How to convert from Latitude and Longitude to Address

Introduction

We got a dataset with latitude and longitude data from multiple locations. The task is to convert these data and show the address (street, city, county, etc.) for these locations.

Approach

We will use R and Google Maps api to get it done. Here is a sample dataset.

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library(ggmap)
library(dplyr)
library(magrittr)
# Read csv file with ',' seperation
df = read.table("./Bubble_locations.csv", header=TRUE, sep=",")
# Add one new column name 'Address'
df["Address"] <- NA
# Loop over df rows
for (i in 1: nrow(df)) {
# ggmap api may fail to get data, do it until succeed
  while (is.na(df$Address[i])) {
# The address fot from revgeocode() function is a string
    df$Address[i] <- revgeocode(c(df$Lat[i], df$Long[i]))
  }
}
data = df
# seperate the string with sep ','. Note: if there are not enough pieces, fill with missing values on the left
data %<>% separate(Address,c("street_address", "city","county","country"),remove=F,sep=",",fill = "left")
# Delete the column 'Address'
data$Address <- NULL
# Output
write.csv(data, file = "./Bubble_locations_updated.csv")