Dynamic Maps

Dynamic maps are interactive, allowing the user to reveal more information by zooming, clicking, and panning around. Dynamic, interactive narratives are not designed to be printed out. Rather, they are hosted on the web, either by a local server or internet hosting platform. This workshop will elaborate two kinds of dynamic maps you might find helpful to tell a spatial story: Web maps and Narrative maps.

Table of contents

• Web Maps
  • Reference Webmaps
  • Thematic Webmaps
• Narrative Maps

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Web Maps

Web maps are a means of visualizing and interacting with geographic data. Following the definition above, a web map is a type of digital map since it is derived from a computer. However, there are some important differences:

• Dynamic scales and content Web maps are not static images. Different scales display varying levels of detail. For instance, zooming in may reveal information that wasn’t apparent before. For this reason, web maps are not designed for print.
• Interactive Web maps are built to be interacted with by an end user, often in order for the user to explore a dataset and learn something. Take for example Climate Central’s Surging Seas Risk Zone Map. Or, listen to the radio anywhere in the world with radio.garden
• Display real-time data updates Web maps are useful for geovisualizing real-time data like weather. Watch the wind blow across the country.
• Often rely on web and mobile technology Web maps are ubiquitous - we see and use them all the time. For example, Google Maps. For small businesses, web maps are helpful for finding directions. For app builders, web maps might provide a method for routing to locations using a mobile device’s geolocation features. For researchers, they may help communicate important information in an area of study. For journalists, they may give spatial context to a story like where Amazon locates its warehouses and why.

The Assembling Resources section of this workshop will explain the various platforms in greater detail, including the advantages and disadvantages of each. For now, you’ll be introduced to some examples so you can get a feel for what might work for you. You can create all the same reference and thematic maps introduced in the Static Map section with web maps.

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Reference Webmaps

Much like their static counterparts, reference webmaps can be as simple as a basemap with a drop-pin locator or a single data layer. Explore the interactive capabilities of each.

Maybe add an example that’s like: a nice walk I took.

Thematic Webmaps

Thematic maps visualize the results of some spatial analysis. With a bit of code, you can create thematic webmaps.

_{See below choropleth example as full-page map}

_{See below cluster map example as full-page map}

_{See below cluster map example as full-page map}

_{See below proportional symbol map example as full-page map} Hover over the circles to learn the municipality population for Vancouver Island.

create a proportional symbol map and even heatmap with leaflet

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Narrative Maps

Narrative maps, tell a story with images and text at locations, by a thread - perhaps linear. changing frame brings the visitor on a journey. For example, a timeline, a travel voyage. Below are some examples by different hosting platforms. Assembling Resources section will go further into advantages and disadvantages of each.

• Neatline
• [Knightlab storymap]
• [Knightlab timeline]
• [Google Earth]
• [ArcGIS StoryMaps]

Add a google story maps walking path example. or leaflet –> maybe qgis incorperated.

https://www.google.com/earth/outreach/learn/create-a-map-or-story-in-google-earth-web/

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