Book Image

Mastering QGIS - Second Edition

By : Kurt Menke, GISP, Paolo Corti, Richard Smith Jr., GISP, Luigi Pirelli, John Van Hoesen, GISP
Book Image

Mastering QGIS - Second Edition

By: Kurt Menke, GISP, Paolo Corti, Richard Smith Jr., GISP, Luigi Pirelli, John Van Hoesen, GISP

Overview of this book

QGIS is an open source solution to GIS. It is widely used by GIS professionals all over the world. It is the leading alternative to the proprietary GIS software. Although QGIS is described as intuitive, it is also by default complex. Knowing which tools to use and how to apply them is essential to producing valuable deliverables on time. Starting with a refresher on the QGIS basics, this book will take you all the way through to creating your first custom QGIS plugin. From the refresher, we will recap how to create, populate, and manage a spatial database. You’ll also walk through styling GIS data, from creating custom symbols and color ramps to using blending modes. In the next section, you will discover how to prepare vector, heat maps, and create live layer effects, labeling, and raster data for processing. You’ll also discover advanced data creation and editing techniques. The last third of the book covers the more technical aspects of QGIS such as using LAStools and GRASS GIS’s integration with the Processing Toolbox, how to automate workflows with batch processing, and how to create graphical models. Finally, you will see how to create and run Python data processing scripts and write your own QGIS plugin with pyqgis. By the end of the book, you will understand how to work with all the aspects of QGIS, and will be ready to use it for any type of GIS work.

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Mastering QGIS - Second Edition
Kurt Menke, GISP | Paolo Corti | Richard Smith Jr., GISP | Luigi Pirelli | John Van Hoesen, GISP
Sep, 2016 | 486 pages
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Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Mastering QGIS - Second Edition
Mastering QGIS - Second Edition
Credits
Credits
Foreword
Foreword
About the Authors
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Preface
Free Chapter
1
A Refreshing Look at QGIS
A Refreshing Look at QGIS
Release schedules
QGIS download and installation
Tour of QGIS
Loading data into QGIS Desktop
Working with CRS
Working with tables
Editing data
Composing maps
Adding functionality with plugins
Summary
2
Creating Spatial Databases
Creating Spatial Databases
Fundamental database concepts
Creating a spatial database
Importing data into a SpatiaLite database
Exporting tables out of SpatiaLite
Managing tables
Creating queries and views
Summary
3
Styling Raster and Vector Data
Styling Raster and Vector Data
Choosing and managing colors
Managing color ramps
Styling singleband rasters
Styling multiband rasters
Creating a raster composite
Raster color rendering
Raster resampling
Styling vectors
Vector layer rendering
Using diagrams to display thematic data
Saving, loading, and setting default styles
Summary
4
Preparing Vector Data for Processing
Preparing Vector Data for Processing
Merging shapefiles
Creating spatial indices
Checking for geometry errors
Converting vector geometries
Using basic vector geoprocessing tools
Defining coordinate reference systems
Viewing a statistical summary of vector layers
Advanced field calculations
Conditional formatting for attribute table cells
Complex spatial and aspatial queries
Summary
5
Preparing Raster Data for Processing
Preparing Raster Data for Processing
Reclassifying rasters for analysis
Rescaling raster values
Aligning raster pixels
Creating a raster mosaic
Generating raster overviews (pyramids)
Converting between raster and vector data models
Creating raster surfaces via interpolation
Summary
6
Advanced Data Creation and Editing
Advanced Data Creation and Editing
Creating points from coordinate data
Geocoding address-based data
Georeferencing imagery
Checking the topology of vector data
Repairing topological errors via topological editing
Summary
7
Advanced Data Visualization
Advanced Data Visualization
Learn to use live layer effects
Creating beautiful effects with inverted polygon shapeburst fills
Creating 3D views with QGIS2ThreeJS
Creating an Atlas
Summary
8
The Processing Toolbox
The Processing Toolbox
About the Processing Toolbox
Performing raster analyses with GRASS
SAGA
Exploring hydrologic analyses with TauDEM
R
LAStools and Fusion
Summary
9
Automating Workflows with the Graphical Modeler
Automating Workflows with the Graphical Modeler
An introduction to the graphical modeler
Opening the graphical modeler
Configuring the modeler and naming a model
Adding data inputs to your model
Adding algorithms to your model
Running a model
Editing a model
Documenting a model
Saving, loading, and exporting models
Executing model algorithms iteratively
Nesting models
Using batch processing with models
Converting a model into a Python script
Summary
10
Creating QGIS Plugins with PyQGIS and Problem Solving
Creating QGIS Plugins with PyQGIS and Problem Solving
Webography – where to get API information and PyQGIS help
The Python Console
My second PyQGIS code snippet – looping the layer features
Exploring iface and QGis
Exploring a QGIS API in the Python Console
Creating a plugin structure with Plugin Builder
A simple plugin example
Setting up a debugging environment
Debugging session example
Summary
11
PyQGIS Scripting
PyQGIS Scripting
Where to learn Python basics
How to load layers
Vector structure
Iterating over features
Editing features
Running Processing Toolbox algorithms
Running an external algorithm or command
Interacting with the map canvas
Summary
Index
Index

Foreword

Since the QGIS project was started in 2002 by Gary Sherman, the project has done what many people would have thought to be impossible—provide a viable alternative to the incumbent de facto GIS applications that is free, open source, and accessible to everyone on this planet who owns a computer. One of the joys of contributing to and participating in the QGIS project has been watching how the community of people and the body of knowledge have grown up around the project. There are few better examples of this than the work Kurt, Rick, John, and Luigi (the four co-authors of this book) have put into Mastering QGIS.

Writing a book about QGIS is no easy task, partly because of the sheer depth of functionality that QGIS offers, and partly because of the fact that QGIS is rapidly evolving. In creating this second edition of Mastering QGIS, the authors have added some great new content to cover some of the important new functionality that has been added to QGIS. They have also revised the existing content to ensure thay everything is still fresh and relevant to QGIS 2.14.

Having such an in-depth book about QGIS really lowers the barrier of entry to learning, and mastering, QGIS. I am looking forward to the day when GIS is used as commonly and routinely as a spreadsheet or a word processor. Being able to visualize and analyze the world around us is the most basic necessity if we are to promote good stewardship of the earth, responsible decision making, and humane and equitable conditions for the people that inhabit the earth. QGIS is a key element in this equation—being free and open source software really does make QGIS something that can be used by anyone on this planet who has access to a computer. Mastering QGIS provides a fantastic resource for those who wish to take full advantage of the opportunity offered by QGIS by having someone to guide them in their learning endeavors.

As you delve deeper into the world of QGIS and all the great things that the authors have to show you, take a moment to join our community (http://qgis.org), or start your own local community in your country. We welcome your participation and contribution of ideas, bug reports, code, and documentation, and we welcome you to the diverse and ever-growing group of people all around the world who are using QGIS to make the world a better place!

Happy QGISing!

Tim Sutton,

QGIS Project Chairman

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