gmap: Get a Google map

Description

Retrieve a 'Google Map' that can be used as a background for plotting points and other spatial data. You should check the terms of service before you use these maps: http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html The projection of the returned Raster object is "Mercator" (unless you use lonlat=TRUE), and other spatial data may need to be transformed before it can be plotted on top of the Google map. You can use the Mercator function to transform points from longitude/latitude to Mercator. For SpatialLines and SpatialPolygons objects, use spTransform in the rgdal package. This function uses the Google static maps web-service, and is based on functions by Markus Loecher for the RgoogleMaps package. The purpose of using this function should be to display the map in a browser. You should check the Google terms of use http://code.google.com/apis/maps/terms.html to see if your usage of this function (and the underlying Google API) is permitted.

Usage

gmap(x, exp=1, type='terrain', filename='', style=NULL, scale=1, zoom=NULL, 
      size=c(640, 640), rgb=FALSE, lonlat=FALSE, ...)

Mercator(p, inverse = FALSE)

Arguments

a textual locality description, or an Extent object or an object that can be coerced to one (e.g. a Raster* or Spatial* object)

exp

numeric. An expansion factor to enlarge (by multiplication) the extent specified by x

type

character. Choose from 'roadmap', 'satellite', 'hybrid', 'terrain'

filename

character. Filename (optional). You can open the resulting file in a GIS program

style

character. Additional style arguments. See http://code.google.com/apis/maps/documentation/staticmaps/#StyledMapFeatures. Note that certain style features do not work in combination with (the default) type='terrain'

scale

1 or 2. Using 2 doubles the number of pixels returned (and thus gives you better image quality if you need a large image)

zoom

integer between 0 (the whole world) to 21 (very small area), centered on the center of the extent

size

vector of two integers indicating the number of columns and rows that is requested (what is returned depends on other factors as well). Maximum values are c(640, 640), so you can only select a smaller area than the default. Note that the numb

rgb

logical. If TRUE, a RasterBrick is returned with three layers (red, green, blue). This can be plotted with plotRGB

lonlat

logical. If TRUE the Raster object returned has a longitude/latitude CRS instead of Mercator

...

additional parameters

Points. A two-column matrix, or a SpatialPoints object

inverse

Should the inverse projection be done (from Mercator to longitude/latitude?)

Value

RasterLayer

Details

If argument x is a textual locality description, the geocode function is used to retrieve the extent that should be mapped. Change the type to 'roadmap' if the map returned says "sorry we have no imagery here"; or use a larger extent. The returned RasterLayer has a Mercator projection. To plot points (or lines or polygons) on top of it, these need to be transformed first. A matrix of longitude/latitude data can be transformed with the Mercator function used in the example below. 'Spatial*' objects can be transformed with spTransform p <- spTransform(x, "+proj=merc +a=6378137 +b=6378137 +lat_ts=0.0 +lon_0=0.0 +x_0=0.0 +y_0=0 +k=1.0 +units=m +nadgrids=@null +no_defs")

Examples

Run this code

library(rgdal)

# get a map using names
g = gmap('Australia')
plot(g, inter=TRUE)
gs = gmap('Sydney, New South Wales, Australia', type='satellite')
plot(gs, inter=TRUE)
gs = gmap('Sydney, Australia', type='satellite', exp=3)
plot(gs, inter=TRUE)
gs = gmap('Sydney, Australia', type='hybrid', zoom=10, scale=2)
plot(gs, inter=TRUE)

# from a maxtrix with lon/lat points
x = runif(30)*10 + 40
y = runif(30)*10 - 20
xy = cbind(x, y)
g = gmap(xy, type='hybrid')
plot(g, inter=TRUE)
points(Mercator(xy) , col='red', pch=20)

# or from an Extent object
e = extent( -121.9531 , -120.3897 , 35.36 , 36.61956 )
# you can also get an Extent object by clicking on the map twice after using:
# drawExtent()
r = gmap(e)
plot(r, interpolate=TRUE)

# transform points to Mercator for plotting on top of map:
pt <- matrix(c(-121, 36), ncol=2)
ptm <- Mercator(pt)
points(ptm, cex=3, pch=20, col='blue')
Mercator(ptm, inverse=TRUE)

# transform Spatial objects to Mercator for plotting on top of map
# here for points, but particularly relevant for lines and polygons
pt <- data.frame(pt)
coordinates(pt) <- ~X1 + X2
proj4string(pt) <-"+proj=longlat +datum=WGS84 +ellps=WGS84"
ptm2 <- spTransform(pt, CRS("+proj=merc +a=6378137 +b=6378137 +lat_ts=0.0 
      +lon_0=0.0 +x_0=0.0 +y_0=0 +k=1.0 +units=m +nadgrids=@null +no_defs"))
points(ptm, col='red', pch='x', cex=3)

# styles:
gmap("Brooklyn", style="feature:road.local|element:geometry|hue:0x00ff00|saturation:100
  &style=feature:landscape|element:geometry|lightness:-100", type='roadmap')

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