Working with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Python
Learn how to work with GIS in Python in a project-based workshop. The first half will cover reading and writing shapefiles and GeoTIFFs, converting between pixelLocations and geoLocations, extracting raster windows using shapefiles and creating a web application that displays nearby locations using PostgreSQL's GIS support and Google Maps. In the second half, you will work with GeoDjango and discover the architecture behind a production web application used in rural electricity planning and an image recognition system that finds houses in rural satellite images.
Presenter Biography
Roy Hyunjin Han lives in New York with his girlfriend of two years. He is working on a program to find houses automatically in rural satellite images. The distribution of houses helps plan the placement of infrastructure for the UN Millennium Villages project in Africa. He also designs office automation tools for the Technology Commercialization Office of the City University of New York. He has worked in labs and industries ranging from retail and neurogenetics to technology transfer and airline reservation systems. He holds a Masters in Computer Science (Machine Learning) from Columbia University and a Bachelors in Mathematics and Neuroscience from New York University. His dream is to teach workshops and start project-based schools in Africa and around the world.
Presenter Experience
- 2008 NYAS Machine Learning Symposium: Automatically Marking Houses in Rural Satellite Images of UN Millennium Villages in Africa
- 2008 Python Conference: Automating Windows Applications with win32com
Requirements
Attendees should have a firm grasp of Python as well as basic familiarity with GIS concepts.
Attendee Requirements: Attendees are encouraged to bring laptops installed with Python 2.5.2, GDAL 1.5.3, numpy 1.2.1, scipy 0.6.0, matplotlib 0.98.3, qGIS 0.11.0, Apache 2.2.10 and mod_python 3.3.
Class Outline
- Connect to your GIS in Python tutorial account
- List of geospatial software
- Install GeoDjango
- Build a simple GIS web application using GeoDjango and Google Maps
- Install MapFish
- Build a simple GIS web application using MapFish
- Install GeoServer
- Connect to ArcGIS using win32com
- Load points from a shapefile with GDAL
- Save points to a shapefile with GDAL
- Extract raster windows from a GeoTiff with a shapefile
- Find houses automatically in rural satellite images
- Connect houses optimally to an electricity grid
Class Topics
Tasks
- Read/write a shapefile
- Read a GeoTIFF
- Convert between geoLocations and pixelLocations
- Extract raster windows from a GeoTIFF using a shapefile
- Display a 16-bit or 32-bit image
- Connect to ArcGIS using win32com
Databases
- Take advantage of GIS support in PostgreSQL
Applications
- Map a location using Google Maps or OpenLayers
- Make a simple web application that searches and displays nearby markers
- Make a web application that lets users upload and display shapefiles
- Walk through the architecture of a production web application that is used in rural electricity planning
- Walk through the architecture of a desktop application that finds houses in rural satellite images
Links
For more tutorials and screencasts, see http://invisibleroads.com/tutorials
.