Higher Education Profiling using Open Source GISA Primer on OpenStreetMap Data, Mapnik & OpenLayers Oliver O’Brien & Alex SingletonDepartment of GeographyUniversity College London

ContentsThe ProblemRequirementsThe SolutionOpenStreetMap DataMapnikOpenLayersData SourcesPutting it all TogetherThe Completed Atlas

The Problem: Presenting the DataA large amount of education-related spatial information available from various governmental bodies but not in a readily accessible graphical form (i.e. maps) for non-technical users.Dept. for Schools, Children and FamiliesCommunities and Local GovernmentHigher Education Funding Council for EnglandHigher Education Statistics AgencyOffice for National Statistics“Widening participation” initiatives require effective ways to view such data, to make decisions on target schools and areas.

Requirements I. StraightforwardStandalone GISesHard to use (Haklay, 2009a)Often expensiveRequire delivery of data to the client

Requirements I. StraightforwardWeb GISesSlowUnattractiveDifficult and/or expensive to buildMay require delivery of vector data to the client

Requirements I. Straightforward“Slippy Maps”Simple to useVery popularSimple to buildPowerful API (e.g. Google Maps API)

Requirements II. AccessibleSoftware installation Requires time and skill Constrained by platformPlug-ins Generally require a fast computer Still some platform issuesA solution without installation or plug-ins is most accessible HTML, CSS, AJAX PNG images

Requirements III. Self ContainedNo dependencies on third parties with constraintsOrdnance Survey “tile limits”The “derived data” problem, Google and Ordnance SurveyCan’t put Ordnance Survey derived data on a Google Maps “mashup”Government departments often provide data that has been geolocated from Ordnance Survey mapping (e.g. using National Grid References)Ordnance Survey is being very active at protecting use of its data at the moment

Requirements III. Self ContainedFull control over what’s on the mapGoogle’s colour scheme and branding can be distracting

The Solution: An Education AtlasStatic tiles of choropleth mapsMinimal computer requirementsScalableMapnikMakes “beautiful” raster mapsOpenStreetMap dataEasily available data source to create background mapsFull control over what is includedOpenLayersProvides the “slippy map” interface familiar to usersSelf-contained

Using OpenStreetMap DataFor a background map to provide contextWill include roads, town names, coastlinesWe don’t want all the data – just what we needWays to obtain the dataDirectly from osm.org as XML, requires convertingShapefiles produced by CloudMade or GeofabrikData quality and completenessImproving rapidly (Haklay, 2009b)Now pretty good for England (Reed, 2009)Can always obtain a very up-to-date datasetwww.openstreetmap.org

Using Mapnik“Mapnik is a Free Toolkit for developing mapping applications. Above all Mapnik is about making beautiful maps.” – mapnik.orgData SourcesShapefilesPostGIS databasesDirect from OpenStreetMapTilesCan be configured to systemically create square tiles at different zoom levels for the whole countrywww.mapnik.org

Using MapnikStylesheets for the cartographye.g. minor rivers and canals <Rule><Filter>[waterway]='river' or [waterway]='canal'</Filter><MaxScaleDenominator>80000 </MaxScaleDenominator> <LineSymbolizer> <CssParameter name="stroke">#88c <CssParameter name="stroke-width">3 <CssParameter name="stroke-linejoin”>round <CssParameter name="stroke-linecap">round </LineSymbolizer> <TextSymbolizername="name" face_name="DejaVu Sans Book" size="10" fill="#666" halo_radius="1" placement="line" min_distance="200"/> </Rule>

Using OpenLayersA way to display maps on a websiteJust a simple web browser is neededAccepts “layers” from many sourcesGoogle MapsMicrosoft Bing, Virtual Earth, YahooArcGIS 9.3 Mapping ServicesOrdnance Survey OpenSpaceMore powerful (but more complex) than the popular Google Maps APIwww.openlayers.org

Other Data SourcesNew Popular Edition PostcodingGovernment DataCombined with UKBORDERS boundary data, to create choropleths of each educational metricIncludes the National Pupil Database with postcode, for Key Stage 4 (GCSE) and Key Stage 5 (A-Level)

Putting it all Together: Tile GenerationOpenStreetMap APIStylesheetGeofabrik ShapefilesMapnikPostGISDatabaseOther .gov.ukTilesShapefilesUKBORDERSmySQLDatabaseDSCF.gov.uk

Putting it all Together: The WebsiteWeb BrowsersOpenLayersTilesmySQLDatabaseThe layers in OpenLayersTop: Schools (pins)Middle: Network (B&W)NPEMap PostcodesBottom: Choropleth (colours)

The Completed AtlasIDACI in Hampstead vs. Willesden, London

The Completed AtlasA-Level French Popularity in S.E. England

Putting it all Together: The Completed AtlasA-Level Geography Popularity in England

The Completed AtlasOutput Area Classification in Manchester

The Completed AtlasIDACI in Manchester

The Completed AtlasGCSE Performance in Manchester

ProblemsNo spatial data for independent schools or further education colleges – hence no A-Level metrics for ManchesterTiling process is quite slow and requires ~1GB of storage space for each choropleth setNext StepsBring in higher education flow dataIncorporate individual school metrics

No spatial data for independent schools or further education colleges – hence no A-Level metrics for Manchester

Tiling process is quite slow and requires ~1GB of storage space for each choropleth set

Bring in higher education flow data

Incorporate individual school metrics

Further Informationhttp://ollie.blogs.splintdev.geog.ucl.ac.uk/ReferencesHaklay, 2009a: Neo and Paleo GIS – is the difference in the usability culture? http://povesham.wordpress.com/category/gis-usability/Haklay, 2009b: OpenStreetMap and OS Master Map – Beyond good enough http://povesham.wordpress.com/2009/07/15/openstreetmap-and-ordnance-survey-master-map-–-beyond-good-enough/Reed, 2009: More on OSM Coverage http://tlatet.blogspot.com/2009/08/more-on-osm-coverage.html