Toolbox

jQuery Geo, an open-source geospatial mapping project from Applied Geographics, provides a streamlined JavaScript API for a large percentage of your online mapping needs. Whether you just want to display a map on a wep page as quickly as possible or you are a more advanced GIS user, jQuery Geo can help! This project is considered alpha only because it does not yet fully implement the feature set of our scheduled beta release. Alpha releases are stable and should not change much as we port technology from our internal library to the open source one. Read More

Map owners no longer face a ‘life on the edge’ thanks to a new range of customisable paper maps from Ordnance Survey. The much loved OS Explorer Map and OS Landranger Map series of maps have now been extended further with the introduction of a new customisable version. The new OS Explorer Map – Custom Made and OS Landranger Map – Custom Made allow anyone to customise their own map, choose their own title and select an individual cover image from a wide selection photographs.

Read more: OS Explorer Map and OS Landranger Map Extended

An interactive web tool has been developed to improve the accuracy and extent of global land use and forest cover information. The new ‘Geo-Wiki’ uses Google Earth and  information provided by a global network of volunteers to fill in ‘data gaps’ and to verify existing land cover information. Developers this week have launched a Geo-Wiki competition to raise awareness of the tool and to encourage community involvement in environmental monitoring. Access to accurate land cover data is increasingly important as nations strive to balance issues such as agricultural production for food security with, for example, their objectives regarding climate change or biodiversity conservation. While much land cover information exists it is often conflicting, partially due to the scale at which it is collected, the uneven coverage of the data, or the different definitions of the land cover classes used.

Read more: New Web Tool to Improve Accuracy of Global Land Cover Maps

FIND, the mapping technology company, announces the launch of sketchmap.co.uk – a unique, easy-to-use website where people can quickly create and share maps.

Read more: FIND Launches sketchmap.co.uk