Owner and Director of a Private Limited company which serves individual to large scale industries in the field of Maps and GIS. He is a Gold Medalist in M.Tech(Spatial Information Technology) and owns some famous Technology blogs and website... Know more
Edit – Export – download data from OpenStreetMap (OSM). Open Street Map is a free editable map of the world, and is very easy to handle. Here in this post we will see how to edit and create geometries on open street map. Also how to export, download and convert the .osm file to any other file.
Steps to Edit – Export – Download data from OpenStreetMap:
1.) Sign in – Before starting editing you need to have one Account in OpenStreetMap to your, so create the one if you don’t have any and login with your account.
2.) Click the Edit dropdown menu button, placed at the upper left of the map, where you will find following three options:
Edit – Export – download data from OpenStreetMap
Where In-Browser editor are used to edit online and JOSM is used for offline editing.
3.) Lets try with iD In-Browser editor for demonstrating editing here. So click Edit with iD option.
4.) Screen will shows up as follows:
In right hand side you have various option which you can explore one by one and is very easy to understand. Bing Ariel imagery is preferred in background which is by default is in background however you can select any background you want.
5.) Now we can start editing. You can select either Point, Line or Polygon from your screen.
6.) Click on the screen on the location where you want to edit. If you selected a point then just click on the location and press enter and then fill the entries on the left hand side and give necessary information.
7.) Click save and your edits will be saved, which you may see it again by opening the osm in another session. Likewise you can digitize lines and polygons.
8.) You can export the map from osm and it will be downloaded to your computer with extension .osm.
Edit – Export – download data from OpenStreetMap
The exported .osm file can be opened in QGIS or many other GIS tools.
Here I am showing you how to open .osm file in QGIS. Select Add Vector Layer icon as shown below, and browse to the location where you saved the downloaded file and click open.
A pop-up will open. Select layers as shown in figure.
Edit – Export – download data from OpenStreetMap
Now select OK. The downloaded map will be imported on the map canvas. In the layers space, you can see four layers which was exported as an example which are .osm layers and can be easily converted to any other GIS vector file like shapefiles.
Download OpenStreetMap OSM data directly from QGIS:
1.) We can also download osm map of our desired location to our computer using QGIS.
2.) In QGIS click vector and click openstreetmap and click download data.
3.) Enter the coordinates. Click … and give the name of the output file and click download.
4.) Downloading will take some time depending on the size of the data.
After downloading map you can convert back the osm data to any other spatial data, preserving database attributes too. You can also use some advance plugin given in repository of QGIS. I hope this post would have helped you to export Spatial data with the help of OpenStreetMap. If you are getting any problem in performing the steps do comment below also, if have any other tricks to export spatial data from openstreetmap or any other source do provide us the reference by commenting below.
Geo-processing Vector Analysis – Distance, Near by, Buffer, Intersection in QGIS. Vector analysis is one of the important part of GIS. There are many vector analysis operation which we can discuss on another article theoretically. Here you will learn how to perform vector analyssis with QGIS too. Suppose, you want to select and find some places which are within some distance from main road or near to some landmark places for analyzing the location. All this can be done by GIS Geo-processing Vector Analysis operation. Finding schools which are near to main road within a distance of 1km or finding a hospital or police station within a distance of 1km are some of very basic example of Vector Analysis Operation. Here, we will see a small demo of how to use some vector analysis tool like Distance, Near by, Buffer, Intersection in QGIS.
Let us download some osm free available data for performing operation. We have downloaded some data from a Very well known university. The downloaded comes is in WGS 84 CRS or Pseudo Mercator CRS. To calculate distance in meters the data must be in projected coordinate system. For our region it is WGS 84/ UTM zone 43N. You can choose CRS according to your area.
Converting CRS – For Easy calculation:
If your data is already in CRS projection, then you may proceed to see the below article and perform some vector analysis operation. Now we will first change the CRS of our project in QGIS tool. Go to Project click project properties.
Select CRS and find out the CRS which suits your region. Notice the coordinate displaying on the screen.
Our layers are not in projected CRS. So now right click the layer and click save as.
Save the file in shapfile format and change the CRS of the layer to projected CRS and click load in to canvas when done. Click OK. If you don’t see the layer in canvas. Then right click on the layer and click zoom to layer. Now turn on the “On the fly projection”. And now you will see the layer disappears. Again right click on the layer and click zoom to layer. You will see the layer appears with other layers on the map. Remove the layer with WGS 84 CRS. Now do the same with all the layers. Which are not in projected CRS.
Geo-processing Vector Analysis – Distance, Near by, Buffer, Intersection in QGIS
Lets Select Schools from the polygon Layer:
Go to properties. You can also open the properties dialogue box by double clicking on the layer. Select general tab and click query builder.
Geo-processing Vector Analysis – Distance, Near by, Buffer, Intersection
2. Double click on the field which you want to select and then select the operator i.e =, >, < , LIKE, != etc as per the requirement and then click sample to find out the values in that field, as can be seen in the image provided below.
Geo-processing Vector Analysis – Distance, Near by, Buffer, Intersection
3. Click ok in query builder and then select ok in general tab. You will see only the features you have selected according to query.
You can rename the layer, export and import the projected layer again or make a copy of the layer and clear the query by going back to query builder to get the original layer.
500 meter Buffer operation Around Schools :
Now we will create a 500m buffer around schools. QGIS will automatically calculate the result in meters because we have changed the projection to CRS system and the basic unit in projected CRS is meters.
Now click vector and click Geoprocessing tool and click buffer.
We have selected ‘Dissolve buffer results option‘ to dissolve overlapping buffer zones. Now Click ok, and close window after completion of the process.
which provides result as the provided below image in QGIS canvas.
Geo-processing Vector Analysis – Distance, Near by, Buffer, Intersection
Similarly, we can create buffer on the roads also, as shown in another example below.
Intersection – Vector Analysis in QGIS:
Lets compute the intersection area of the above two buffers i.e one buffer for schools and other over the roads. Lets start intersecting:
Click on the vector and then geoprocessing tool and then select intersect.
2. Click ok and then close the window after completion of the process. You can see the result showing intersection between two layers.
Find some point which are falling within the buffer boundary:
Now let us find some point which are falling within the buffer boundary of the schools. We are not selecting specific values here for this case. But you can do if needed.
Go to vector, click research tool and click on select by location.
2. Observe the options here. You can choose any number of options according to your analysis. Click ok.
3. The result is highlighted.
Similarly you can perform operation like, finding distance, search near by etc. Hope this article would be helpful for you to make some understanding about vector analysis. Obviously, you need to perform over the tool to become more familiar with vector analysis operation. If you find any difficulties or have any suggestion, do comment below.
Web GIS application Development and GIS Servers. The Increasing popularity of internet, from online surfing to e-commerce to interactive chatting, has made internet an integral part of our society. Many applications in journalism, science, publishing and other fields have been changed by and adapted for use on internet. Likewise, the internet has changed how GIS data and processing are accessed, shared and manipulated. The internet is affecting GIS in three major areas: GIS data access, spatial information dissemination, and GIS modelling/processing. The internet provides GIS users easy access to acquire GIS data from different data providers.
Four Components of Web GIS: Web GIS application Development and GIS Servers
Client
Web server and application server
GIS server
Data Server
Client: The client is a place for users to interact with spatially object and analysis functions in web GIS. It is also a place for Internet GIS programs to present outputs to the users.
Web server and application server: The web server responds to request from web browser via HTTP. When the web server passes the requests to other programs, it requests service from application servers. An application server acts as a translator or connector between the web server and the GIS server.
GIS server: A GIS server is a major workhorse component that fulfills spatial queries, conducts spatial analysis, and generates and delivers maps to the client based on the user’s request.
Data server: A data server serves data, spatial and non-spatial, in a relational or non-relational database structure.
In this post we are focusing particularly on GIS servers. There are many GIS servers available on the internet such as GeoServer, MapServer, Mapnik, MapGuide, QGIS server etc. all these servers are open source servers i.e. freely available. ArcGIS also provides server but it is not available for free, but with many add on features. All the open source servers can be freely downloaded from their respective websites.
List Of Some Open Source GIS Servers:
1. GeoServer: You can read the documentation here http://docs.geoserver.org/2.7.1/user/. GeoServer is written in JAVA so JRE 7 must be installed on the machine. A step by step guide on how to start is given here. GeoServer works best with Tomcat application server.
2. MapServer: you can read about MapServer here http://mapserver.org/introduction.html. it works well with Apache application server. We need to configure apache and MapServer to use for development. A mapfile is the heart of MapServer. It defines the relationships between objects, points MapServer to where data are located and defines how things are to be drawn. To read more about mapfile here.
Web GIS application Development and GIS Servers – Mapnik
4. MapGuide: Read about MapGuide here https://mapguide.osgeo.org/. Read developer’s guide and installation guide here. MapGuide supports almost all major programming languages. MapGuide supports apache and IIS application server.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing. Digitization is one of the important tasks for a GIS specialist. Digitization is a process of converting raster data to vector data. For this task QGIS provides many tools for efficient digitization. Digitization (or vectorization) should be clean and a copy of the raster data so that the information of the map does not change. Also consider to see other QGIS tutorials.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
Check if Digitizing Toolbox is activated
Here we will explore tools provided by QGIS for efficient digitization. First check your digitizing tool box is activated, if not then you can activate it using following process.
Click view tab in the menu bar and click toolbar and then check digitizing and advance digitizing tool box.
Create Layer:
Now add some layers for drawing. Click layer in the menu bar, select create layer and select new spatialite layer.
You can select new shapefile layer if you have to digitize a single feature like some places or roads or buildings. We are selecting new spatialite layer because we will be drawing more than one feature in single file and it is easy to transfer this file.
Click ‘…’ browse button and save your database. Give name to your layer, select type of layer and specify attributes and their type such as text or numerals and click add attributes to the list and click OK. Specify CRS of the layer same as the CRS of Raster data.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
Snapping Tool :
Snapping is an operation to move, match and coincide exactly between two features.
To set snapping option, Click setting in the menu bar and click options then select digitizing and in the box of snapping select default snapping mode, snapping tolerance and search radius for vector edits.
Draw Create and Edit Features:
a.) lets draw some feature. If there are more than one layer then select the layer which you want to edit and Click toggle editing in digitization toolbox. As you click a pencil will appear with the name of the layer which you are editing.
b.) Click on add feature tool in digitization tool box.
c.) After drawing your feature right click to stop drawing, as you stop a pop up will ask you the value for the attributes, give appropriate value to the attributes and click OK. Click on save layer edits to save your edits.
Move Feature:
You can move your feature completely by selecting the tool image provided below.
Delete or Join Node feature:
To Delete any node or you want to Join two nodes then you can use node tool as shown in the image below. Click on the node tool in the digitization tool box.
Now select the feature you want to edit.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
All the vertex(nodes) are highlighted with red color. Select the vertex or node you want to delete. Simply press the delete button.
To join two nodes select a node and drag the node to the other node and it will snap to the other node. Since we have set default snapping option it will snap to the other node properly. If snapping was not set it would never snap to the feature properly. You can also snap to any segment of line also.
Exploring Advanced Digitizing Tool in QGIS:
Now let’s explore advance digitizing tools. We will start with rotate feature tool.
Rotate Feature Tool:
a.) First of all save your edits if any, then select the feature or features and click rotate feature tool. As you click on the tool a plus sign or anchor point is generated around which feature will rotate. If you want to change the anchor point press ctrl and click on the place where you want the anchor point. To rotate drag the feature selected.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
b.) You will see a popup when you start rotating the feature named user input. In first text box you can enter the angle manually with which you want to rotate and in the second text box you can select difference between two shifts.
c.) After rotating click save edits.
Simplify feature tool
a.) Next is simplify feature tool. If you want to reduce some nodes from your feature you can use this tool.
b.) Click on the feature you want to simplify. A popup named simplification tool will open.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
c.) You can select tolerance and unit as per your convenience.
Add Ring Tool:
a.) Ring can be add only to polygon or multipolygon feature. Inside the polygon draw the shape.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
b.) Finish the shape by right click. Save your edits.
Add part tool:
To use Add Part tool your feature type should be multipolygon. If you add part to the polygon it would draw the feature but won’t save the edits.
a.) Select the feature first and then click add part tool.
Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
b.) Draw your part and to finish right click. The added part should be a polygon only otherwise it will show error. Save your edits.
Fill Ring Tool:
Fill Ring QGIS
a.) Draw the shape. This shape should be inside a complete part.
Fill Ring Tool QGIS
b.) The shape you draw will be a different feature.
Fill Ring Tool QGIS – Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
Delete Part Tool:
Click on the part you want to delete.
Delete Part – Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
Reshape Feature Tool:
Draw shape as shown in figure. First click inside the feature and then click outside the feature and then inside the feature. We don’t need to complete the shape.
Offset Curve Tool:
Offset curve is used to create parallel shift of line feature. In edit mode click offset curve and click on the feature then drag the feature to your desired position.
Offset Curve Tool – Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
Split Feature Tool:
Draw a line across the feature.
Split Feature Tool – Digitization in QGIS – Exploring tools for Digitizing
You can see the feature is splitted.
Split Part Tool:
Split Part tool is used to increase parts in a feature.
Merge Selected Feature:
To merge different feature into one feature we can use this tool. To use this tool select the features you want to merge and click on the merge selected feature tool.
Merge Attribute of Selected Feature:
That’s all. This is really a large set of tools provided in QGIS for Digitizing. Hope this article would be helpful for you, to introduce the digitizing tools. If you want to add more, which i might be missing you may comment below. Also if you have any doubt related to any tool, do Comment below so that we may discuss over it.
Reprojection in QGIS – Change projection of a georeference file in other projection. Earth is not a complete sphere; it is referred to as spheroid. Generally QGIS use by default Latitude and longitude (WGS 84) coordinate reference system which gives measurement in degrees. Projection is a very vast topic but we will discuss some basic concept of projection and see on the fly projection in QGIS and re-project a georeference file in other projection.
When we want to calculate distance or area over a surface of earth we will get result in degrees when CRS lat lon in degree. We cannot change degree to meters directly as it changes for different places with reference to Earth as it is not in perfect shape. To make this calculation easier, we need to transform this coordinate system to get unit of measurement in meters. Here comes a word projection which is a method by which curved surface of the Earth is portrayed as flat surface.
Change projection of a georeference file in other projection – Reprojection in QGIS:
Lets start by reprojecting Geographic Reference System(WGS-84) to projected reference system(UTM). It will work for both raster and vector data.
We are taking a georeferenced Image in WGS84 map as an example. Hereare the steps to change projection or reproject in QGIS:
1.) Import the data in QGIS.
2.) Right click on the layer and click save as:
3.) Click browse and save your map with a different name. You can use a naming convention as Map-name_projection.
4.) Now click and select the desired CRS.
Step 4 -Change projection of a georeference file in other projection
5.) Search for desired UTM zone of the your map, here I have a map of zone 43 N. Select it and click OK.
Note: We are converting the file to UTM zone. The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) conformal projection uses a 2-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system to give locations on the surface of the Earth. It has divided Earth in 60 zones.
6.) Check add saved file to map. Click ok button.
7.) You will see a projected map in layers but you won’t see the geographical map in the area as if on the fly projection is not enabled by default.
8.) Right click on the projected map layer and click zoom to layer.
9.) Now you will see your projected map. Notice the coordinates in the bottom.
Step 9 -Change projection of a georeference file in other projection
10.) If you want to see both maps. Go to project properties.
11. ) Enable on the fly projection and select WGS84 and click ok. You will see both maps overlapping each other.
Enable On the fly projection
You can enable on the fly projection by default also so that if two maps have different CRS you will be able to see both maps by following the steps given:
1.) Go to options.
2.) Select Automatically enable ‘on the fly reprojection if layers have different CRS.
Hope, you are now able to convert and change the projection of already georefernced file. If you find any problem in performing steps or if you think there is any steps you want to add on to this tutorial. then do comment below in the section provided, so that we may discuss over it. Also we would like to get your views on how you Change projection of a georeference file in other projection.
Why to look for Alternative to Google Maps – Classic old Map? Recently (around 29, April 2015) Google shut down their old classic Map and replaced it with New Google Map and lite mode. While there are many people who dont like the new Google Map as they are facing some problems like lazy loading and slow rendering of Graphics and are finding difficulty in exploring Map features, which they can easily use in Old classic Map. There are few alternative Maps to Google Map, which millions of people are already using in their daily life. Do try all of the listed Map and compare it with New Google Map.
List of 8 Best Alternative to Google Maps – Classic old Map:
1.)Google New Maps and Google Lite Mode: This is my first best alternative choice to old Classic Google Map, as you can easily access and edit the previous data which you might have saved in classic Google Map. With this advantage, I found that Google Map provides deep level of information of many places with their huge database. Without writing much about New Google Map here, you may find this link to explore Lite mode and also some of the articles, which will help you to access different features in New Google Map like, finding real time or live traffic, Measure Straight line distance, Get the route with Route planner in Google new maps orSearch nearby places.
2.) Bing Maps: Bing Map is a part of Microsoft Bing suite, which we can considere as the best competitor of Google Map, featuring Street Maps, 3D Maps, Driving or transit direction, Traffic information and clearFlow, sharing and embedding maps and many more.
Bing Maps – Alternative to Google Maps – Classic old Map
3.) Here Map by Nokia: ‘Here‘ uses cloud computing model, which made location data and services to be stored on remote servers which enables users to get access to it regardless of type of device. Here map is available, for Web, Android, iOS, Windows phone etc. Services like turn by turn direction navigation, public transit information of many cites, 3D maps, etc are provided by Here map.
Here Maps – Alternative to Google Maps – Classic old Map
4.) WikiMapia Map: WikiMapia is a privately owned commericial mapping site, which aims to create and maintain a free, complete, detailed and up to date map to the whole world. Over 2 million people uses and around 24 millions objects have been marked by users, according to the information presented by wikipedia. With wide category and easy editing of Map, you may think of WikiMapia as an Alternative to Google Maps.
WikiMapia – Alternative to Google Maps – Classic old Map
5.) MapQuest Map: MapQuest is owned by an American based Company AOL. It is using OpenStreetMap project for displaying the data providing services like information to some extent of street level detail as well as dirving direction to some countries, rela time traffic estimation etc. With Web, they also provides mobile app for android and iOS. Customizable GasPrice page feature is a new feature where users can type their address and compare the gas price of nearby gas stations.
6.) TomTom Map: TomTom Maps is owned by a Dutch Company providing mapping services. It was announced as the main mapping data provider for Apple iOS 6 Maps app, replacing Google Maps. TomTom provides many products and services, like navigation, IQ Routes, traffic data, map sharing, some live services and other mapping services. With Web, you may also use TomTom from Android and iOS devices.
7.) Waze Map: Waze was developed in Israel and then later acquired by Google. It helps you to navigate route turn by turn, knowing the real time traffic stats. With Web, Waze supports, Android, iPhone, Symbian, Blackberrry and windows mobile phone version.
Hope this list helps you to get more alternatives to Google old classic Map. Change is important for improvement. while I still uses Google Map for most of the time. Which Map you are using? Do you have more list of Maps, which i am missing to list for alternative to old classic Google Map. Do share your view by commenting below.
Find or Search Nearby Restaurants, shops, malls or any places in New Google maps. After the introduction of New Google Map and Google Lite mode Map many users are facing problems in using all features in new map, which they can easily use from old Google Classic Map as they are already used to with it. One of the important feature is Near By, which let you search Near-By hotels, Restaurants, Malls, parking places, nearby bus stops or near by Gas Stations from your current location or from any location you want.
Find or Search Nearby in New Google maps
Steps to Find or Search Nearby Restaurants, Shops, hotels, Malls, Parking area or Any places in Google New Maps:
1.) Open New Google Map. If you are using Google Lite mode, switch back to Google New Maps, as Lite mode does not support Nearby Search Feature.
2.) Type in current location or the location name from where you need nearby location result, in Search Box. And press Enter to Get the result.
3.) Now click on Search box once. This will show you Search Nearby link as indicated below.
4.) Type in the category of places, you want to search. For example “Coffee Shop, or Hotels or restaurant or car parks etc.” And hit Enter. This will list out all Nearby Category result. Here are the list of result information you may get:
Name of the Shops or location.
Ratings provided by user.
Distance from your current location.
Cost (if applicable)
Actual Address(You may get the direction by clicking on item)
Find or Search Nearby Restaurants, shops, malls or any places in New Google maps
5.)Red icons Show near by result on the map , while your original location appears as a gray icon.
Hope can now easily search the nearby location easily. I suppose, New Google Map is also good one which provided an easy way to search nearby location and many more options. Use New Google Map frequently to explore new features. Do comment below if you are facing problem in searching nearby location or if you want to give your opinion or suggestion.
Google Map Route Planner – Find live public transit and Estimated time travel. Google launched public transport Trip planner providing real time transit update for more than 800 cities world wide, for public welfare as a free service. This feature will help you know the next bus estimated time of arrival at your source, estimated time to travel from one location to another, answers which bus or train or any public transport vehicle you need to take and most importantly give you direction and guidance with live update. Surely Google Maps is one of the most used Maps Engine, where you can Measure Straight Distance, create your own map, find live traffic, know your location historyand many more. But Route planner is one of the best feature I have ever used while travelling at unknown places via public transportation. With this feature you don’t need to wait at bus or metro stop, looking for next vehicle as you receive the live Estimated time of Arrival information of next Public transit vehicle.
Google map Route Planner
Google get this data from the different public transit service provider across the world. Google have created the General Transit Feed Specification where transportation agency provider uploads the required data, for easily exchange of transit information. If you are one of the transportation service provider for public and operates with fixed schedules and routes, then you may Join transit partner program from here for free.
How to effectively use Google map Route Planner of Trip planner feature via public transportation:
1.) Open up Google Map either inLite Mode or in Full controlled New Google Map. 2.) Click on Direction arrow, which you may find on the text box located at top right.
3.) Now Enter the Source and Destination address location. 4.) Click on Train or Bus type of icon, which signifies Public transit and press Search. 5.) Wow! you will get all possible result to travel from Place A (Source) to Place B(Destination), with next ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival) of vehicle at Stop A, Estimated travel time (ETT), path and Total fare (Fare is not mentioned in every path).
Route Planner Google Map Experiment:
Let us look at result, when i experimented when searching for Source as Saket Metro Station, DDA flats(A) to Destination as Laxmi Nagar Metro Station(B) in New Delhi(Capital of India). Result shows 4 different path to travel from A to B. When I clicked on Detail of one of the path, a very detailed and appropriate result is shown, which provides the following details:
Walking distance and estimated time to reach to a Metro Station.
Take Yellow line Metro, with heading or direction is described.
Estimated time of arrival of next metro at your stop.
Station where i need to switch to different Metro.
Total estimated time of travel.
Public Transit Service provider, and its contact number.
When you search for the route, you may get ETA, ETT, Fare and Path for the Current Time. If you want to plan a trip for scheduled time, then you click on Schedule Explorer. Now you can choose the choose the journey start time by dragging the timeline, and explore the results. Here is how schedule explorer looks like:
Note: For some areas, you may also get the estimated fare charges to travel from Source to Destination.
Conclusion – Google Map Route Planner:
When i tested the Google Transit Trip planner feature and travel the path, with no surprise the result was very appropriate as Google used the transit data and implemented an intellectual algorithm on it. Estimated time of arrival (ETA) of Metro, Estimated time to travel(ETT) and the most important the correct path or guidance described.
Result: Application Estimated Travel time = 1 hour 16 Minutes. Actual Estimate Travel Time = 1 hour 19 Minutes.
You may also be interested to see following Google Map Post:
Isn’t that wonderful, the result was very close. Even if you depends on Public transit to travel, with the help of Google Map Public Transit Route planner feature, you are able to schedule your own route and most certainly avoiding the waiting time at stops as now you know the estimated time of arrival of next public vehicle. I loved this feature of Google Map. Have you tried this feature of Google Map? What was the result? Do you know any alternative to this feature? Share your thoughts by commenting below.
Switch to Google Map Lite Mode. Google map Lite mode is introduced after dropping the old classic map support and as an alternative to it, with more improved features which also helps in reducing the loading time to render graphics on old browsers.
Many people switch back to old classic map, after the launch of New Google Map in 2013, due to slow processing and rendering of graphics. While you can count Google Maps Lite mode as an best alternative solution to old classic Google Map, as Lite mode would load faster in every browser, which does not support for 3D Earth view feature and other 2D imagery. New Google Map uses WebGL for improving graphics which is not in case with Lite Mode Map.
According to Google “This update provides a number of benefits, including easier trip planning, more accurate traffic data, easier ways to explore new areas, and the ability to get you where you’re going with better search, directions, Street View imagery and more.”
Switch to Google Map Lite Mode (Replace classic map) – Improved Speed
Switch to Google Map Lite Mode – Listed features:
) Load graphics faster
) Supported in older browsers too.
) Can able to Switch to Satellite mode.
) View live traffic and predictable traffic.
) View direction and ways to get route via bicycle, public transit or by car.
List of features you can’t be able to use in Lite mode Google maps:
1.) 3D imagery and earth view
2.) Your current location on map
3.) Setting your home and work places
4.) Nearby,scaling the distanceor getting coordinates features not supported.
5.) Embedding a map and viewing my maps in Google maps.
6.) Draggable route
7.) Reporting a map data problem in Google maps.
If you are in Lite mode, you’ll see a lightning bolt icon in the bottom left which on hovers shows a message: “You’re in Lite mode.” While You can click: “Switch back to full Maps” if your browser supports it. Alternatively you can switch to New Google Map with Full support with the below link:
You can still access your saved places, home and work addresses, personal information and all custom map created, after switching to any of the newer version. None of your data will be lost.
Note : Lite mode is introduced in mid April 2015. You would no longer be able to switch back to older classic google map after the complete update of Google Maps to everyone.
What you think about Lite Mode of Google map? Do express your views on comparing the Google old classic map with respect to Lite mode Google map, in terms of processing speed, features and User Interface, by commenting below.
Convert – Degree Minute Seconds to Degree Decimal Minutes to Decimal Degree format. Geographical location information is represented in terms of Latitude and Longitude, where Latitude gives the angular distance of a point from equator to elevation either north or south, and Longitude gives the angular distance of a point east or west of the meridian. This Angular distance values of Lat and Lon is either represented in Degree, Minute, Seconds(dd,mm,ss) number system or Decimal Degree number system. So let us discuss about, how to represent the location with Latitude and Longitude, their value range and how to convert them with the tool.
Latitude values Range:
Point on Equator line is calculated as 0° latitude, while North pole as 90°N and South pole as 90°S. Latitude values range in between 0° and 90° in positive
(representing north) and in negative (representing south) values.
Longitude values Range:
Prime Meridian or Greenwich meridian is defined as 0° longitude. Longitude values ranges from 0° to 180° east or from 0° to 180° west.
Convert – Degree Minute Seconds to Degree Decimal Minutes to Decimal Degree format
Latitude and Longitude Representation – Different converted formats:
Generally in three formats, latitude and longitude values are represented. Let us take example of each format, by taking latitude longitude of San Antonio. 1.) Degree Minutes Seconds : For example: 29° 25′ 26.5152″, -98° 29′ 37.6974″
3.) Decimal Degree: For example: 29.424032, -98.493805
Format of Lat lon – Degree Minute Seconds, Degree Decimal Minutes, Decimal Degree format
Convert – Degree Minute Seconds to Degree Decimal Minutes to Decimal Degree format
Earth equator line is divided in 360 equal parts, each part represents a degree distance, where1°=111.32 Km. Every Degree is further divided in 60 minutes. This means, 1 minute = 111.32/60 = 1.85 Km, and every minute is divided in 60 seconds. So 1 seconds = 1.85/60 = 0.0309 Km.
Convert Degree Minute Seconds to Degree Decimal for the Latitude Longitude values:
As 1°=60’=3600”, so we can compute degree decimal by:
d = degree + minute / 60 + seconds/3600
Let us take an example: Compute 29° 25′ 26.5152″, -98° 29′ 37.6974″ to degree decimal:
Latitude to Degree Decimal = d = 29 + 25/60 + 26.5152/3600 = 29.42432
Longitude to Degree Decimal = d = -(98 + 29/60 + 37.6974/3600) = -98.493805
Tool to convert lat lon values from degree minute seconds to degree decimal:
LATITUDE :Degree= Minute= Seconds=
LONGITUDE :Degree= Minute= Seconds=
Latitude :
Longitude :
Convert Degree Minute Seconds to Degree Decimal:
Again, as 1°=60’=3600”, we would compute Degree, Minute and Seconds separately from Degree Decimal.
Degree = integer part of Decimal degree = int(ddd.dd) = ddd.
Minute = integer part of ((Decimal degree – Degree computed above) * 60) = int(ddd.dd – ddd) * 60.
Similarly computing longitude of -98.493805, we get the degree minute second to -98° 29′ 37.6974.
Tool to convert lat lon values from Degree Decimal to Degree Minute Seconds:
LATITUDE :
LONGITUDE :
Latitude :
Longitude :
Convert – Degree Minute Seconds to Degree Decimal Minutes:
Fetch the Seconds number, and divide it by 60, and then add the result with minute,
For example: Convert 29° 25′ 26.5152” to Degree Decimal Minute:
Here Seconds = 26.5152,
so dividing it by 60 i.e 26.5152/60 = 0.44.
Now add this with Minute, we will get 29° 25.44, which is in Degree Decimal Minutes format. If you multiply again 0.44 by 60 you will get again Degree Minute seconds format.
You may find further link, to find the tool for conversion of Latitude longitude format, with Map view:
Latitude Longitude format Conversion – Degree Decimal, Degree Minute Seconds and Degree Decimal Minutes
Do comment below, if you have any doubt or if you want share any other related information with us by commenting below.
Loading Comments...
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok
