Last winter I briefly highlighted Draw.io, a free flow charting tool comparable to Microsoft Visio (see that intro here). I use Draw.io pretty frequently, but I still haven't written more detailed how-tos for Spatially Challenged. The interface is pretty user-friendly, so I didn't think there was much worth a step-by-step article. Today is the first… Continue reading Export Resolution in Draw.io
Category: Uncategorized
Vocab Words: Perpendicular, Orthogonal, and Normal
I've been digging through (and talking about) definitions of different terrain attributes this week, and one question I got a few times was, "What does orthogonal mean?" Every time I tried to define orthogonal, I used the word perpendicular, so it seemed wise to just define that one today too. Let's start with perpendicular. This… Continue reading Vocab Words: Perpendicular, Orthogonal, and Normal
Stanford Open Courses
I am sharing this resource now because I just remembered how great it was while taking about SQL with a friend, and now I honestly feel bad that I haven't shared it with readers before now. If you aren't familiar with open courses, they are free, online ways to learn new skills. They vary in… Continue reading Stanford Open Courses
Live Twitter Interviews
This summer the Bean Team is interviewing farmers about their experiences with on-farm research as a part of our Boots on the Ground project, which itself is a follow-up to a soybean benchmarking project (learn more about that project here). How can you see these interviews? If you're a Twitter user, just follow @badgerbean to… Continue reading Live Twitter Interviews
Data Source: Climate and Weather
I'm gonna jump back into an older Spatially Challenged series-- data sources. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration manages all sorts of great resources, and they like short and memorable urls (weather.gov, for instance). Today I'm talking about climate.gov, which is a great source for maps and zip code level weather data. Let's start with… Continue reading Data Source: Climate and Weather
US Satellite Images and #NoPlant19
Those of you complaining about the weather may feel validated by this headline from CNN (article here). For the over 1 in 10 Americans work in agriculture and related industries (source), this has real consequences. The increased rain this spring delayed planting, and in some places planting was prevented altogether. The Washington Post has some… Continue reading US Satellite Images and #NoPlant19
Geographically Weighted Regression in SAGA
Since I mentioned kernels last week, I figured this would be a good time to go over the geographically weighted regression (GWR) procedure in SAGA. Once again, I don't have good example data I can post online for this topic, so you'll have to forgive the lack of pictures. GWR is an interesting method with… Continue reading Geographically Weighted Regression in SAGA
Vocab Word: Kernel
Today's vocab word can mean a lot of things in different contexts, but it almost always means the center or core. A kernel can refer to the edible interior of a nut or seed. In computer science, a kernel is part of an operating system. On Spatially Challenged, I'm usually referring to kernel in a… Continue reading Vocab Word: Kernel
DPI and Image Quality
Have you ever made a map or graph and been disappointed with the image quality or resolution? It happens to all of us, so today I'm sharing two quick tips for what to check the next time this happens. Low image resolution happens more frequently with large graphics, since some software programs have a default… Continue reading DPI and Image Quality
Making Box Plots
Last month I posted about how to read box plots, and today I'm sharing how you can make your own. I picked two online tools that don't require you to calculate the mean and quartiles yourself and shared a quick couple lines of code for the R users out there. Let's start with Desmos! Desmos… Continue reading Making Box Plots
Spatially Challenged 