Raster on the cloud, de-siloing your spatial data & user-centric analytics
Welcome to Spatial Perspectives - your monthly go-to newsletter for all things geo!
This month, we're talking about the future of raster data on the cloud, integrating your geo analytics with your wider tech stack - as well as a quick-fire tutorial on user-centric analytics!
Raster data on the cloud: what does the future look like?
Raster data is challenging to work with due to its large size and need for specialized processing software. As spatial operations move to the cloud, raster data has remained tied to desktop GIS and on-prem storage - resulting in a fragmented tech stack. Not ideal!
Excitingly, this is starting to change! One of the things we’re focusing on at CARTO is making raster data as easy to use as vector data by adopting open standards like Parquet for raster data. This will make cloud-native raster analytics more efficient and lower in cost, integrating it seamlessly into your existing data tools.?
You can read more about our vision for raster data on the cloud here.
Breaking the GIS silo: what’s next for Databricks users?
If you’ve ever felt frustrated by having to juggle different tools for geo and non-geo data, analytics & visualization, you’re not alone. For Databricks users, this has been an ongoing issue - but no longer!?
The recent Data + AI Summit was full of announcements for geospatial enthusiasts! In addition to announcing Spatial SQL support & driving towards Apache Spark 4.0, Databricks have acquired Tabular - with users particularly excited about the implications for Iceberg & Delta.
At CARTO, we’re excited to be bringing you the Analytics Toolbox for Databricks this summer. This is all about making your life easier by letting you undertake advanced spatial analysis right where your data lives - in your Databricks environment. In addition, Databricks users can look forward to upcoming functionality including:?
And more! Catch up on our full round-up for the future of geospatial in Databricks here.
?? Quick-fire tutorial: creating user-defined buffers with SQL Parameters
Do you ever feel like you’re spending more time dealing with amend requests than actually building your analysis & visualizations? One way you can make this process a little easier is by using SQL Parameters in your maps. You can use these as placeholders in your SQL queries, which your map user can select the value for. They look a little like this: {{SQL_parameter_value}}.?
For instance imagine you have a map showing New York Starbucks locations from our demo data, built on the below query. You can try this out with a free 14-day CARTO demo!
领英推荐
SELECT geom, geoid, street_address, location_name FROM `carto-demo-data.demo_tables.safegraph_coreplaces_starbucks_ny`
Let’s say we want to create buffers around each of these locations, but we know that our different users have different requirements for the buffer sizes - we can use SQL Parameters to let them choose the buffer size.
First, we’d need to set up a numeric SQL Parameter with the input options they can choose from using the Create a SQL Parameter window in CARTO Builder.
This parameter could then be built into your existing query using the code below. {{Distance}} will be replaced with whatever value the end user specifies in the map UI.
SELECT ST_BUFFER(geom, {{distance}}) AS geom, geoid, street_address, location_name
FROM `carto-demo-data.demo_tables.safegraph_coreplaces_starbucks_ny`
Check this out in action below - and explore the map yourself here! ??
Want to try this yourself? Check out the Widgets & Parameters section of our Academy for full tutorials!
On the road
Looking to sharpen your spatial skills and network with the geo community? There’s no better way than joining a geospatial event. Whether it’s virtual or in-person, here’s our round up of what’s coming up soon:?
Summer means fewer in-person geospatial events for your diary, so why not check out our back-catalog of webinars for everything from hands-on sessions to thought leadership sessions from industry experts? Who needs Netflix!?
That's all from us this for June - make sure you subscribe to get your monthly round-up of what's new in geo!
By Helen McKenzie, Geospatial Advocate