QGIS 2 Cookbook

Key Features

• Explore and create time-based visualizations and build interactive maps
• Maximize your use of the QGIS features, plugins and toolbox automation
• Packed with lots of sample datasets to enable a better understanding of the code

Book Description

QGIS is a user-friendly, cross-platform desktop geographic information system used to make maps and analyze spatial data. QGIS allows users to understand, question, interpret, and visualize spatial data in many ways that reveal relationships, patterns, and trends in the form of maps. This book is a collection of simple to advanced techniques that are needed in everyday geospatial work, and shows how to accomplish them with QGIS. You will begin by understanding the different types of data management techniques, as well as how data exploration works. You will then learn how to perform classic vector and raster analysis with QGIS, apart from creating time-based visualizations. Finally, you will learn how to create interactive and visually appealing maps with custom cartography. By the end of this book, you will have all the necessary knowledge to handle spatial data management, exploration, and visualization tasks in QGIS.

What you will learn

• Import and export common tricky spatial data formats
• Perform classic vector and raster analysis with QGIS
• Utilize spatial databases and data management tools
• Use and create geographic web services and maps
• Explore and create time-based visualizations
• Perform network building and routing analysis
• Extend QGIS capabilities with popular plugins and toolbox automation
• Make beautiful and unique maps with customized cartography

About the Author

Alex Mandel is a geospatial scientist who has a PhD in geography and more than 12 years of experience in applying GIS to a variety of projects. He has also taught courses on GIS, geospatial programming, and Geoweb.

Victor Olaya Ferrero is a GIS developer. He is the creator and main developer of the QGIS Processing Framework. He is also the author of Sistemas de Informacion Geografica, a free book about the fundamentals of GIS.

Anita Graser studied geomatics at the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Austria, from where she graduated with a master’s degree in 2010. During her study, she gained hands-on experience in the fields of geo-marketing and transportation research. Since 2007, she has been working as a geographic information system (GIS) expert with the dynamic transportation systems group at the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), where she focuses on analyzing and visualizing spatio-temporal data.

Anita serves on the OSGeo board of directors and the QGIS project steering committee. She has been working with GIS since 2005, provides QGIS training courses, and writes a popular blog on open source GIS at anitagraser.com.

Alexander Bruy is a GFOSS advocate and open source developer working on the QGIS project. He has also maintained a collection of his own open source projects. He has been working with QGIS since 2006, and now he is an OSGeo charter member and QGIS core developer. He is also the author of QGIS By Example, Packt Publishing.

Alexander is currently a freelance GIS developer and works for various companies worldwide.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Data Input and Output
Chapter 2: Data Management
Chapter 3: Common Data Preprocessing
Chapter 4: Data Exploration
Chapter 5: Classic Vector Analysis
Chapter 6: Network Analysis
Chapter 7: Classic Raster Analysis
Chapter 8: Raster Analysis II
Chapter 9: QGIS and the Web
Chapter 10: Cartography Tips
Chapter 11: Extending QGIS
Chapter 12: Up and Coming