Wil Waters: The Geospatial Index

Alastair speaks with Neil Sims, an Earth Observation Scientist at CSIRO (Australia's national sciene agency), about his journey in the field of geospatial science and the importance of Earth observation in managing land degradation. They discuss the complexities of measuring land degradation, the significance of land degradation neutrality, and the role of international cooperation in addressing environmental challenges. Neil shares insights on the evolution of Earth observation technologies and their impact on sustainable land management practices, emphasizing the need for continued collaboration and innovation in the field. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This episode is sponsored by Bee Maps. Ed and Steven reconvene to discuss recent Geomob events in Berlin and Barcelona, highlighting various talks on AI, geospatial technologies, and community engagement. They also touch on the challenges of event attendance, upcoming events, and the monetization of their podcast. Ed shares a fun new feature from OpenCage: Shipping Forecast sea areas. He also calls for beta testers of a upcoming new service. Meanwhile Steven is about to head off leaf-peeping in New England, helped of course by thematic maps. Finally the topic turns to Foursquare, who recently announced the closure of their City Guides. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This episode is sponsored by Bee Maps. Doug Specht, a cultural geographer, joins Steven to discuss the power and limitations of maps in representing complex human experiences, particularly in times of conflict. He highlights the decisions that cartographers make about what to include and what to leave out, and how these choices can shape our understanding of a place or situation. Doug emphasizes the importance of recognizing that maps are not neutral or objective, but rather laden with power and subjectivity. He also explores the role of technology in mapping and the need for readers to critically engage with maps and understand their purpose. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

This episode is sponsored by Bee Maps. Dr. Robin Cole joins Alastair to discuss the application of deep learning to satellite imagery and the growing community in this field. Robin shares his background in optical physics and how he transitioned into remote sensing and deep learning. Deep learning, a specific part of the AI family, uses neural networks to process satellite imagery and has seen significant advancements since 2012. The volume of satellite imagery requires automated means of analysis and indexing, and deep learning models have made this possible. There are standardized methods and libraries, such as PyTorch and TorchGeo, that facilitate deep learning in the geospatial domain. The community Robin has built focuses on sharing resources, knowledge, and expertise in deep learning and Earth observation. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Steven and Ed look back on the recent (ept 18th) Geomob London, a celebration of OpenStreetMap's 20th birthday. It was easily the largest, but also possibly the best, Geomob London yet, with a phenomenal turn out. Our hosts discuss the talks, the crowd, the evolution of the project, the diversity of its community, and the impact of technology and AI on mapping. They explore the balance between corporate involvement and individual contributions, and the global perspective of OpenStreetMap. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Mark Prioleau, Executive Directory of the Overture Maps Foundation, rejoins the podcast to share an update. The conversation covers topics such as the general availability of Overture Maps, the data themes available, accessing the data, the hierarchy of sources for buildings data, and the challenges and improvements of the places data. The episode highlights the importance of cloud-native formats and the potential for integrating open data with proprietary data. Overture is focused on creating an open base layer for mapping data that can be used by application developers. They aim to provide a global, open, and entity-based reference system that allows for the conflation of data from various sources. The goal is to create a comprehensive and up-to-date map dataset that can be distributed to billions of people. Finally, Marc shares why he sees the relationship with OpenStreetMap as complimentary.   Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Steven is once again joined by old friend and "professional catornerd" Kenneth Field to discuss the question of whether or not every dataset should be turned into a map. They explore the idea that maps are a form of communication and should be used when they are the best tool for conveying information. They discuss the importance of thoughtful map design and the need to consider the audience and purpose of the map. They lament the proliferation of maps that may not be effective or meaningful. Steven and Ken discuss maps that they regret making, sharing examples of maps that they created but later realized were unnecessary, poorly designed, or insensitive. Overall, they emphasize the importance of asking the right questions and making intentional decisions when creating maps. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Ed welcomes back Joana Simoes (a five-time Geomob speaker!) to discuss the upcoming Geoob Lisbon event, which she co-organizes together with Miguel Marques. They explore the growing geospatial scene in Lisbon, the diverse presentations attendees can expect, and the importance of community engagement in the geospatial field. The conversation encourages listeners to participate and connect with others in the geospatial community. We hope to see you in Lisbon on October 2nd! Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Alastair is joined by old friend and former colleague Geoff Smith to discuss land cover mapping, focusing on the European products. Geoff explains his background in geospatial and his work on the UK Land Cover Map projects. They discuss the importance of existing land cover datasets like CORINE and the UK Land Cover Map, and how they can be used for localized land cover data. They also delve into the role of Copernicus, the European Earth Observation Service, and its land monitoring service. Geoff explains the concept of EAGLE, a hierarchical approach to describing land cover and land use, and how it relates to CORINE. Finally (how could it be otherwise) they touch on the potential role of AI in land cover mapping and the challenges it presents. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.

Ed interviews Jo Walsh, a pioneer of the open data movement, one of the earliest people involved in OpenStreetMap, and co-author of the highly-influential O'Reilly book "Mapping Hacks". They discuss the early days of the open data revolution, the emergence of projects like OpenStreetMap, and the challenges and future of open data. And much more. Show notes on the Geomob website, where you can also learn more about Geomob events and sign up for our monthly newsletter.