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Awesome frontend gis

Awesome Frontend GIS Awesome

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for web browsers. For managing, analyzing, editing, and visualizing geographic data. *A compilation of geospatial-related web frameworks, tools, demos, applications, data sources and more.*

👨‍💻 JavaScript Libraries

Mapping

Libraries for creating web maps:

  • Leaflet - The leading open-source JavaScript library for mobile-friendly interactive maps.
  • OpenLayers - A high-performance, feature-packed library for creating interactive maps on the web.
  • Cesium.js - An open-source JavaScript library for world-class 3D mapping of geospatial data.
  • maplibre - It originated as an open-source fork of mapbox-gl-js, before their switch to a non-OSS license in December 2020.
  • Deck.GL - WebGL2 powered geospatial visualization layers.
  • MapTalks.js - An open-source JavaScript library for integrated 2D/3D maps.
  • antvis L7 - Large-scale WebGL-powered Geospatial Data Visualization.
  • Tangram - WebGL map rendering engine for creative cartography.
  • TerriaJS - TerriaJS is a library for building rich, web-based geospatial data explorers.
  • gridviz - A package for visualizing gridded data.
  • Eurostat-map - Create and customise web maps showing Eurostat data using D3.js.
  • Bertin.js - A JavaScript library for visualizing geospatial data and making thematic maps for the web.
  • regl-map-animation - Animate x/y point data using regl and categorize them into a bar chart.
  • iTowns - A Three.js-based framework written in JavaScript/WebGL for visualizing 3D geospatial data.
  • globe.gl - This library is a convenience wrapper around the three-globe plugin, and uses ThreeJS/WebGL for 3D rendering.
  • d3-geo - A library for creating maps based on D3.js.
  • d3-geo-projection - Extended geographic projections.
  • d3-geo-voronoi - Voronoi diagrams and Delaunay triangulation for the sphere.
  • d3-inertia - An extension to d3-drag that continues the mouse movement with some inertia.
  • datamaps - Customizable map visualizations in one file.
  • react-simple-maps - An SVG mapping component library for React, built on top of d3-geo.
  • Google Maps - Google Maps API for JavaScript.
  • Wrld.js - Animated 3D city maps based on Leaflet.
  • Mapbox GL JS - JavaScript library that uses WebGL to render interactive maps from vector tiles.
  • ArcGIS API for JS - A lightweight way to embed maps and tasks in web applications.
  • HERE maps API - Build web applications with feature-rich and customizable HERE maps.
  • Map Forecast API - Simple-to-use library based on Leaflet 1.4.x. It allows you to show wind maps.

Data Processing

Libraries that help you analyse and process geospatial data: - geolib - Library to provide basic geospatial operations like distance calculation, conversion of decimal coordinates to sexagesimal, etc. - Turf.js - Turf is a JavaScript library for spatial analysis. - JSTS - JavaScript Topology Suite. - flatten-js - For manipulating geometrical shapes, finding intersections, checking inclusion, calculating distance, transformations and more. - flatbush - A really fast static spatial index for 2D points and rectangles in JavaScript. - rbush - RBush is a high-performance JavaScript library for 2D spatial indexing of points and rectangles. - Geometric.js - A JavaScript library for doing geometry. - Euclid.ts - 2D Euclidean geometry classes, utilities, and drawing tools. - Proj4js - Transform coordinates from one coordinate system to another, including datum transformations. - GeoTiff.js - Parse TIFF files for visualization or analysis. - Arc.js - Calculate great circles routes as lines in GeoJSON or WKT format. - awesome-GeoJSON - Catalogue of GeoJSON tools. - topoJSON - Convert GeoJSON to TopoJSON for use in D3 maps. - d3-geo-polygon - Clipping and geometric operations for spherical polygons. - Wicket - A modest library for moving between Well-Known Text (WKT) and various framework geometries. - koop - Koop is a JavaScript toolkit for connecting incompatible spatial APIs. - spl.js - Makes it possible to use SpatiaLite functionality in JavaScript. Behind the scenes, a WebAssembly port of SpatiaLite is used. - geotoolbox - Provides several GIS operations for use with geojson properties. Useful for thematic cartography. - supercluster - A very fast JavaScript library for geospatial point clustering for browsers and Node. - geoblaze - A blazing fast JavaScript raster processing engine. Using geoblaze, you can run computations ranging from basic statistics (min, max, mean, mode) to band arithmetic and histogram generation in either a web browser or a node application. - geopackage-js - The GeoPackage JavaScript library currently provides the ability to read GeoPackage files. - geojson-merge - Merge multiple GeoJSON files into one FeatureCollection. - Galton - Lightweight Node.js isochrone server. Build isochrones using OSRM, Turf and concaveman. - geojson-vt - A highly efficient JavaScript library for slicing GeoJSON data into vector tiles on the fly. - geobuf - Geobuf is a compact binary encoding for geographic data. - geoparquet - Encoding geospatial data in Apache Parquet. - statsbreaks - Split (classify/discretize) a quantitative dataset into a (k) number of classes or thematic categories. Useful for creating a choropleth map. - gdal3.js - Convert raster and vector geospatial data to various formats and coordinate systems entirely in the browser. - math.gl - JavaScript math library focused on Geospatial and 3D use cases.

LiDAR

Tools for visualizing point clouds with web browsers:

  • Potree - WebGL point cloud viewer for large datasets.
  • Plasio - Drag-n-drop In-browser LAS/LAZ point cloud viewer.
  • Potree & Cesium.js - Rezt, Austria LIDAR viewer.
  • Three.js - Point cloud data loader.

Remote Sensing

Resources for frontend earth observation and remote sensing:

  • Google Earth Engine - Geospatial processing service.
  • sentinelhub-js - Download and process satellite imagery in JavaScript or TypeScript using Sentinel Hub services.
  • Sentinel Hub custom scripts - A repository of custom scripts to be used with Sentinel Hub.
  • Spectral - Awesome Spectral Indices for the Google Earth Engine JavaScript API (Code Editor).
  • EOSDIS Worldview - Interactive interface for browsing global, full-resolution satellite imagery.

💾 Data sources

A collection of geospatial open data sources:

Downloads

Data available for download:

  • OpenMapTiles - Free OpenStreetMap Vector Tiles.
  • OpenStreetMap - A free, world-wide geographic data set.
  • Natural Earth - Free vector and raster map data at 1:10m, 1:50m, and 1:110m scales.
  • World Atlas TopoJSON - A convenient redistribution of Natural Earth's vector data as TopoJSON.
  • Copernicus global DEM - Global elevation tiles.
  • ETOPO1 - 1 arc-minute global relief model of Earth's surface that integrates land topography and ocean bathymetry.
  • HydroSHEDS - Hydrographic information in a consistent and comprehensive format for regional and global-scale applications.
  • geoboundaries - The world's largest open, free and research-ready database of political administrative boundaries.
  • Global power plant database - A comprehensive, global, open source database of power plants.
  • Ookla internet speed data - Provides global network performance metrics. Data is provided in both Shapefile format as well as Apache Parquet.
  • European population grids - GISCO - These datasets contain grid cells covering the European land territory, for various resolutions from 1km to 100km. Base statistics such as population figures are provided for these cells.
  • Healthcare Services in Europe - The locations of healthcare services across Europe.
  • European Postcodes Point Data - The postal code point dataset shows the location of postal codes, NUTS codes and the Degree of Urbanisation classification across the EU, EFTA and candidate countries from a variety of sources.
  • WorldPop - Open access spatial demographic datasets built using transparent approaches.
  • World Bank - Free and open access to global development data.
  • USGS Earth Explorer - Query and order satellite images, aerial photographs, and cartographic products through the U.S. Geological Survey.
  • Open Topography - OpenTopography facilitates community access to high-resolution, Earth science-oriented, topography data, and related tools and resources.
  • NASA Earth Observations - Here you can browse and download imagery of satellite data from NASA's constellation of Earth Observing System satellites.
  • Geodata.gov.gr - Open geospatial data for Greece.
  • ArcGIS Hub - Over 380,000 open datasets.
  • DIVA-GIS - Free spatial data. Includes country and global level boundaries, climate, species occurence, crop and elevation data.
  • OpenAerialMap - An open service to provide access to a commons of openly licensed imagery and map layer services.
  • Global Climate Monitor - Global open climate data available for download.
  • Copernicus open access hub - Copernicus satellite imagery download.

Web APIs

Restful APIs for consuming geospatial data on the fly:

  • GISCO data distribution API - Official European Commission data source for administrative regions, Coastal lines, Communes, Countries, Local Administrative Units, NUTS, Urban Audit.
  • Address API - Pan-european address data. Supports geocoding, reverse-geocoding and lists of address components (e.g. all roads in a city).
  • USGS earthquake data - Allows custom searches for earthquake information using a variety of parameters.
  • movebank-api - Movebank is a free, online database and research platform for animal tracking and other on-animal sensor data.
  • Overpass API - Retrieve OpenStreetMap data.
  • REST countries - Get information about countries via a RESTful API.
  • OSMNames - The OSMNames open-source project provides raw place data in an easy-to-index form.
  • Open Notify - Get the current location of the International Space Station (ISS) and current number of people in space!
  • OpenAQ - OpenAQ is the largest open-source air quality data platform.
  • openrouteservice - Directions, Isochrones, Time-Distance Matrix, Pelias Geocoding, POIs, Elevation, Optimization.
  • GraphHopper Route Optimization API - Solves a variety of vehicle routing problems, including the classical “traveling salesman problem”.
  • Geoapify - Maps, address and location search, route optimization, reachability analysis, geodata access, and more.
  • OpenCage - Forward and reverse worldwide geocoding API using open data.
  • breezometer - API endpoints for Air Quality, Pollen, Weather, Wildfire, Cleanest Routes and Environmental Alerts. Serves current conditions, forecasts, and historical data.
  • ipfind - Geographic location of an IP address or any domain name along with some other useful information.
  • bng2latlong - Simple API to convert an OSGB36 easting and northing (British National Grid) to WGS84 latitude and longitude.
  • Open Postcode Geo API - British postcodes with easting, northing, latitude, and longitude.
  • Country State City API - Full Database of city state country available in JSON, SQL, XML, YAML & CSV format.
  • API Geo - Official French geographical data API.
  • geonames - Supports placename lookup, postal Code Search, reverse geocoding, nearby populated place and nearby toponym searches.
  • opentopodata API - Open Topo Data is a REST API server for your elevation data.
  • what3words - Convert 3 word addresses to coordinates and vice versa.
  • TomTom - Charging stations, fuel prices, routing, geocoding, parking availability, traffic and waypoint optimization endpoints.
  • Open Charge Map API - Non-commercial, non-profit global public registry of electric vehicle charging locations.
  • OpenSky API - Retrieve live airspace information for research and non-commerical purposes.
  • Open-Meteo - Global weather forecast API for non-commercial use.
  • RainViewer - Free weather API. Offers the past (2 hours) and forecast (30 minutes) weather radar data and the past infrared satellite data.
  • Sunrise and sunset - Sunset and sunrise times for a given latitude and longitude.
  • Geocode.xyz - Reverse Geocoding, Forward Geocoding, Geoparsing API. Free requests throttled at 1 request per second.

Collections

Compilations and repositories of open geospatial datasets: - awesome-public-datasets - An awesome repository full of open datasets from an abundance of different categories. - Free GIS data - Links to over 500 sites providing freely available geographic datasets. - WRI - World resources institute. - Public APIs - A collective list of free APIs for use in software and web development.

📒 Notebooks

Some JavaScript notebooks to help you code:

Beginner

Intermediate

Advanced

🗺️ Web maps

A compilation of interesting web maps:

🌐 Web apps

Plug-and-play geospatial web apps:

  • city roads - Render every single road in any city at once.
  • Kepler - A powerful open source geospatial analysis tool for large-scale data sets.
  • Plasio - Drag-n-drop In-browser LAS/LAZ point cloud viewer.
  • mapshaper - Online editor for map data.
  • geotiff.io - GeoTIFF.io provides quick access to easy-to-use raster processing.
  • IMAGE - An easy-to-use tool for generating thematic maps.
  • magrit - Magrit is an online application for thematic mapping (cartography).
  • StoryMap JS - The Open source alternative to ESRI's Story map application.
  • Datawrapper - Create charts, maps, and tables.
  • Maputnik - A free and open visual editor for the Mapbox GL styles targeted at developers and map designers.
  • Fantasy Map Generator - Free web application that helps fantasy writers, game masters, and cartographers create and edit fantasy maps.
  • uMap - Lets you create a map with OpenStreetMap layers and embed it in your site.
  • Peak Map - Allows you to visualize elevation of any area on the map with filled area charts (also known as a ridgeline).
  • mapus - Mapus is a tool to explore and annotate collaboratively on a map.
  • MapOnShirt - A fun tool for creating colorful designs from maps and turning them into T-shirts, Posters, Cushions and more.

🎨 Colour advice

Colour usage is very important in data visualisation and cartography. Here are some tools to help you choose the best colours for your maps:

  • ColorBrewer - Colour advice for maps, based on the research of Dr. Cynthia Brewer.
  • viz-palette - This project is optimized for tweaking, copying, and pasting colors in and out of JavaScript.
  • Chroma.js Color Palette Helper - This chroma.js-powered tool is here to help us mastering multi-hued, multi-stops color scales.
  • Dicopal.js - Discrete color palettes (hundreds of them!) for JavaScript.
  • Textures.js - JavaScript library for creating SVG patterns. Made on top of d3.js, it is designed for data visualization. Textures are useful for the selective perception of different categories.

📍 Icons

Icons to add to your GIS websites: - font-GIS - A very very cool icon font set for use with GIS and spatial analysis tools. - Map Icons Collection - A set of more than 1000 free and customizable icons to use as placemarks for your POI (Point of Interests) locations on your maps. - Material Symbols - Over 2,990 glyphs in a single font file with a wide range of design variants. - Geoapify map marker playground - The Marker Icon API lets you create beautiful icons and use them as Map Markers.

📺 Videos

Videos of web mapping presentations and tutorials:

📚 Further reading

Contributing

Contributions of any kind are welcome, just follow the guidelines by either:

If you have any questions about this list, please don't hesitate to contact me @joewdavies on X (formerly Twitter) or open a GitHub issue.