basemaps

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basemaps is a lightweight R package to download and cache spatial basemaps from open sources such as OpenStreetMap, Carto, Mapbox and others. Retrieved basemaps are translated into and returned as classes of choice, such as raster, stars, ggplot, mapview or magick. The package aims to ease the use of basemaps in different contexts by providing a function interface as minimalist as possible.

Installation

Install the latest stable release of basemaps from CRAN:

install.packages("basemaps")

Install the latest development version of basemaps from GitHub:

devtools::install_github("16EAGLE/basemaps")

Get started

All available map services and map types can be printed using get_maptypes(). The basemap() function and its class-specific aliases facilitate (down)loading a basemap and returning it as a class of choice. Map preferences that should be used during a session can be set as defaults using set_defaults().

library(basemaps)
data(ext)
# or use draw_ext() to interactively draw an extent yourself

# view all available maps
get_maptypes()

# set defaults for the basemap
set_defaults(map_service = "mapbox", map_type = "satellite",
             map_token = "YOUR_MAPTOKEN_IF_NEEDED")

# load and return basemap map as many different classes:
basemap_plot(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...

basemap_mapview(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...

basemap_ggplot(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...

basemap_magick(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...

basemap_raster(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...
#> class      : RasterBrick 
#> dimensions : 1228, 1339, 1644292, 3  (nrow, ncol, ncell, nlayers)
#> resolution : 9.554629, 9.554629  (x, y)
#> extent     : 1224617, 1237410, 6032659, 6044392  (xmin, xmax, ymin, ymax)
#> crs        : +proj=merc +a=6378137 +b=6378137 +lat_ts=0 +lon_0=0 +x_0=0 +y_0=0 +k=1 +units=m +nadgrids=@null +wktext +no_defs 
#> source     : /tmp/Rtmp1Ceog7/basemaps/basemap_20210514130850.tif 
#> names      : basemap_20210514130850.1, basemap_20210514130850.2, basemap_20210514130850.3
basemap_stars(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...
#> stars object with 3 dimensions and 1 attribute
#> attribute(s), summary of first 1e+05 cells:
#>  basemap_20210514130850.tif 
#>  Min.   :  0.00             
#>  1st Qu.: 25.00             
#>  Median : 38.00             
#>  Mean   : 42.56             
#>  3rd Qu.: 53.00             
#>  Max.   :233.00             
#> dimension(s):
#>      from   to  offset    delta                   refsys point values x/y
#> x       1 1339 1224617  9.55463 WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator FALSE   NULL [x]
#> y       1 1228 6044392 -9.55463 WGS 84 / Pseudo-Mercator FALSE   NULL [y]
#> band    1    3      NA       NA                       NA    NA   NULL
basemap_png(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...
#> [1] "/tmp/Rtmp1Ceog7/basemaps//mapbox_satellite_2021-05-14_13-09-09.png"
basemap_geotif(ext)
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...
#> [1] "/tmp/Rtmp1Ceog7/basemaps/basemap_20210514130850.tif"
 
library(ggplot2)
ggplot() + 
  basemap_gglayer(ext) + 
  coord_sf() +
  scale_fill_identity() 
#> Loading basemap 'satellite' from map service 'mapbox'...

Map examples

basemaps supports a variety of map services and types (which can be printed using get_maptypes()). A selection of available map types is shown below. For a complete table of available map types, see supported services and maps.

basemap_magick(ext, map_service = "osm", map_type = "topographic")
#> Loading basemap 'topographic' from map service 'osm'...

basemap_magick(ext, map_service = "osm_stamen", map_type = "toner")
#> Loading basemap 'toner' from map service 'osm'...

basemap_magick(ext, map_service = "osm", map_type = "hike")
#> Loading basemap 'hike' from map service 'osm'...

basemap_magick(ext, map_service = "carto", map_type = "dark")
#> Loading basemap 'dark' from map service 'carto'...

basemap_magick(ext, map_service = "mapbox", map_type = "hybrid")
#> Loading basemap 'hybrid' from map service 'mapbox'...

basemap_magick(ext, map_service = "mapbox", map_type = "streets")
#> Loading basemap 'streets' from map service 'mapbox'...

basemap_magick(ext, map_service = "mapbox", map_type = "terrain")
#> Loading basemap 'terrain' from map service 'mapbox'...

Supported services and maps

This table lists all currently implemented map services and map types and indicates whether they can be used without a map token (requiring registration at the respective service) or not.

map_service map_type map_token required?
osm streets no
osm streets_de no
osm topographic no
osm_stamen toner no
osm_stamen toner_bg no
osm_stamen toner_lite no
osm_stamen terrain no
osm_stamen terrain_bg no
osm_stamen watercolor no
osm_thunderforest cycle yes
osm_thunderforest transport yes
osm_thunderforest landscape yes
osm_thunderforest outdoors yes
osm_thunderforest transport_dark yes
osm_thunderforest spinal yes
osm_thunderforest pioneer yes
osm_thunderforest mobile_atlas yes
osm_thunderforest neighbourhood yes
osm_thunderforest atlas yes
carto light no
carto light_no_labels no
carto light_only_labels no
carto dark no
carto dark_no_labels no
carto dark_only_labels no
carto voyager no
carto voyager_no_labels no
carto voyager_only_labels no
carto voyager_labels_under no
mapbox streets yes
mapbox outdoors yes
mapbox light yes
mapbox dark yes
mapbox satellite yes
mapbox hybrid yes
mapbox terrain yes
esri natgeo_world_map no
esri usa_topo_maps no
esri world_imagery no
esri world_physical_map no
esri world_shaded_relief no
esri world_street_map no
esri world_terrain_base no
esri world_topo_map no
esri world_dark_gray_base no
esri world_dark_gray_reference no
esri world_light_gray_base no
esri world_light_gray_reference no
esri world_hillshade_dark no
esri world_hillshade no
esri world_ocean_base no
esri world_ocean_reference no
esri antarctic_imagery no
esri arctic_imagery no
esri arctic_ocean_base no
esri arctic_ocean_reference no
esri world_boundaries_and_places_alternate no
esri world_boundaries_and_places no
esri world_reference_overlay no
esri world_transportation no
esri delorme_world_base_map no
esri world_navigation_charts no

Available functions

If you are interested in obtaining basemaps, you also may want to have a look at ceramic, an R package developed by Michael Sumner with a similar goal.

The underpinning code of basemaps was originally developed for moveVis and has been detached to allow its general use.