Azaleakamellia - Anecdata
More Posts from Azaleakamellia and Others
diy geo app
Esri has been releasing more and more MOOC over the span of 2 years to accommodate its increasingly large expanse of products within the ArcGIS ecosystem.
But of all the MOOCs that I've participated in, 'Do-It-Yourself Geo App MOOC' must be the most underrated ones produced by Esri Training. The functionalities highlighted within the MOOC took the anthem right off their recent Esri UC 2020 that went virtual. The curriculum includes:
The creation of hosted feature layer (without utilizing any GIS software medium like ArcMap or ArcGIS Pro).
The basics of the ArcGIS Online platform ecosystem:
hosted feature layer > web map > web app
Basically, to view a hosted feature layer, you will need to drag it onto a 'Map' and save it as a web map.
Conventionally, web map suffices for the visualization and analytical work for the likes of any geospatialist who are familiar with Web GIS.
But this time, Esri is highlighting a brand new web map product called 'Map Viewer Beta'. Why beta? Cause it is still in beta version but so sleeky cool that they just had to let every have a shot at using it. Truth be told, Map Viewer Beta did not disappoint.
Even so, Map Viewer Beta still has some functionalities that have yet to be implemented.
Using web map to visualize data, configure pop-up, execute simple analysis and extending it to Map Viewer Beta interface
Utilizing Survey123 for crowdsourcing data; the first level of citizen science and creating a webmap out of it.
Creating native apps using AppStudio for ArcGIS; no coding required.
Some tidbits on accessing the ArcGIS API for JavaScript
I love how cool it is that this MOOC actually shows you step-by-step on how to use the new Map Viewer Beta and explain the hierarchy of formats for the published content in the ArcGIS Online platform
I have established my understanding of ArcGIS Online ecosystem 3 years back but I do find it awkward that such powerful information is not actually summarized in a way that is comprehensible for users that have every intention of delving into Web GIS. And Web GIS is the future with all the parallel servers that could handle the processing/analysis of large amount of data. ArcGIS Online is a simplified platform that provides interfaces for the fresh-eyed new geospatial professionals.
It is quite well-know for the fact that there has been some criticism as to the domination of Esri within the GIS tools/resources within the geospatial science industry, but I believe it is something we could take as a pinch of salt. Not everything in Esri's massive line of commercial products are superior to other platforms but it is a starting point for any new geospatialists who wants to explore technologies there are not familiar with.
All in all, this MOOC is heaven-sent. For me, I have been playing with the web apps and web maps for close to 4 years and I can attest to the fact that it covers all the basics. For the developer's bit, maybe not so much as going through it in a distinct step-by-step but it does stoke the curiosity as to how it works. The question is, how do we make it work. Now that's a mystery I am eager to solve.
I'm going to put this on my ever-expanding to-do list and think JavaScript for another few more months of testing out this ArcGIS API for JavaScript implementation. Tell me if you wanna know how this actually works and I'll share what I find out when I do.
For those who had missed out on this cohort, fear not. This MOOC runs twice a year and the next cohort is going to be from Feb 17 to March 17 2021. The registration is already open, so don’t hold back and click the link below:
Do-It-Yourself Geo Apps
Do register for a public account before signing up or just click 'Register' at the MOOC's page and it's open the open to either sign in or 'Create a public account'. It was a blast and I'm sure, if you've never used any of the feature I've mentioned above, you'll be as wide-eyed as I was 3 years ago. :D
Till then, stay spatially mappy comrades!
P/S: If you complete all the assignments and quizzes, you'll get a certificate of completion from Esri. Which is pretty rad!
Split by Attributes GP tool....when would you actually use this?
There are times when you're making a map but symbolizing using the symbology feature is not enough to characterize the data visually. Thus, having this tool makes cartographical work a little easier by generating copies of the original data, split into separate layers based on the attribute that we need. By doing this, it makes the task of adding the legend much easier in the layout as well.
Most often, when making maps for slide presentation, you would want to segregate data into separate layers with certain uniform values for a certain attribute and a create a new data layer which we can use over and over again.
Although definition query can help with visualizing and showing the features with the attribute value that we want, we may want to create a separate data to avoid compromising the original data or constantly repeating the task of typing/configuring the SQL commands.
This tool is valid for shapefiles and feature classes. Any other data types may need to be converted into those two formats before you can run it. Check out the long-winded demo below:
Since this tool is actually a Python script, it can be integrated into a code for batch geoprocessing or model for iteration over many data layers or interconnection to other tools; automation at its full-on glory! 😁
Uninspired
I am a reckless uninspired person. I call myself a map-maker but I don't really get to make maps for reasons that I don't think I should venture outside of my requesters' requests. But mostly, I am compelled to get it right and I feel good if I can deliver what they need. The thing is, I no longer get spontaneously inspired to make maps anymore. Just as the rules become clearer the more you read books on cartography, fear just crop themselves up like 'Plant vs Zombies' 🌱 in PlayStation.
So, I am scared that I'm beginning to wear off my excitement about making map; really making them and not just knowing how to make them.
What sort of idea is great? I mean, what should I focus on trying to make? There are so many data out there that what I will attempt may be missing the train or just pale in comparison to other incredible work. I don't really mind it but I'm not that young to not understand self-esteem does ease the thinking process.
Can't say much, I mean...30 Days of Map Challenge hasn't been all that well with me. I should've prepared something before the event event started. I quit after the 3rd challenge cause I overthink and get panic attacks every time I feel I'm doing stuff half-ass.
Despite all that, I am lucky to have aggressively supportive siblings. They just can't seem to stop the tough love and always kicking me to just barf something out.
'It's the process that matters!'
When did I start forgetting how wonderful the process, huh?
Community Empowerment Strategy Dashboard 2021 | WWF-Malaysia
Tool: Operations Dashboard ArcGIS, Survey123 for ArcGIS, ArcGIS Online Technique: XLSForm programming, web application development
The northern highland communities of Lun Bawang have been collaborating with WWF-Malaysia under the Sarawak Conservation Programme (SCP) to empower sustainable economies and managing their natural biodiversity through the Community Empowerment Strategy (formerly known as Community Engagement and Education Strategy).
Since 2016, the communities have been actively mapping out their land uses and culturally important locations to delineate their areas of settlement and source of livelihood. Given the close vicinity of their communities to the licensed timber concessions, producing a definitive map is important to preserve and conserve their surrounding natural capitals.
Several outreach has been done and the community mapping effort has been shifted to implement citizen science via the Survey123 for ArcGIS mobile application which is apart of the ArcGIS ecosystem. This enables the local community to collect information despite the lack of network reception and the data can still be synchronized upon availability automatically or manually shared with the field officers.
📌 Availability: Retracted in 2021
Yes peeps. I’ve been studying and on contrary to all my previous attempts to make beautiful notes, I say f it and just work with what helps me clear my head the fastest 🏃🏻♀️. I love writing notes, but I realize, to gather my thoughts properly, I need some sort of way to not waste paper just to arrange and rearrange my ideas or comprehension of things.
What better way of doing that than using a mind map!
So you kiddos out there who are starting out with Python and just can’t wait to get into deep learning or machine learning, I’d say, hold your horses for a minute and have some preview of that pond you’re trying to jump into. And don’t be scared, cause we’re all friends here in the hell-hole of learning plateau. Will it get better? I believe so. I am positive I understand more of the principles of deep learning and the relevance of Python libraries associated with it. Yes...this is a Python bar, darling. 👩🏻💻
There’s no real shortcut if you ask me since we have different way of comprehending things; my pre-existing mold may have harder time grasping the things I am learning right now than you would. So don’t be afraid to doodle while you think. No amount of paper will be enough to help you understand things, so better start being sustainable by using some digital platforms and saving those papers to when you’re truly ready to pen out your understanding of things; not what you read. There’s a difference!
Check out the mind map of some essential Python libraries you can get started with before you start doing some deep learning. It’s worth reviewing all that prior, I promise.
Have fun! 🙆🏻♀️
Python: Geospatial Environment Setup (Part 2)
Hey again folks! I am here for the second part of Python environmental setup for a geospatial workspace. I published the first part of this post two weeks ago. So if you've not yet read that, I'll catch you up to speed with our checklist:
Install Python ☑
Install Miniconda ☑
Install the basic Python libraries ☑
Create a new environment for your workspace
Install geospatial Python libraries
🗃 Create a new environment for your workspace
Since we have actually manually set up our base environment quite thoroughly with all the basic libraries needed, to make our work easier, we can just clone the base environment and install all the additional essential libraries needed for geospatial analysis. This new environment will be called geopy. Feel free to use a name you identify most with.
Why don't we just create a new environment? Well, it means we have to start installing the Python libraries again from scratch. Although it is no trouble to do so, we want to avoid installing so many libraries all at once. As I mentioned in Part 1, there is always a risk where incomplete dependencies in one library will affect the installation of other libraries that you intend to install in one go. Since we already have a stable and usable base environment, we can proceed to use it as a sort of pre-made skeleton that we will build our geospatial workspace with.
1️⃣ At the Anaconda Command Prompt, type the following:
2️⃣ Press Enter and the environment will be clone for you. Once it is done, you can use the following command to check the availability of your environment 👇🏻
You should be able to see your geopy environment listed along with the base environment.
👩🏻💻 Install geospatial Python libraries
Here we will proceed with the installation of a few geospatial Python libraries that are essential to reading and exploring the vectors and rasters.
🔺 fiona: This library is the core that some of the more updated libraries depend on. It is a simple and straightforward library that reads and writes spatial data in the common Python IOs without relying on the infamous GDAL's OGR classes.
🔺 shapely: shapely library features the capability to manipulate and edit spatial vector data in the planar geometric plane. It is one of the core libraries that recent geospatial Python libraries rely on to enable the reading and editing of vector data.
🔺 pyproj: is the Python interface for the cartographic projections and coordinate system libraries. Another main library that enables the 'location' characteristics in your spatial data to be read.
🔺 rasterio: reads and writes raster formats and provides a Python API based on Numpy N-dimensional arrays and GeoJSON.
🔺 geopandas: extends the pandas library to allow spatial operations on the geometric spatial data i.e shapefiles.
💀 As you might have noticed, we won't be doing any direct gdal library installation. It's mainly due to the fact that its installation is a process that seems to be accompanied by misery at every turn and involved workarounds that are pretty inconsistent for different individuals. Does it mean that we won't be using it for our Pythonic geospatial analysis? Heck no. But we will be taking advantage of the automatic dependency installation that comes with all the libraries above. The rasterio library depends on gdal and by installing it, we integrate the gdal library indirectly into our geospatial environment. I found that this method is the most fool-proof. Let's proceed to the installation of these libraries.
1️⃣ At the Anaconda Command Prompt, should you start from the beginning, ensure that your geopy environment is activated. If not, proceed to use the following command to activate geopy.
Once activated, we can install the libraries mentioned one after another. Nevertheless, you also have the option of installing them in one go directly using a single command 👇🏻
💀 geopandas is not included in this line-up NOT because we do not need it. It's another temperamental library that I prefer to isolate and install individually. If gdal is a rabid dog...then geopandas is a feral cat. You never know how-when-why it doesn't like you and forces a single 10-minute installation drag to hours.
3️⃣ Once you're done with installing the first line-up above, proceed with our feral cat below 👇🏻
4️⃣ Use the conda list command again to check if all the libraries have been installed successfully.
🎉Et voilá! Tahniah! You did it!🎉
🎯 The Jupyter Notebook
It should be the end of the road for the helluva task of creating the geospatial environment. But you're going to ask how to start using it anyway. To access this libraries and start analyzing, we can easily use the simple and straight-forward Jupyter Notebook. There are so many IDE choices out there but for data analysis, Jupyter Notebook suffices for me so far and if you are not familiar with Markdown, this tool will ease you into it slowly.
Jupyter Notebook can be installed in your geopy environment as follows:
And proceed to use it by prompting it open via the command prompt
It ain't that bad, right? If you're still having problems with the steps, do check out the real-time video I created to demonstrate the installation. And feel free to share with us what sort of problems you have encountered and the workaround or solutions you implemented! It's almost never a straight line with this, trust me. As mentioned in the previous post, check out the quick demo below 👇🏻
See you guys again for another session on geospatial Python soon!
survey123 offline
Survey123 for ArcGIS is perhaps, one of those applications that superficial nerds like me would like; it's easy to configure, kiddie-level degree of customization with 'coding' (for that fragile ego-stroke) and user-friendly template to use.
No app development/coding experience is required to publish a survey form and believe it or not, you can, personalize your survey to not look so meh.
It took me some time to stumble through the procedures of enabling this feature before I understand the 'ArcGIS Online' ecosystem to which this app is chained to.
So how do we do it? And why doesn't it work pronto?
This issue may be due to the fact that when we first start creating our forms, we go through the generic step-by-step procedures that leave little to imagination what was happening. Most of the time, we're too eager to find out how it really work.
When we publish a Survey123 form; be it from the Survey123 website portal or the Survey123 Connect for ArcGIS software, we are actually creating and publishing a folder that contains a hosted feature layer and a form. It is on that hosted feature layer that we add, delete, update or edit data it. From ArcGIS Online, it looks like any feature service that we publish out of ArcGIS Desktop or ArcGIS Pro, save for the special folder it is placed in with a 'Form' file.
To enable any offline function in any hosted feature layer in ArcGIS Online, you will need to enable the 'Sync' feature. So far, in many technical articles that I have gone through to learn how to enable this offline feature always goes back to 'Prepare basemaps for offline use'. It is a tad bit frustrating. But my experience when deal with 'Collector for ArcGIS' gave me the sense of epiphany when it comes to Survey123. So when you have prepared your Survey123 form for offline usage and it still doesn't work...do not be alarmed and let's see how to rectify the issue.
1. Locate your survey's hosted feature layer
At your ArcGIS Online home page, click 'Content' at the main tab. We're going to go directly to your hosted feature layer that was generated for your survey when you published.
Locate your survey folder. Click it open
In the survey folder, navigate to the survey's hosted feature layer and click 'Options' button; the triple ellipses icon
At at the dropdown, click 'View item details'. Please refer to the screenshot below:
2. Change the hosted feature layer settings
At the item details page, navigate to the 'Settings' button at the main header and click it. This will prompt open the settings page for the feature layer. Refer to the screenshot below:
At the 'Settings' page, there are two tabs at the subheader; 'General' and 'Feature layer (hosted)'. Click 'Feature layer (hosted)' to configure its settings.
At the 'Feature layer (hosted)' option, locate the 'Editing' section. Here, check the 'Enable sync' option. This is the option that will enable offline data editing. Please refer to the following screenshot:
Don't forget to click 'Save'
With this, your hosted feature layer which serves as the data model is enabled for synchronization. Synchronization helps to sync back any changes you've made when you're out on the field collecting data; editing, adding, deleting or update...depending on what feature editing you've configured.
It's pretty easy once you get the hang of it and just bear in mind that the data hierarchy in the ArcGIS Online universe are as follows:
Feature layer (hosted) > Web map > Web application
Once you get that out of the way, go crazy with your data collection without any worries!
code & run
Coding is one of the things I have aspired to do since like...forever! But finding a resource in-sync with my comprehension, schedule and able to retain my interest long enough is a challenge.
I have the attention span of a gnat so, I jumped everywhere! If I am not actively engaged with the learning, I just can't do it. And I know...we have DataCamp, Udemy, Khan Academy and even Kaggle...but I either can't keep up, too poor to pay for the full course or it couldn't sync with me enough. I believe I can say that most of the exercise doesn't 'vibe' with me.
Recently, I committed myself to my one passion; running. It's one of my favorite activities when I was back in school but the will to really run died a decade ago. I have recently picked up my running shoes and ran my little heart out despite having the speed of a running ant; aging perhaps? And I owe my hardcore will to the motivation of earning what I paid when I decided to join a 1-month long virtual run of 65km. It is called the 'Pave Your Path' virtual run organized by
Running Station
. Nailed it 2 days ago after 13 sessions of 5km - yes, you can accumulate the distance from multiple runs. It made me realize that...it's not that bad. The 'near-death' experience while running kinda turned me into a daredevil these days when it comes to undertaking some things I'd whine about doing a few months back.
"If I can go through dying every single evening for 5km long run...I can handle this,"
My thoughts exactly every time I feel so reluctant to finish some tasks I believe I could hold off for some time.
Naturally, I plan my work rigorously and despite the flexibility of my schedule and my detailed plans, I still have a hard time trying to nail the last coffin to my projects. Usually, it's due to my brain's exhaustion from overthinking or I am just truly tired physically. Which is a weird situation given I do not farm for a living. Even so, I was lethargic all the time.
But when I started running a month ago, things kind of fall into places for me. Maybe...just maybe...I've become more alert than I used to. I still have my ignorance of things that I believe do not concern my immediate attention but I seem to be able to network my thoughts faster than I used to.
It might be just me, feeling like a new person due to my sheer willpower to not burn my RM60 paid for the virtual run, but it did feel like there was a change.
For that, I managed to confirm what I have suspected all along - I am one of those people who love drills. I like things to be drilled into my head until I by-heart it into efficiency and then focus on polishing the effectiveness.
Thus...for coding, I committed myself to
freeCodeCamp
. By hook or by crook, I'll be coding by first quarter next year or someone's head is gonna roll!
It's an interactive learning experience simple enough for me to start, straightforward enough to not make me waste my time searching for answers and it's free. God bless Quincy Larson.
Going back to the program outlined in freeCodeCamp, I find it fascinating that they start off with HTML. I have no arguments there. My impatience made me learn my lesson - you run too fast, you're going to burn out painfully and drop dead before you halfway through. HTML is a very gentle introduction to coding for newbies since it's like LEGO building blocks where you arrange blocks and match two to create something. I didn't have to go crazy with frustration is I don't 'get' it. Yes, we would all want some Python lovin' and I think alot of coders I came to know have raved about how simple it is to learn. But I think, it is an opinion shared by 'experienced' coders who wished Python was there when they first started coding. Someone once told me, what you think is the best based on others' experiences may not be the best for you...and I agree with this. After alot of deliberations and patience at my end, starting over again this time feels, unlike the dreaded looming doom I've always had back then.
Are you into coding? What do you code and what's you're language preference? Where did you learn coding? Feel free to share with me!
The devil in the details
I have started to post some videos demonstrating some tools in ArcGIS Pro. Short ones and pretty quick ones which I strived for since I absolutely am frightened with the idea of irritating people with unnecessary voice-over. It has no garnered much response and it's cool with me. Although, the lack of traction does things to my insides, I go back to the real reason I am doing thing, which is to stash the tools that I managed to learn on my own by trials and errors and keep them somewhere I can refer back to it to remember how it works.
Creating maps involves a number of iterative processes made to suit the intended output. Although creating maps itself is a form of art; heavily reliant on target audience's knowledge and aesthetical preference, it is still an inherently democratic science. Thus, knowing the mainstream technology and tools in the industry to express your vision or message is given. So for those just starting out with using geographical information software (GIS) for your final year project or research, this videos are meant for you. The purpose is not to overwhelm you with too many information, or distract you with my narration, but to follow in real-time the process from the start up of the software to the running of tools that generates the information needed.
Knowing fully well that there is an endless variety of GIS software or tools out there, processes that you need to execute to make things happen may vary in name and functionalities. Forget the beef between ArcGIS and QGIS, of which one is the better tool; if it serves your needs, then use it. You're not obliged to pledge loyalty to software or brands although you are encouraged to maintain integrity in your beliefs when it comes to corporate versus open source tools in the industry. Both choices come with their advantages and disadvantages. Yours truly uses QGIS and ArcGIS Pro interchangeably. If it doesn't work in ArcGIS Pro, which I use primarily, I'll jump to using QGIS. It's not a big deal. If it works painlessly, there is no reason to feel bad about using it.
So far, the content I have made emphasizes mostly on ArcGIS Pro or Esri products since using them is how I come to learn more about geology and geography. QGIS was a name I did not learn of in my university years when ArcGIS versions start with the digit 9️⃣, so you can catch my drift.
We can go on and on about theoretical stuff and our smarter pals usually knows what to do when faced with the tools. Unfortunately, I fall in the percentile that needed to land on the job to understand what on earth I am supposed to do. This series of videos are for those who have the same problem as I do and need to see the magic actually happening before knowing what to do. And for the most part, there are so many things to read and try out before you get it right. So hopefully, the demos can kickstart some thoughts or observation in the logic within the software's ecosystem and become more than just a technical power-user.
This week, I touched on some tools that I found helpful when dealing with point vector data, so feel free to check it out 👇🏻
Next week, I'm thinking of exploring some series of point analysis and space time cube is beckoning for me to test it out. Until then, stay cool and drop a word if you need any clarifications on the demos!
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azaleakamellia reblogged this · 2 years ago
