Spatial data divides into 'polygon' data such as shape files of administrative district boundaries, and 'raster' data such as satellite-derived night light information. This workshop focuses on tools for manipulating shape data using the R package sf.

This workshop starts by showing how to read in shapefiles, switch between commonly used projections, and do basic spatial computations such as computing point locations, distances, polygon overlap, and buffering. And uses a customs and border patrol range example to show these computations in action and represent the results in simple chloropleth maps.

If there is demand a followup workshop on raster data can be arranged.

Prerequisites

We will use the sf package and the most recent version of the ggplot2 package which has support for sf objects. These should be installed before the workshop.

Audience

This workshop is open to anyone interested in getting an introduction processing shape data. If you are not a politics graduate student, please send email to [email protected] that you are planning to attend, so we can ensure enough space in the room.

Materials: spatial.zip