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?
Peta Gunatanah Malaysia 2014 -2018 ("Malaysia's Land Cover 2014 - 2018") web application is a platform generated for the Quality Assessment activity organized by Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) on 23rd June 2024.
The workshop aims to collect field/reference data from Malaysian's state agencies in the effort to verify the quality of the land cover classification output generated in support of CO2 release measurement from converted agricultural lands.
Participants are able access the app via conventional browsers from their mobile devices and submit drawings/sketches that they have captured within interactive data layers.
This web app aims to support direct input from source onto the task of improving the accuracy of the generated land cover maps. Vectors generated from this exercise are readily standardized with the required data scheme from quality assessment, making full use of the ArcGIS Online ecosystem full to a produce concrete output and actionable information.
Viewing, filtering and downloading Landsat 9 satellite image
🟢 Beginner-friendly.
🆓 Free with no hidden monetary cost.
🤚🏻 Requires registration so sign-up 👉🏻https://signup.earthengine.google.com/, access via browser and Internet connection
🖥️ Available for Windows, Mac and Linux.
If you're down the rabbit hole with the how-to documents on #googleearthengine and still want to find a simple basic code to start with, feel free to check out this 16-minute video I've made for myself to remember some of the syntaxes. There's no better way to understand it than doing it yourself so, I've also included links to the script app and code in GitHub 👇🏻
The script demonstrates how to utilize readily available data in the Earth Engine data repository like LSIB 2017 for demarcation and I've taken the liberty to play around with Landsat 9. The code should be applicable for Landsat 8 too, for those who wants to use it to extract data straight away.
Don't be shy to share your questions if you have any and have fun dissecting the data!
Hunting for spatial data comes naturally now. There seems to be less and less opportunity for doubts when we could attach a pair of coordinates to some places.
For work and hobby, hunting for data take almost half of the usable hours I set aside to execute certain objectives; if not 100%. Although the internet is a vast plain of data, not all of them are usable. The democratization of data is a subject that is to translucent to discuss but to solid to argue with. Thus, with differing opinions, we get different versions of them online. Here are some of the interesting data platforms I manage to scour based on their thematic subject
🌳 Nature and Environment
Delta at Risk - Profiling Risk and Sustainability of Coastal Deltas of the World. I found this while lamenting on how people love asking for data addition into their maps at the eleventh hour. I find their confidence in my skills quite misleading but flattering nonetheless. But it does not make it any less troublesome.
Protected Planet - Discover the world's protected and conserved areas. This platform includes not just data of protected areas, but also other effective area-based conservation measures like ICCAs IUCN listing and as the website claims, it is updated regular via submissions from agencies. So far, I found this platform to be the most convenient since it rounds up all possible conservation-based themes which also includes World Heritage Sites.
Global Forest Change (2000-2020) - The global forest extent change since 2000 to the current year or lovingly referred to as the Hansen data by most forestry RS specialist. This data is updated annually and to be honest, the platforms are literally everywhere. But this platform is legitimate under Earth Engine Apps and you can refer to Google Earth Engine for future data updates to ease your search.
👩⚖️ Administrative Data
GADM - Map and spatial data for all countries and their sub-divisions.
🏦 Built-environment Data
OpenStreet Map - This database is the most amazing feat of tech-aware crowdsourcing. A little more than 2 decades ago, some 'experienced' gate-keeping professionals would have refuted its legitimacy within an inch of their lives but OSM has proven that time prevails when it comes to bringing the accessibility and network data into practical use. I am not that adept with downloading from this website so I go directly to a more manual data download. My favorite is the Geofabrik Download but you can also try Planet OSM.
🎮 Other Cool Data
OpenCell ID - Open database platform of global cell towers. Cleaning the data is a nightmare but I think it is just me. I have little patience for cerebral stuff.
So, those are some of the data I managed to dig for personal projects. Hope it helps you guys too!
