Miscellaneous Monday: 2010 Census Participation Rates

As many people have recently discovered, the United States Census Bureau is currently working to complete its decennial, Constitutional obligation of a complete population count. To get an even higher response than in previous years, the U.S. Census Bureau has streamlined their questionnaire, increased awareness, and made the whole process generally more bearable. Starting in mid-March, the simple “10 questions in 10 minutes” census questionnaires were mailed out to every household in the United States and Puerto Rico. Almost immediately the responses started rolling in.

To keep the general public interested and updated as to the status of their hometown, state, or the country as a whole, the U.S. Census Bureau created a fun online map depicting the “Mail Participation rate” or the percentage of homes that received questionnaires and mailed back responses. As of this posting, participation rates are generally in the mid-20’s to low 30’s, with several states actually reaching as high as the low 40’s.  Houston, however, is falling behind. With the national average at 34%, the city is more than 10 percentage points behind, with a participation rate of 21% and Harris County is doing only slightly better with participation at 23%. This is a great improvement from last week’s numbers, which, as reported in a Houston Chronicle article, had Houston 20% behind the national participation average.

With just one week to go (forms are due on April 1), hopefully Houston and the rest of the country will turn in their forms. The U.S. Census Bureau actually estimates that if every household in the country returns their forms it will save the government $1.5 billion dollars.  Everyone should do his or her part to provide accurate and timely responses, which will not only save the government money, but also help determine how and where the government spends its more than $400 billion annual budget. For more information on the 2010 Census visit the U.S. Census Bureau’s homepage.

Miscellaneous Monday: Geo-Volunteerism

The way Google now keeps its maps current and up to date offers an interesting insight into the state of the mapping industry. Previously, Google employed Tele Atlas, one of the digital mapping giants dominating the industry, to maintain their U.S. maps. However, in October 2009, Google dropped Tele Atlas and began relying more heavily on government data and contributions from "citizen cartographers" or "geo-volunteers". These are people, equipped with GPS devices, who create new digital maps, or fix mistakes and add information to existing online maps. Tweaking the location of businesses and other destinations is a common activity among citizen cartographers. And this hobby is not exclusive to just a few dedicated enthusiasts. In Atlanta, there was a three day Citywide Mapathon in which community groups joined forces to gather data for the creation of a map with a complete list of points of interest and local destinations.

Many people view this shift as a positive one, because they believe local people are bound to know their communities more intimately and are better equipped to deliver correct map information. There is also technology available now that gives the "everyman" the power to do what was once reserved for professionals and specialists. There are smart phones with GPS capabilities, such as the Waze driver generated mapping system. The Waze platform, pictured to the right, works on a smartphone and sends anonymous information back to you such as location and speed, and allows you to report on your travels. The way the system is set up, the more users that work with Waze, the more accurate the information will be.

Also, there are web tools, such as OpenStreetMap.org, Wikimapia, and now, Google Map Maker that are making it possible to create annotated maps that are open to the public for editing.

However, this new trend is not without its skeptics. While many people believe that the new publicly edited maps are just as accurate as traditional maps, the VP of global engineering at Tele Atlas insists that there is still a need for the due diligence and quality that professional map making firms provide. While they are integrating information from citizen cartographers into their maps, they believe that when it comes to emergency vehicle access or delivery routes, people need to be able to rely on professional map makers. He analogizes by saying that, Wikipedia, despite being a very interesting information source,  is not a creditable source that historians will use to defend their theses. Furthermore, there is an inherent political characteristic of maps, especially in areas of land dispute. While professional map makers don't completely eliminate the politicization of maps, they can aim to treat certain areas with sensitivity. An open, anonymous system of editing is much more conducive to the creation of controversial maps.

In the end, it seems that the industry is currently being served by utilizing traditional, professionally gathered map data while still valuing the information that is contributed by local citizens.

Miscellaneous Monday: GPS Drawing

Tomasz Berezinski, a Polish immigrant and a Brooklyn resident, took up an interesting hobby in the fall of 2008. Berezinski's GPS runs, referred to as "invisible graffiti" by some, were inspired by his desire to get into shape and to explore New York City. The idea is this: he strategically plans out a route for his run by drawing on a map, he brings a GPS tracker with him, and he hits the road. When his run (or series of runs) is complete, he uploads the GPS data onto everytrail.com. There are many walkers, joggers, and bikers like Berezinski who are now acting as cartographers as they track their progress and create interesting maps through their route choices. Many GPS drawers claim that they end up discovering new and interesting aspects of their city's landscape by planning their runs or rides this way. Below is a GPS drawing of a dog that was generated by a runner in New York City.

GPS data can be collected by many different devices and can be uploaded to any number of software applications. These days, watches, iPhones, and Blackberry's are GPS enabled, and software applications such as MapMyRun, MotionX-GPS, and Run Keeper, make it easy to share this artwork through social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Of course, GPS data can also be imported into ArcMap and can be overlaid onto aerial images of the city or street line shapefiles.

But the concept of creating GPS-based art is not an entirely novel concept. Started around 2000, GPS Drawing is a website created by Jeremy Wood that is dedicated to displaying GPS-generated drawings. There are some very interesting projects showcased on the website, including a series of drawings created by tracking his lawn mower with a GPS device. Other drawings go beyond land routes; his GPS Gallery also includes sea and air routes that were transformed into GPS drawings. A lot of the items in the Gallery also include the author's account of the route he took and how he went about creating the drawing. The following image shows a star that was created by an airplane flying across Europe.

While it is a fun hobby that enthusiasts enjoy sharing with one another, GPS drawing has also gained serious recognition. In 2009, Wood was featured in the Cartographic Journal for his work. His website also includes information about seminars and workshops for GPS drawings.

Miscellaneous Monday: Holiday Closure

The GIS/Data Center will be closed December 24 through January 1.  Regular hours will resume on Monday, January 4, 2010.  The blogging staff will also be taking a break and this will be the last post until mid-January.  In the meantime, enjoy this story about how religious institutions around the country are using GPS to catch those notorious Nativity scene thieves.

Happy holidays!

Miscellaneous Monday: Visualizing the U.S. Electric Grid

You're likely familiar with commercials and debates about the inefficiency of the current U.S. electric grid.  It's been part of a larger discussion about energy conservation and greener methods of energy production.  The idea some have had is that the U.S. wouldn't need to produce so much electricity if less power were lost in the power grid.

NPR has tracked this debate in its series "Power Hungry: Reinventing the U.S. Electric Grid."  One feature in this coverage has been the "Visualizing the U.S. Electric Grid" series of maps.

These maps feature numerous layers that can be turned on and off and which depict such information as current and proposed major power lines, which states depend more on which sources of power, where power plants using different power sources can be found, solar power potential, wind power potential, etc.

Miscellaneous Monday: Spring Short Course Schedule

The GIS short course schedule for the Spring 2010 semester is now available online!

Each semester, the GIS/Data Center at Rice University offers introductory short courses on a variety of GIS topics.  Each course lasts 1-2 hours and provides a topic overview along with hands-on training using ArcGIS 9.3 software.  All courses are free and open to Rice students, staff, and faculty.  Members of outside government, academic, research, or non-profit organizations may be permitted to attend if space allows.  For scheduled course dates, check out our course calendar.  To register, use our online registration form.

Miscellaneous Monday: Ordnance Survey

Ordnance Survey (OS) mapping service has used lasers deployed from air and land to create an extremely detailed 3D map of the UK resort city Bournemouth, in the county of Dorset.  OS claims the map is the most detailed map ever produced, surpassing 3D offerings from names like Google Earth and Microsoft Visual Earth.  The company plans to expand its 3D mapping to the rest of the UK in the next several years.

YouTube video of map fly-through:



Telegraph.co.uk article (with youtube video embedded)

Ordnance Survey story

Miscellaneous Monday: Holiday Hours

The GIS/Data Center will be closing early at 3:00pm this Wednesday and will be closed this Thursday and Friday.  Regular hours will resume on Monday, November 30.

GDC Thanksgiving Hours
11/23/09 9:00am - 5:00pm
11/24/09 9:00am - 5:00pm
11/25/09 9:00am - 3:00pm
11/26/09 CLOSED
11/27/09 CLOSED

Miscellaneous Monday: Houston Area GIS Day

Houston Area GIS Day is this Thursday, November 19 at the University of Houston.  The event will be held on the second floor of the University Center and is free for the general public to attend!  The Exhibit Hall will feature over twenty exhibitors representing local government departments, as well as GIS software, data, training, and service providers. Half-hour presentations on a variety of GIS applications will be given throughout the day on the Main Stage in the center of the Exhibit Hall.

The keynote speaker at 9:20 AM will be Mary Gainer, a GIS Analyst and Project Manager for NASA Langley Research Center.  Her presentation will focus on her work to preserve historic cultural resources at NASA sites using online GIS and virtual tours.  Recently, Ms. Gainer has been appointed to expand Cultural Resources GIS (CRGIS) from the original project at Langley Research Center to NASA facilities throughout the United States, including Johnson Space Center in Houston.

For detailed information on the schedule of events, exhibitors, and event maps, please view the Program Guide.  Don't forget to download your GIS Day Parking Voucher good for $5 parking at the UH Welcome Center Parking Garage!

Welcome to the GIS/Data Center Blog

Welcome to the first of many blog posts brought to you by the staff of the GIS/Data Center in Fondren Library at Rice University. GIS stands for Geographic Information Systems and makes use of hardware and software to support people in displaying, querying, manipulating, and analyzing spatial data.

This blog will be geared towards the Rice community and will highlight resources at the GIS/Data Center and in the Houston area; however, most of the information will be equally applicable to anyone with an interest in or curiosity about GIS. We will be highlighting data, tools, techniques, and applications that we hope will be useful to those just getting started, as well as those with more experience who are looking for new and exciting innovations in the field. Therefore, our posts will feature a mixture of recent developments and well-established practices.

We've come up with some fun daily themes to keep you reading and us writing:

Miscellaneous Monday - general GIS news, Houston and Fondren Library GIS information and events, Rice faculty and student projects utilizing GIS

Tuesday Tools - tools that can be used online or downloaded to perform special functions in GIS and cartography

Web Wednesday - websites that either allow you to browse and query existing data online or to create online content using your own data

Thursday Data - sources of free, high-quality, GIS-related data

Fun Friday - interesting, novel, and downright fun maps and applications

If you would like more information or one-on-one training related to the any of the topics covered in the blog, feel free to visit us at the GIS/Data Center in the basement of Fondren Library (B40). Please also refer to our website for our contact information and more details regarding our computer lab, data, training, and assistance.

While comments will not be displayed on this blog, we do welcome your feedback and will take your comments into consideration for the future development of our blog.