Abstract

Thematic mapping has a long history in cartography, but the new geobrowsers tend not to focus on this aspect of geographical information representation. This talk demonstrates how Keyhole Markup Language (KML) and geobrowsers can be used for thematic mapping. Due to their huge public interest and relative accessibility, geobrowsers are potentially capable of bringing thematic maps or visualisations to a wider audience. KML is not targeted towards thematic mapping, but it is possible to use KML elements in ways that were probably not intended. Current possibilities for making proportional symbol maps, chart maps, choropleth maps and animated maps with KML will be presented. An open source Thematic Mapping Engine (TME) has been developed as a proof-of-concept. This application allows the user to make thematic maps through an easy-to-use web interface. TME provides a low-cost solution suitable for non-profits and public-benefit organisations.