Many runners and cyclists these days are logging their routes with GPS so they can view the path that they just completed when they get back home. ArcGIS allows you to create stunning web maps and applications*that display all your GPS routes simultaneously, creating a heatmap of your spatial patterns and habits. This heatmap quite literally illuminates a geographical record of all the training that person records with their GPS.*The beauty in this cartographic display is in its elegant simplicity.*By showing all your routes, the most traveled paths shine bright while the least traveled areas are apparent by their dimness.
The Challenge
As a runner myself, I wanted to take advantage Esri’s Dark Gray Canvas along with the several years of GPS routes I had recorded in order to create a captivating map. This required converting my GPS tracklogs in GPX format to something I could used in ArcMap. The challenge was that the GPS to Feature Class Geoprocessing Tool provides input for only one .gpx file at a time. In order for a heatmap like this to work, we need to map at least 100 routes to start uncovering a stunning spatial pattern.
The Solution
The solution was this Python batch GPX to features script,*which reads all the .gpx files in a directory and then converts them to a feature class in a file geodatabase. The results were satisfying! I am now able to view and share my participation in the running community. This solution would work for anyone, or any group of people who record their travel patterns with GPS.
The Challenge
As a runner myself, I wanted to take advantage Esri’s Dark Gray Canvas along with the several years of GPS routes I had recorded in order to create a captivating map. This required converting my GPS tracklogs in GPX format to something I could used in ArcMap. The challenge was that the GPS to Feature Class Geoprocessing Tool provides input for only one .gpx file at a time. In order for a heatmap like this to work, we need to map at least 100 routes to start uncovering a stunning spatial pattern.
The Solution
The solution was this Python batch GPX to features script,*which reads all the .gpx files in a directory and then converts them to a feature class in a file geodatabase. The results were satisfying! I am now able to view and share my participation in the running community. This solution would work for anyone, or any group of people who record their travel patterns with GPS.