Exploring the world of free tools for GIS, GPS, Google Earth, neogeography, and more.
mapz: a gis librarian has updated his ArcMap2GMap script for exporting ArcMap layers to a standalone Google Map page; in addition to points and lines, it now includes support for choropleth polygon layers:
Runs on ArcGIS 9.1 and 9.2, not yet tested on 9.3.
Martin Feuchtwanger of Underhill Geomatics writes of their surveying utility program Copan. I don’t know much about surveying, but can at least list some features from the help file:
Palm:
And Pocket PC:
Feature sets are similar between the different versions, and data can be interchanged between them; GPS is supported for the mobile platforms. The software is free, but you’ll need to get a password and license key via email to use any of the versions. The Windows license key is in a “.bin” file, and some email services (like GMail) won’t accept files with that extension.
The Microsoft Virtual Earth blog announces that free 60-day trial versions of the newest (2009) versions of both Streets & Trips and MapPoint are now available for download. Be warned, both downloads are well over a gigabyte in size. While you’re at it, there are free pushpin images and construction updates for both programs.
PR blurbs:
“MapPoint ® 2009 gives you the power to visualize business data and communicate insights with instant impact. Before you hit the road, plug in your stops and MapPoint plots the most efficient course with turn-by-turn driving directions. MapPoint 2009 with GPS Locator adds routing and directions to easily plan your trips and track your location in real-time.”
“Every trip is a good one with Microsoft Streets & Trips 2009! With tools and features to help you create custom routes, set driving preferences, plan breaks, and calculate travel costs, this trip planning software makes travel easier, whether you’re going around town or anywhere across the U.S. and Canada. As the #1 best-selling travel and map software, it gets you where you’re going quickly, easily, and without all the guesswork.”
Zoe Watson writes about ZipWho.Com, a website that provides a quick summary of demographic data for any US Zip Code:
You can also search for zip codes that meet up to four criteria like household income, married status, ethnicity, educational level, etc., narrowing the search down to specific cities and states if you like.
Peter Vojtek has a new web app online called AnalyzeMyTrack! that lets you analyze your GPS track files (in GPX format). Upload the GPX file, and get back:
- An interactive graph of speed vs. distance
- Interactive altitude profile as a function of distance
- A “Basic Analysis” of the track stats, with the option to plot the position with the highest speed in Google Maps
- A lookup of the closest geographic features to points in the track using the Geonames server
- Supposedly also the ability to add your GPX track to your Google Maps MyMaps page, but I was unable to get that to work, at least in Firefox 3
The Mapperz blog posts about ESRI’s new Models and Scripts Gallery, a resource for sharing and downloading geoprocessing models and scripts for ArcGIS 9.3. There are similar galleries available for .Net, Javascript and Java code:
And the old resource page for Arcscripts is still available as well.
The Mapping and Distance Tools website lets you determine the compass bearing between sets of points. Zoom in to your desired area, click on “Start A Course”, and then click on the points you want (or enter a name or address to create a point). The tool will put X’s on the points, drawing lines between them:
As you create each point, the location of each point, the distance to preceding and succeeding points, and bearing will show up in a table:
You can also draw a circle on the map, though the utility of that option escapes me. And if you want to see how it’s done, the source code is available.
Well, the good news is that Garmin is finally starting to offer 1:24K scale US topographic maps for some of their GPS units. While they’ve had these maps for US National Parks in the East, Central and West for quite a while, they’re now issuing them for the US as a whole. These are different from the 1:100K Garmin topo maps available for a while, with the latest release coming in 2008. But there’s bad news as well:
- The datasets come on individual microSD cards, so they’re only compatible with units that support those cards
- Because they’re on microSD cards, you can’t load additional map data like CityNavigator or BlueChart data on the cards; you need to either do without or swap cards back and forth to get the dataset you want
- Cards cover various sections of the US, aren’t cheap ($100 list, typically available for about $60-70 street), and only a limited part of the US is currently covered:
(Note: Garmin also sells 1:100K topo maps on microSD cards, and you have to read the product description carefully to find that out; in any case, you’re almost always better off buying these 1:100K maps on a DVD; you can then upload selected maps to the GPS unit)
There are options that are cheaper, and cover areas not currently available from Garmin. The MiscJunk website has 1:24K topo maps for UT, MT and WY, with CA on the way, though there’s already a map file for the entire state of CA already available. Dan Blomberg’s GPSFileDepot site has 1:24K topo mapsets for Arizona and Mississippi, and he’s automated the process to a point where I suspect more state mapsets will be coming in the future.
But Dan has also put up a full tutorial section on how to create your own 1:24K topo Garmin mapsets, with full links to data and software sources. While I wouldn’t describe the process as simple and easy, it can be done by anyone with reasonable computer skills. And even if you don’t need a full topo map, similar procedures can be used to create simple Garmin point, line and area maps from GPS and GIS data that can be overlaid on top of other mapsets.
Other data resources for creating your own Garmin GPS maps:
Creating Custom Topo Maps For A Garmin GPS
Make Your Own GPS Maps From GIS Data (TravelByGPS website)
KeenPeople.Com Tutorial One, Tutorial Two
New Zealand Open GPS Project tutorial
Custom Maps For Garmin GPS Receiver Part One , Part Two
… and I hope to cover some other free options for creating Garmin GPS maps in the near future.
