Free Geography Tools

Create KML Range Circles, Arrows And Wedges With An Excel Macro

Leszek Pawlowicz — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:51:30 +0000

I’m currently running OpenOffice only, so I can’t try it out, but “Planeman” has created an Excel macro that will create range circles, arrows and wedges for a list of decimal latitude/longitude points. Should be able to create these for hundreds or even thousands of points simultaneously. Pictures are from Planeman’s description. Excel spreadsheet view: And [...]

kmlfactbook – The CIA World Factbook In Google Earth Format

Leszek Pawlowicz — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:59:08 +0000

The CIA World Factbook … provides information on the history, people, government, economy, geography, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for 266 world entities. Our Reference tab includes: maps of the major world regions, as well as Flags of the World, a Physical Map of the World, a Political Map of the World, and a Standard [...]

Pardon My Dust

Leszek Pawlowicz — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:57:46 +0000

Sorry about the old posts making it into the feed. I’ve spent the better part of the past week rebuilding the site from the ground up, and parked it temporarily at a different IP address; I’m guessing that caused the repeat listings of old posts. Should be done with the rebuild, and semi-regular posting will [...]

Mashup And Map Demographic Statistics With DataMasher

Leszek Pawlowicz — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 12:32:56 +0000

Take one of DataMasher’s 90-odd datasets (demographic, economic, energy, health, etc. data by US state), add/subtract/multiple/divide it by another dataset, and plot the results as a choropleth map (plus get the results in tabular form): Mashups are posted publicly for comment and ratings. Results may be significant, or be totally devoid of meaning; YMMV. DataMasher makes [...]

Another Tool For Identifying Garmin Map Tiles

Leszek Pawlowicz — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:45:07 +0000

A few months ago, I covered GMapTool, a program that lets you identify the name and coverage area of a Garmin .img map file, whose only outward identifying info is a cryptic 8-digit filename that doesn’t reflect anything about its contents. Some people who have download the most recent version of GMapTool have reported getting [...]

G-Raster Version 1.3 Released – Raster Maps On Garmin GPS Units

Leszek Pawlowicz — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:42:00 +0000

I”ve posted about my free app G-Raster before – it converts raster imagery like topo maps and aerial imagery into the format compatible with recent Garmin GPS models (the Colorado, Oregon, and Dakota series). I’ve just uploaded version 1.3, which adds some major improvements: - The option to rescale images that are too large for Garmin [...]

Draw Freely On Google Maps, Export In Multiple Formats

Leszek Pawlowicz — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:21:54 +0000

ScribbleMaps is one of the slickest Google Maps apps I’ve ever seen. Draw and/or place any of the following on a Google Map view: Freehand lines Straight lines Circles Rectangles Arbitrary shapes Text Images (needs a web link to the image) Standard Google Map/Earth placemark icons (select from multiple sets): You also have control of the color, opacity and line thickness from the toolbar, [...]

Historical Marker Database

Leszek Pawlowicz — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:53:10 +0000

The Historical Marker Database (HMdb.org) is a voluntary effort to document and catalog historical markers, mainly from the US and Canada (a few markers from foreign countries are also listed). Markers are listed by category and state; you can also search by multiple parameters (keywords, postal code, county, etc.). Marker info pages have a photo [...]

One-Click Reverse Geocoding In Google Maps

Leszek Pawlowicz — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:52:24 +0000

Digital Inspiration’s Find Postal Address … site is a one-trick pony, but does it well. Zoom to a location in Google Maps, click on the map, and a pop-up will give you the closest postal address to the point you’re clicking on: A search box aids in zooming in quickly to a desired city or zip [...]

Tools To Help With Creating Garmin KMZ Files With G-Raster

Leszek Pawlowicz — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:27:31 +0000

Last post, I covered G-Raster, a free program I wrote that converts georeferenced imagery (GeoTiffs, MRSID, BSB, IMG, and graphics with worldfiles) into KMZ overlays compatible with some of Garmin’s more recent handheld GPS models (the Colorado, Oregon, and Dakota series). While G-Raster does a good job by itself on most such imagery, like that [...]