Spatial data science languages
commonalities and needs
Edzer Pebesma (Universität Münster)
Martin Fleischmann (Charles University)
Josiah Parry (Environmental Systems Research Institute)
Jakub Nowosad (Adam Mickiewicz University, Universität Münster)
Anita Graser (AIT Austrian Institute of Technology)
Dewey Dunnington (Wherobots)
Maarten Pronk (TU Delft - Urban Data Science, Deltares)
Rafael Schouten (Norwegian Institute for Nature Research)
Robin Lovelace (University of Leeds)
undefined More Authors
More Info
expand_more
Other than for strictly personal use, it is not permitted to download, forward or distribute the text or part of it, without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), unless the work is under an open content license such as Creative Commons.
Abstract
Recent workshops brought together several developers, educators and users of software packages extending popular languages for spatial data handling, with a primary focus on R, Python and Julia. Common challenges discussed included handling of spatial or spatio-temporal support, geodetic coordinates, in-memory vector data formats, data cubes, inter-package dependencies, packaging upstream libraries, differences in habits or conventions between the GIS and physical modeling communities, and statistical models. The following set of recommendations have been formulated:
(i) considering software problems across data science language silos helps to understand and standardise analysis approaches, also outside the domain of formal standardisation bodies;
(ii) whether attribute variables have block or point support, and whether they are spatially intensive or extensive has consequences for permitted operations, and hence for software implementing those;
(iii) handling geometries on the sphere rather than on the flat plane requires modifications to the logic of simple features,
(iv) managing communities and fostering diversity is a necessary, on-going effort, and
(v) tools for cross-language development need more attention and support.
help_outline