NACIS 2017

Scalable Static Maps | Des cartes statiques à échelle ajustable
Presenter: Aaron Dennis, Azavea
You've spent months studying Leaflet.js interaction events and D3.js animation transitions to create that sleek, modern, interactive web mapping application only to see its fall from grace when your user grabs a poorly framed screenshot of their hometown, pastes it into their default-themed PowerPoint presentation, and never returns to your website. In this talk, we'll discuss strategies for static image map generation to improve user experience and reduce development effort. Sometimes an atlas of many well-designed infographics is more valuable for your user than applications of exploratory cartographic visualization. We use command-line D3.js and Node.js Canvas to generate shareable gerrymandering infographics on state-by-state efficiency gap scores. We'll discuss methods for web-based static map distribution and scenarios where you might think twice before building that interactive mapping dashboard.

Flyover Country: Mobile Visualization of Geoscience Data | Flyover Country : la visualisation mobile des données géoscientifiques
Presenter: Shane Loeffler, University of Minnesota
Copresenters: Ross Thorn, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Amy Myrbo, University of Minnesota; Simon Goring, Rob Roth, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Flyover Country is a mobile app for geoscience data discovery and exploration from anywhere — from the airplane window seat to a remote hiking trail to a researcher's field area. The app allows users to choose a region of interest, find what data are available there, and save that information to their device for offline use. Visualizing and interacting with complex multivariate/spatiotemporal datasets on a mobile device is a novel challenge due to smaller screens, reduced processing power, and more limited data connectivity than traditional laptop or desktop computers. Flyover Country incorporates solutions to these issues in its most recent update. Specifically, we will discuss: hardware and software engineering challenges when working with disparate and large datasets, multivariate cartographic design solutions for visualizing these data, and the revised UX design to improve support of both general and research audiences.

An Online Code Library for Google Maps | Une bibliothèque de code en ligne pour Google Maps
Presenter: Michael Peterson, University of Nebraska Omaha
The making of multi-scale panable (MSP) maps through Application Programmer Interfaces (APIs) is a central part of modern cartography. The most widely-used API is based on Google Maps. Described here is an online library of Google Maps API code. The library consists of over 100 working examples that demonstrate the full array of mapping possibilities with the API. Examples include the mapping of points, lines and areas in vector format using the KML, FusionTables, GeoRSS, GeoJSON and TopoJSON file types. Also demonstrated is how raster files, both whole images and a set of tiles, can be superimposed on Google Maps. Server-side PHP code is included that extracts data from a MySQL database and outputs the HTML, JavaScript and API code for the making of online maps. Other examples use the location-finding ability of smart phones to map a user's location. Code is also included that demonstrates how to make animations.

Projections and datums in web mapping: an introduction | Les projections et datums en cartographie Web : introduction
Presenter: Lyzi Diamond, Mapbox
Nine out of ten cartographers agree: dealing with datums and projections can be the most annoying part of making a map. While GIS software allows us to quickly convert datums and try out a bunch of projections and see what works best for our use case, web mapping tools tackle this problem completely differently.

This talk is about interacting with datums and projections when making web maps: the choices to make, the vocabulary to use, and the concepts to understand. (Plus a few minutes at the beginning to refresh everyone's memory about datums and projections in general.) Maps are math and so can you!

Interactive HTML5 Data Visualization: See what was inaccessible with CartoVista | La visualisation de données HTML5 interactives : comment CartoVista rend l’invisible visible
Presenter: Dany Bouchard, CartoVista
Geographic data is ubiquitous in the landscape of organizations, corporations and governments. CartoVista allows you to profit from it by building interactive web maps. Leveraging the best of HTML5, CartoVista delivers a rich, immersive mapping experience that can even surpass desktop GIS! Discover how you can tell a story in your web browser and make your GIS data shine! This presentation will highlight concrete examples of cartographic data dissemination with advanced styles. Additional map samples will explore the use of interactive business data for banking (loan delinquencies), insurance (claims) and geomarketing.