Back to Intelligence Hub
Layer AI

The AI inquirer's commons

From reading maps to making them — not a guide to using generative AI itself, but worked examples, colour guidance, and web-map technique to build with alongside AI.

Grade Level
Resource Type
Theme tag
17 resources

MapConductor React SDK Sample Collection

27 samples that run on the same code while only the underlying map engine is swapped. Google Maps, MapLibre, Cesium and Leaflet each have their own way of being written; here you can watch an attempt to bring those differences under one notation. Camera moves, tilt, synchronised maps and raster overlays are laid out side by side. Japanese, English and Spanish.

Open one place in several engines → put three differences into words → trace where each difference comes from (projection, tiles, camera)
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISAPI AvailableEnglishMultilingual

GSI Map Vector — Style Samples (Geospatial Information Authority of Japan)

Official samples showing how the same map data changes appearance when only the style file is swapped. Six variants, including a road-emphasis map, a railway-emphasis map, and a hiragana map designed for younger pupils. Japanese.

Open all six over the same place → write down what each one emphasises and omits → pick the elements your own question needs
ElementaryMiddle SchoolHigh SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverview
GISOpen Data

GIS Open Educational Resources (University of Tokyo, CSIS)

A systematic, Japanese-language GIS practical course covering QGIS, GRASS, Python, web GIS and VR in numbered exercise units. A separate high-school subset is ready to use in geography classes.

Pick the exercise closest to your question → follow it through to the end → repeat the same steps with data from your own area
High SchoolUniversityResearcherTeacher
OverviewResearchLesson Plans
GISOpen Data

PLATEAU Streaming Service Tutorials

Japanese-language tutorials for using Japan's national 3D city models in web maps, with separate procedures for five data types including building models, terrain models and aerial imagery.

Check whether your town has data → overlay the terrain model with the building model → describe how elevation relates to where buildings stand
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverviewStatistics
GISOpen DataAPI Available

Geolonia Maps Cookbook

A Japanese-language recipe collection for map implementation — changing map styles, adding markers, finding coordinates from an address — each written as a short, goal-oriented procedure.

Choose the recipe nearest to what you want → run it as-is → swap in your own data and check the result
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverview
GISAPI Available

Anatomy of a Web Map

An introductory deck that explains what a web map is made of, one concept per slide. A good place to first grasp how tiles, styles, data and servers relate.

Read it through once → explain "tile", "style" and "data" in your own words → go back and study whichever you could not explain
Middle SchoolHigh SchoolUniversity
OverviewGlossaryInternational
GISEnglish

MapLibre GL JS — Official Examples

The official example collection for an open-source vector map library. 3D terrain, heatmaps, clustering and camera control each get their own page with working code you can read directly.

Open the 3D terrain example → vary the tilt and vertical exaggeration → apply the same technique to a region you care about
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISAPI AvailableEnglish

CesiumJS Sandcastle — Live Demo Gallery

The official demo collection for a 3D globe and 3D terrain library, in a live format where you edit the code in the browser and see the result immediately.

Open a terrain demo → change the viewing height and tilt → note the relief you could not see on a flat map
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISAPI AvailableEnglishNatural Science

ColorBrewer 2.0 — Choosing Map Colours

The standard tool for choosing colours for choropleth maps. Set the number of classes and it proposes schemes, with toggles to check colour-vision accessibility, greyscale printing and projector display.

Decide class count and colour family → check it under colour-vision conditions → be able to state in one sentence why you chose it
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISEnglish

shadedrelief.com — Terrain Rendering Technique

Tutorials and a gallery on rendering terrain, published by a former cartographer at the US National Park Service. It sets out concretely how to place light, apply colour and judge exaggeration in order to carry three-dimensional form onto paper and screen — a starting point for thinking about how terrain colour is decided.

Read one method for building relief → compare the same area under different light directions → describe what each direction reveals about the landform
UniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISEarth ScienceEnglish

Thematic Cartography Guide

A structured guide to thematic map types, when to use each, and how to make them. It covers visual hierarchy, colour use and classification — the groundwork for arguing something with a map.

Choose the map type you want to make → read the recommended practice → audit your current map against it
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
OverviewGlossaryInternational
GISEnglish

rayshader — Terrain Maps from Elevation Data

An R package that turns elevation data into shaded and 3D terrain maps. Light direction, water surfaces and texture layering are specified in code, with many worked examples included.

Reproduce one published example → swap in elevation data for your own area → record how changing exaggeration changes the impression
UniversityResearcher
MapResearchInternationalOverview
GISEarth ScienceEnglish

GeoDataViz Toolkit (Ordnance Survey)

Map design guidance published by Britain's national mapping agency: a checklist of design principles, recommended colour palettes including colour-vision considerations, and the colour values behind its basemaps.

Read the design principles → audit your own map against all eight → keep a note of what you changed and why
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISEnglish

Atlas of Design (NACIS)

A biennial collection of maps selected from an open international call, each accompanied by a short note from its maker explaining what the chosen treatment was meant to achieve.

Pick three maps that catch your eye → look for a device they share → choose one thing to carry into your own map
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapInternationalOverview
GISEnglish

Stamen Map Styles (Toner / Terrain / Watercolour)

Three contrasting styles built from the same map data: high-contrast black and white, relief with natural vegetation colour, and a watercolour treatment. It shows how far appearance can shift with purpose.

View one place in all three → consider what each is asking you to read → choose the one that fits your question
Middle SchoolHigh SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISEnglish

Taiwan Historical Maps (Academia Sinica)

A system for overlaying a century of Taiwanese historical maps, with independent opacity for each layer. Maps from the Japanese colonial period are included. Traditional Chinese.

Overlay two sheets from different periods over the same place → separate what changed from what did not → reason about the change from terrain and institutions
High SchoolUniversityResearcher
MapPrimary SourceInternational
GISMultilingualHistorical Maps

UNVT (United Nations Vector Tile Toolkit)

Tooling for producing, styling and serving vector tiles, published in connection with UN geospatial work. It includes implementations for delivering maps where power and connectivity are limited.

Run one of the styling tools → produce two different looks from the same map → consider which situation calls for which
UniversityResearcher
MapOverviewInternational
GISOpen DataEnglish