Geocache Density Maps for Google Earth

[TeamGeoPlesk]

NOTE: These links will no longer work as i've cleaned up my site and the data is well out of date. I can recreate this data on request, but i need my arm twisted

After some discussion in other forums about the most cache dense areas in Australia (see here) I've decided to update my Geocache density maps from a few years back. Hopefully this may provide a reference for people to be able to plan caching trips to areas with high density of caches.

Download Link

The current maps have 20km x 20km grid cells and a key to the colour scheme is provided in Google Earth when you download and open the file. The maps are approximately 100kb so won't break the download limits. The data is also current as of 7th October 2010 and includes both GCA and GC caches of all types (except trig points).

If you are interested in regional density maps (i.e. a map of Melbourne with 5km x 5km grid cells) then request it on this forum and I will see what I can do. As they are produced I'll post them onto the forum for all to use.


Click here for larger screenshot

Some Statistics [td]Region[/td][td]Caches in Grid Cell[/td][td]Area[/td][td]State[/td][td]Caches/Square Kilometer[/td]
[tr][td]Adelaide[/td][td]740[/td][td]South Western Suburbs[/td][td]SA[/td][td]1.85[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Canberra[/td][td]638[/td][td]East Central[/td][td]ACT[/td][td]1.595[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sydney[/td][td]615[/td][td]North Central Sydney[/td][td]NSW[/td][td]1.5375[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Brisbane[/td][td]612[/td][td]Southern Brisbane[/td][td]QLD[/td][td]1.53[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Brisbane[/td][td]594[/td][td]Northern Brisbane[/td][td]QLD[/td][td]1.485[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Melbourne[/td][td]589[/td][td]Central Melbourne[/td][td]VIC[/td][td]1.4725[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Adelaide[/td][td]577[/td][td]North East Adelaide[/td][td]SA[/td][td]1.4425[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Adelaide[/td][td]460[/td][td]East Adelaide[/td][td]SA[/td][td]1.15[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Perth[/td][td]405[/td][td]Central Perth[/td][td]WA[/td][td]1.0125[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Melbourne[/td][td]399[/td][td]Eastern Melbourne[/td][td]VIC[/td][td]0.9975[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Hobart[/td][td]392[/td][td]Central Hobart[/td][td]TAS[/td][td]0.98[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Adelaide[/td][td]359[/td][td]Northern Adelaide[/td][td]SA[/td][td]0.8975[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Brisbane[/td][td]274[/td][td]Eastern Brisbane[/td][td]QLD[/td][td]0.685[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Melbourne[/td][td]263[/td][td]South Eastern Melbourne[/td][td]VIC[/td][td]0.6575[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Melbourne[/td][td]252[/td][td]North West Melbourne[/td][td]VIC[/td][td]0.63[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Canberra[/td][td]247[/td][td]Eastern Canberra[/td][td]ACT[/td][td]0.6175[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Sydney[/td][td]246[/td][td]Southern Sydney[/td][td]NSW[/td][td]0.615[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Canberra[/td][td]234[/td][td]Southern Canberra[/td][td]ACT[/td][td]0.585[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]Adelaide[/td][td]200[/td][td]Southern Adelaide[/td][td]SA[/td][td]0.5[/td][/tr][/table]

[Laighside Legends]

Very Interesting

SA and Adelaide certainly have a lot of caches!

Where did the the data come from?

[TeamGeoPlesk]

Data for this round of maps came courtesy of C@W direct from the Geocaching Australia database, so it is very current.

[CraigRat]

Most excellent!

[Trigg-A-Nomics]

If you are interested in regional density maps (i.e. a map of Melbourne with 5km x 5km grid cells) then request it on this forum and I will see what I can do. As they are produced I'll post them onto the forum for all to use.
[td]Region[/td][td]Caches in Grid Cell[/td][td]Area[/td][td]State[/td][td]Caches/Square Kilometer[/td]
[tr][td]Adelaide[/td][td]740[/td][td]South Western Suburbs[/td][td]SA[/td][td]1.85[/td][/tr][/table]

It would be interesting to see Adelaide broken down in 5kmx5km grid cells. I wouldn't have picked the SW suburbs as a particularly dense area but looking at how the 20km cells have fallen that's because the Eastern suburbs cells take in a big part of the Adelaide hills, pulling down the density.

[TeamGeoPlesk]

I'll make that the first request, a 5kmx5km grid of Adelaide. Will let you know when its ready.

It would be interesting to see Adelaide broken down in 5kmx5km grid cells. I wouldn't have picked the SW suburbs as a particularly dense area but looking at how the 20km cells have fallen that's because the Eastern suburbs cells take in a big part of the Adelaide hills, pulling down the density.

By the way the naming of Areas in the above summary table is only very loose and my interpretation by looking at a coarse map. The names are just to give people an idea of where the dense areas are. And i completely agree that the placement of the cells influences the density figures in a given area. Its just one of those things that plagues us spatial analysists.

I might have a play around with the data and try to create a contour map, similar to elevation but with the bars representing cache density.

[Laighside Legends]

I don't want to complain (what you've done is great ) but if you really want requests...

1. Squares don't account for the ocean. Possible use something like local council areas or electorates for separation instead.
2. Contoured maps? (is this possible)

But I'm just been picky - I think the existing ones answer any questions about density very well

[TeamGeoPlesk]

2. Contoured maps? (is this possible)

Haha, Great minds think alike! I was just editing my previous posting to say that I'll try to make up some contour maps. They are a little more fiddly as you need to take all the points (40000+), poke them through some spatial analysis software, create an density map (as an image) then convert that all into contours. Its all possible and i have done it before it just takes up a lot of CPU power and time. I'll look into it tommorow and see what i can put together. Should be able to get something up and running. The only downside is that contour lines sort of get lost on google earth. I'll run the routines and see how it turns out.

1. Squares don't account for the ocean. Possible use something like local council areas or electorates for separation instead.

I'll have a look into what data i can get my hands on for this request. One problem with using councils/electrates is that in rural areas they can be massive and in urban areas they can be fairly small. That means that if you want an overview of Australian densities it doesn't really work all that well compared to fixed sized grids. On a local scale it would work quite well i would imagine, might give it a go with the Adelaide maps to see what works.

[caughtatwork]

http://geocaching.com.au/zone/select/14

e.g. Adelaide (C) http://geocaching.com.au/zone/view/2234/
Clicky on kml in the sidebar to grab a kml file containing the points.

[TeamGeoPlesk]

1. Squares don't account for the ocean. Possible use something like local council areas or electorates for separation instead.

I had a look into using electorates and local council areas, but it doesn't turn out all that aesthetically appealing. You really need a regular unit of space for it to look ok on Google Maps.

I've played around with the data and made another map which may be a little more appealing to some. Its made using a different process and i suppose you could consider it as being a contour map but using polygons instead of lines of equal elevation. It looks much better than the other because it's alot smoother but is not necessarily as accurate. I've also just noticed that it's taken into account all the mysteries in bass straight but i don't have cache type data with my dataset so cannot whittle that out.

Click here for the new map link. Time its a smaller file at around 45kb.

Oh and another thing is that this process is much more time consuming (over 30 minutes of processor time for the map) so in the future I'll probably just use grid cells as per the first example.

[pjmpjm]

These maps are really interesting! Thanks very much!