IMIA Asia Pacific Conference: Part 1

Map Hack Day

                  

                 

This is my third time attending the International Map Industry Association (IMIA) conference since 2010. Those who have been following the blog  would have noted I have written about the conference a year ago. The conference experience is getting better each time.

As an associate member of IMIA, I decided to attend the Strategic Planning Meeting of IMIA on 16th August. Here I got the chance to witness a comprehensive plan to extend the reach of IMIA in the Asia Pacific Region and increase member benefits. It was a short two hour session to cover many matters.

On 17th August, IMIA Conference officially opened up with MapHack Day - first of its kind for this conference. The aim of this session is to get students and professionals to utilize open source data and non-mainstream GIS (free one) to produce a story map. Roughly 30 people rocked up on early Sunday morning (10.00 a.m.) for the whole day session. It was hosted and coordinated by one of the leading GIS companies in Melbourne - Spatial Vision. From 10.00 a.m. to 11.00 a.m., we had briefing by Spatial Vision staff on how to use CartoDB (non-mainstream online GIS) and where to source free GIS datasets.

After splitting into groups, my group brainstorm the topic, sourced datasets and restructure the excel data. The youtube video above explains my group's project and the workflow from conception to completion.

Lessons:

1. Being Flexible: Our group had intention to focus on creating two layers - one showing ethnicity and one showing linguistic distribution. However, we realized it can distract the user from the core of the map. We adjusted our goals to ensure we can finish the project within time frame. 
2. Being Structured: Our key strength in our group is splitting in two groups. Two of us focused on GIS datasets and other two focused on Excel data of attributes. By splitting right from start, our workload was smoothly spread out and we progressed quickly. Me and my team mate also learned QGIS in the process to deliver the datasets in neat format. In Excel data, the whole team eventually got involved one way or another as number crunching got complicated

In other aspects, all of us successfully pooled our skills together to make the product successful: IT skills, Excel formulas, QGIS expertise and coordination skills. Map Hack Day was successful:

1. Coordinated by successful Spatial Vision team who are familiar with CartoDB 
2. Great platform for students to network and work with potential employers
3. Build relationship between disparate conference delegates
4. Opportunity to practice your presentation and marketing skills.

Coordinate Story

Coordinates are The things that distinguish a map from a normal painting or standard graphic design. For map professionals or users, there are two coordinates we need to be aware: Geographic and Projected coordinates. Geographic refers to the coordinate system on 3D Earth (i.e. Ellipsoidal and Sphere based Earth) and projected coordinates are the coordinate system for 2D flat maps.

Hence, every map-maker needs to be careful which coordinate system to be used. Sometimes, we can get away with it because the difference is obscure in the maps. However, when it comes to accuracy, getting the coordinate system right is an utmost importance.

Section 1

After long day at work and preparing for a holiday, I went back home to relax and ready up for the trip. Then, I received a telephone call, all the way from Perth. It was professional question on coordinates and it was dealing with client data. This was the real deal. (Refer to Story of Mauritius for another example of freelance work)

Source: http://www.bothsidesofthetable.com/

Problem

The company has identified roughly 200 points on a linear road stretch. It just happened that the road has 6 lanes at maximum (3 lanes heading north, 3 lanes heading south). The 200 points were captured at particular intervals where each lane has 100 points. The company want to plot 200 points to indicate the approximate location of the 3rd lane (refer to map below). Hence, the problem is identifying the coordinates of 100 points representing the 3rd lane (Left and right). I was supplied with an Excel spreadsheet containing these 200 points.

Due to nature of this project, specific details of the location of work site will not be released. 

For Illustration purposes only. The client did not request for a map

As you can see, 4 lanes of the road has been surveyed (in darker colours). 200 points to be plotted are the lighter green and red circles.  The question is how can I find the location of 200 other points (referring to L3 and R3) ?

Solution

Anything revolving on coordinates I take it with care. I spend couple of hours finding and testing methods to find the coordinates. The rule is the 3rd point is 5 metres away perpendicular (left)  to L2 and 5 metres perpendicular (right) away from R2. In the end, I found a very simple solution.

Procedure:

1) It stems from the understanding of the width of each longitude. Assuming the surveyed locations were based on purely WGS 84 and accuracy is not of utmost importance, I found a website (Length Of A Degree Of Latitude And Longitude Calculator to calculate the length of longitude at a particular latitude. For your information, there is variation of width of longitude at different latitudes. From the coordinates that I was supplied of, I keyed in the degree in this website calculator to get my answer.

2) With this understanding above, I used Excel spreadsheet to calculate the approximate locations of L3 and R3 (refer to map above). It involved simple division and subtraction/addition

3) Now, plotting in ArcMap involved a bit of research. I embedded the Excel/ CSV spreadsheet into ArcMap. Then, I right clicked on the spreadsheet, and chose 'Display XY Data'. I mapped the coordinates in spreadsheet with right equivalent of X- and Y-axes.  Refer to Importing Excel data into ArcMap for further details. The work is done.

4) For final testing, I placed Open Street Map basemap to make sure the data is plotted correctly. The ultimate verification was done through Google Earth.

5) I converted the shapefiles of these coordinates into kml (Google Earth file) and uploaded the kml file to see the alignment. Google Earth verified the 200 additional points representing the third lane (both left and right) and they were correct in their positioning. The coordinate system I used was MGA94 (UTM system for the area).

The full name of coordinate system I used would not be released due to confidentiality of the data.

The end products were the Excel spreadsheet and .kml file as a proof.

Work Time: 4 hours (from receiving the data to submission of end products)

Contact me via the blog for further specifics and assistance/consultancy works related to mapping.

Section 2

As some of you would know, I am currently involved in massive GIS collaborative project on elections (Refer to Hiatus in Blog for details). I was in the process of creating 3 shapefiles related to election boundaries: Election precincts, State Constituencies and Federal Constituencies. For the moment, I used geographic coordinate system (WGS84) to draw the boundaries of electoral precincts and federal constituencies . 

When I came to State election borders, I chose Web Mercator as the coordinate system. Unknowingly, I spent 14 hours drawing state election borders using Web Mercator while drawing them on electoral precincts (as the base map). I did a check on QGIS which coordinate system I used for State boundaries. It turned out to be severe mismatch of coordinates between State and electoral precincts borders. I attempted to reproject State borders onto WGS84 and it disappeared elsewhere in the workspace. Hence, 14 hours of my work was wasted.

Coming to this realization, I am concerned with the coordinate systems I employed for Venezuelan Map Project. It involved multiple spatial datasets from different coordinate systems. The base map for reference uses Web Mercator. Have I aligned my lakes and river unknowingly onto Web Mercator?  Since the project is suspended at the moment, I need to spend time checking on this and work out a solution for this.

In short, as a map professional, I need to do careful planning in terms of coordinate system. Hours of work could go to waste if this planning is not done well.

Names, Names... in Malaysia

Penang Chief Minister Announcing Road Name Change after famous MP Karpal Singh
(Source: MalayMail Online)

Recently, Penang (northern state in Malaysia) announced a promenade to be renamed as Karpal Singh Drive. The name change was done as honour to the contributions of well known Penang-born lawyer politician Karpal Singh. Geographical names, wherever they may be associated with, is critical for our daily communication for us to move around and decided on matters. However, we are not much aware about the naming policy in Malaysia

Who's in charge of naming?

In simplest sense, the government of Malaysia is in charge. In 2002, Malaysian National Committee of Geographical Names (JKNG) was created to coordinate the naming policies and activities. As geographical names come under the realm of mapping, Director-General of Department of Survey & Mapping (JUPEM) chairs the JKNG. Under JKNG, they have various subcommittees tackling issue on organizing the name gazetteer, updates, island naming and state name committees.  JUPEM organized a Malaysian standard for naming conventions: MS 2256: 2009. Naming guideline has 21 principles ranging from language usage to use of personal names. 

Few years ago, JKNG subcommittee on gazetteer created a website of nearly all named places in Malaysia called Geoname. It is a repository of names of villages, towns, islands and others. Moreover, it presented current and alternative names, recorded pronunciation of features in official Malay and its local dialet and spelling in Jawi (Arabic script for Malay). It took roughly 5 years to set up this gazetteer and subsequently website plus additional works on the online names site.

You might be wondering which parties are involved in this naming process. They are JUPEM, Planning Department, National Archives, Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka (Institution in charge for Malay language), local governments, National Hydrographic Centre and other relevant parties.  Both national and state governments under JKNG are involved in the naming policy

So, how the place could be named?

For the public, the documentation about the process is weak or scarce. Let's narrow down to a general geographic feature like a new island (an anonymous one). The official groups that can name the island are Federal, State and Local governments. However, other agencies can provide the name (e.g. if the island is an artificial island, the developer may submit the name but the name needs to be approved by the naming committee). Preferably, the name should be Malay (as it is official language of Malaysia) and the way it is spelled and pronounced should be along the official Malay language. The name should not be offensive or discriminatory. If the island happened to be named after a person,  preferably the nominated person is dead (i.e. the case of Karpal Singh Drive) and made significant contribution to Malaysia or the affected area.

If this island had a common societal name before, priority should be given to retain the common name unless exceptional circumstances (i.e. offensive in nature). The naming groups/committees must do their best to remove any possibilities of duplicate names. If the island is small or big, emphasis can be added (e.g. Pulau Kecil - Small Island). If the island happens to have alternative names, the maps should indicate these names in brackets -  "Pulau Kecil (IJM Island)". Should the island in future requires a name change, a significant reason (s) needs to be presented for change. After all, names are used by the public for direction purpose and name change significantly affects personal mental maps.

I strongly encourage those who can read Malay to refer Malaysian Naming Guideline for the 21 principles behind naming. Those who need rough translation, contact me.

Examples of names in Malaysia

The traditional names you may find in rural areas in Malaysia (hence the common names) could stem from legends or folklores . For example, Pulau Dayang Bunting in Langkawi derives from the legend that a maiden lady who immerses herself in lake (in this island) would be pregnant. 

Some of the names are derived from flora, fauna or geographical feature. For example, Gua Tempurung in Perak is named after the coconut shell shaped caves. Langkawi is named after the sea eagle.

Some towns are named after the economic activities they represent. For example, Batu Arang in Selangor literally means charcoal stone and once was a site of coal mining activities.

Since Malaysia has rich history of interaction with outside world, place names are influenced by different world culture. For example, Taiping (Perak) in Chinese means heavenly kingdom 

Like any other country, after independence in  1957, Malaysia progressively adopted new names to replace the British Version. For example, Port Swettenham (name of British administrator) was renamed to Klang (main port in Malaysia). In 1982, Teluk Anson (once the shipping port of rich tin fields of Perak) was renamed as Teluk Intan. However, not all British names were replaced like George Town (Penang) - named after King George III.

Though local governments are empowered to determine names of entities (e.g. roads, buildings) to be line in Malaysian identity, these rules are not regularly enforced. One may notice the adoption of English or global names for shopping centres in Kuala Lumpur and other urban areas.

Controversies with naming

As Malaysia is a developing country, one of its weaknesses is the poor or lack of community consultations. This has affected to naming policies in Malaysia. For example in 2010, in rural Sarawak, a name change of a road without much notice created so much confusion and led drivers lost in their journeys (Borneo Post, 28/7/2010). Not only because of no notice, locals were infuriated that the new road name change does not reflect the local identity.

In 2014, one of the political parties in Sabah criticized the state government (Sabah) for naming villages or areas without any proper understanding of indigenous languages or identities. However, they welcome renaming of a suburb of Kota Kinabalu (Sabah's capital) to reflect the indigenous spelling (Menggatal to Manggatal).

In Penang, in late 2013, false allegations that second biggest island in the state (Pulau Jerejak) was renamed lead to heated debate in state parliament. According to the state opposition leader, the island was renamed to Pulau Mazhu by the island temple operator.

References

1. Jawatankuasa Kebangsaan Nama Geografi, Garis Panduan Penentuan Nama Geografi, 2005, Kuala Lumpur, http://www.mygeoportal.gov.my/sites/default/files/Garis%20Panduan%20Penentuan%20Nama%20Geografi.pdf
2. MacGDI, Pangkalan Data Nama Geografi dan Gazetir Kebangsaan,  Kementerian Sumber Asli dan Alam Sekitar (NRE), http://www.mygeoportal.gov.my/sites/default/files/pdng.pdf 
3. Pusat Infrastruktur Data Geospatial Negara (MacGDI), Surat Pekeliling Pelaksanaan Infrastruktur Data Geospatial Negara (myGDI) Bilangan 1 Tahun 2012, 2012, Kementerian Sumber Asli dan Alam Sekitar (NRE), http://www.mygeoportal.gov.my/sites/default/files/Surat%20Pekeliling%20Penyebaran%20&%20Perkongsian%20maklumat%20Geospatial_bil12012.pdf
4. Abdul Ghani, R & Mohamed Husin, N. Place Names (Preserving Cultural Heritage, Reflecting National Identity), 2013,UNGEGN South-East Asia Seminar, http://202.4.179.107/ungegn_ase/data/_uploaded/file/Rusli%20-%20Place%20names%20(Preserving%20Cultural%20Heritage,%20Reflecting%20National%20Identity).pdf
5. The Star, Pulau Jerejak never renamed Mazu Island, says CM, 20th December 2013,  http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Community/2013/12/10/Pulau-Jerejak-never-renamed-Mazu-Island-says-CM/
6. Free Malaysia Today, What's in a name? 3rd March 2014,  http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2014/03/02/whats-in-a-name/
7. MalayMail Online, Penang to Rename Jelutong Sea front 'Karpal Singh Drive', 19th April 2014, http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/penang-to-rename-jelutong-sea-front-karpal-singh-drive

Mapping? What is that?

Courtesy of Maps of the World.com

A common question I receive: "What do you do" or back in my university days, "What do you study?"

When I reply "Mapping", question mark appears in everyone's head. "What's that?" My standard response to these questions is Google Maps, GPS etc. However, is mapping all about that? Today, I will discuss a general idea of mapping, the profession and why it is so important nowadays to know this field.

Mapping, first of all, is a generic term I use for people to understand. The official term the map-makers use are Spatial Science, Geospatial Science, Cartography, Surveying, Remote Sensing, Geoinformatics etc. In an essence, mapping is all about representing and modelling the Earth. It could be in 2D (flat maps), 3D (Google Earth) or 4D (with time lapse). In order to receive the final product (the map), all of us must know and appreciate 3 steps involved in a map production:

1. Collection of map (spatial) data. It could be done through field surveys, satellite images, computer databases, high quality photos from aeroplanes or other sources.
2. Analysis of spatial data. This includes making sure the coordinate system is correct, 3D modelling, applying geographical analysis (e.g. what is the closest shop to my place)
3. Presenting of spatial data. This process where cartography (marriage of art and science) truly comes into light. The maps must be meet its own purpose (e.g. environmental map), reader friendly and ensures the user focus on the map message (purpose)

One may perceive all the time maps 100% but they are never correct. The changing world, errors in data collection or in analysis and mistakes in cartography all dither the accuracy of maps. We, the map-makers, must make sure the maps serve its purpose to user and that influence level of accuracy we display on maps.

How do you call a map-maker in the right term? There are heaps of official terms: Spatial Scientist, GIS Technician, Cartographer, Surveyor, Image Analyst etc. We are an unique clique and throughout history, our percentage of the workforce population is more or less the same (very small). We make so much impact in our daily lives yet we are unknown to the world since dawn of humanity. The most we could relate to environmental scientists, geographers, architects, IT groups and civil engineers.

However, the world is changing as technology is pushing the mapping concepts beyond our professional scopes. This leads to my final point - why it is important for you to know us and our concepts:

1. If you are in government, the government of any day dictates what is placed in the maps, standards and licences of them. At the same time, using advanced geographical analysis, maps power government in service delivery in good and bad times. If you watch disaster movies, you can see how emergency departments pull up maps or display 3D models on the fly to make decisions
2. If you are in business, location intelligence is so critical nowadays to understand your customers. You make the decision (based on maps) where to put next fertiliser for your winery, to determine a new store location, to close down a bank branch and many more decisions. Businesses working with government clients develop new technologies with mapping applications to help service delivery
3. If you are in NGO or a citizen, knowing how to use mapping tools is absolutely useful keeping checks and balances on governments and businesses. Maps could be used to track the movements of endangered species, the impact of new highway on properties around, to check on gerrymandering or mapping out corruption abuses.

While maps has its own controversies, I personally believe everyone should learn how to use some map tools (beyond Google Maps or GPS) so that you will truly understand on how we relate to each other and the natural world. That is the final objective and purpose of the map: Understanding the relationship between entities that make up the world and how each affect another.

Happy Mapping!

Are you tweeting with me?

Source: Therainmarkerblog

Quietly, I have launched my official twitter page of this blog. You might be wondering the silence of this blog or lack of new, researched articles. I have been busy and writing articles do take a lot of time.

I want you -readers, subscribers and viewers - to subscribe to @daneshatlas . It is official twitter page of the blog-presenting article, videos or anything about geospatial matters. Let me handle the research for you on this area and you will LEARN HEAPS! 

How can I find twitter link? It is on the right hand side on the navigation pane and it will take you to twitter page

Start FOLLOWING, LEARN and ASK me what should I POST!

Story of Mauritius

Final Product: Terrain of the Site

Few days ago, a friend of mine called me, "Danesh, can I get a map of my area - middle of Mauritius?" I said yes without asking much detail. Then, he messaged me, could you focus on Plaines Wilhems (state in Mauritius). With this little detail, I hastily pulled out the datasets required for Mauritius. After all, the concept of producing the map is the same but when it comes datasets, it becomes trickier.

For the terrain data, I relied upon ASTER GDEM. When it came to the roads, boundaries, rivers and lakes, I pulled out from DIVA GIS. You would notice how generalized these datasets (DIVA GIS) look in comparison to the terrain data. This map you see above is 1:100 000 and DIVA GIS datasets weren't exactly the best for the scale context.

One of the challenges I faced was capturing the terrain feeling of this area. This area (Plaines Wilhems) is rising plain area with steep cliffs marking its borders in the west. After much experimenting with the colours, I utilized 10 colour classes to give smooth transition of the terrain (hillshading was pixelated at 1:100 000 scale).

Within 3 hours, the map was completed (with all necessary items added) and emailed to my friend.  He was happy and then he asked me, "Can you do a 3D Model?" From my previous experience, I said yes and thinking in 2 days, a  3D Model would fit his requirement. Turned out, there was problems indeed.

Lessons Learnt:

1. Do you charge a friend? I am no longer a student and now, I am professional. I am entitled to charge you. That's what you think. Of course, there is nothing wrong except you need to know the restrictions found for the datasets. ASTER GDEM strictly made it clear, you cannot commercialize their datasets. From my understanding, I CANNOT CHARGE a single cent on my friend despite spending 3 hours to make a map. DIVA GIS datasets do not seem to have these restrictions. Can anyone clarify what you mean commercialize in geospatial data context?
2. Learn to get full details. I am happy to hear that my friend actually researched on when sourcing the terrain data. When he struggled, then he came to me. I should have asked him bit more details of the map project (Does he want 2D or 3D?). In heat of my excitement, I overlooked these information
3. I do not why ArcScene could not read the elevation heights of the terrain datasets. After all, it has an attribute called value (which is elevation cell). I explored what ArcGIS, QGIS and Google Earth could do representing the 3D Model of the site location. However, I told my friend something is wrong with terrain data and I can't help him on that. Fortunately, he saw the site location was largely flat and the 3D Model would be unnecessary

In short, I was excited to this project but there are couple of lessons learnt when it comes to produce maps for people. I just need someone explain to me why terrain data is not being displayed in 3D format in ArcScene!!

Hiatus in the Blog

Courtesy: http://zenrevolution.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/silence.jpg

Wondering why the silence in my Blog? Yes, I would be taking break at the moment in updating the blog. I have lined two part series articles on Naming issues. So, what I have been up to

Venezuela Atlas Project

Draft of my Venezuelan A1 Size Map

If you scroll in the blog archive, I did mention about my big Venezuelan Map Project (http://daneshatlas.blogspot.com.au/2013/08/creating-a1-size-map-of-venezuela.html). I was assembling the datasets and started working on cleaning and updating them from June to October. Then, I suspended the project for three months for another project (mentioned below). On 1st February 2014, I officially resumed the project. The whole of February was devoted to complete the first round of dataset cleansing of every state in Venezuela (primarily road checking). On 1st March, the BIG MOMENT came! For the first time in my life, I am print out A1 size map (I was imagining the size while going to the print shop). With the draft map, I have begun the scrutiny of the map and scouting every possible error. This month would be devoted to add the cities and their population data across Venezuela. For other months, I haven't planned out the project scope. I hoping to conclude the project tentatively on 30th June 2014. Time is short

Tindak Malaysia Delimitation Project

My proposed Kedah map demonstrated in the Tindak Malaysia Forum

Part of the reason Venezuelan Atlas project was suspended is because I was involved in the Delimitation Project. Refer to http://daneshatlas.blogspot.com.au/2013/09/mapping-and-elections-part-2.html for details. I was involved in the project from July 2013 to February 2014 (where the forum is the culmination of Tindak Malaysia's Delimitation project). This NGO based in Malaysia created a network of volunteers of map-makers (hardly anyone came from cartography/geospatial background). After experimenting different softwares, we made a shift to non-GIS based softwares to speed-up the completion of national election mapping project. This project aims to redistrict the mal-apportioned electoral boundaries in Malaysia fairly. As the pressure grew to finish the project, me, being the lone GIS user was rushing through (in the wee hours of the morning) to complete Kedah map (the state I was allocated with). Two proposed maps were produced, matched the publication specifications and finally submitted in early February. Forum was held on 15-16th February, since then our maps (including mine) would have been viewed or questioned by many people at the forum or outside.

The purpose of these maps is to challenge potential Malaysian Election Commission (EC) Maps. It was rumoured that EC will start the drawing in March (no further updates since then). Meantime, this NGO and other election related in NGOs in Malaysia have been engaging the public to get involved in electoral redelineation project. Tindak Malaysia's approach conducted without on ground voter consultation. However, if EC were to do their maps soon, this NGO's maps could be used by the public to object them.

I am still involved with them and still advising them on GIS matters.

Basically, these two projects made my blog very quiet. So don't panic about the blog being abandoned. I hope I can release new articles towards the end of the month.