GEOG 865
Cloud and Server GIS

Overview

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There are many interesting offerings of cloud GIS SaaS. This week, we'll try CARTO (formerly CartoDB). Worth noting about CARTO is that it is an open-source project. You could completely replicate what they have, using your own Linux server. At the same time, CARTO is able to operate a business by selling their services to the many folks who would rather focus on simple mapping on the cloud instead of deploying the entire software themselves on their own hardware.

The source code is available at the GitHub website. They are using a fantastic set of technologies, although it might be quite a job keeping up with all the dependent projects if you wanted to work on the source. Fortunately, there's no need, as we can use their free pricing tier to get a feel for their cloud offerings.

Lesson Objectives

At the successful completion of this lesson you should be able to:

  • understand CARTO software and how it enables thematic mapping;
  • analyze spatial data patterns using CARTO aggregation tools;
  • visualize complex data in CARTO using time-series animations; and
  • understand how to upload datasets to CARTO.

Deliverables

  • Complete: L06: Assignment
  • Participate: L06: Discussion