton from GDIT.• GDIT focuses on supporting tactical missions with technology.• Discusses the use of VR/AR...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons speaks with John True and Andy Dearing from Cultivation Capital at GEOINT 2025, gaining insights from their perspective as investment professionals in the geospatial sector. They offer advice to startups attending GEOINT, emphasizing the importance of developing dual-use technology applicable to both government and commercial markets rather than focusing solely on federal contracts. They highlight that they look for companies that are genuinely solving problems for the customer base, particularly addressing the challenge of data overload and analyst shortages, potentially leveraging AI and machine learning. They discuss monitoring exit strategies in the market, like SPACs, and the increasing value of data for internal processing by larger companies to build solutions. John and Andy are proud of Cultivation Capital's foundation built on the experience of former geospatial operators, which allows them to offer unique insight and support to entrepreneurs.Highlights•...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Susan Moreira from Axiologic Solutions discusses her company's role as an Intel integrator specializing in system, data, and cyber security engineering for complex intelligence systems. She explains their support for geospatial data across customers like NGA and DIA, including managing the Mars program and improving analytic workflows. Moreira highlights their "mission ready" approach, working directly with analysts and operators to translate requirements. Axiologic Solutions is involved with AI efforts, supporting Project Maven and prototype development, focusing on successfully integrating AI with constrained resources and accelerating Authority to Operate (ATO) processes. Other supported efforts include the common data fabric and DIA's data hub. Cyber security is a key focus, integrated from the project's beginning, offering advisory services and researching future challenges like quantum engineering for security. Moreira shares what Axiologic hopes to achieve at GEOINT, such as...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial interviews Trent Tinker, who leads the Federal Business Development team at Cesium, during the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Trent shares his extensive background in the geospatial industry, focusing on 3D geospatial for defense and aviation. His career includes experience with Esri, Hexagon, and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), where he developed a passion for interoperability and open standards. The discussion touches upon Cesium's history, having spun out of AGI and advancing their vision with Bentley. A key announcement is Cesium's upcoming first-ever developer conference in Philadelphia from June 23rd to 25th.Highlights• Trent Tinker leads the Federal Business Development team at Cesium.• Trent has a long career in 3D geospatial software, focusing on the defense and aviation domains.• His background includes working with Esri, Hexagon, and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), highlighting his passion for interoperability and open standards.•...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
This clip features Carter Christopher discussing Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. He highlights ORNL's core mission of doing science for the government. Carter emphasizes that ORNL's work is particularly centered on computing and AI. He suggests that this focus differentiates ORNL within the geospatial community and contributes to advancing the field for everyone.Highlights• Clip featuring Carter Christopher from Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL).• ORNL focuses on doing science for the government.• Work is centered on computing and AI.• This focus differentiates ORNL and helps advance the community.
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Mike DeLaFleur from TekSynap, with over 34 years in the community, discusses his role in BD, capture, and geospatial solutions. He introduces TekSynap as a mid-size government contractor providing IT services and solutions for the DoD, Fed Civ, and IC, which has grown organically since 2008. TekSynap works with various agencies and is expanding into the geospatial world with R&D investments in AI and analyst tools. DeLaFleur highlights TekSynap's distinction as one of the few companies globally with CMMI Level 5 in Services, Development, and Security. He shares recent examples of applying AI in IT networking (Marvis AI) and document management (Megatron). Their core geospatial offering for the IC is ARTA (AI recommendation-driven analytics). TekSynap recently contributed to a project at NGA focusing on disaster response using UI/UX, data fabric, and integrating the unclassified data lake. DeLaFleur reflects on his extensive experience attending GEOINT symposiums and praises TekSynap's...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Adam Simmons of Project Geospatial interviews Sean Walsh, Managing Partner of Turnberry Labs (part of Turnberry Solutions), at the GEOINT 2025 Symposium. Sean, with over 30 years in tech, discusses Turnberry Solutions' work, including geospatial custom development for both private sector clients (like Bayer Crop Science) and national geospatial agencies (like NGA). He highlights their approach as a commercial company that moves at commercial speed and their trademarked methodology: Human Centered Design Agile (HCD Agile). This method prioritizes understanding user needs before developing technology. Sean shares details of their work with NGA on the AIM 2 (Aeronautical Information Management System 20) project, where they migrated a system to AWS, focusing heavily on user engagement to ensure the new cloud-based application worked seamlessly for users without requiring training. He emphasizes that their HCD Agile approach allows them to quickly start solving problems and deliver value...
Podcast Archive - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Bill Conroy discusses his diverse background, which includes serving in the Coast Guard on an Arctic icebreaker, studying GIS, and working for NGA on nautical charts. He introduces his company, Semaphore Maritime Solutions, which he started about a year ago. Conroy explains his primary work involves providing maritime analysis for the US Space Force TAC SRT program, handling unclassified data requests. Drawing on his extensive maritime experience and licenses, he analyzes data like AIS, contextualizing it with factors like weather and regulations to identify suspicious activities. He focuses on taking existing data sets and providing deeper insights through activities-based analysis. Conroy notes that his location in landlocked St. Louis is not a barrier to this work. He mentions utilizing NGA's Port Index data set in his platform. He highlights networking at events like GEOINT as part of his growth strategy and positions himself as a maritime subject matter expert valuable for...
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Today marks the final, quiet farewell to Landsat 7, a satellite that has
tirelessly served as humanity's eye on Earth for over a quarter-century.
Its incredible 2.5 million images have not only documented our planet's
vital pulse – from receding glaciers to changing forests – but have also
empowered countless discoveries and deepened our understanding of our
world. As it drifts into its final, silent orbit, we honor its unparalleled
service and the dedication of the countless individuals who guided its
mission, ensuring its legacy of environmental insight endures.
As drones become a staple in modern industries—from infrastructure inspection and agriculture to public safety and energy—the demand for skilled drone professionals is growing rapidly. But while the technology continues to soar, a major challenge has emerged: finding qualified drone talent. Why the Demand is Exploding Drones, or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), are no longer […]
Chris Holmes giving the opening keynote at CNG Conference
Well, we did it.
The Cloud-Native Geospatial Forum (CNG) community came together on April 30-May 2 for our first in-person conference in Snowbird, Utah–and honestly? It was something special.
For 2.5 packed days, we welcomed around 250 attendees from over 100 organizations, spanning cloud service providers, government and nonprofit agencies, academic institutions, and private sector companies. People flew in from across the globe, with participants joining from countries including Australia, Argentina, Japan, South Korea, Germany, France, and more – all ready to learn and share what it takes to build geospatial workflows for the cloud.
Who showed up?
Our attendees largely consisted of highly technical, skilled data practitioners, including software engineers, data scientists, and geospatial developers. Here’s a breakdown of who was in the room:
45%: Senior...
Last week, Switzerland’s Birchgletscher collapsed and caused a major rock avalanches, altering the landscape and burying the village of Blatten. With the data of the federal Rapid Mapping service and the help of individual experts, a first open post-event elevation model was made available. I used the model to create pre- and post-event visualizations and prints at a local scale.
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
Artificial intelligence is rapidly redrawing the boundaries of the
geospatial industry, unlocking powerful new insights and efficiencies at an
unprecedented scale. Yet, beneath the veneer of technological marvel and
the often-touted narrative of 'AI augmentation,' a more profound and
unsettling transformation is underway for its workforce. This investigation
delves into the stark realities of how AI and machine learning are not just
reshaping, but in many cases, actively replacing traditional geospatial
roles, forcing a critical reevaluation of skills, careers, and the very
future of human expertise in mapping and understanding our world. As the AI
wave crests, the line between assistant and successor is becoming
increasingly, and for some, alarmingly, clear.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Explore how homophily—our tendency to bond with similar others—shapes
customer behavior and risk. Discover how geospatial analysis of homophily
patterns reveals opportunities in marketing, sales, and fraud detection
across industries.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Discover how our partnership with IQGEO and Mapidea's geospatial
intelligence can help telecom operators find growth opportunities, improve
operational efficiency, and drive innovation. Dive into data-driven
business cases for network planning, marketing, and more!
Tell Us About YourselfMy name is Antonia Blankenberg. Alongside being a drummer with the fantastic TBL8 Brass, I’m a Lead Consultant in Utilities with Esri Ireland and I’ve been working in GIS for 6 years now. I’ve always been interested in geography, but I only first came across GIS during my undergraduate degree. I was […]
The post Maps and Mappers of the 2025 Calendar – May – Antonia Blankenberg appeared first on GeoHipster.
The current version of GIS can be seen as a 1.0 model—built in an era when computers were in their infancy, and storage and processing power were both limited and prohibitively expensive.
Above the Arctic Circle, Point Barrow is the northernmost point in the United States.
The post Northernmost Point in the United States appeared first on Geography Realm.
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By Mario Field
•
Reflecting on Another Event Facilitating Regional Collaboration, Share, and Advancement of Geospatial Innovation in the DMV
The DMV GIS Day 2025: Midpoint Meetup, held on April 30, 2025, served as an engaging follow-up to the successful DMV GIS Day 2024. This virtual event convened a vibrant geospatial community to highlight the significant impact of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the innovative advancements shaping progress throughout the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region.
If you're technically inclined, consider using Borg, Vorta, and rsync.net for encrypted remote backups. If that feels a bit too complex, Arq Backup might be a simpler option for you.
Topoprint has introduced three significant updates to its service for creating 3D mini-reliefs, or Topodiscs, of Swiss locations: bridges with arches, an easy-to-use Topodisc designer and an automated printing-as-a-service option.
Wie wir für den Kanton Graubünden komplexe Daten nutzerfreundlich aufbereiteten – und dabei auf das richtige Tool setzten. Im Auftrag des Kantons Graubünden analysierten wir, wie sich der Tourismus auf die regionale Wertschöpfung und Beschäftigung auswirkt – kantonsweit sowie in einzelnen Regionen. Grundlage bildeten drei Befragungen mit über 30’000 Personen, Daten des Bundesamtes für Statistik …
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By Ran Goldblatt
•
New Light Technologies Inc. (NLT) is honored to serve as a Platinum Sponsor of the 10th annual Innovation Summit for Preparedness & Resilience (InSPIRE), taking place May 28–29, 2025, at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Organized by the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation, InSPIRE brings together leaders from across the public and private sectors to advance the role of geospatial technology in public safety and disaster resilience.This year’s summit is especially significant as it looks back at the 20 years since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, recognizing the transformative role these devastating events played in shaping today’s emergency management practices. Many of the professionals attending and organizing InSPIRE 2025 were directly involved in the response to those historic storms.
Immer wieder wird im Geschäftskontext über Datenqualität gesprochen. Leider oft genug ziemlich unscharf. Nachdem ich im ersten Blogpost dieser informellen Serie auf den Begriff der Datenqualität generell eingegangen bin, möchte ich nun etwas hineinzoomen auf die Beschreibung der Datenqualität. Ich tue das anhand eines breit etablierten Standards. Aber erst ein Kürzest-Recap von Teil 1: Wieso …
Imagine your business information seamlessly integrated into maps and location services used by billions of people worldwide. This isn't a future vision; it's the reality Overture Maps is creating today, powered by collaborative, open data.
The post Reaching Billions with Up-To-Date Places Information in Overture appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
TLDR; After 10²¹ FLOPs and 500 B patches, IBM’s TerraMind beats a supervised U‑Net by just +2 mIoU on PANGAEA; losing on 5/9 tasks, most other GFMs do worse.
Gentle readers, I have just wrapped up a fun side project that will be of great interest to a very small number of you. The result of one of the most technically demanding efforts of my career, I am very pleased to share it with you. Most of you will wonder what this place is, … Continue reading Planetfall →
Oslandia is pleased to invite you to a webinar dedicated to open source 3D on Thursday, July 3, 2025 at 5pm (Paris time). [in English] Program: 3D challenges in 2025:...
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.6.0alpha1!
Best Served with PostgreSQL 18 Beta1
and GEOS 3.13.1.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 18beta1, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.12+ is needed.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 2.1.0+ is needed.
3.6.0alpha1
source download md5
NEWS
HTML Online en ja fr zh_Hans
PDF docs: en ja, zh_Hans, fr
Cheat Sheets:
postgis: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_raster: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_topology: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_sfcgal: en ja fr zh_Hans
address standardizer, postgis_tiger_geocoder: en ja fr zh_Hans
This release is an alpha of a major release, it includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.3 and new features.
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
The latest releases of MovingPandas and Trajectools come with many “under the hood” changes that aim to make your movement analytics faster: Let’s have a look at some example performance measurements! Example 1: MovingPandas ValueChangeSplitter The ValueChangeSplitter splits trajectories when it detects a value change in the specified column. This is useful, for example, to …Read More
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.5.3.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 18beta1, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.12+ is needed.
SFCGAL 1.4+ is needed to enable postgis_sfcgal support.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 1.5+ is needed.
3.5.3
source download md5
NEWS
PDF docs: en
HTML Online en ja fr zh_Hans
Cheat Sheets:
postgis: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_raster: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_topology: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_sfcgal: en ja fr zh_Hans
address standardizer, postgis_tiger_geocoder: en ja fr zh_Hans
This release is a bug fix release that includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.1.
What is it? pgPointcloud is a PostgreSQL extension that allows storing point clouds in a PostgreSQL database. This article presents its various features, trade-offs, and main use cases. The Problem...
Introduction In this post, we’ll explore an experimental project — not something built for practical use, rather for exploring some technology and techniques. The goal is to create an immersive, cube-shaped map visualization using web tools and Python backend services. Specifically, we’ll use: Imagine standing inside a cube where every wall is a piece of […]
The post Building a Virtual Map Cube with FastAPI and Marzipano appeared first on Sparkgeo.
The second annual Overture Member Summit recently brought together more than a hundred people from 30 member organizations in Charleston for three days of collaboration and progress. The energy throughout the event was remarkable, with members engaged in early morning sessions to late-night discussions about everything from Brussels sprouts to map data. It's this blending of personal connection and technical collaboration that makes our community special and effective.
The post Overture Member Summit 2025 Highlights: Transforming Map-Making Through Collaboration appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
Geospatial | Towards Data Science
• By Remko de Lange
•
A step closer to spatial AI with geospatial processing with Fabric
The post The Geospatial Capabilities of Microsoft Fabric and ESRI GeoAnalytics, Demonstrated appeared first on Towards Data Science.
Today marks my first day at Fotokite, a Zurich-based company that designs and manufactures actively tethered UAVs forpublic safety and emergency response. I’ll be leading the application engineering team and am excited to help build a great company with an innovative product.
As the man said, “Life moves pretty fast.” At the start of the year, I had a planned eye surgery that sidelined me for a couple of weeks and then kept me somewhat limited after that. During that recovery, I was further sidelined by a respiratory illness. Five days after getting the all-clear from my … Continue reading Happy New Year to Me →
Oslandia and partners ( e.g. OPENGIS.ch) publicly launch the “Security Project for QGIS” : a mutualized funding effort to increase QGIS cybersecurity. Oslandia is pleased to invite you to a...
SFCGAL 2.1.0 : New Features and Improvements The upcoming version 2.1.0 of SFCGAL will soon be available, bringing with it a host of new features and improvements for this library...
Friends, you might remember that, last year, I wrote to you about how I was finally able to see a dream I’d had for many years come true: bringing together a bunch of map creators onto a single website. I had hoped that this would only be the beginning of our cooperation with each other. … Continue reading Map of the Month: An Experiment →
A month ago, a news headline about a landslide near Kelowna caught our attention, not just for its tragic impact, but for the question it raised: Was this slope destabilized by last season’s wildfires? We’ve since had a chance to explore the event more closely. Our satellite-based analysis suggests that wildfire-related landscape changes likely played […]
The post When Fire Sets the Stage for Landslides: Understanding Through Satellite Risk Analysis appeared first on Sparkgeo.
One of our goals at CNG is to create a larger and more diverse community of geospatial data practitioners. While tremendous progress is being made to make geospatial data easier to access and use in the cloud, we know that there are many people in need of training and educational opportunities to benefit from this progress.
To this end, we are starting to experiment with issuing badges to recognize individuals who have completed cloud-native geospatial trainings. We have started by partnering with thriveGEO, a training and technical consulting company based in Germany. In April 2025, thriveGEO gave its first Cloud-Native Geospatial 101 training course and we have issued CNG Badges to course participants.
CNG Badges use the Open Badges Specification which allows us to give people a verifiable digital credential that asserts they have completed a CNG-approved training course. By maintaining a vendor-neutral view of the geospatial technology landscape, we seek to...
In the past we have explored how social media can be used to delineate earthquakes, study human-wildlife interactions, understand urban morphology, urban smells or locating wildfires among many other things. Keeping with the last topic (i.e., locating things), in a new paper published in GeoJournal entitled "Crowdsourcing dust storms in the United States utilizing social media data," Stuart Evans, Festus Adegbola and myself explore how we can use X (formerly Twitter) and Flickr to source observations of windblown dust. As such the paper demonstrates how social media data can act as supplementary source for dust events monitoring and captures the seasonal trends of such events. Furthermore, the paper highlights the potential of using crowdsourced data for the often overlooked field of dust monitoring that has substantial health and economic impacts. If this sounds of interest, below we provide the abstract to the paper along with some figures which showcase our methodology and...
Location intelligence is becoming increasingly central to enterprise analytics, with organizations in sectors such as retail, logistics, and financial services integrating geospatial data into decision-making systems. A 2016 McKinsey report projected that data-driven decision-making could generate trillions in economic value, with location data playing a key role in operational and strategic improvements (Manyika et al., […]
Tell Us About Yourself I’m a cartographer, geospatial scientist and educator in the San Francisco Bay Area. I work on the mapping team at the California Coastal Commision. On the side, I teach GIS courses at the University of San Francisco and help run BayGeo, a local non-profit organization focused on GIS education and training. My past […]
The post Maps and Mappers of the 2025 Calendar – April – Cameron Denny appeared first on GeoHipster.
Geospatial | Towards Data Science
• By Iñigo Pallardo-Fernández
•
Identify spatial gaps in the urban pharmacy network suitable for the installation of new pharmacies, while adhering to legal requirements on minimum distance between establishments, using geospatial tools such as OSMnx and NetworkX.
The post Pharmacy Placement in Urban Spain appeared first on Towards Data Science.
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Geospatial Intelligence is quickly becoming a game-changer in Pharma. As
more companies adopt spatial analytics to optimize sales, marketing, and
territory planning, those who delay risk falling behind. This article
explores how geography adds critical context to business data — and why now
is the time to make it part of your data strategy.
UAV mapping has changed how we do aerial surveying. With drones, we can now map areas quickly, accurately, and in a cost effective way.
The post UAV Mapping for Aerial Surveying appeared first on GIS Geography.
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
A stark vision for America's fiscal future now casts an ominous shadow, as
the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget threatens a veritable demolition of
non-defense federal capabilities, launching an unprecedented assault on the
agencies underpinning our nation's world-leading geospatial infrastructure
with a staggering $163 billion targeted for removal from base non-defense
spending . This plan strikes at the heart of essential government
functions, and even as it calls for "unprecedented increases for defense" ,
the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) faces a deep paradox: its
direct appropriations may rise, but devastating cuts to civilian partners
like NOAA, NASA, and USGS threaten to hamstring its operational
effectiveness, potentially forcing NGA to divert its own increased budget
to backfill widening data gaps and maintain "GEOINT Supremacy" with a
critically weakened foundational support system. The reverberations are
already palpable, and as the...
At the "Calgary 11," Tee referenced "spatial thinking" as a key future workforce attribute. In an age of AI, why is simply being able to think so important?
When most people hear “geospatial,” they immediately think of maps. But in many advanced applications, maps never enter the picture at all. Instead, geospatial data becomes a powerful input to machine learning workflows, unlocking insights and automation in ways that don’t require a single visual. At its core, geospatial data is structured around location—coordinates, areas, […]
Why Building Geospatial Web Apps is a Game of Trade-offs
Life in GIS
When I first got into geospatial web app development, I thought the biggest hurdle would just be getting...
The post Why Building Geospatial Web Apps is a Game of Trade-offs appeared first on Life in GIS published by Wanjohi Kibui
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
FedGeoDay 2025, held April 22nd in Washington D.C., was a packed and
energized convergence of over 200 geospatial experts dedicated to a vital
mission: building resilience through open source tools and data. Project
Geospatial's coverage of the event revealed a community deeply committed to
collaboration, showcasing everything from NASA's critical Earth observation
data applications and foundational government datasets like USGS's 3DAP to
the complexities of AI reliability, the dynamics of open data initiatives
like OpenStreetMap and Overture Maps, and the necessity of robust
cybersecurity. The day underscored the immense potential of open geospatial
solutions in facing increasing challenges and the collective effort
required to harness their power for societal benefit. The palpable energy
and high turnout signaled a community ready to tackle complex problems
together, leveraging open platforms for a more resilient future.
In today’s AI-driven and geospatially enabled world, data is an organization’s most valuable asset — yet it is often treated as an afterthought until issues arise. Poor data quality, incomplete metadata, and inconsistent governance can quickly derail even the most sophisticated projects. At Cercana, we believe that data stewardship must be intentional, continuous, strategic, and […]
It’s all hot air until AI takes your job. In the geospatial community of practice, AI tools are making an increasingly big impact. We can choose to flip the table, or take the win. Three weeks ago I was introduced to Lovable by Sparkgeo’s UK Lead, Dan Ormsby. The next week I messed around with it, and was deeply […]
The post Prompt disruption, geoAI took my job. appeared first on Sparkgeo.
In today's data-rich world, the geospatial community faces unique challenges in storing, processing, and sharing this data at scale. As mapping datasets grow in complexity and size, traditional file formats struggle to keep pace with modern cloud environments and distributed computing needs.
The post Why We Chose GeoParquet: Breaking Down Data Silos at Overture Maps appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
Immer wieder wird im Geschäftskontext über Datenqualität gesprochen. Aktuell wird Datenqualität in Diskussionen häufig mit anderen Themen verwoben: Autorität im Sinn von «authoritativeness», Offizialität, Entstehungskontext, Governance-Modelle, Rechtssicherheit, «foi publique» etc. Das sind wichtige weitere Themen rund um Daten. Und diese können im Einzelnen die Erkenntnistiefe erhöhen, aber es lohnt sich meines Erachtens, zuerst die Begrifflichkeiten …
What is FedGeoDay? FedGeoDay is a single-track conference dedicated to federal use-cases of open geospatial ecosystems. The open ecosystems have a wide variety of uses and forms, but largely include anything designed around open data, open source software, and open standards. The main event is a one day commitment and is followed by a day […]
OK I will admit it took me longer than I had planned to finish this up. Life got in the way. But now I think is a good time to finish up the series and move on to another. In … Continue reading →
It’s all hot air until AI takes your job. In the geospatial community of practice, AI tools are making an increasingly big impact. We can choose to flip the table, or take the win.
We are extremely pleased to announce the six funded proposals for our 2025 QGIS.ORG grant programme. Funding for the programme… Read more QGIS Grant Programme 2025 Results
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Telcos are sitting on a goldmine of spatial data—but most of it is locked
behind technical tools and inaccessible to the majority of the
organization. Operational GIS is critical but not enough. To win, telcos
must democratize Geospatial Intelligence across departments, empowering
thousands of users to make smarter decisions, faster.
Web Mapping, Meets Generative AI AI is reshaping how we build the web, from how we write code to how we visualize data. While tools like ChatGPT and Copilot have turned heads in software development, a new wave of tools like Lovable claim to make entire front ends with just a prompt. No coding. No […]
The post Exploring Lovable UI for AI-Powered Web Map Creation appeared first on Sparkgeo.
Readers might of noticed that recently we have been exploring the use of street view images to explore cities or how we can utilize geosocial media to understand the form of function of cities, but one thing we have not explored is the role of smell and how it shapes peoples perceptions of urban spaces. However, in a new paper recently published in the Annals of the American Association of Geographers with Qingqing Chen, Ate Poorthuis we do just that. The paper is entitled "Mapping the Invisible: Decoding Perceived Urban Smells Through Geosocial Media in New York City" In the paper we use text mining techniques to tease out smell related information from over 56 million geolocated tweets which are then assigned to specific small categories (e.g., nature, food, waste) resulting in a new smellscape map for New York city. If this sounds of interest, below you can read the abstract to our paper, see our workflow and resulting smellscape map. While the the analysis steps, along with the...
Wussten Sie, dass Daten zu Naturereignissen wie Überschwemmungen, Lawinen oder Bergstürzen systematisch erfasst werden? Die Webapplikation StorMe ist die schweizweit zentrale Datenbank des Bundesamtes für Umwelt (BAFU) für die Erfassung und Verwaltung von Naturereignissen. Sie zählt mehr als 70’000 Einträge, welche laufend vom Bund und den Kantonen ergänzt und ausgewertet werden. Aber auch andere Organisationen, …
Cercana Systems is excited to share that our entire team will be in attendance at FedGeoDay 2025! This is a great opportunity to meet with us face-to-face and learn more about our capabilities and the work we do. The event is happening April 22, 2025 at the Department of Interior’s Yates Auditorium in Washington, D.C. […]
Exciting times are ahead for the QGIS project! We’re thrilled to share some major updates coming to the QGIS platform over the next few months. These changes are part of a long-planned technical migration that will bring new possibilities and ensure QGIS stays modern, fast, and future-ready.
In today’s fast-paced professional world, it’s easy for young professionals to assume that hard work alone will get them ahead. While grinding at the desk and delivering results matters, relying solely on your work to speak for itself may leave you overlooked in a competitive field. Getting out of the office and into local conferences, […]
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Adam Simmons
•
The United States is facing a looming crisis in its geodesy workforce,
threatening the nation's capacity to maintain and advance this essential
science. Our research delves into the definition, applications, and history
of geodesy in the US, examining the workforce challenges and potential
consequences if this crisis remains unaddressed.
Though it’s been about a week since we sent it out there, I just recalled that I haven’t alerted all of you to the 2025 edition of the freelance cartographer survey that Aly Ollivierre and I conduct. Due to popular demand, we are going to try conducting it annually, rather than biennially. This survey is … Continue reading 2025 AFC Freelancer Survey →
Friends, I’m excited to share that I have just completed a world physical map, in my new asymmetric monstrosity projection. It’s free to download, or if you want to buy a 30″ × 20″ print, you can also do that (and I will be pleasantly surprised). If you download it and print it yourself, I … Continue reading A Usefully Useless Projection →
It’s amazing what you can find when you plug in an old external hard drive. I recently rearranged my desk and realized that one of the external drives on top of my desktop Linux machine had apparently been unplugged for a while. I plugged it in to see what it held, and there were a … Continue reading A Geospatial Time Capsule →
BIM, or Building Information Modeling, is a smart way to design buildings. It creates virtual 3D models about the its materials and systems.
The post BIM – Building Information Modeling appeared first on GIS Geography.
In the last couple of months a total of 57 new plugins were published in the QGIS plugin repository. Highlights… Read more Plugin Update – February to March, 2025
Depending on your point of view, “vibe coding” – using generative AI to iteratively develop code by using natural language to describe desired functionality – is either revolutionary or the slippery slope to deploying poor, irresponsible software. While both viewpoints have merit, I fall somewhere in the middle. As a programmer who is approaching 50 … Continue reading “Vibe Coding” a Mock API →
Geospatial Frontiers - Project Geospatial
• By Keith Barber
•
The high cost of commercial remote sensing data is a major obstacle to
widespread adoption. As Keith Barber notes, 'Right now, the price point is
such that it's still cheaper to go hire 150 guys to walk that field than it
is to use the technology.' By refactoring the executability of the
commercial and government markets from a macro-economic perspective and
moving to a Defense-wide budget, the price per image or access would
decline, amortizing the value and creating a price point where commercial
adoption would rapidly increase, essentially baselining the cost.
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By NLT Staff
•
We’re excited to announce that New Light Technologies (NLT) is once again a proud sponsor of FedGeoDay, happening April 22, 2025, in Washington, D.C. at the American Red Cross Building – DOI Yates Auditorium.
I’m happy to once again be participating in a DMV GIS Day event. GIS Day is still months away, but Cercana Systems is partnering again with New Light Technologies on a “Midpoint Meetup.” Like the inaugural event, it is a free virtual event. The midyear event will be about two hours long and serves as … Continue reading DMV GIS Midpoint Meetup 2025 →
CapMetro's recent feature in an Esri case study highlights their development of a cloud-based geospatial infrastructure. Key efforts include automating data pipelines and migrating to Azure, aimed at enhancing operational efficiency and providing real-time spatial data for better decision-making in transit services.
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By NLT Staff
•
We are excited to announce the DMV GIS Day 2025: Midpoint Meetup, a follow up to the inaugural DMV GIS Day 2024. This is where the dynamic geospatial community of the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) region comes together to showcase the history, latest innovations, applications, and trends in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). This half-day event highlights the diverse ecosystem of GIS professionals, organizations, and enthusiasts working to solve real-world challenges using cutting-edge geospatial technologies in our community.
TGE hosted a workshop to begin the second phase of our collaboration on AI for Earth Observation and Field Boundaries. Learn how to get involved.
The post AI for Satellite Imagery: Fields of the World Phase 2 Begins appeared first on Taylor Geospatial Engine.
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By NLT Staff
•
NLT at the 2025 North Carolina GIS Conference
From March 18-21, 2025, Winston-Salem, North Carolina held its annual NC GIS conference, a dynamic gathering of state, local government, academic, and industry professionals dedicated to leveraging GIS for real-world solutions. New Light Technologies (NLT) proudly participated as a platinum exhibitor and Herb Stout award sponsor, making their first appearance and engaging deeply with the incredible North Carolina GIS community, demonstrating their latest geospatial innovations and strengthening collaborative partnerships for mission success.
For the past two years, have been working with a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) provider supporting various data architecture and geospatial activities. This is a classic infrastructure business that cycles through phases of design, construction, and maintenance as the built environment changes. This leads to a lot classic GIS editing over time – which can mean the … Continue reading GeoParquet Backup and Restore →
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By NLT Staff
•
Unveiling the Drive Behind New Light Technologies' Bold Move
New Light Technologies (NLT) has long been a beacon of innovation in the realms of technology, geospatial science, and data solutions. However, the company is now poised to illuminate a new path by venturing into the lighting industry. This strategic pivot seems both unexpected and ingenious, rooted in the convergence of brand perception and market demand. Over the years, NLT has been inundated with inquiries about lighting solutions, from LED retrofits to smart lighting systems, and even decorative fixtures. This surge in interest highlighted an intriguing opportunity: the potential to expand their brand into an industry closely aligned with their name and ethos.
The geospatial industry faces a critical challenge: we're drowning in data but starving for efficient ways to use it. A recent panel at GeoBuiz 2025 revealed how open map data collaboration might be the solution we need.
The post Overture Maps Foundation at GeoBuiz 2025: Eliminating The Conflation Tax on Geospatial Data appeared first on Overture Maps Foundation.
As the AAG has just wrapped up I thought I would write brief (well actually quite long) post on the talks that I was involved with at the conference. These talks would not have been possible without the many great students and colleagues who I have been collaborating with over time. Below you will find a brief summary of the talks and if any sound interesting, please reach out and we can give you more details. First up (in order in which they were presented) was "Utilizing Streetview Images for Mapping Building Attributes with ChatGPT" with Qingqing Chen and Linda See. In this talk we discussed how multimodal Large Language Models are giving us a new way to study cities, in the sense, lowering the boundary for information extraction. Using ChatGPT and street view images from Mapillary as an example, we showed how one can extract building age, usage (e.g., commercial, mixed use, residential) and estimate building height which could all be used to inform urban climate models which...
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
At the end of yesterday’s TimeGPT for mobility post, we concluded that TimeGPT’s trainingset probably included a copy of the popular BikeNYC timeseries dataset and that, therefore, we were not looking at a fair comparison. Naturally, it’s hard to find mobility timeseries datasets online that haven’t been widely disseminated and therefore may have slipped past …Read More
In this post, you will learn how to work with the Open Buildings 2.5D Temporal data and download it for many useful downstream applications, such as Visibility Analysis, Population Modeling, and 3D Visualization. Google has two important large-scale AI-derived open building datasets: We will cover a Google Earth Engine workflow to process this data to […]
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
tldr; Maybe. Preliminary results certainly are impressive. Introduction Crowd and flow predictions have been very popular topics in mobility data science. Traditional forecasting methods rely on classic machine learning models like ARIMA, later followed by deep learning approaches such as ST-ResNet. More recently, foundation models for timeseries forecasting, such as TimeGPT, Chronos, and LagLlama have …Read More
I recently gave a careers talk to students at Solent University, and through that I got to know a MSc student there who had previous GIS experience and was now doing a Data Analytics and AI MSc course. Her GIS experience was mostly in the ESRI stack (ArcGIS and related tools) and she was keen […]
Tell Us About Yourself I’m Bernie Connors, a Geomatics Engineer from Fredericton, New Brunswick in Atlantic Canada. I have been working in GIS since 1993 and I have worked for the Province of New Brunswick since 1997. I manage an ArcGIS Server architecture that is used to share the province’s rich GIS resources as online […]
The post Maps and Mappers 2025 – March – Bernie Conners appeared first on GeoHipster.
Tell us About Yourself: I’m a cartographer at Woodwell Climate Research Center where I make maps that communicate climate science to address the climate crisis. Previously I was a graphics editor at National Geographic magazine where I made maps on topics ranging from climate change to conservation and biodiversity. My background is in physical geography, […]
The post Maps and Mappers of 2025 – February – Christina Shintani appeared first on GeoHipster.
The “Security project for QGIS” is now public ! Pledge now ! The goal of this project is to mutualize funding to improve QGIS security to the highest levels. Oslandia...
Mapidea Location Analytics Blog
• By Mapidea Location Intelligence
•
Data drives decisions, but where that data comes from—or converges—can be
the key differentiator. By weaving geospatial analytics into your everyday
workflows, you unlock the ability to detect trends, spot opportunities, and
handle obstacles more proactively.
Last year we put out a call for abstracts for presentations for our sessions Geosimulations for Addressing Societal Challenges. The session description is as follows: There is an urgent need for research that promotes sustainability in an era of societal challenges ranging from climate change, population growth, aging and wellbeing to that of pandemics. These need to be directly fed into policy. We, as a Geosimulation community, have the skills and knowledge to use the latest theory, models and evidence to make a positive and disruptive impact. These include agent-based modeling, microsimulation and increasingly, machine learning methods. However, there are several key questions that we need to address which we seek to cover in this session. For example, What do we need to be able to contribute to policy in a more direct and timely manner? What new or existing research approaches are needed? How can we make sure they are robust enough to be used in decision making? How can...
NLT Blog - New Light Technologies
• By NLT Staff
•
Introduction
New Light Technologies team member, Douglas Rose, recently attended the annual Earthquake Summit, a premier event that brings together hundreds of professionals to explore the latest insights on earthquake risks, preparedness strategies, and recovery planning in the Midwest. Featuring expert-led sessions on best practices in earthquake response, transportation resilience, healthcare readiness, communication strategies, and utility impacts, the summit provided invaluable knowledge for communities and organizations striving to enhance their disaster preparedness. With a diverse lineup of speakers and sessions, this free event also offered professional development opportunities, reinforcing its role as a crucial gathering for those dedicated to seismic resilience.
Satellite Earth observation is at a crossroads, balancing national defense priorities, environmental monitoring, and commercial innovation. As competition intensifies and AI-driven analytics reshape the industry, the sector faces key challenges: pricing models, regulatory shifts, and the push for actionable intelligence over raw imagery. With market consolidation on the horizon, the future of Earth observation lies in the ability to extract value from data while navigating geopolitical and technological disruptions. 🚀
GNSS vs GPS: GNSS is an umbrella for multiple navigational satellites. Under this umbrella, GPS, along with other systems, finds its place.
The post GNSS vs GPS: What’s the Difference? appeared first on GIS Geography.
..and everything is changing geospatial. If I were to characterize the last five years, I would use the word complex. We have a changing climate, with seemingly more extreme events every day. We are seeing increasing international tensions break out into kinetic conflict. The pillars of entrenched economic systems are creaking under the weight of fragile […]
The post Geospatial is Changing Everything appeared first on Sparkgeo.
I did a post a while back which was just a lot of links to things I found interesting, mostly in the geospatial/data/programming sphere. Since then I’ve collected a lot more links – so here are some of them. The theme, such as there is, seems to be ‘this would have really helped me about […]
As always, this post is very delayed – apologies. In fact, I was encouraged to write this by a friend who I see at PyData Southampton (Hi, if you’re reading this!). I mentioned my talk in passing to her, and she asked if I’d blogged about it yet. I admitted that I hadn’t, and promised […]
Geospatial technology is the modern expression of geography, encompassing geographic information systems, remote sensing, and surveying technology. “Geospatial technology” is a convenient catch-all term for anything with a location component. The problem is that geography is quite literally everywhere, and modern geospatial technology is, in fact, changing everything.
Whether you are a parent who happens to be a geospatial veteran or want to help educate the next generation, check out these ideas to help the next generation develop integral geospatial skills and understanding.
Maps, Tattoos, & Geospatial Views
• By Brian Monheiser
•
A few weeks ago, I posed a simple yet thought-provoking question to the geospatial community on LinkedIn, one that many found difficult to answer, including myself:
In the past I have blogged about disasters, but mainly from a social media or agent-based modeling perspective. However, after the devastating wildfires that impacted parts of Los Angeles County earlier this year led me to wonder how resilient are cities to such events? Or more generally, what role could urban analytics play on the various stages of disaster management (i.e., preparation, response, recovery, and mitigation), or how can data, models, and methods at the disposal of researchers be leveraged to better prepare us for future disasters and be linked to policy?If these questions sound of interest, I encourage you to go and read a short editorial that I recently published in Environment and Planning B entitled "Cities and Disasters: What can Urban Analytics Do?"Full referece: Crooks, A.T. (2024), Cities and Disasters: What can Urban Analytics Do?, Environment and Planning B, 52(3): 523-526. (pdf)
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
In today’s post, we (that is, Gaspard Merten from Universite Libre de Bruxelles and yours truly) are going to dive deep into how to analyze public transport data, using both schedule and real time information. This collaboration has been made possible by the EMERALDS project. Previously, I already shared news about GTFS algorithms for Trajectools that …Read More
OK, it has been a while since the last time I published this data, but I have a valid excuse.
The most striking feature of the 2024 chart is the zero’ing out of IBM’s piece of the pie. Big Blue, which once billed the government $107M in a year, has been reduced to a billing rate of less than $5M per year over the last two years.
Everything else feels more or less the same. After seven years of NDP government, the overall trajectory of outsourcing growth has beeen flattened, but in no way reversed. It is a smaller proportion of overall spend, but the substantial change wrought by the Campbell Liberal government starting around 2005 has been durable – BC IT has a huge outsourced component still.
The initial surge in smaller local companies after 2017 stalled out by 2021 and had been flat since.
The most consistent grower is now CGI, which entered the Victoria market around 2005 and has grown to $60M/year in billings with consistent year-over-year increases.
Back to entry 1
I recently “celebrated” my “cancerversary”, the one-year mark since my GI doctor phoned me up and said the fateful words – “you have cancer”.
At that moment, my universe shrank down immensely. All the external stuff, job, professional relationships, volunteerism, just kind of fell away, I had no mental space for it. It was just me and my immediate family and the many, many unknowns.
My experience since then has included two major physical insults. The “curative” surgery that removed most of my rectum, and the associated c.difficle infection that brutally wrecked my GI tract.
The insults really knocked me back. Moving around the house involved effort. Meals would lead to stomach pain and long sessions on the toilet. Runs were replaced with walks and then shorter walks. A trip to the cafe became my gold standard for “getting out”.
Now, I am immensely “better” than I was this summer. But I am still a very long way from the physical condition I was before (which was...
The GRASS GIS 8.4.1 release provides more than 80 improvements and fixes with respect to the release 8.4.0. Enjoy!
The post GRASS GIS 8.4.1 released appeared first on Markus Neteler Consulting.
We are pleased to announce that the minutes from the QGIS.ORG Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2024 are now available for… Read more QGIS.ORG Annual General Meeting 2024 – Minutes Now Available
While traditional images are taken from directly above, oblique imagery captures them at an angle. Learn more about oblique images.
The post What Is Oblique Imagery? appeared first on GIS Geography.
We are delighted to announce a special track on “Integrating Large-Language Models and Geospatial Foundation Models to Enhance Spatial Reasoning in ABMs” as part of the Social Simulation Conference 2025, 25th to 29th August 2025 at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. Full conference details can be found at the end of this email.Abstract for the Special Track: Recent developments in the use of large language models (LLMs) offer exciting opportunities to control agent behaviour in potentially more realistic and nuanced ways than has previously been possible. However, an LLM-backed agent can only interface with their surroundings through text prompts, which is severely limiting. The integration of large language models (LLMs) and geospatial foundation models (GFMs) presents an exciting opportunity to use AI techniques to advance agent-based modelling for spatial applications, potentially allowing for agents with more comprehensive behavioural realism, as well as an improved...
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
The Trajectools repository is migrating from GitHub to Codeberg. The new home for Trajectools is: ➡️ https://codeberg.org/movingpandas/trajectools The GitHub repo remains as a writable mirror, for now, but the issue tracking is only active on Codeberg. Why the move? I am working on moving my projects to European infrastructure that better aligns with my values. …Read More
FOSS4G:BG: Open GIS conference is coming early in March as a local FOSS4G event in Bulgaria organized by the QGIS.bg community. The event will span in two days, having a day with workshops with deep dive in different topics and a second day with conference presentations.
Introduction Geospatial data volumes and complexity are growing due to diverse sources, such as GPS, satellite imagery, and sensor data. Traditional geospatial processing methods face challenges, including scalability, handling various formats, and ensuring data consistency. The medallion architecture offers a layered approach to data management, improving data processing, reliability, and scalability. While the medallion architecture […]
Maps, Tattoos, & Geospatial Views
• By Brian Monheiser
•
Around this time last year, we made a pivotal decision, GEO261 needed a true headquarters, a space that reflected not just where we worked, but who we were evolving.
The post explores an SQL query using DuckDB and OvertureMaps data to
extract, filter, and visualize pizza places in Switzerland. All these steps
can be done in one line, and the generated map of Swiss pizza places can be
viewed immediately using PMTiles.
We are pleased to announce the release of QGIS 3.42 Münster! Installers for Windows, Linux, and Mac are already out.… Read more QGIS 3.42 Münster is released!
Dear QGIS Community, We are very pleased to announce that this year’s round of grants is now available. The call… Read more QGIS Grants #10: Call for Grant Proposals 2025
A funny thing happened when I wrote up my 2025 book list – a lot of the books were parts of pairings. And I started wondering what other pairings I had read that were memorable.
So here’s another list!
Wicked, Gregory Maguire and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, L. Frank Baum
You wouldn’t know it to look at me (or would you?) but I am a person who has read all 14 books of the original L. Frank Baum Oz series. From “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” to “Glinda of Oz” and all in between.
As… that kind of person, I was truly tickled to pick up “Wicked” a couple years ago and take in not only the invented back-story of the Wicked Witch of the West (Elphaba), but also all the references to the Oz world that Maguire builds into his narrative. “Wicked” is the best kind of reimagining, one that manages a completely fresh story, but without tearing down the original source material on the way. Maguire clearly is also… that kind of person, and he treats Oz with respect while building a totally fresh...
Introduction When combining open-source GIS tools with the ArcGIS ecosystem, there are a handful of challenges one can encounter. The compatibility of data formats, issues with interoperability, tool chain fragmentation, and performance at scale come to mind quickly. However, the use of the open-source Python library GeoPandas can be an effective way of working around […]
Safe Software highlighted CapMetro's Geospatial Program in a success story, showcasing the integration of FME and ArcGIS to enhance transit operations, planning, and performance management. Their comprehensive GIS platform automates workflows and utilizes real-time data, ensuring decision-makers have access to vital information.
The Swiss Rooftop Explorer is a cloud-native web app that retrieves
Swiss building roof heights without a GIS server. Using PMTiles,
Geoparquet, and DuckDB-WASM, it enables fast, low-maintenance geospatial
queries. This post explores the data pipeline and its benefits of cloud-optimized
formats, and how static files can replace traditional GIS infrastructure.
GIS supports various ways to explore spatial relationships. Among these, fishnets stand out for their utility in spatial analysis.
The post Fishnets in GIS: An Overview appeared first on GIS Geography.
Literacy skills, are essential for enabling students to develop their geographical understanding and being able to communicate this, both in writing and verbally. In order for students to be able to develop their literacy skills and become confident with reading, writing, speaking and listening, to enable communication and geographical understanding, vocabulary plays a key role.Continue reading "The Importance of Vocabulary Learning in the Geography Classroom"
Use Tailscale to build your own gated community (a.k.a. VPN) within the public
internet: bypass geo-blocking, remotely control your smart home, and quickly
provide services as a developer.
Time should be a first-class citizen in geospatial. In many ways, measuring change might always have been geospatial's killer app. But are we giving time enough structured attention?
Learn about our plan for Phase 2 of the AI for Earth Observation and Field Boundaries Initiative and how to get involved.
The post Join TGE in Phase 2 of AI for Earth Observation and Field Boundaries appeared first on Taylor Geospatial Engine.
50+ Female Product Manager/Senior GIS Analyst at North Road, Program Chair FOSS4G Oceania 2022-2024, QGIS AU Committee Q. Emma, Where in the world are you and what do you do? In sunny South East Queensland where the winter temperatures are in the 20° (Celsius degrees), but I am more of a -1° Celsius gal. I […]
The post When I was 15 years old, I proclaimed I would be a cartographer appeared first on GeoHipster.
Seven months ago, we issued A Call to Action for the Data Community to break down geospatial data silos and make GIS a core part of analytics. Today, we’re thrilled to announce two major developments that bring this vision closer to reality:
The Parquet specification has officially adopted geospatial guidance, enabling native storage of GEOMETRY and GEOGRAPHY types
Iceberg 3 now includes GEOMETRY and GEOGRAPHY as part of its official specification
Now both Parquet and Iceberg support columns of type GEOMETRY or GEOGRAPHY just like INT32, INT64, FLOAT32, etc. columns! Yay! This is a landmark achievement for geospatial data! 🎉
A Community Achievement
First, a heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed to this effort—engineers, early adopters, and advocates who pushed for geospatial data to be treated as a first-class citizen. This milestone wasn’t achieved overnight; it took years of collaboration across organizations and...
The GRASS GIS 8.4.1RC1 release provides more than 70 improvements and fixes with respect to the release 8.4.0. Please support us in testing this release candidate.
The post GRASS GIS 8.4.1RC1 released appeared first on Markus Neteler Consulting.
January, the first month of 2025, brought us 36 new plugins, published in the QGIS plugin repository. Here follows the… Read more Plugin Update – January, 2025
Installing the most widely used open-source GIS software on the most popular Linux distribution should be straightforward, yet it often raises questions and even problems. This guide walks you through the process so you can refer back to it whenever needed.
The post Innovation Bridge 2024 Wrapped: A collaboration to build a global dataset using AI and satellite imagery appeared first on Taylor Geospatial Engine.
For PostGIS Day this year I researched a little into one of my favourite topics, the history of relational databases. I feel like in general we do not pay a lot of attention to history in software development. To quote Yoda, “All his life has he looked away… to the future, to the horizon. Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing.”
Anyways, this year I took on the topic of the early history of spatial databases in particular. There was a lot going on in the ’90s in the field, and in many ways PostGIS was a late entrant, even though it gobbled up a lot of the user base eventually.
This blog post was first published on Chris’ personal blog on February 9, 2025 and is being cross posted here.
Have you benefitted from Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF’s? SpatioTemporal Asset Catalogs? Zarr, COPC or GeoParquet? Not just the formats, but the whole ecosystem of tools and data around it? Well I’d like to present you with an incredibly easy opportunity to ‘pay it forward’ and help build and expand the movement. And all you have to do is attend a conference! One that should be a totally awesome experience, the first in-person CNG Conference, from April 30th to May 2nd.
I have big dreams for this conference, as my hope is that it can expand in the next few years to become a truly vendor-neutral gathering for anyone working in and around geospatial data. To be one of those conferences that has the critical mass where you know ‘everyone’ you want to talk to will be there. In North America there’s really only two options for this: Esri...
Tell Us About Yourself My name is Kseniia. Right now, I am a student in the International Cartography Master program, but before starting my studies, I worked for many years as an analyst in the field of urban and transport planning. I think it’s because this field often involves working with different barriers (physical, social […]
The post Maps and Mappers 2025 – January – Kseniia Nifontova appeared first on GeoHipster.
Paul shows you how to access raster data stored in the cloud or object storage for PostGIS using cloud optimized GeoTIFF (aka COG) files. He also includes some functions for working with raster elevation.
In previous posts we have noted how one can explore urban issues through newspapers, while at the same time we have used social media to explore trends in vaccinations. In a recently published paper in PLOS Digital Health entitled "From print to perspective: A mixed-method analysis of the convergence and divergence of COVID-19 topics in newspapers and interviews" with Qingqing Chen, Adam Sullivan, Jennifer Surtees, Laurene Tumiel-Berhalter and myself, we thought we would explore how COVID-19 was reported in newspapers and how this varied from interviews. The rationale behind this was that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to diverse experiences influenced by public health measures like lockdowns and social distancing. To explore these dynamics, we introduce a novel ’big-thick’ data approach that integrates extensive U.S. newspaper data with detailed interviews. By employing natural language processing (NLP) and geoparsing techniques, we identify key topics related to the pandemic and...
Introduction The geospatial industry has seen significant transformation with the rise of open-source solutions. Tools like QGIS, PostGIS, OpenLayers, and GDAL have provided alternatives to proprietary GIS software, providing cost-effective, customizable, and community-driven mapping and spatial analysis capabilities. While open-source GIS thrives on collaboration and accessibility, it still operates within a competitive landscape influenced by […]
Cloud-Native Geospatial represents a significant shift in how geospatial data is processed, stored, and analyzed. This approach offers GIS Professionals greater scalability, allowing them to handle massive datasets without relying on traditional and often limited on-premise infrastructure. Additionally, the cloud-native approach enhances collaboration by enabling multiple users to access and work on shared datasets in real-time, regardless of their physical location, helping to eliminate data silos. This level of accessibility and flexibility empowers GIS professionals to deliver faster results, streamline workflows, and adapt to the growing demands of modern geospatial applications.
What is Cloud-Native Geospatial?
Cloud-native geospatial refers to the practice of leveraging cloud-based technologies and architectures to handle geospatial data in the cloud, ideally without migrating it between heavy/purpose-built storage and file formats. This approach focuses on...
XTools Pro is a special add-on for ArcMap and ArcGIS Pro. It’s mostly a tool for GIS analysis. But it has a fair share of productivity tools.
The post 7 Best Features of XTools Pro appeared first on GIS Geography.
Following up on my last post, I wanted to share some more details about the experience of using AI tools to code a plugin for QGIS, one that has seen some reasonable success, with over 2000 downloads in the past couple of months. My hope is to inspire others to make their own QGIS plugins and other geospatial tools, as I think more people doing AI-assisted coding has the potential to accelerate the momentum of the open source ecosystem.
Cursor & QGIS — awesome together :)
Can you really code a QGIS plug-in just using AI tools?
Before we dig in I want to give everyone who is not a coder some encouragement to jump in and try things out. The quick answer is yes! You can code a QGIS plug-in even if you’re not a software developer. I’m sure you’ve seen the videos of people building cool things with AI tools, but it can still be hard to actually dive into it. For me the most important thing is to have a real problem you’re...
The post discusses AI hallucination - when AI generates incorrect
information. It explores two main problems: user frustration with incorrect
outputs and uncertainty about managing these errors long-term. Using a
geodetic network analogy, it explains how AI errors can propagate like
measurement errors in surveying, suggesting we need better frameworks for
detecting and managing hallucinations.
Some maps are timeless. While others, well, they have time in them. This list of 10 ways to show time in maps for temporal maps.
The post Time in Maps: 10 Types of Temporal Maps appeared first on GIS Geography.
I have been watching the codification of spatial data types into GeoParquet and now GeoIceberg with some interest, since the work is near and dear to my heart.
Writing a disk serialization for PostGIS is basically an act of format standardization – albeit a standard with only one consumer – and many of the same issues that the Parquet and Iceberg implementations are thinking about are ones I dealt with too.
Here is an easy one: if you are going to use well-known binary for your serialiation (as GeoPackage, and GeoParquet do) you have to wrestle with the fact that the ISO/OGC standard for WKB does not describe a standard way to represent empty geometries.
Empty geometries come up frequently in the OGC/ISO standards, and they are simple to generate in real operations – just subtract a big thing from a small thing.
SELECT ST_AsText(ST_Difference(
'POLYGON((0 0, 1 0, 1 1, 0 1, 0 0))',
'POLYGON((-1 -1, 3 -1, 3 3, -1 3, -1 -1))'
))
If you have a data set and are running...
Last month I released my first QGIS plug-in, and promised I’d write an in-depth post about it. I’ll give an overview and dig into some of the motivations, and then I’ll put the details of my experience of coding with AI in its own follow up post.
Background
I’ve been a long time QGIS user, though am very far from an expert — I mostly open different files and visualize them. I’ve never been able to afford an Esri license, so it’s QGIS all the way for me. And I’ve always loved the plugin ecosystem: the fact that many people worldwide are adding all kinds of functionality so that anyone can customize it to their needs is just awesome, and a testament to the power of open source. There’s still things Esri can do better, but we’re now at the point where there’s a lot of things QGIS can do better.
I also recently have ‘become a coder’ again, thanks to the power of AI tools. I’ll dive into more of the experience in my next post, but it meant...
The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) into geospatial technology is fundamentally reshaping industries, from urban development and environmental conservation to logistics and disaster relief. With businesses increasingly adopting AI-powered geospatial solutions, the need for professionals who can harness these tools is higher than ever. To stay ahead, hiring teams must grasp the evolving landscape and […]
In the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Donald Trump made a historic comeback to the White House by securing around 50% of the popular vote.
The post US Election of 2024 Map appeared first on GIS Geography.
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
Today, I’m super excited to share with you the announcement that our open source textbook “Geocomputation with Python” has finally arrived in print and is now available for purchase from Routledge.com, Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and other booksellers. “Geocomputation with Python” (or geocompy for short) covers the entire range of standard GIS operations for both vector and …Read More
What is Strategic Planning and Why Does it Matter? Strategic planning is one of the most important things you can do for your organization. It helps you not only paint the picture of where you want your organization to be in the future, but also draws the roadmap for how you’re going to get there. […]
In previous posts, we have written how large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can be used in various urban analytical applications. We have kept exploring this potential especially with respect to citizen science applications. To this end we have just published a new paper in iScience, entitled "New Directions in Mapping the Earth’s Surface with Citizen Science and Generative AI". In the paper, lead by Linda See, we discuss how multi-modal LLMs (MLLMs) which are like LMMs but can take different forms of inputs (e.g., text, images, video) and output multi-modal information (e.g., take an image and output a description) could be leveraged to enhance citizen science land cover/land use mapping campaigns. If this sounds of interest, below you can read the abstract to the paper, see some of the figures we use to build our argument, while at the bottom of the post you can see the full reference and a link to the actual paper.Abstract: As more satellite imagery has become openly...
I know it’s short notice, but I wanted to let you all know that I’m doing a livestream tomorrow. It’s been well over 2½ years since my last one. I’ll be covering a few monochrome maps I made for an upcoming book. Please come on by to ask questions, offer feedback, and share your thoughts … Continue reading Going Live →
A goal for me this year is to ‘ship more’, so in the spirit of releasing early and often I wanted to share a little new project I got going this past weekend. See https://github.com/cholmes/geoparquet-tools.
It’s a collection of utilities for things I often want to do but that aren’t trivial out of the box with DuckDB. It started focused on just checking GeoParquet files for ‘best practices’, which I’ve been working on writing up in this pull request, as I realized that lots of people are publishing awesome data as GeoParquet but don’t always pick the best options (and the tools don’t always set the best defaults). So it can check compression, if there’s a bbox column, and row group size. It also attempts to check if a file is spatially ordered, but I’m not sure if it works across different types of approaches. It does seem to work with Hilbert curves generated from DuckDB.
I do need to refine the row group...
DuckDB continues to be my go to tool for geospatial processing, after I discovered it over a year ago. Since that time its functionality has continued to expand, and as of version 1.1 it reads and writes GeoParquet natively, as long as you have the spatial extension installed.
LOAD spatial; CREATE TABLE fields AS (SELECT * from 'https://data.source.coop/kerner-lab/fields-of-the-world-cambodia/boundaries_cambodia_2021.parquet'); COPY fields TO 'cambodia-fields.parquet';
Be sure to always run LOAD spatial; or the table won’t get a geometry column, it will just create blobs. If you see errors or your output data is just Parquet and not GeoParquet that’s likely the source of your problems. I often forget to add it at the beginning of my sessions — perhaps there is some nice way to configure DuckDB to always load it, but I don’t know it (yet).
I also do recommend that you always use zstd compression, as it generally results in at least 20% smaller files, and its speed is...
Wir haben etwas auf die letzten Monate zurückgeschaut. Was hat unsere Kunden und uns bewegt? Was haben wir als relevante und interessante Themen angeschaut und im Blog behandelt? Manchmal wird man sich dessen aufgrund der dynamischen Entwicklungen in manchen Tätigkeitsbereichen von EBP gar nicht in der ganzen Breite bewusst. Aus diesem Grund haben wir in …
Die GRASS GIS-Community würdigt die langjährigen Beiträge von Roger Bivand zur Entwicklung des rgrass-Pakets.
The post Großer Dank an Roger Bivand! appeared first on Markus Neteler Consulting.
We are thrilled to announce the development of the BNG Co-Pilot, an innovative platform for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) assessment supported by the Taylor Geospatial Institute (TGI) and Amazon Web Service (AWS). This groundbreaking initiative applies Generative AI and advanced geospatial analytics to address the complexities of ensuring that land development projects in the UK […]
The post Introducing BNG Co-Pilot appeared first on Sparkgeo.
The PostGIS Team is pleased to release PostGIS 3.5.2.
This version requires PostgreSQL 12 - 17, GEOS 3.8 or higher, and Proj 6.1+.
To take advantage of all features, GEOS 3.12+ is needed.
SFCGAL 1.4+ is needed to enable postgis_sfcgal support.
To take advantage of all SFCGAL features, SFCGAL 1.5+ is needed.
3.5.2
source download md5
NEWS
PDF docs: en ja, fr, zh_Hans
HTML Online en ja fr zh_Hans
Cheat Sheets:
postgis: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_raster: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_topology: en ja fr zh_Hans
postgis_sfcgal: en ja fr zh_Hans
address standardizer, postgis_tiger_geocoder: en ja fr zh_Hans
This release is a bug fix release that includes bug fixes since PostGIS 3.5.1.
In this experiment I used AI to automate architecture documentation by
testing Aider (an AI coding assistant). After just 5 minutes and 5 prompts,
I generated a decent C4 diagram for a Streamlit web application. While not
perfect, this experiment shows the promising future of AI-assisted
documentation.
Whether you're a student charting your career path or a professional looking to pivot into a new industry, there are numerous ways to gain the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in Geospatial.
"Playground" by Richard Powers explores the interplay of
technological ambition and environmental concerns, highlighting
tensions between progress and preservation through diverse characters
on a remote island.
Die BIM-Methodik und der damit verbundene BIM- und Daten-Lebenszyklus werden meist anhand des Ideals “Projekt auf der grünen Wiese” (z.B. Neubau einer Immobilie) dargestellt. Je länger die BIM-Methodik jedoch in (Pilot-)Projekten praktiziert wird, desto deutlicher wird, dass dieses theoretische Ideal des einfachen Lebenszyklus-Pfeils mit interagierenden Akteuren, den Anforderungen der Praxis und insbesondere des Infrastrukturbaus nicht …
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
In this new release, you will find new algorithms, default output styles, and other usability improvements, in particular for working with public transport schedules in GTFS format, including: Note: To use this new version of Trajectools, please upgrade your installation of MovingPandas to >= 0.21.2, e.g. using import pip; pip.main(['install', '--upgrade', 'movingpandas']) or conda install …Read More
Spatial Data Science - Medium
• By Stephen Chege
•
Understanding your data’s coordinates is the first step to turning spatial information into actionable insights.Continue reading on Spatial Data Science »
In 2025, research on the web involves using ChatGPT for specific
technical queries while considering sources and environmental impact, as
Google's search has become less efficient.
Another post over break! This one also comes from a student’s suggestion on how to use Weather data in the form of gridded NetCDFs. This is a common format of the weather data provided by NOAA. The data are set up as a time-stacked set of rasters or spacetime cubes. The downloads have multiple years’ […]
This article describes "star-collector," a tool for automatically
publishing web favorites using GitHub Actions and AI-generated titles,
leveraging transformers for title creation from Mastodon posts.
One of the most fun parts of being involved in GeoParquet is that I get to hear about all the amazing tools that people are writing to scale geospatial analysis above and beyond what the stack I’m familiar with can handle. GeoPandas (Python) and sf (R) are great tools but the struggle to scale as you approach the available memory on your laptop. On the other hand, Arrow, DuckDB, Polars, DataFusion, and the other new fangled databases struggle to efficiently handle spatial joins (although perhaps by the time I’m done writing this post or by the time you are reading it, this will have changed!).
Apache Sedona sits at the intersection of these technologies, joining PostGIS as a go-to tool to reach for as data gets big and you need the streaming capabilities of a database alongside index-assisted spatial-aware joins. Instead of extending PostgreSQL, Sedona extends Spark and has embraced newer/faster file formats like GeoParquet.
If you are familiar with Spark, using Sedona is probably...
I did a lot of reading last year, a lot, perhaps because I had a lot of down time. I tend to read before going to sleep, and recovery from surgery and other things means I go to bed early and then fill the time between bed and sleep with books. Books, books, and more books.
To be totally precise, I read books on a Kindle, which allows me to read in the middle of the night in the dark with the back light. Also to read from any position, since all books are the same, light weight when consumed via an e-reader. I am a full e-reader convert.
Anyway, I’ve had means, motive and opportunity, and I read a tonne. Some of it was bad, some of it was good, some of it was memorable, some not. Of the 50 or so books I read last year, here are ten that made me go “yes, that was good and memorable”.
Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver
I used to read Booker Prize winners, but I found the match to my taste was hit-and-miss. The Pullitzer Prize nominees list, on the other hand, has given me piles...
Managing geospatial data effectively is an important challenge for organizations that use location information for decision-making. Portfolio management for geospatial data involves organizing, evaluating, and prioritizing datasets to maximize their value while minimizing redundancy, inefficiency, and cost. However, such data carries a unique set of challenges that require deliberate strategies to address. Metadata management plays […]
Welcome to GeoAI Unpacked! I am Ali Ahmadalipour and in this newsletter, I share insights and deep dives in geospatial AI, focusing on business opportunities and industry challenges.
With many students graduating, I have had questions about how long will my ArcGIS Online account live and how can I move my work to another so I can keep a portfolio. Most schools only keep accounts open for a semester or two after graduation, and others right after graduation. So your best bet is […]
Introducing Topoprint.ch, a platform for creating personalized,
3D-printable topographic models of any location in Switzerland, accessible
through social media bots. This post explains the "what," the "why,"
and a bit of the "how.".
Geospatial | Towards Data Science
• By Tony Albanese
•
Making the bears play nice
The post Harnessing Polars and Geopandas to Generate Millions of Transects in Seconds appeared first on Towards Data Science.
Nearly five years ago, I completed a project that, to my mind, remains the most significant of my cartographic career: An Atlas of Great Lakes Islands, manually printed in cyanotype, with a hand-stitched binding. I wanted to share this project with all of you, but there were only a few copies. So, I decided to … Continue reading Journey’s End →
Many organizations rely on geospatial technology to derive insights based on location and spatial relationship. Whether they are mapping infrastructure, analyzing environmental changes, or optimizing logistics, managing geospatial investments effectively is imperative. Two strategies, IT portfolio management and IT rationalization, can help organizations maximize the value of their geospatial assets while reducing inefficiencies. Leveraging the […]
The GRASS GIS community recognises the long-term contributions of Roger Bivand for the development of the rgrass package.
The post A big thank you to Roger Bivand! appeared first on Markus Neteler Consulting.
The PostGIS development team is pleased to provide
bug fix releases for
3.5.1,
3.4.4,
3.3.8,
3.2.8,
3.1.12
Please refer to the links above for more information about the issues resolved by these releases.
At Cercana, we have worked with geospatial systems that have run the gamut—from all-in proprietary stacks to pure open-source toolchains. As the technology landscape evolves, many organizations are blending both proprietary and open-source solutions. These hybrid architectures aim to capitalize on the best of each world, providing flexibility in how users store data, serve maps, […]
As you create your 2025 budgets, we invite you to join us as a sponsor at CNG Conference 2025 in Snowbird, Utah from April 30 to May 2, 2025. Sponsorship amplifies your organization’s visibility and aligns you with the innovators and leaders driving the future of geospatial data.
CNG Conference 2025 is designed to foster collaboration, innovation, and growth within the geospatial community, with sessions organized around four main tracks: On-ramp to Cloud-Native Geospatial Data, The Bridge Between Science and Technology, Technically Advancing Cloud-Native Geospatial, and Enabling Interoperability. These tracks will guide attendees in exploring foundational skills, interdisciplinary collaboration, technical advancements, and best practices, ensuring a comprehensive experience for professionals across the geospatial field. Through keynotes, workshops, and networking opportunities, the conference aims to advance knowledge sharing, career development, and community...
Free and Open Source GIS Ramblings
• By underdark
•
Today, I want to point out a blog post over at https://carto.com/blog/urban-mobility-insights-with-movingpandas-carto-in-snowflake written together with my fellow co-authors and EMERALDS project team member Argyrios Kyrgiazos. For the technically inclined, the highlight are the presented UDFs in Snowflake to process and transform the trajectory data. For example, here’s a TemporalSplitter UDF: You can find the full code …Read More
Geospatial | Towards Data Science
• By Lee Vaughan
•
A quick guide to prepping digital elevation data
The post USGS DEM Files: How to Load, Merge, and Crop with Python appeared first on Towards Data Science.
Last time we learned why English is a hard language, both for humans and especially for computers. For this time I think we will look at the past of NLP to understand the present. It actually has been an interesting … Continue reading →
As the holiday season wraps us in its warm embrace, we at T-Kartor can't help but reflect on a year filled with challenges, triumphs, and moments that made our hearts grow.
This past week we attended the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fall Meeting in Washington DC. At the AGU we presented two abstracts. The first follows on our work with respect to using synthetic populations within agent-based models. This work was with Na Jiang, Fuzhen Yin and Boyu Wang and entitled "A Framework for Populating Urban Digital Twins with Agents." Or more specially why digital twins need agents. Below you can see our abstract and a couple of figures showing our synthetic population workflow and how we integrate these into agent-based models. Abstract:Over the last few years, considerable efforts have been placed in creating digital twins from diverse fields ranging from engineering to urban planning and many things in-between. These digital twins have benefited from the growth and availability of computational power and data. For example, in urban planning the growth of computational resources and the explosion of spatial data sources(e.g. remote sensing) has lead to...
Kyle Barron, Cloud Engineer at Development Seed.
You’ve spent years figuring out how to visualize large geospatial datasets in web browsers. Can you tell us a bit about your background and what initially drew you to this area?
I have a bit of a nontraditional background; I have virtually no official training in geography or computer science. In college, I was interested in urban and environmental economics, trying to understand how policies shape cities and the environment. I planned to pursue a PhD in economics and after college worked for a health economics professor at MIT for two years.
In that time I learned data analysis skills, but more importantly, I learned that I preferred data analysis and coding to academic research. I decided not to pursue a PhD and left that job to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, a 2,650-mile hiking trail from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington. Over five months...
The AGU Fall Meeting 2024, the largest gathering for Earth and space science, starts this morning, Monday December 9-13 in Washington, DC. This year, there are many papers on cloud-native geospatial technologies by CNG members and other experts. This blog post highlights some key talks and posters you won’t want to miss.
Monday Dec 9
Dynamic Tiling for Earth Data Visualization: This talk explores dynamic tiling, a method for generating map tiles on-the-fly, allowing for real-time modifications and eliminating the need for constant updates. Presented by Aimee Barciauskas from Development Seed. Learn more.
Wednesday Dec 11
VirtualiZarr - Create Virtual Zarr Stores Using Xarray Syntax: This paper presents VirtualiZarr, a tool that allows accessing old file formats (like netCDF) as if they were stored in cloud-optimized formats (like Zarr). The authors will demonstrate using the Worthy Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement Efficiency Map dataset, which consists of ~40TB of data...
Spatial finance is emerging as a significant component of the geospatial landscape. As I have suggested before, this change has been happening incrementally for the last decade. That change has reached a tipping point.
As industries increasingly rely on geographic information systems (GIS) to unlock actionable insights, the demand for skilled GIS professionals has reached unprecedented heights. Hiring managers and HR professionals often face a unique challenge in sourcing and retaining top GIS talent. While our comprehensive guide on hiring GIS professionals outlines the broader hiring process, this article […]
We're excited to share the latest Iris updates, designed to deliver even more robust capabilities and a streamlined experience for our customers and partners.
There’s a great discussion going on in the GeoParquet repo about how exactly to split up GeoParquet datasets for optimal querying. This post is my adventure giving the partition strategies a shot for practicality. All things are possible with enough software engineering effort, of course, but the ability to get these things done today on a bigger-than-memory dataset is what I’m after here. Notably, using DuckDB and Apache Sedona, since DuckDB can spill to disk when it runs out of memory and Apache Sedona can run on more than one computer if you need it to.
In general, the partitioning has a few goals:
Rows in each partition should contain features that are near each other. This maximizes the chance that fewer files with highly relevant content will be downloaded for a given search area.
For a given search area, there should be as few possible files to download (i.e., partitions shouldn’t contain overlapping areas if possible).
Each partition should contain approximately the same...
A little over a two years ago I wrote about point-in-polygon joins in R using an example of parking violations in Philedelphia. This example has been written about a few times involving a GPU example, using it as example for tuning PostGIS, a GeoPandas version for comparison, and a version comparing ArcPro, QGIS, PostGIS, and Manifold.
I don’t want to downplay the parking example because it’s a realistic representation of problems on the larger end of the normal GIS realm. For many general-purpose data engineers, though, 9 million parking tickets is a drop in the bucket and the point-in-polygon counting might just be one step in a long pipeline of transformations. In particular, the problem has a crutial simplification: it fits comfortably in memory on just about any recent laptop.
Let’s take the same problem up a notch but make it big enough that the naive approach will exhaust the memory of the average day-to-day laptop. By naive approach, I mean an approach that doesn’t involve any...
QGIS Model Designer offers powerful functionality for automating workflows. Many workflows are based on conditional logic that can generate different outputs based on the inputs provided. This post shows how to setup a QGIS model that can skip certain steps if those optional inputs are not provided. This is achieved using the Conditional branch algorithm […]
Jira is a powerful tool for managing Geospatial Programs, especially when integrated with Confluence and Bitbucket. This combination enhances task organization, documentation, and collaboration. Features such as task linking, smart commits, and expansive writing capabilities streamline complex project management, making these tools essential for optimizing workflows and improving efficiency.
Crunchy Data hosted an online event for PostGIS on November 21st, 2024. Paul has a wrap up post discussing the highlights and themes throughout the day.
I just shared this approach with some friends, and thought I’d blog it here too. When I get a relatively small amount of monetary compensation for something, I take the ‘Feynman Approach’ to it and buy something fun with the money, giving me a sense of satisfaction from the compensation (which, presumably, was to compensate […]
Decision-Making Information Resources & Solutions
• By proximityone
•
.. small area data refer to geographic, demographic and economic data tabulated for census blocks, block groups and census tracts — all subdivisions of counties. While these data might be produced by anyone, perhaps the most useful data in examining … Continue reading →
I know lately I’ve been in commercial mode, pointing you toward various projects of mine that you can support by giving me money. And I promise I’ll get back to less commercial musings as time goes on. But for now, I also want to alert you to a way you can give other people money, … Continue reading The Dream Lives →
Decision-Making Information Resources & Solutions
• By proximityone
•
.. using iVDA and Visual Data Analytics .. a Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer -based tool that allows users to store, analyze, visualize, and interpret geographic data. Geographic data, also known as spatial or geospatial data, identifies the … Continue reading →
We invite you to join us at CNG Conference 2025 in Snowbird, Utah from April 30 to May 2 2025.
Set against the beautiful backdrop of Snowbird, Utah, this inaugural event will convene the cloud-native geospatial community to learn from one another and collaborate to make geospatial data easier to access and use.
The event will include keynote speeches, panel discussions, hands-on workshops, networking opportunities, and showcases of open-source projects, all designed to enhance attendees’ skills and knowledge. Participants will explore the newest developments in cloud-native geospatial technology, data accessibility, and practical applications.
Save the date: April 30 - May 2, 2025
Where? Snowbird, Utah – about 40 minutes from Salt Lake City International Airport.
Sponsorships: We are developing sponsorship packages. If you are interested, email us at [email protected]
Interested in presenting? We will soon publish a call for proposals for presentations and...
Today, with the combined efforts of T-Kartor team members Dela Awadzi and Mercedes Fernandez, along with the support of T-Kartor, Theorose School is poised to reach new heights in digital learning.
Geospatial | Towards Data Science
• By Mahyar Aboutalebi, Ph.D. 🎓
•
Step-by-Step Tutorial on Applying Segment Anything Model Version 2 to Satellite Imagery for Detecting and Exporting Field Boundaries in...
The post Field Boundary Detection in Satellite Imagery Using the SAM2 Model appeared first on Towards Data Science.
For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed the process of cyanotype printing, and have released a number of projects based on this technique (including my favorite item I’ve ever made). Now, I’ve decided to take my recent work in developing terrain sketches, and turn it into a new series of prints. For this, though, I … Continue reading Kickstarter 3: The Return →
From emergency response to crime prevention and disaster management, GIS provides actionable insights, helping public safety agencies make informed decisions.
Ultimate Web GIS Development Roadmap
Life in GIS
Introduction From online maps to real-time geospatial analytics, Web GIS has become an essential tool across industries like...
The post Ultimate Web GIS Development Roadmap appeared first on Life in GIS published by Wanjohi Kibui
AI and ML aren't simple add-ons. They're powerful tools that call for responsive, adaptable workflows to thrive. It's a commitment to efficiency, to cost savings, and ultimately, to future-proofing our processes.
This week on Wednesday, November 13, the CNG Virtual Conference 2024 will gather data user practitioners, enthusiasts, and newcomers to explore the latest in cloud-native geospatial technology. Come hear keynotes from NASA, Carto, the University of Tennessee, and speakers from many other organizations sharing updates and insights on cloud-native geo. This online event is an inclusive space for anyone curious about cloud-native geospatial, whether you’re an industry expert, an innovator, or just starting to explore cloud-native concepts. We invite you to join us to learn, connect, and engage with a field that’s rapidly changing how we work with geospatial data.
Why You Should Attend
Engage with the Future of Geospatial
Cloud-native geospatial represents a transformative approach to handling data. At this conference, you’ll get an inside view into how cloud-native technology makes geospatial data faster, more flexible, and more scalable. And then discover how this...
In numerous posts, we have been discussing synthetic populations and their use in agent-based modeling. But there are many modeling styles that also utilize synthetic populations. In our own work we often spend significant amounts of time creating such synthetic populations, especially those grounded with data, due to the time needed to collect, preprocess and generate the final synthetic population. To alleviate this, we (Na (Richard) Jiang, Fuzhen Yin, Boyu Wang and myself) have a new paper published in Scientific Data, entitled "A Large-Scale Geographically Explicit Synthetic Population with Social Networks for the United States." Our aim of this paper is to build and provide a geographically explicit synthetic population along with its social networks using open data including that from the latest 2020 U.S. Census which can be used in a variety of geo-simulation models.Summary of the Resulting Datasets.Specially, in the paper we outline how we created the a synthetic population...
One of the major outputs of Taylor Geospatial Engine’s first Innovation Bridge is the recently released Fields of The World dataset, also known as FTW. We wanted to take some time for a deep dive into the core idea, the various parts of the effort, and where things could go from here.
The post Introducing Fields of The World appeared first on Taylor Geospatial Engine.
Geospatial | Towards Data Science
• By Milan Janosov
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How to turn vector elevation lines into a grid - and build it from Lego
The post Rasterizing Vector Data in Python appeared first on Towards Data Science.
Summary: I’m involved in organising a hackathon, and I’d love you to take part. The open-source GeoTAM hackathon focuses on estimating turnover for individual business locations in the UK, from a variety of open datasets. Please checkout the hackathon page and sign up. There are prizes of up to £2,000! (Click image for a larger […]
These systems are not just about understanding our present but about anticipating our future—guiding us safely and sustainably through the challenges ahead.
While in the past we have written about how we can use agent-based models to capture basic patterns of life, and even developed a simulations, but until now we have never really demonstrated how we go about this. However, at the SIGSPATIAL 2024 conference we (Hossein Amiri, Will Kohn, Shiyang Ruan, Joon-Seok Kim, Hamdi Kavak, Dieter Pfoser, Carola Wenk, Andreas Zufle and myslf) have a demonstration paper entitled "The Pattern of Life Human Mobility Simulation." in which we show: How to run the Patterns of Life Simulation with the graphical user interface (GUI) to visually explore the mobility patterns of a region.How to run the Patterns of Life Simulation headless (without GUI) for large-scale data generation.How to adapt the simulation to any region in the world using OpenStreetMap data,Showcase how recent scalability improvements allow us to simulate hundreds of thousands of agents.If this sounds of interest, below we show the GUI to the model, along with the steps to generate a...
Friends, earlier this week I mentioned that I’d completed a whole bunch of terrain sketches using some novel techniques that allowed me to create a hachure drawing style from digital elevation data. If you’d like to see the whole set, I’ve now assembled them into a quick eBook for your perusing. Click the image below … Continue reading A Free eBook of Terrain Lines →
In the past we have written about the use of synthetic populations and their use in agent-based models. We are finding such synthetic populations to be extremely useful in the creation or initialization of agent-based models. To give you a sense of how we are utilizing such synthetic populations at the 7th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Geospatial Simulation (GeoSim 2024), Na (Richard) Jiang and myself have a new paper entitled "Studying Contagious Disease Spread Utilizing Synthetic Populations Inspired by COVID-19: An Agent-based Modeling Framework." In the paper we show how we can we utilize a method to create the geographically-explicit synthetic population along with capturing their social networks and how this can be used to study contagious disease spread (and various lineages of the disease) in Western New York. If this sounds of interest, below you can read the abstract from the paper, see some of the results and find the full reference and the link to the paper....
I thought I would switch topics and start to talk about things like Large Language Models and how they could be applied to things like Geographic Information System (GIS) data. To do this, I think first it would be good … Continue reading →
Just a quick post, In recently released Encyclopedia of Human Geography edited by Barney Warf we were asked to write a short chapter entitled "Agent-based Models and Geography" In the chapter we discuss how over the last several decades, agent-based modeling has gained widespread adoption in geography.and introduce the reader to what are agent-based models, how they have developed and types of geographical applications that can be explored with them, especially when linked to Geographical Information Systems (GIS). The chapter concludes with a brief summary along with a discussion of challenges and opportunities with agent-based modeling (ABM). If this sounds of interest, below you can find the full reference and link to the chapter. Example application domains for agent-based models over various spatial and temporal scales. For more examples and further details can be found at https://www.gisagents.org/Full Referece:Crooks, A.T. and Jiang, N. (2024), Agent-based Models and...
In the past we have explored how agent-based modeling can be used to study vaccine uptake and what is the mechanism underlying the diffusion of different vaccine opinions in hybrid spaces (e.g., physical, relational and cyber) can affect individuals’ vaccination decisions. But this prior work was limited to just one small area. However, we know that urban and rural communities have different levels of digital connectivity and we were wondering if our initial findings are applicable to other counties which are more urban or to a larger study area. To explore this, at the 7th ACM SIGSPATIAL International Workshop on Geospatial Simulation (GeoSim 2024) we (Fuzhen Yin, Na Jiang, Lucie Laurian and myself) have a paper entitled "Agent-based Modeling of COVID-19 Vaccine uptake in New York State: Information Diffusion in Hybrid Spaces". This paper significantly extends our previous work in a number of ways. First we move from a single rural county to the entire state of New York which has...
Die Mailingliste grass-dev (GRASS GIS Development) wurde von Mailman auf die Discourse-Plattform von OSGeo umgestellt.
The post Umzug der Mailingliste grass-dev zu OSGeo Discourse appeared first on Markus Neteler Consulting.
How to contribute to GRASS GIS development: Guidance for new developers in the GRASS GIS Project.
The post How to contribute to GRASS GIS development appeared first on Markus Neteler Consulting.
The effects of educational attainment on individuals and society have been the subject of much research. However, there is still a need to study what factors matter the most, and what is worth investing more time and resources into, and how new methods of analysis can provide additional ways of looking into some of the challenges faced by higher education. To this end at the 2024 International Conference of the Computational Social Science Society of the Americas (CSSSA), Amira Al-Khulaidy Stine and myself had a paper entitled "Retention in Higher Education: An Agent-Based Model of Social Interactions and Motivated Agent Behavior." In the paper we introduce an agent-based model which explores retention where we focus on students and their levels of motivation (i.e., "grit"), their immediate connections (i.e., sense of belonging) and institutional support. At the same time we capture institutional locales (i.e., urban and rural) and their selectivity. Taken all together the model...
As part of our showcase of the seed grant awardees for the Field Boundaries for Agriculture initiative, Taylor Geospatial Engine is pleased to highlight Jed Sundwall and Radiant Earth.
The post Innovation Bridge Community Spotlight: Jed Sundwall and Radiant Earth appeared first on Taylor Geospatial Engine.
Building upon last year’s successful sessions related to geosimulation, were various topics and issues from across the urban, social and environmental fields and the resulting application areas. More excitingly, we are witnessing the emergence of the integration of cutting-edge techniques (e.g., machine learning and generative AI) which is energizing the geosimulation community as they offer new approaches for advancing geosimulations. This year, the 2025 AAG Annual Meeting will take place in Detroit, Michigan from March 24 to March 28. We are continuing to organize sessions on "Geosimulations for Addressing Societal Challenges," and we encourage you to submit abstracts if this area aligns with your research interests.Session Description:There is an urgent need for research that promotes sustainability in an era of societal challenges ranging from climate change, population growth, aging and wellbeing to that of pandemics. These need to be directly fed into policy. We, as a...
When exporting large rasters from Google Earth Engine, it is recommended that you split your exports into several smaller tiles. In this post, I will share the best practices for creating tiled exports in your target projection that can be mosaicked together without any pixel gaps or overlaps. They key concept is the use of […]
Welcome to GeoAI Unpacked! I am Ali Ahmadalipour and in this newsletter, I’ll be sharing insights and deep dives in geospatial AI, focusing on business opportunities and industry challenges.
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