NPMap5

The next generation of Web Maps in the National Park Service

https://www.nps.gov/maps/web/


DOI Open Source Geospatial Working Group | Aug. 24, 2023

logos for the National Park Service and Colorado State University

Outline

pt 1

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pt 2

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pt 3

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Park Tiles

Jake Coolidge

Web Cartographer

NPMap5

Jim McAndrew

Web and Database Developer

NPMap5 Plugins and Documentation

Rob Chohan

Maps for Web Architect

part one:

Park Tiles

What's Park Tiles?

Park Tiles is the data and cartography system for NPS web maps.

http://www.nps.gov/maps/web/tools/park-tiles

Park Tiles data

view of Park Tiles data within pgAdmin interface

Park Tiles cartography

view of cartographic design interface within Mapbox Atlas

Park Tiles + NPMapJS

image of a Park Tiles map with the popup box for a point of interest displayed

Our maps in action

Plan Your Visit maps on nps.gov

image of Plan Your Visit map on nps.gov zoomed in on an area of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

NPS Mobile App

image of a phone with the NPS mobile app open on the screen
mobile phone screen capture with the NPS mobile app map screen displayed

State Pages on nps.gov

image of State Pages map for Colorado with the popup box for a national historic trail displayed

Custom maps

portion of a custom map of 2023 annular solar eclipse

Four distinct basemap styles

Park Tiles Standard

Park Tiles Aerial

Park Tiles Light

Park Tiles Slate

My role in Park Tiles

  • Cartographic design/look and feel for our maps, including color-blindness testing and accessibility considerations
  • Coordinate with GIS data stewards across the NPS to provide us with the standardized enterprise datasets we need
  • Compile, process, and digitize data where needed
  • Gather feedback and resolve data and cartography-related help desk tickets

Jim's role in Park Tiles

  • Primary architect behind the database
  • Maintains cron tasks and vector tile processing

As a team, we set the direction for the ongoing maintenance of Park Tiles as well as develop strategy for future improvements

part one continues:

Going deeper into
Park Tiles data

at its core:
PostGIS-enabled Postgresql database

view of Park Tiles data within pgAdmin interface

Let's look at

NPS data

other federal data

OSM data via Mapbox Atlas

diagram of generalized Park Tiles data workflow with data elements highlighted

NPS data

found within park boundaries

Preferred source: enterprise GIS data for

  • Buildings
  • Parking areas
  • Points of interest
  • Roads
  • Trails
  • Park Boundaries
detail of map in South Rim area of Grand Canyon National Park showing enterprise GIS data

NPS.gov Structured Data

detail of map in South Rim area of Grand Canyon National Park showing nps.gov structured data integration in a bus stop popup

When enterprise GIS datasets are
incomplete and/or in need of revision, we can supplement them with

  • data the Park Tiles team maintains for cartographic purposes, or
  • OSM data (except points of interest or park boundaries; we only source those from the NPS)
view of Park Tiles cartographic park filter table within pgAdmin interface
view of Park Tiles cartographic park filter layers table within pgAdmin interface
view of Park Tiles data showing visible attribute within pgAdmin interface

Other federal data

used in Park Tiles

National Hydrography Dataset (NHD)

detail view of National Hydrography Data in Park Tiles

Protected Areas Database of the United States (PADUS)

detail view of PADUS-derived labels in Park Tiles

Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)

detail view of GNIS Data in Park Tiles

OpenStreetMap (OSM) data via Mapbox

contextual data
outside park boundaries for

  • Buildings
  • Hydrography
  • Labels
  • Parking areas
  • Roads
  • Trails
  • and others
detail of map of southern Manhattan showing contextual OSM data

Mapbox terrain data
inside and outside park boundaries

  • Contour labels
  • Contour lines
  • Hillshading
detail of map of the western edge of Grand Teton National Park showing Mapbox terrain data used inside and outside park boundaries

part one concludes:

the future — Park Tiles 5

challenges with
Park Tiles 4

duplicate data

three views in Mapbox Atlas illustrating NPS road data that duplicates underlying OSM data

data mismatches at park boundaries

detail of map showing issues when NPS data meets OSM data at park boundaries

also

infrequent OSM update schedule

strictly GUI-based style editing

Park Tiles 5

Data stack

  • contextual roads, trails, buildings, et al from The National Map (TNM) from the USGS
  • terrain (vector hillshade and elevation contours in feet) from the USGS
  • NHD data throughout the US

Park Tiles 5

Cartography

  • Maputnik or similar open-source style editor
  • text-based and script-based workflows to complement GUI-based work

Park Tiles 5

Data hosting

  • to be determined; we are seeking cost savings and performance improvements scaled to our needs

next up:
Jim talks about NPMap5!