Our Work

Blue Raster helps you tell your story through interactive
mapping technology. Make your message clear, exciting,
and user-friendly for both mobile and web platforms.

Open Data

New Updates to The DHS Program Spatial Data Repository: A one stop shop for Spatial Analysis Datasets

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Phil Satlof

You may be familiar with the USAID funded DHS Program Spatial Data Repository (SDR) and use it to access spatial and non-spatial indicator data produced by The DHS Program surveys. However, if you have not visited recently or are new to the tool check it out today!

There are brand new features, like a Model Dataset to use for familiarizing yourself with The DHS Program data, lesser known features like Geospatial Covariates and Modeled Surfaces and even some amazing new visualizations under construction that will debut in spring 2024.

The new Model Dataset is useful for learning how to use DHS Program data to produce your own results.

The SDR is a custom application built with JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Python, Node and other tools. It relies on Esri’s ArcGIS Enterprise for serving boundary files, Python tools for creating customized datasets and The DHS Program Indicator Data API for instant access to the vast universe of DHS Program survey data and Amazon Web Services (AWS) for hosting and serverless solutions. Blue Raster is a trusted technology partner to The DHS Program with over 15 years of dedicated service to the USAID funded project.

Keep your eye on this space and visit the Spatial Data Repository today!

Download Modeled Surfaces produced from DHS Program survey estimates like this one from the Philippines.

Exploring KoopJS: Simplifying and Enhancing Geospatial Data Integration

Posted on January 31, 2024 by Chigo Ibeh

In the ever-expanding landscape of web development, the integration and presentation of geospatial data poses unique challenges. As applications increasingly demand the seamless incorporation of location-based information, developers find themselves grappling with diverse data sources, formats, and APIs. It is in this dynamic environment that tools like KoopJS emerge as indispensable assets.

What is KoopJS?

KoopJS is a powerful Node.js-based server application designed to bridge the gap between geospatial data from diverse sources. This innovative tool enables users to maintain their data in its native format and location while effortlessly transforming and serving it for consumption by a multitude of clients.

Serving as a middleware, KoopJS acts as a bridge between diverse geospatial data sources and standardizes the process of accessing and delivering this information. By doing so, it enables developers to efficiently connect to different APIs, transforming and presenting geospatial data seamlessly.

Creating a Custom Plugin

A standout feature of KoopJS is its robust plugin architecture, which allows users to create custom plugins. These plugins define how data from disparate sources should be transformed, offering a high level of flexibility.

For instance, if you needed to showcase data hosted on platform like Carto that may not be inherently compatible with tools in ArcGIS, KoopJS allows you to craft custom plugins to seamlessly integrate and present the data. With KoopJS, a developer can craft a plugin tailored to convert the data into a format compatible with the ArcGIS suite of tools. The custom plugin serves as an intermediate layer between the Carto data source and ArcGIS, ensuring smooth integration and presentation of the data.

Why KoopJS?

KoopJS enhances the accessibility of geospatial data by providing a unified API that can be easily consumed by web applications. This simplifies the development process and promotes interoperability across various platforms. Whether your data is hosted on a different platform or exists in a non-compatible format, KoopJS offers a flexible and scalable solution to elevate your geospatial workflows. This unique application opens up new possibilities for enhancing geospatial workflows and facilitating seamless integration of diverse datasets.

In conclusion, KoopJS is a valuable tool for developers working with geospatial data, offering a practical solution to the challenges of integrating and serving location-based information in web applications. Contact us today to get started.

Learn more about our recent work here.

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92040

City of Lynnwood ArcGIS Hub Support

Posted on June 25, 2019 by Drew Kellenberger

Blue Raster recently worked with the City of Lynnwood, Washington to support their Connect Lynnwood ArcGIS Hub launch. Our team assisted in the design and creation of the Connect Lynnwood Hub Site and their 10 Minute Walk (10MW) Initiative. Part of the Esri Geospatial Cloud, ArcGIS Hub provides a two-way engagement platform to connect government and citizens. The Pew Research Center found that “65 percent of Americans search online for information about their government. Yet, less than 10 percent report finding what they need.” Through ArcGIS Hub, local officials like those at the City of Lynnwood are able to easily publish data and story maps to allow their citizens to get more involved with their community.

Connect Lynnwood Splash Page

Using an ArcGIS Hub Site, our team designed a custom splash page to serve as a home-base for Connect Lynnwood. The page features Lynnwood initiatives, events, open data, and other information about the city. An open data search allows community members to enter keywords or phrases to get content results instantly. The splash page also includes multiple featured maps covering a variety of topics including general history, major projects and more! The page also features Lynnwood’s Initiatives, such as the 10 Minute Walk Campaign. Lastly, an events calendar enables Lynnwood to create, manage, and share events to inform community members of upcoming opportunities for involvement. When clicking on an event, users can RSVP and also easily share the event with other community members via Facebook or Twitter. The Lynnwood event manager can also stay connected with RSVP’ed attendees by sending updates and sharing information that might interest them.

Initiative Page

The City of Lynnwood launched their 10 Minute Walk Campaign as their first ArcGIS Hub Initiative. On the Initiative page, community members can learn about the campaign and sign up to become “park walk champions.” As park walk champions, community members record their walks around the city’s numerous parks, and complete surveys that will be used by the City of Lynnwood to assess park and green-space accessibility. By leveraging ArcGIS Hub, the city is able to easily and effectively two-way engage with its citizens.

Check out the City of Lynnwood’s ArcGIS Hub here! Then, learn more about Blue Raster’s ArcGIS Hub Accelerate offerings!

Maret School: Exploring Inequality through GIS

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Carter Forinash

Using GIS to map inequality is a powerful tool for understanding how inequity and place are inherently connected. Recently, the Maret School and Blue Raster partnered to give students the skills and resources necessary to map historical inequality in DC to deliver valuable resources for the DC community and beyond.

Blue Raster developed and delivered basic and intermediate GIS instruction for Maret’s Mapping Inequality in DC class.

Using Blue Raster’s instructions through ArcMap and ArcGIS Online, students learned to:

Create, style and update maps.
Add Census demographic layers and features to maps.
Visually analyze historical patterns in data.
Create compelling static maps, as well as interactive Story Maps to illustrate and explore inequality.

Students explored issues such as redlining, health systems, access to public transportation, and other issues relating to inequality.

Students worked in teams to create research questions and then blend demographic data with a digital mapping
program to draw conclusions about patterns of inequity in DC. Students learned to take advantage of available resources, including open data and census portals, in order to produce insightful analysis.

Blue Raster understands that equity and place are inherently connected. We believe that every aspect of a class – researching, learning, analyzing, and communicating – benefits from ArcGIS and spatial thinking.

Education Data Leaves the Classroom with EDGE Geodata

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Megan Gottfried

Geography plays a vital role in our schools: both inside and outside the classroom. The new release of the Education Demographic and Geographic Estimates (EDGE) Geodata site gives the public access to authoritative, up-to-date geographic education data for the entire U.S. Using this data effectively helps to answer some of the most difficult questions that face our school systems today: How far are high schools to the nearest community college? How many low-income households are contained within a school district? How do students in rural schools compare in math and science to urban schools?

Blue Raster and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) EDGE Program believe that releasing this spatial data in an open, easy to use format is essential in making data-driven decisions on school funding, student poverty, and teacher supply and more.

The EDGE Geodata site contains a variety of data sorted into four Data Categories:

K-12 Schools
Survey data from the Common Core of Data (CCD) for over 100,000 schools across the United States and over 18,000 School District Office Locations updated annually, as well as School Attendance Boundaries for every elementary, middle, and high school across the United States collected bi-annually.
Postsecondary Schools
Over 7,000 Postsecondary School Locations across the United States collected by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) annually. This dataset includes Certification, Associate’s, Bachelor’s and Graduate programs.
School Districts
Developed by NCES EDGE Program, School District Boundary Composite files to provide public education for residents, released annually.
Locale Boundaries
Developed by NCES EDGE Program, a geographic locale framework that classifies all U.S. territory into twelve vategories ranging from Large Cities to Remote Rural areas.

Each dataset can be downloaded as full dataset, or filtered and then downloaded as a Spreadsheet, KML, or Shapefile, for use in GIS and non-GIS formats. Within the ArcGIS Open Data Platform, each dataset is available for further data drill-down in the API Explorer. Users can create custom Queries within the fields or apply spatial filters, and get outputs in JSON format.

All data items are hosted in the robust, cloud-based ArcGIS Online platform, and hosted in a custom configured Open Data site.

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