How to load data from US Census to Apache Iceberg

Learn how to use Airbyte to synchronize your US Census data into Apache Iceberg within minutes.

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Set up a US Census connector in Airbyte

Connect to US Census or one of 400+ pre-built or 10,000+ custom connectors through simple account authentication.

Set up Apache Iceberg for your extracted US Census data

Select Apache Iceberg where you want to import data from your US Census source to. You can also choose other cloud data warehouses, databases, data lakes, vector databases, or any other supported Airbyte destinations.

Configure the US Census to Apache Iceberg in Airbyte

This includes selecting the data you want to extract - streams and columns -, the sync frequency, where in the destination you want that data to be loaded.

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How to Sync US Census to Apache Iceberg Manually

Begin by accessing the US Census data through their official website or data portal. Locate the specific dataset you are interested in and download it in a suitable format, such as CSV or JSON. Ensure that you have the necessary permissions and that the data is prepared for further processing.

Before you can load data into Apache Iceberg, ensure that you have a suitable environment set up. This includes having a compatible version of Apache Spark (2.4 or later) or Apache Flink, as these systems can natively interact with Iceberg. Install the necessary Iceberg libraries by adding the Iceberg JAR files to your Spark or Flink classpath.

Once you have the US Census data downloaded, inspect the dataset to understand its structure. Clean and preprocess the data if necessary to ensure it matches the schema you intend to use in Iceberg. This might involve handling missing values, removing unnecessary columns, or transforming data types.

Design the schema for your Iceberg table that matches the structure of your cleaned dataset. Define the data types for each column and any partitioning strategy you plan to use. This schema will be used to create the table in the Iceberg catalog.

Use Apache Spark or Apache Flink to create an Iceberg table where your data will be stored. Execute a command in Spark SQL or Flink SQL to define and create the table in the Iceberg catalog. Make sure to specify the table schema and any partitioning options you designed in the previous step.

With your table created, use Spark or Flink to load the cleaned US Census data into the Iceberg table. This involves reading the preprocessed dataset into a DataFrame or DataSet in Spark or Flink, and then writing it into the Iceberg table using the standard write operations supported by these frameworks.

After loading the data, run verification queries to ensure that the data has been successfully transferred into the Iceberg table. Use Spark SQL or Flink SQL to perform sample queries on the table, checking for correctness and completeness of the data. Make sure to validate data types, record counts, and any partitioning you implemented.

By following these steps, you can manually move data from the US Census to Apache Iceberg without using third-party connectors or integrations.

How to Sync US Census to Apache Iceberg Manually - Method 2:

FAQs

ETL, an acronym for Extract, Transform, Load, is a vital data integration process. It involves extracting data from diverse sources, transforming it into a usable format, and loading it into a database, data warehouse or data lake. This process enables meaningful data analysis, enhancing business intelligence.

The U.S. Census Bureau takes the pulse of the country’s economy. Producing economic data monthly, quarterly, yearly, and at five-year intervals requires high-tech solutions. The U.S. Census Bureau, in response to this need, has built an its first ever iPhone application, aimed at providing users with important economic statistics quickly and easily directly from an iPhone: the America’s Economy application.

The US Census Bureau's API provides access to a wide range of data related to the United States population and economy. The following are the categories of data that can be accessed through the API:  

1. Demographic data: This includes information on population size, age, gender, race, ethnicity, and household characteristics.  
2. Economic data: This includes data on employment, income, poverty, and industry.  
3. Housing data: This includes data on housing units, occupancy, and characteristics of housing units.  
4. Education data: This includes data on educational attainment, enrollment, and school districts.  
5. Geographic data: This includes data on boundaries, locations, and maps.  
6. Health data: This includes data on health insurance coverage, disability, and healthcare facilities.  
7. Transportation data: This includes data on commuting patterns, modes of transportation, and traffic.  
8. Business data: This includes data on businesses, employment, and revenue.  
9. Agriculture data: This includes data on crops, livestock, and farms.  
10. International data: This includes data on international trade, migration, and foreign-born population.

This can be done by building a data pipeline manually, usually a Python script (you can leverage a tool as Apache Airflow for this). This process can take more than a full week of development. Or it can be done in minutes on Airbyte in three easy steps: 
1. Set up US Census to Apache Iceberg as a source connector (using Auth, or usually an API key)
2. Choose a destination (more than 50 available destination databases, data warehouses or lakes) to sync data too and set it up as a destination connector
3. Define which data you want to transfer from US Census to Apache Iceberg and how frequently
You can choose to self-host the pipeline using Airbyte Open Source or have it managed for you with Airbyte Cloud. 

ELT, standing for Extract, Load, Transform, is a modern take on the traditional ETL data integration process. In ELT, data is first extracted from various sources, loaded directly into a data warehouse, and then transformed. This approach enhances data processing speed, analytical flexibility and autonomy.

ETL and ELT are critical data integration strategies with key differences. ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) transforms data before loading, ideal for structured data. In contrast, ELT (Extract, Load, Transform) loads data before transformation, perfect for processing large, diverse data sets in modern data warehouses. ELT is becoming the new standard as it offers a lot more flexibility and autonomy to data analysts.

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