Introduction to Spatial Data & Using R as a GIS

A short course jointly organised by the Administrative Data Research Centre for England (ADRC-E) and the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC).

Course summary

The course will cover an introduction to R, how to load and manage spatial data and how to create maps using R and RStudio. We will show you appropriate ways of using classifications for choropleth maps, using loops in R to create multiple maps and some basic spatial analysis.

We will be using RStudio to work with the R environment. By the end of the course you will be able to load data into R, represent it effectively and be able to prepare an output quality map.

Target audience

This course is ideal for anyone who wishes to use spatial data in their role. This includes academics, commercial users, government & other public sector researchers who have data with some spatial information (e.g. address, postcode, etc.) which they wish to show on a map. This course is also suitable for those who wish to have an overview of what spatial data can be used for. No previous experience of spatial data is required.

No experience of spatial data, GIS or scripting required. Some basic experience of using Google Earth / Maps would be beneficial.

Please note this course can be taken as a one-day course, or can also be taken in conjunction with other two one-day courses on 15 January and 17 January 2017.

Further course details can be found here.

More information regarding our courses can be found here.

Podcast for some of our previous courses can be found here.

Course Leader: Dr Nick Bearman, FRGS, CGeog (GIS), AFHEA

Course contents

• The basic theories behind spatial data, such as projections and coordinate system
• Different types of spatial data, including vector, raster and point, line and polygon
• How to create a choropleth map, and why colours and classifications are important
• Working with spatial data in R & Rstudio
• Reprojecting data in R
• Some basic spatial analysis in R
• Use R to read in CSV data
• Use R to read in spatial data
• Know how to plot spatial data using R
• Join spatial data to attribute data
• Customize colour and classification methods
• Understand how to use loops to make multiple maps
• Know how to reproject spatial data
• Be able to perform point in polygon operations
• Know how to write shape files
• Know how create a ‘heat-map’ style map using point data

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• Use R to read in CSV data
• Use R to read in spatial data
• Know how to plot spatial data using R
• Join spatial data to attribute data
• Customize colour and classification methods
• Understand how to use loops to make multiple maps
• Know how to reproject spatial data
• Be able to perform point in polygon operations
• Know how to write shape files
• Know how create a ‘heat-map’ style map using point data