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Maptime

Maptime Bend

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Go for a hike|bike|ski|run and make a map

Dreaming of tacky trails.

February is around the time of year in Bend that I begin to get the itch to ride mtn bike trails and go for a hike. In fact my Garmin GPS unit has been collecting dust…

Hawaii Map

Today we will take some of your athletic pursuit data that you have collected and try to make a map using QGIS. We will focus on pulling down data from Strava and Garmin Connect since both offer a way to export GPS tracks to GPX and/or Google Earth KML format.

Pre-requisites

You will need GIS software such as Esri’s ArcGIS Pro or QGIS to make a map product. For today’s exercise we will use QGIS.

To install QGIS go to the home page and click on the “Download Now” button.

QGIS

NOTE: The file download is around 500 MB.

Once you have installed QGIS you should now have a fancy new application installed under Application or Program Files that awaits your mapping needs.

Boundless QGIS Installers

As Andy pointed out in the meetup announcement, another install route is to use the Boundless’s QGIS installers. Although their release is a couple versions behind the latest QGIS build, they include everything you’ll need to get started. Their site also requires you to enter your email address, and then they’ll email you a link to the installers. For your convenience, I’ve done that already and have linked directly to the ZIP archives here:

Windows installer: Download

Mac installer: Download

Extracting Data From Strava

Strava is used primarily by cyclists and runners to track activities. I am sure for most Strava users the mapping interface works well - but since it is MAPTIME we want to make our own maps.

  • Login to Strava Hey look at my Strava Dashboard
  • Strava lets you bulk download data for all your activities! Go to Settings -> ‘Download your data’ Hey look at my Strava Dashboard
  • Strava will send you an email to your account with a zip file of all your activities.

Extracting Data From Garmin Connect

For those of you using a Garmin device that is not linked to Strava, you can extract data from Garmin’s web-based system.

  • Login to Garmin Connect Hey look at my Garmin Dashboard
  • Navigate to the activity you want to extract. Export the activity as a GPX file. Hey look at my Garmin Data

Load data into QGIS

If you have made it here, you are successful! Unzip either your Strava or Garmin data.

  • Login to Garmin Connect Hey look at my Garmin Dashboard
  • Navigate to the activity you want to extract. Export the activity as a GPX file. Hey look at my Garmin Data

Add the Shapefile to QGIS

  • Launch QGIS
  • Click the “Add Vector Layer” button from the Data Toolbar
    QGIS FTW
  • Navigate to where you downloaded the City Limits shapefile and select the .shp file.
    QGIS FTW
  • Feel free to add tracks, waypoints, and or routes. QGIS FTW
  • You should see several GIS layers including points and lines. QGIS FTW

OH AWESOME! Zoom in on this data. Click the identify tool. Explore your first dataset you have added to QGIS.

Check out these awesome QGIS links and tutorials I am running time. We have been here before. You should check these links!!!

Added Bonus

Suppose you want to merge ALL of your tract data into one GIS feature (aka Shapefile)….

*Navigate to your uncompressed activities folder. (Must have gdal installed.)

for i in $( ls *.gpx ); do ogr2ogr final_gpx.shp -append $i tracks -fieldTypeToString DateTime; done

CONGRATS We are all winners today! Well done