You have learned how to use Google Sheets to capture, analyze and graph monthly unemployment data for Tennessee’s 10 Metropolitan Statistical Areas. This lesson will show you how to use a cousin of Google Sheets, Google My Maps, to make and publish an online, interactive map of the 10 MSAs, configure pop-up windows giving more unemployment information about each MSA, and shade each MSA according to its unemployment rate. Like this:
Watch the first part of this video (0:00 to 10:06) to learn how to make the map from the .kml file inside this .zip file:
Starting at 10:08, the video shows you how to use QGIS to create your own .kml for any set of MSAs or other regions in the United States. The techniques shown there are advanced, but I recommend you at least look at them to see what is possible.
Again, here’s the link to the .zip file that contains the .kml file you’ll need to import:
PCs and Macs handle .zip files in different ways. Here’s a look at how my PC handles the job of getting the .kml file out of the .zip file:
And here’s what the process looked like on a Mac I borrowed:
You might wonder why working with GIS files, like .kml and .shp files, has to be so hard. For what it’s worth, the job could be much harder. About the only other way to add data to a .kml file is to go into the file’s code and edit it manually. The first 27 lines of code for the Tennessee MSA .kml look like this:
<?xml version=”1.0″ encoding=”utf-8″ ?>
<kml xmlns=”http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2“>
<Document id=”root_doc”>
<Schema name=”TNMetroAreas” id=”TNMetroAreas”>
<SimpleField name=”CSAFP” type=”string”></SimpleField>
<SimpleField name=”CBSAFP” type=”string”></SimpleField>
<SimpleField name=”AFFGEOID” type=”string”></SimpleField>
<SimpleField name=”GEOID” type=”string”></SimpleField>
<SimpleField name=”LSAD” type=”string”></SimpleField>
<SimpleField name=”ALAND” type=”float”></SimpleField>
<SimpleField name=”AWATER” type=”float”></SimpleField>
<SimpleField name=”MSA” type=”string”></SimpleField>
</Schema>
<Folder><name>TNMetroAreas</name>
<Placemark>
<name>Clarksville, TN-KY</name>
<Style><LineStyle><color>ff0000ff</color></LineStyle><PolyStyle><fill>0</fill></PolyStyle></Style>
<ExtendedData><SchemaData schemaUrl=”#TNMetroAreas”>
<SimpleData name=”CBSAFP”>17300</SimpleData>
<SimpleData name=”AFFGEOID”>310M300US17300</SimpleData>
<SimpleData name=”GEOID”>17300</SimpleData>
<SimpleData name=”LSAD”>M1</SimpleData>
<SimpleData name=”ALAND”>4398070643</SimpleData>
<SimpleData name=”AWATER”>132339119</SimpleData>
<SimpleData name=”MSA”>Clarksville</SimpleData>
</SchemaData></ExtendedData>
<MultiGeometry><Polygon><outerBoundaryIs><LinearRing><coordinates>-88.157347,36.8671829990941 -88.132396,36.873308999094 -88.126799, …
… and it goes on for a total of 165 lines. You would have to manually add the unemployment data in the “SimpleData name =” section for each MSA. Basically, Google My Maps’ “Data Table” tool and QGIS’s “Attributes Table” windows are reading this code for you and formatting it into an easier-to-use interface.
Important tip: It’s not unusual for a few students to discover that their Google account won’t allow MyMaps to import the .kml map. I’m not sure why this problem arises, but using an older Google account seems to be associated with the issue. If you run into the problem, the solution seems to be to create a second Google account that you can use for this course and, going forward, for additional mapping and data projects. It’s no big deal. I have two Google accounts, one for my personal g-mail, and an associated with The Data Reporter site.