Keywords: Spatial analysis, Interactive, Visualization
Webpages:
https://github.com/r-spatial/mapedit,
http://r-spatial.org/r/2017/01/30/mapedit_intro.html The
R ecosystem offers a powerful set of packages for geospatial analysis. For a comprehensive list see the
CRAN Task View: Analysis of Spatial Data. Yet, many geospatial workflows require interactivity for smooth uninterrupted completion. This interactivity is currently restricted to viewing and visual inspection (e.g. packages
leaflet and
mapview) and, with very few exceptions, there is currently no way to manipulate spatial data in an interactive manner in
R. One noteworthy exception is function drawExtent in the
raster package which lets the user select a geographic sub-region of a given Raster* object on a static plot of the visualized layer and saves the resultant extent or subset in a new object (if desired). Such operations are standard spatial tasks and are part of all standard spatial toolboxes. With new tools, such as
htmlwidgets,
shiny, and
crosstalk, we can now inject this useful interactivity without leaving the R environment.
Package
mapedit aims to provide a set of tools for basic, yet useful manipulation of spatial objects within the
R environment. More specifically, we will provide functionality to:
- draw, edit and delete a set of new features on a blank map canvas,
- edit and delete existing features,
- select and query from a set of existing features,
- edit attributes of existing features.
In this talk we will outline the conceptual and technical approach we take in
mapedit to provide the above functionality and will provide a short live demonstration hightlighting the use of the package.
The
mapedit project is being realized with financial support from the RConsortium.
