Lab 8: GIS Applications

African-Americans-

The maps presented above have been created from data found on the United States Bureau of the Census's web site. This information was taken, and tabulated during the year 2000 census. When looking at the features of how people have settled, where races seem to congregate, and where they are located in relation to one another; it becomes very clear that the settlement of different ethnic groups is far from random. Looking at the data presented in an Excel sheet is daunting, for anyone. Thousands of numbers, on a seemingly never ending list. It doesn’t have much impact on the eyes or to the onlooker at all. When placed upon a map this data comes to life. It shows the subtle complexities of racial distribution within the United States. For anyone who has traveled to many of the states within the U.S these maps have even greater impact, because you know the racial distribution first hand. A few years ago I traveled to Memphis, Tennessee as well as New Orleans, Louisiana. During this trip I was using only public transportation as my mode of travel. It became obvious very quickly that I (someone of European decent) was very out of place. Entering downtown Memphis, I also had the same general impression, that this town has a far higher African American population than many other cities I have visited in the U.S. This observation holds true on this census map. The “Black Distribution by Percentage” map shows that the South and particularly areas near the Mississippi River have a higher proportion of African Americans than other places in the U.S. The reason for this is most likely largely due to the fact that after the slave-trade ended and the emancipation proclamation was signed, many Blacks stayed where they were, rather than moved far away. Even today, it still holds true that this large minority still has a major concentrated presence within a specified area of the United States, and ArcGIS makes it possible to witness that.

Asian-Americans-

            According to the maps created it is clear that much of America’s Asian population lives along the coasts, both the west and the east; but particularly in the urban centers of these areas. It makes sense that Asian populations would be set along the coast, and especially the West coast. For they have, and do, come across the Pacific and that is the first place they land, and often that is where they stay. Being that many people from Asian decent own and operate small shops, it makes sense that they are in urban centers like San Francisco or Los Angeles, rather than out in the fields or farmland attempting to make a living. If you were to extend the map area so you could see all 50 states it would be clear that even in places like Alaska there are above-average percentages of Asian Americans along the coast. In Hawaii the same story is true, with the highest percentages of all the states.

Some Other Race-

            This cohort belongs to peoples who are not ”White”, “Black or African American”, “American Indian and Alaska Native”, “Asian” and/or “Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander”. Meaning that those who are possibly racially mixed or who are from Latin decent would fall into this category. Living in Los Angeles I know how multi-ethnic my city is, I can be riding the bus and hear 5 different languages being spoken all at once, and it would be quite normal. It is also obvious that the city has a very large Hispanic population. From the amazing Mexican food, to the bi-lingual signage that penetrates any official or advertising document, it is everyday life for Angelino’s to live with those who are from south of the border. The census data map makes this very clear. Many of the counties closest to the Mexican border have a more intense color, showing cultural diversity slanted towards Latino/a heritage. This makes sense, since these counties are geographically closer to the place of origin for those who have immigrated north.

Most of these maps make sense of what we already have observed or know about the United States. But it is a solid, and clear, indicator of where people are today. The problem that these maps have is that they do not show where people have come from or where they are going. This is critical information to know how the United States will develop ethnically in the years to come, as well as a basis for seeing how our history has taken shape. GIS is critical to showing how spatially fixed data is in an all-in-one format like a map. Without it there would be a huge amount of unknowns. It is impossible to gain any working knowledge from huge spreadsheets. ArcGIS is where “the rubber meats the road”, meaning that it is a place in which the workings of information technology come together to create something useful and meaningful, something that will take data and transform it into a working product. GIS has many applications, as have been seen over the course of this introductory course, but its true potential can only be unlocked by those who know how to use it properly and with imaginative intent. GIS is place where computer science, graphic design, statistical analysis, geography, and much more come together in a singular application. It is critical to understand and respect all of these aspects in order to create more useful, more intelligent map design. 

Lab #7 Cartography & Geovisualizaton

Fires, for many people, are a seasonal occurrence that becomes part of life. Southern California is one of these places. Every year in the fall, Santa Ana winds begin their annual march from the Great Basin and Mojave Deserts, across the heavily populated areas of Southern California and out to sea. These winds are a product of hot, dry air, expanding and ultimately creating a high air pressure system at the point in which they are conceived. This high pressure system is the ultimate source of the Santa Ana’s. As the winds move over land in search of lower pressure—eventually to the cooler Pacific Ocean—they increase evapotranspiration of plant biomass as well as the land itself. This drying effect primes Southern California for intense infernos, which inevitably arise during this dry fall season. As with all prone natural disaster seasons (hurricanes, monsoons, blizzards, avalanches, etc…) the residents who reside in them must be vigilant, aware, respectful of the awe inspiring power withheld in Natures furious kinship to destruction.

Growing up in Lake Arrowhead, which is a small town in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California, I know the fire season all too well. Almost every year we would be evacuated from our homes, or at least threatened with the possibility of losing them. Generally this was no longer than a week in length, but at times, months; as with the Old Fire in 2003, which caused over 100,000 residents to vacate (Dunn). At the time of evacuation, for me, this was actually a very nice vacation from the all so dreaded days of high school. My family would stay with relatives whom lived near the beach, I would take it easy, and the best part of all is that we often did not have to make up school days later in the year because the events were usually christened “National Disasters” by the federal government. Understandably so, most saw this in a very different light, especially my parents, concerned with the loss of built property. However, the large concern for the community was always “what happens if the school burns down, where would everyone go?” Normally, in a city this isn’t a huge problem, just disburse the students into schools around the city until they can get some trailers in the Wal*Mart parking lot to house them for a little while…problem solved, right. However, in Lake Arrowhead there was one high school, one middle school, and a few elementary schools for a very large area encompassing several communities. To this day I do not know what would have happened; I assume we would have gone to some school in San Bernardino to the dislike of faculty and students unfamiliar to the precarious lifestyle us mountain-folk live in every day, with fires, floods and blizzards. I do however know that the thoughts of a school burning down are all too real for many, whether they enjoy or dislike the idea. I thought a map composed of both urban populations, schools, and several other fire related items, would be a useful one for many people who live in, or are concerned with the area at risk.

The fire that can be seen on the map above is the Station Fire. This fire began as a small blaze from a lightning strike in the Angeles National Forest on August 26, 2009. It soon grew to an immense size, eventually becoming the largest fire in modern Los Angeles history (Bloomekatz). This map shows the subtle complexities of the landscape on which the inferno roared. Topographic depth, urban populations, hospitals, school institutions, available nearby water from lakes and reservoirs, main roads and highways for access and evacuation are all shown in a single format, juxtaposed together, to maintain order and logic to the onlooker for maximum data comprehension and retention. These items were chosen specifically with the intent for planning and understanding how the fire progressed over time in relation to its surroundings. It is imperative to have fast, concise data that is accurate and easy to comprehend in emergency situations. Map making is as much about putting things on a map as it is taking them out; finding a balance is vital to creating useful cartographic data. I know all too well how important map data is; as an avid backpacker I use topographic trail maps to navigate through remote parts of wilderness areas. There have been many situations where I look to the map for quick reference, only needing minimal information, something that is easy to find on an uncluttered map. I have also been in very serious situations where time and decisions are critical for survival, also something that requires an easy to understand uncluttered map surface that also provides maximum information.  This same rule applies to fire fighting and fire and forest management, as well as many other fields that require maps.

Schools were chosen to be placed onto this map for reasons stated above. For official who need to know what schools to close/evacuate, they first need to know what kind of danger particular schools are in. Data taken from the UCLA GIS data repository show where educational institutions exist in a geographic space, with respect to burn area and fire progression. There are many schools that neighbor the southwestern extent of the fires path, when counted there are about 56 sites that would definitely be considered as a fire prone area and one that is directly within the boundaries of the fire itself. This is useful for many reasons, but mostly as a means to see the whole picture, and what to do about it. The second data set (taken from the same source as the first) is hospitals. These are important for two major reasons. One, is that residents and officials may need to use them in the event humans are harmed by the blaze. The second is for hospitals within striking distance of the fire. These places may need to prepare for evacuation, something that would require quite a bit of planning and work to do properly. Hospitals also serve as a significant part of disaster planning, knowing where close ones are is critical for having spots for quick, useful help in emergency situations; something that wouldn’t want to be second guessed when the time comes to use them. Another part of this map that utilizes critical information is access roads. Knowing how to get people, vehicles, emergency personal and more into or out of an area is important to disaster logistics. Without proper preparation and execution this could become an Achilles’ heel to the development of a working plan; a scenario that has been seen in many hurricane zones and places alike. The next point of concern is where water is. Water is crucial to fire fighting; it has been for eons and will most likely continue to be for some time to come. In wildfires such as this, it is common to have super-lift crane helicopters drop thousands of gallons of water onto a blaze with intent to slow its progression. These helicopters ultimately want to have a large amount of water close by. Flight paths, aerial maneuvering, and many other aspects of “fire water” logistics would have to be planned out using a map such as this to better understand where everything exists within relation to the burn area itself. Though these items are important unto themselves, there is another factor to fire progression that reigns supreme, that is topography.

Topography is one of the main factors to why a fire does what it does. Fire inherently wants to climb up; hillsides, trees, wood, homes, anything that will burn. This, along with wind and rain, are very important factors to where a fire will go next and how long it might last. A digital elevation model, obtained from the National Map Seamless Server, was used to create a hillside topographic layout of the affected area. Upon this DEM was placed the fire progression polygon shape files, day by day. The information for the fire progression was obtained from the Los Angeles County Enterprise GIS data website, labeled as All Station Fire Perimeters. Combined, these data sets give a clear picture of how the fire might progress, or how it did progress, depending on what time you were/are looking at the map. It also gives onlookers a clear idea of how a fire might want to be fought. Forest wildfire fighting tactics are not hodgepodge procedural events; they are well planned, well coordinated, executed techniques, planned in advance (for the most part). Fire roads are built, breaks are made, water is dropped, men and women are stationed, and trucks are strategically located, all with containment of damage in mind. This would not be even close to possible with useful maps. Maps give clear reference to how and where a fire is progressing, and where high threat areas exists, such as schools, hospitals, and urbanized areas. These individual things may not be important on their own, but when layered with one another in a clear, concise fashion it creates a powerful tool for understanding the geography of a wild fire.

Works Cited

All Station Fire Perimeters (as of September 2, 07:02) – Complete Set.

Bloomekatz, Ari B. "Station Fire Is Largest in L.A. County's Modern History."

Dunn, Alex. "The Old, Grand Prix, and Padua Wildfires: How Much Did These Fires Really Cost?"

Mapshare: UCLA's Spatial Data Repository. University of California, Los Angeles.

The National Map Seamless Server. USGS. Web. 20 May 2010.

Lab 6 Spatial Analysis

DEMs and Spatial Analysis

 

The above is a digital elevation model of Mars taken from the Viking space probe in 2001. though most of what is done on ArcGIS stays here on planet Earth, this image illustrates the amazing potential for DEM analysis on many levels. From planetary topology to city wide planning, this is both a useful tool and a fascinating one to use for many purposes.

Shaded Relief Map

Slope Map

Aspect Map

3D Image

The region I chose is a mountainous area of Central California, centered on Banner Peak (37.6966, -119.195142) in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The extent of this map is as follows - 

Top: 37.9449999993

Bottom: 37.416666666

Left: -119.676944444

Right: -118.788888889

The datum used for this map is North American 1983 (NAD83). It has proven to be quite an interesting subject area for digital elevation model analysis. The first time I came into contact with this area was about a year ago when I did a trans-sierra hike that went through the region. I know first hand how inaccessible and rugged this terrain is. DEMs can be very helpful in understanding the topography of an area from a more interactive and useful perspective. At times looking at topographic maps can be helpful, but may not fully give understanding to what is where in terms of slope, elevation, and how everything interacts with one another. There are also many other practical uses to DEM analysis, if you need to know how much land area has a south facing slope this could be quite useful to you. I can think of several industries where this would be indispensable knowledge, the cellular network companies, like AT&T, may want to understand how towers will transmit data; or a vineyard might want to buy land with optimal sunshine for prolonged growing time. Aspect maps could be used for all of these tasks and many more. Slope maps are very useful as well, if a company is looking for a place to put a ski resort they may look to one of these for an idea of how steep gradients are and where; or if a forest service is going to do controlled burns they would need to know how steep the terrain is to keep it from becoming an inferno. These maps hold a great deal of useful information for a varying array of applications.

Lab 5: Projections in ArcGIS

Essentially map projection is the mathematical art of portraying a three dimensional surface onto a two dimensional plane. The reason I use the word ‘art’ is because there are inherent distortions created when this procedure is practiced, being so, the cartographer is an artist in mitigating these distortions in respect to what the map will be used for. Complex methods of abstracting a three dimensional object into a two dimensional plane are used in the form of mathematics to pinpoint where a particular spot on a globe (a latitudinal and longitudinal intersection) will lay on a flat surface in relation to another point on the said globe. What the map will be used for is immensely pertinent to how a globe is projected. For instance, a conformal projection would be used for navigation, because it maintains angular relationships; however, it wouldn’t be used to accurately view area or distances for it distorts these to a great degree. The same goes for other projection types and it should be stated that this issue can potentially create quite a problem when it comes to figuring out what is where, how far something is from something else, or what direction something is from somewhere else.

As said above, each projection has its advantages and disadvantages. Equal area map projections deal with area best, as the name implies. If you are to look at both equal area map projection below it is clear that there is close resemblance in how ‘big’ things are. Both the Hammer as well as the Sinusoidal have similar attributes, Greenland isn’t grossly over exaggerated in size (as is seen in a Mercator projection) and the continents seem very close to one another in terms of land mass. These types of maps are very good for determining how lands area changes over time. Determining how the Earth’s ice caps are shifting is a perfect example of a use for this projection as it would not alter the physical area of the ice and thus would lead to exact data results. Another use might be determining area for large boundaries; such as states, countries, lakes, etc. for the same reasons as the ice cap scenario, this is a smart map to use because it will yield accurate geometric data for area. It should also be noted that it is impossible to have a flat map that is both equal area as well as conformal. So, angular conformity is lost for the use of accurate area projection.

Equidistant maps are portrayed with measuring distance in mind. As seen by the Plate Carree map distances are true when measuring along meridians and standard parallels. However, when measuring diagonally on a Plate Carree map accuracy is diminished greatly. Equidistant maps generally only show equal distance from the point they are projected. So, for the equidistant conic map centered on the North Pole, seen below, all measurements from the North Pole would be accurate. However, when measuring two points that do not include the North Pole (i.e. Washington D.C. and Kabul) on a map similar to this, distance is distorted greatly, leading to inaccuracies. This is seen in the measurements of the two equidistant map projections; the Plate Carree being 10,110 miles and the Equidistant Conic being 6,972 miles. The interesting thing is that in this measurement the line bisects the North Pole very closely, actually giving a relatively accurate portrayal of distance if following the great circle route rather than a rhumb line route (as would be done on the Platte Carree projection). No flat map can be both equal area and equidistant.

Maps that are Conformal have exact scale in every direction and therefore parallels and meridians cross one another at right angles. This is good for showing angular accuracy and distance to some degree, but area is usually grossly distorted as one deviates from the center of the projection. In classrooms, books, magazines, and other publications around the globe people have been fed the idea that particular areas are massive in comparison to others. If you look to the Mercator projection below it’s obvious to see that Antarctica is larger than normal, I mean, can it really be larger than all of the contingents combined? Or Russia and Greenland, both vastly larger than Africa or South America, which I think most can agree is inaccurate. These maps work well geographic reference, possibly for navigation purposes, and for many things near the equator or near the center of projection, but beyond that there are large distortions that must be accounted for.

equal area

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul

Hammer: 8,329.89 Miles
Sinusoidal: 8,098.08 Miles

equidistant

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul
Plate Carree: 10,109.67
Equidistant Conic: 6,972.48 Miles

conformal

Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul
Mercator: 10,112.11 Miles
North Pole Stereographic: 7,617.29 Miles

Lab 4: Introduction to ArcMap

...And the finished product.

The Potentials of GIS

ESRI's ArcGIS is a very powerful program, it is evident from the very first time you begin to use and understand the extent of its abilities. Massive amounts of data that would otherwise just be numbers associated with a geographic coordinate on an excel spreadsheet, or possibly pins pricked into a map in some data collection and analysis center, are pulled together into a singular visual medium that is quite versatile to many applications. When one can witness many different data sets at once it can create a powerful analysis tool. As with the proposed airport expansion project that was worked on in lab 4, many measurements, boundaries and more can be layered over one another to show exactly where particular subject areas may be in a physical geographical setting. In this lab GIS was clearly a very powerful tool to use in order to view how empirical data of an airport and its attributes can adversely effect a community. This same application could easily be used for an array of differing applications in an array of differing fields. From environmental degradation analysis to forecasting political wins, GIS is clearly a needed tool for comprehending our ever changing world.

The software created by ESRI has two sides; As stated above it is a very powerful tool that can deal with great amounts of data and apply it to a geographically fixed area. This is why it has risen to be such a large field of work for many in geography as well as other fields. However, the actual program of ArcGIS is one of difficulty. I come from a graphic design background and use the Adobe Creative Suite frequently. I know how complex data sets are managed and how they are manipulated within a software program. For instance, in Adobe Illustrator you might have several thousand layers in a large illustration, each with its own attributes (color, vector shape, gradient, name, etc...), the program is set up to run very smooth, quick, and with the user in mind. It is not easy to learn by any respect, but the interface is much more up to date and takes advantage of human intuition. If you want a paintbrush, there is a paintbrush icon; if you want to change a color there is a swatch to click on. Anything you want to do you can within the program and it is relatively easy, as if the programmers remembered that humans are using the software. With ArcGIS it seems like the program is stuck in the mid-90s; light grey and pixelated icons that don't catch your eye and are thus difficult to remember, very slow and rigid user interface, difficult and lengthy paths to change data attributes when working on a file within the program, and so on. When designing software, they need to understand that programs for complex data manipulation should not be designed merely to find a means to a problem through tabulation but a user interface that helps in the process. Better usability means higher quality output material, plain and simple. The faster something works, the more work you can do; the easier it is to work the faster you can do it and the more you will be able to bear it. Apple and Adobe (and just recently Windows) have taken this idea into what we now know as computing. Open up Apple's Final Cut Pro, a program that has to deal with unprecedented amounts of data and quickly, and you will find a user friendly, clean, well designed environment for the professional video editor. Open up ESRI's ArcGIS and you will find just the opposite. Just because GIS is not as glamorous as designing next falls Vogue catalog (well... I think it is!) doesn't mean ArcGIS shouldn't have the same user-friendly environment. ESRI needs to get their act together and make something a bit more up-to-date, and please, a bit quicker, and most of all, make the zooming with a mouse like every other program in the world; scroll up is zoom in, not zoom out!

The Pitfalls of GIS

ESRI's somewhat outdated and unintuitive software is the pitfall of ArcGIS, but as far as GIS as a whole there are larger problems at play. When we went over neogeography in lab 3 it was evident that an easy to learn web 2.0 based mapping application is the voice of the people (as far a GIS is concerned) and has risen rapidly in popularity. This rise has shown the need for a community linked mapping program, something that ArcGIS just doesn't have. This rise has also shown that having mass amounts of data right at your fingertips is wildly helpful and benificial to productivity. With the whole of the internet as your source of data with an application like Google Maps you can generally find what you need to prove your point on a map. ArcGIS is a different story, it difficult to find shape files, especially if they are obscure, and this is another problem associated with GIS software. In ESRI's defense, the phrase 'garbage-in garbage-out' comes to play, if you want solid output then you need solid data to back it up, something that you just can not achieve from random people on the internet.

Another pitfall of GIS software is its relative unalienability to change in comparison to other applications that are used with neogeography. Sometimes it is imperative to have a map that is being updated constantly. This is something that is pretty easy to achieve in Google Maps, but in ArcGIS I can see it as being a problem. Once again, the unintuitive software does not help, but it is also the layout and design of the program that hinders the user from experiencing a quick, diverse, and easy to use program that lends itself to the frequent changes of life on earth. If ESRI designed their program with this is mind it would greatly help in the production of maps that closely mimic real life scenarios. The other issue with GIS is the fact it is seemingly 2-D in nature rather than 3-D. Programs like Google Earth are wonderful tools to really understand the topography of an area. One can zoom through the streets of Manhattan and see the skyscrapers, or dive into the Grand Canyon to see what it looks like from a birds eye view. There are many applications this can be used for, both commercially and personally that ArcGIS just cannot offer.

Week 3 - Neogeography

Bus Routes that go Directly to and from the UCLA Campus



View UCLABUS in a larger map

This map has been created with the UCLA commuter in mind. I currently live in Culver City, a short 22 minute bus ride from campus on the Big Blue Bus route 12, or about 4 miles south of campus. When I was searching for an apartment off campus I could not find a map that just showed me where bus routes went, only which bus routes services the campus! This information was critical to picking a suitable area to live. I felt it was necessary to have a direct transit line to campus from within a 1/2 mile of my residence. Every time I found a potential apartment I would have to figure out a new transit schedule, rather than merely plugging in an address to Google maps with a bus overlay and seeing if it would work or not. This is very important information for anyone who uses the bus system at or near UCLA, or who is attempting to find a new place to live off campus.

When overlayed with Google Maps rental search it creates a very powerful and useful tool for any person who is a UCLA commuter looking for a new apartment in West LA.

View Larger Map

Google has mad it possible for just about anyone with a computer and internet access to become a modern day self-made GIS specialist to there own design. With so much information to be shared about what is where and how it can influence our daily lives, it has been interesting to see how this barrage of data has changed the way people upload and update what is happening around them. From the weekend hiker who wants to know where exactly that trail goes to the politically interested who needs to see where Obama supporters are and how they are disbursed; neogeography has become a powerful tool on the web to change tables of data and lengthy summaries of where it all is, to a concise interactive maps, portraying sometimes complex information into a user friendly format that anyone can understand, quickly and with ease.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, "garbage in, garbage out" and anyone who has used the internet knows there is allot of garbage out there. With so many people using the internet, thinking they are GIS specialists who have critical information everyone needs to know, the world wide web has become cluttered with junk. If one merely types "Obama" into google maps with the "user created maps" filter on, they will see that there is literally hundreds and hundreds of maps created by just about everyone. Some are very well laid out, informative, and have solid data; while others are far from that, having maybe a few place-markers with relatively useless information. This has led to a basic problem, too much stuff. With so much 'stuff', how can one possibly find what they want to find and know if it has legitimate information. I suppose the answer is understanding how the internet works and how to bypass all that junk as quickly as possible, and being able to research where data comes from; but that is a difficult task to run through. It has already been interesting to see the rise of web 2.0 , and to be witnessing where it is going. However, it will be even more interesting to see how companies like Google and Yahoo combat this issue. Possibly more user rating or hits, better key words for searching, or possibly making it more difficult to use applications and having stricter rules so only the very serious will attempt to be data creators (as with apple's app creators).

Week 2

1.) Beverly Hills Quadrangle

2.) Conoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, and Inglewood

3.) 1966

4.) North American Datum of 1927
North American Datum of 1983

5.) 1:24,000

6.)

a.) 1,200 meters = (5x24,000) / 100
b.) 1.89 miles = (5x24,000) / 63,360
c.) 2.64" = 63,360/24,000
d.) 12.5cm = 300,000 / 24,000

7.) 20 feet

8.)

a.) The Public Affairs Building
+34° 4' 27.80", -118° 26' 21.05"
34.074389, -118.439181

Address:
b.) Santa Monica Pier
+34° 0' 26.85", -118° 29' 59.65"
34.007458, -118.499904

c.) Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir
+34° 7' 14.14", -118° 24' 35.79"
34.120595, -118.409943

9.)

a.) Greystone Mansion - 580' / 176.8 meters
b.) Woodlawn Cemetery - 140' / 42.7 meters
c.) Crestwood Hills Park - 640' / 195 meters

10.) Zone 11

11.) 3763000mE, 362000mN

12.) 1,000,000 square meters

13.)

Get Directions

* approximate times

Area served: -

Category:

Unverified listing

14.) 14 degrees east

15.) the stream flows north to south

16.)

Week 1

Map 1This is a beautifully illustrated "humorous" political map by Kisaburo Ohara of Europe and Asia. It can be found in the book You Are Here: Personal Geographies by Katharine Harmon. I personally find this map intriguing because of its deep cultural meaning through geography. Generally maps are used merely as a form of geographic data; borders, streets, locations, etc... here, Ohara has deconstructed that idea and formed an artistic reconstruction of not only a border forming atlas, but one that shows the political and cultural ties between countries. It shows the people of each country performing a task akin to that of what one may read in a paper of the time of publication (1904). Mainly, this map illustrates the grip of Russia as a many legged octopus spreading its power and oppression over countries near it and entangling them into its powerful web. All together this is a very powerful map showing a vast amount of information in a singular form for all who see it.


Map 2This is a map that was found on the radical cartography web site, it depicts the interstate highway routes a particular person has traveled. There is not much information about this particular map other than it is a "work in progress" and is showing a lifetime of road travel within the United Stated. I personally love this artwork because of its simplicity. Right away you know exactly what this map is showing, even though it has no words, borders, or formal map techniques used within it. It is just a few lines that somehow build a skeleton for a transportation network that is geographically fixed into a continent. For me personally, it conjures an emotional attachment to the highway system of America and a romanticized view of the road-trip on which its used for.

Map 3This map comes from the ASTER (advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer) unit of the TERRA satellite. it can be found on the NASA/JPL website. It is an image that has been colored in such a way to show the sediment loads flowing throughout the San Francisco Bay and into the Pacific Ocean. I find this image to be interesting because it sheds light to the workings of many different geographic features in one area. The Sacramento river dumps its sediment load into the north of San Francisco Bay, here this load is obviously very high. As one works their eye further south they see darker colors appearing, depicting a lower sediment load. One can also witness how these flows move throughout the bay and interact with tidal and oceanic forces, which is quite fantastic in itself. I find all these facets of this map very intriguing and very useful to see how sediment moves and where it might accumulate, which could be very beneficial for coastal communities.

Map 4This is another map from the radical cartography website; made in 1967 by Terry Atkinson and Michael Baldwin, it plays on most peoples perception that the Sarah Desert is a barren landscape that is void of features that would normally dominate a map. Comical at first, it is an interesting commentary on the human perception of spatial surroundings; humans have a knack for dismissing that which is not important or of value to them, almost writing it into non-existence. This map beautifully exemplifies the quite inner-workings of cognitive spatial interaction and human created geographic importance.