My web presence

Saturday, 23 May 2020

Digital terrain models help create a picture

[ Update: next post discusses same in the East Anglia coastal area of the Fenlands ]

The previous blog showed how to effectively portray coastal inundation, as it progresses inland from the encroachment of sea level rise. These were base on 30 m. resolution Digital Elevation Models (DEM) from OS OpenData as explained previously here.

Thursday, 7 May 2020

Low tech / high tech map updates, Part II

[ Update: the next blog details and updates this via a story map and new data ]

Part I showed how high contrast map symbology of Sea Level Rise can be transferred to a paper map to take around events. When asked if I could scan and reprint that paper map, I thought: why print a hand-transfer, why not print the digital original? Better still: why not try and enhance that digital map to really give an impression of sea level rise gradually invading the land?

Friday, 1 May 2020

Coronavirus daily update - Part III

Update: see further updates at higher granularity geography in a later post
Also ONS numbers updated weekly maintain the difference with NHSx below]

Following on Part II adding local data for East of England, let's add weekly deaths (two weeks out of date) from ONS here and here, including counts outside of daily hospital deaths (two days out of date) from NHSx. Here is a graph of the raw data collected from both sources, since end-January onset of the pandemic in the UK.

Wednesday, 29 April 2020

Coronavirus time-enabled maps - Part II

Following on the initial post, this is a presentation live-streamed on YouTube below - thanks Daniel P. Hoffman for organising How to do Map Stuff yesterday! - liner notes are below that, ten-slide intro and step-by-step after that. Note that while data are open and the process can be done on any platform, the coxcomb symbology (slide 21) is ArcGIS Pro, tho someone may redo it elsewhere?

Sunday, 26 April 2020

Coronavirus daily update - Part II

Update: see a follow-up post on how ONS data augment the NHSx death statistics ]

Daily updates brought you COVID-19 data for England in a dashboard that posted according to your desktop or mobile device (tablet coming soon). These statistics from NHSx show, however, only hospital data. It's been noted in the press that cases and especially deaths outside hospitals are not captured. ONS captures death data but not in a single dashboard like NHSx and two weeks behind.

Tuesday, 21 April 2020

Listen to the Scientists - Part II

[ Update: a later post shows another outreach tool, a poster depicting sea level rise scenarios ]

Part I showed web maps of London and East Anglia under 0.5, 2 and 6 m. sea level rise by mid-, end- and next century in moderate, far-tail and extreme IPCC emissions scenarios, respectively. The next post updated a simple approach to the public using paper maps, which are both visually arresting and factually correct. Videos are also an effective way to convey complex scenarios by animating those maps, and setting them in regional and local contexts. They help illustrate the climate emergency.

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

Coronavirus time-enabled maps

[Update: thrilled to present at How to do Map Stuff: a Live Community Sharing Event
Update: The Times' Sam Joiner just cleared  England COVID map for London crowding using ridge map animation

Local dashboards updated daily from Public Heath England data are bolstered by other open data: As coronavirus affects most notably the eldest and youngest, Office for National Statistics age distribution is a welcome addition to case distribution maps. A static web map showed cases and age distribution side-by-side - a story map has the full back story on its derivation - Kenneth Field's "coxcombs"  post static time-series that helped identify here vulnerable groups of elder and younger populations, and to overlay them atop progressive case numbers over a set time period.

Tuesday, 24 March 2020

Coronavirus daily update

Issues with the mnemonic link below? Try one of these! Mobiletablet or desktop
Final update: single URL for desktop, tablet and mobile: bit.ly/CamCOVIDinfo
15 Apr. 2020NHSX provides now COVID-19 daily updates from their new site
Update 5: further maps adding date of  confirmation and provenance in next post
Update 4: tweak two dashboards to work better on desktop and on mobile (see final)
Update 3: added population by age group for comparison, see bottom of right panel
Update 2: streamlined with one map incorporating all data + complete instructions
Update 1: mobile version added, added Persons Recovered (removed by PHE later)
Correction: user feedback showed importance of symbology to convey information

Monday, 16 March 2020

Coronavirus backgrounder

[Update: more dashboards local to Cambridgeshire shown in next blogpost]

This pandemic affects us all. You might be reading this from home. And while social distancing may become the norm, social isolation needn't be: Use social media, ye olde telephone, reach out! Here are some local resources gleaned from group meetings, the twitterverse and simple curiosity.

Wednesday, 12 February 2020

Low tech / high tech map updates

[ Update: see a follow-on post on how a poster helps get the sea level rise message in context ]

At last summer Street for Life (S4L) and Cottenham Beach Party events by Extinction Rebellion (XR) Cambridge, a simple sea level rise map was a hit with children and adults alike: I simply stuck on cardboard backing an Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Explorer map of Cambridge on side, and villages immediately north on the other. The +5 and +15 m. sea level rises (SLR) from the 2006 firetreemap  were hand-drawn, but eyeballing it made it pretty inaccurate... and +15 and +5 m. were picked because they overlapped Cambridge and villages north, rather than anything scientific!