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This wiki will walk through how to use Google Maps and a custom Python script to graph the elevation profile of any route you choose (and then make some sweet art from it).
Although the Google Map API's are relatively straight forward when finding the elevation of a point (or the elevations on a straight line between two points), they do not provide much assistance in retrieving elevation data along a custom route. They also do not provide an easy way to find the necessary latitude and longitude coordinates of a custom route (which are required when making an elevation request).
Thus the purpose of this project...
You just returned from an epic 442 day backpacking/uni-cycling/pony-riding/human-powered extravaganza. You didn't eat or sleep. You battled mosquitoes the size of Golden Eagles and, on more than one occasion, you had to teach your body to photosynthesize. You also John Snow'd at least 71 White Walkers and kissed Joe Biden on the lips. Despite the constant excitement of your trip, the only thing you really thought about was how to communicate the god-level you had attained to all your loser friends and coworkers back home.
After a synchronistic run-in with Bob Ross you think, "Art, I should make art. And I sort of know how to write Python. NNNNNiiiicccccceeeee"
You decide first and foremost you want your art to communicate "I not a NoOb," so you debate with yourself for a while how to accomplish this. You recount the most difficult parts of your trip one by one (battling nudist tribes for tanning spots, pineapple skin eating contests, watching Trump get elected) when the obvious answer finally hits you. The most difficult part of any trip that doesn't include modern day transportation is... friggin' elevation. What better way to show the plebeians back home how awesome you are than a brag-o-docious elevation profile art piece of the journey. Boom.
After settling on "elevation" as the theme of your sure to be George-Bush-Jr.-esque art piece, you sit down and develop a slightly over-complicated little method to:
- Map the route you took and export a .KML file to Google Earth
- Use the .KML File to pull out dirty latitude/longitude data from your super sweet route
- Use the Elevate Python script to clean/format the lat/long values, request elevation data from Google Maps API, and place all this data in a .csv file
- Open the .csv file and graph that motha'
- CREATE SOME SICK ART