Lesson 2: Geospatial Data Handling and Wrangling

In this lesson, R objects used to store geospatial data will be discussed. The discussion will focus on simple features and sf package. Other R packages for storing (i.e. sp), transforming (i.e. rgdal) and processing (i.e. rgeos) geospatial data will be discussed briefly too.

Content

• An overview of Geospatial Data Models
  • Vector and Raster data models
• Map Projection and Georeferencing
• Geocoding
• Classes of Spatial Data in R
  • Spatial classes
  • Simple features class
• R packages for Handling Spatial Data
  • sf
  • star

Lesson Slides

• Lesson 2 slides in html and pdf formats.

Hands-on Exercise

• Geospatial Data Wrangling with R

In-class Exercise

• Geospatial Data Wrangling: Nigeria water point use case

Must read

• Chapter 2 Feature Representation of Intro to GIS and Spatial Analysis.
• Chapter 9 Coordinate Systems of Intro to GIS and Spatial Analysis.
• Geocoding.
• Pebesma, Edzer. (2018) “Simple Features for R: Standardized Support for Spatial Vector Data.” The R Journal, Vol. 10/1, 439:446.

Additional readings

• Maling, D. H. 1992. Coordinate Systems and Map Projections. 2nd ed. Oxford ; New York: Pergamon Press.
• Pebesma, Edzer, Thomas Mailund, and James Hiebert. 2016. “Measurement Units in R.” The R Journal 8 (2): 486–94.
• Andreas Hackeloeer, Klaas Klasing, Jukka M. Krisp & Liqiu Meng (2014) “Georeferencing: a review of methods and applications”, Annals of GIS, 20:1, 61-69, DOI:10.1080/19475683.2013.86882.
• Ela Dramowicz (2004) “Three Standard Geocoding Methods”, Directions Magazine.

All About R:

• sf package

  1. Simple Features for R

  2. Reading, Writing and Converting Simple Features

  3. Manipulating Simple Feature Geometries

  4. Manipulating Simple Features

  5. Plotting Simple Features

  6. Miscellaneous