Raphael Saldanha <saldanha.plan...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Tom! > > I'm a geographer and R enthusiast too, but what I can say is: R is a great > software to statistics. The final production of maps, although it's > possible, it's simple and faster made with GIS softwares, like GRASS, > Quantum GIS or ArcGIS.
This is exactly my quandary. I have some data I want to map, and I have no idea how to do it and none of the introductions I've found speak to what I thought was a pretty simple task. I first thought maybe I should use a GIS, since it's geographic data, but all the GIS documentation I can find is about how to analyze data that's already available. There are no end of Grass examples using this North Carolina dataset that comes with the installation, but I don't live in North Carolina and I don't want to analyze their data. I want to analyze mine, but I can't figure out how to get it in, and that's what I'm using R for. If you are telling me there is a simpler way to do this, I am all ears (eyes), especially if it uses grass or qgis which I can afford, and not Arc, which I can't. Queries of GIS guys told me that what I need to do is to get my data into a shape file first and then a GIS can help me display it, so I turned to R for that. Was I wrong there, too? Most of the data I want to map is not currently in any format at all. It's just numbers I have. I have shape files for the geography and I want to apply my numbers to those shapes and draw maps in color, and I also would very much like to draw the 3d kind where the geographic area is raised up according to some value. (I don't know if there's a name for this.) I tried to use a spreadsheet to get my data attached to the shapes, but as soon as I realized I needed to do a join of my data and the shape file data I began to look for alternatives. I know that I'm working at a very low level here, but in addition to Roger's advice before about how to get R to cooperate, I would be grateful for any advice such as you've provided about what exactly R is good for in my task and what a GIS is good for. Your note advances me down the field quite a bit, but if there's more, I'd be interested to know it. Many thanks, -tom > > My tip is: organize data with spreadsheet and GIS softwares, import (as > shapefile, if possible) in R and make your statistical analysis and > statistical columns of data, export to another shapefile and manipulate the > final map in GIS softwares. > > I repeat, it's possible make all these steps in R, and generate great maps, > but the most simple way is above. Personally, I use R to make the final maps > only when I have to produce a long series of simple maps. > > I think the best way is the integration of GIS software with R, each one > with his specialty. > > > King regards, > > Raphael Saldanha > BRAZIL > saldanha.plan...@gmail.com > > [[alternative HTML version deleted]] > > _______________________________________________ > R-sig-Geo mailing list > R-sig-Geo@stat.math.ethz.ch > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-geo > -- -------------------------------------------------------- Check out "Ten Things You Don't Know About Rhode Island" http://whatcheer.net http://sgouros.com _______________________________________________ R-sig-Geo mailing list R-sig-Geo@stat.math.ethz.ch https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-sig-geo
