Community Mapping

A geographic information system (GIS) can create, manage, analyze, and map many types of data. With GIS and other mapping technologies, you can create a map of an area and layer open data over it spatially to reveal new, enriching insights. Your challenge is to create a map that incorporates open science data to explore how an issue in your community is shaped by the surrounding physical geography. Maybe you’re concerned about food deserts and want to analyze the locations of grocery stores in your neighborhood? Or perhaps you’d like to explore the impacts of pollution on the local water supply? There’s so much space for opportunity—all you have to do is map it!

Background

To produce the earliest maps, mapmakers surveyed the land directly around them and then extrapolated (with scientific reasoning and mathematical formulas) to map greater areas. Technology now allows us to obtain even broader views. Satellite imagery, remote sensing, and geographic information system technologies have greatly expanded our ability to view and understand our home planet, Earth. Still, to understand a system as a whole, there are benefits to zooming in. When looking at features from a location-based perspective, it is interesting to see what patterns, trends, and anomalies exist when other data is brought into the same view. Basic mapping technology can be used to combine or layer open science data, enabling data to be visualized based on its spatial properties and providing us with a unique perspective. NASA data is inherently spatial; Earth observations are tied to the places where those observations are collected. When Earth observation data is combined with other data, such as infrastructure or socioeconomic data, further exploration is made possible and valuable insights can be discovered. More information can be found: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/learn/backgrounders/gis

Objectives

Your challenge is to creatively model your community using a spatial representation (map) that incorporates open-source science datasets and then use that map to explore how an issue in your community is shaped by the surrounding physical geography.

How will you define your “community?” Think beyond defined markers and borders, and instead reflect on what “home” means to you. What are the biggest issues facing your community and how do those who live there interact with the environment around them? Your map will tell a story, but determining what that story is and the boundaries of your community are completely up to you!

Your map can take many forms, such as a product made with geographic software or an artistic interpretation in the form of a painting. You could develop an interactive game, or an app that a user can explore, or something else entirely! No matter what format your map takes, make sure it serves as an effective visual/spatial representation of the story you’re trying to tell about your community, and it incorporates open-source data sets to provide scientific evidence.

A community is as big or small as you make it! Whether you model your entire country or just your street, displaying data in a visual, spatial format could reveal new insights that even the most knowledgeable community expert may not have thought of!

Potential Considerations

You may (but are not required to) consider the following:

Prioritize using free and open-source software! If you’re experienced with GIS, look into using free software such as QGIS, as opposed to a proprietary system. If you’re interested in mapmaking that does not necessarily involve software, you can explore creative and artistic representations of maps, such as paintings, physical miniature models, or textiles.

This challenge is open to all participant levels, so you can adapt it to your own interests and experiences. However you choose to make your map, make sure your approach is grounded in scientific data that tells a unique story about your community.

For data and resources related to this challenge, refer to the Resources tab at the top of the page. More resources may be added before the hackathon begins.