• High performance computing: RCC-GIS supports both coarse and fine-grained parallelism. We support Python, R, and Julia based open source workflows for spatial data as well as propriety ArcGIS arcpy library.

• Spatial Algorithm: Spatial pattern recognition, classification (such as decision trees, and neural networks), and deep learning frameworks on GPU computing ranging from image segmentation to object-based object detection.

• Geovisualization and web mapping: RCC-GIS supports visualization as a means of data exploration for providing new tools and approaches to help gain insight into complex and multi-dimensional datasets. Our collaboration with the VUE project mostly answers spatial dimensions of visualization.

• Public Health: GIS as one of their main tools for studies in topics like air pollution, physical activity, and epidemiology.

• Spatial Demography: High resolution, contemporary data on human population distributions, their characteristics and changes over time are a prerequisite for the accurate measurement of the impacts of population growth, for monitoring changes and for planning interventions. RCC-GIS supports access and analysis of these datasets.

RCC-GIS provides consulting services. Initial research and technical consultations revolving around GIS and spatial analysis are available free of charge to faculty, graduate students, and research centers exclusively affiliated with the University of Chicago. Depending upon the size of the project, many times we can provide this service free of charge. Please let us know if you would like assistance with a GIS project and are looking for help writing grant proposals with GIS components.
For more information, contact (773) 702-4541, pnsinha[at]uchicago.edu or gis-help[at]rcc.uchicago.edu.

Examples of Past Projects

Mapping the Spread of Print in South Asia 

Chapakhana project maps the rise of the printing press across South Asia, from the establishment of the first movable type press in 1556 until the year 1900. Illustrating the impact of global technology transfer, It offers users the opportunity to visualize the extent of printing activity in the Indian subcontinent up until the end of the nineteenth century and to identify when printing first came to a particular location. In giving the names of early printing presses, along with their proprietors, printers, and editors, the website aims to make visible the many known and unknown pioneers of print in the Indian subcontinent. Taken together, the maps and additional materials on the website provide an extraordinary window into the vibrant world of printing in South Asia.

Mapping Chicago's 1919 Race Riots

This project maps the visual representation of the 1919 Race riots of Chicago. The riot of 1919 was the largest of its kind in Chicago’s history and the main episode of racial violence in the “Red Summer” that swept the nation in that year. The map has been featured by the Newberry Library, which has organized a yearlong event series that reflects on the riots and how they continue to inform the lived experiences of Chicago residents.

Support for VUE projects
The theme for the academic year 2018-2019 was data visualization based on texts, and for the year 2019-2020 is data visualization for spatial data.