Lab 3 - Neogeography

View The Relatively Essential Road Trips for a College student in a larger map

With the advent of continually developing technology, access to a wide variety of data has become more convenient. With this available data in rapid development, the way we approach maps has also changed. The coevolution of mapping technology and user interface development have allowed anyone to create their own quirky maps and perhaps share with other people. Neotechnology, has, in effect, combined a relatively complex tool and simplified it, allowing anyone direct access to a powerful tool without prior knowledge/understanding of the system. While this may be a convenience it has also become a crutch in our understanding of the world. As a population, we become more and more dependent on such simple tools in order to live a simpler life. The development of dynamic maps are beginning to replace the traditional paper maps once used by our predecessors, while this may simplify route planning, our demand for such types of maps increase, creating unrealistic expectations for these simple tools.

In addition to raising our expectations to an unrealistic level, tools such as google maps are being underrated as a geographical tool. no longer do people pay attention to the factual information reported by a standardized party (USGS) on a paper map, instead, we pay attention to the miscellaneous details that are provided by the dynamic maps - which aren't provided by USGS, but by everyday individuals. This distorts the facts of certain map features and causes us to overlook such important details. We simply see destinations as more of a point to point journey, locating a fast food restaurant on a road trip is no longer an exploration, rather, it's a simple process of following orders given by a third party through the use of dynamic maps. In essence, while dynamic mapping and its accessibility has given us a tool to relate our desires to locales on a map, we tend to become ignorant of the other features maps may offer.

Geography 7 Lab 2 - USGS Topo Maps

1.) The name of the quadrangle is the 1995 topographic map of the Beverly Hills area.

2.) The adjoining quadrangles are: Canoga Park to the NW, Van Nuys to the N, Burbank to the NE, Topanga to the W, Hollywood to the E, Venice to the S, and Inglewood to the SE.

3.) The topographic map was created in 1966.

4.) The North American Datum(s) of 1927 and 1983 were used to create the map.

5.) The scale of the map is 1:24,000

6.) In accordance to the above scale:
5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to 1200 meters on the ground
5 inches on the map is equivalent to 120,000 inches on the ground, or 10,000 feet.
1 mile on the ground is equal to 2.64 inches on the map
3 km on the ground is equal to 31.75 cm on the map.

7.) The contour interval on the map is 20 feet.

8a.) In terms of decimal degrees, the following buildings are located at coordinates:
Public Affairs Building at latitude 71.20 degrees and longitude 67.33 degrees.
The tip of Santa Monica Pier at latitude 63.83 degrees and longitude 61.66 degrees.
The Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir is located between latitudes 73.33 degrees  and 74.20 degrees, and between longitudes 69.80 degree and 71.00 degrees.

8b.) In terms of degrees/minutes/seconds, the following buildings are located:
Public Affairs Building at latitude 75 degrees, 12 minutes, 0 seconds and longitude 67 degrees, 19 minutes, 48 seconds.
The Santa Monica Pier is located at latitude 63 degrees, 49 minutes, 48 seconds and longitude 61 degrees, 39 minutes, 36 seconds.
The Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir is located at latitude 73 degrees, 19 minutes, 48 seconds and longitude 74 degrees, 12 minutes, 0 seconds.

9.) The approximate elevation of the following are:
Greystone Museum - 540 feet
Woodlawn Cemetery - 140 feet
Cresthill Woods Park - 700 feet

10.) The UTM zone of this map is 11.

11.) The UTM coordinates for the lower left hand corner of the map are approximately 3,763,000M North and 361,333M East

12.) There is 1000 sq meters within each cell.

13.) The elevation changes from West to East at the northing and easting intersection are: 

520, 600, 640, 520, 520*, 440*, 410, 340, 300, 250, 190, 140. 

The image of the graph is located at the bottom of the post (Fig. 2)

14.) The magnetic declination of the map is 14 degrees.

15.) The intermittent stream between the 405 and the Stone Canyon Reservoir flows south.

16.) Refer to Fig. 1 for cropped portion of UCLA.

Figure 1:

Figure 2:

Geography 7 - Lab 1 - UPDATED

 

Shown above is the topographic map for the Central California portion of the Sierra Nevada mountains, with a focus on the Bishop area in California.  The map was acquired from an image excerpt from a website selling a topographic map of the Sierra Nevadas (http://www.boredfeet.com/mappages/map9780966534528.php). The area of Bishop was a main point of intrigue for me because that area is surrounded by numerous mountains and climbing enthusiasts can usually be found in what is known as the mecca for rock climbing in the United States - Bishop. In addition to numerous cliff climbs for rope climbing found in the Bishop area, there are also great boulders to be found for bouldering, with boulder fields spread throughout the local area - all as a result of the formation of the Sierra Nevada Mountain ranges. With the formation of the Sierra Nevadas (by subduction of the tectonic plates), a gorge (known as the Owen's River gorge) can be found running through the Bishop area in the Sierra Nevadas - as can be seen in the above map.

 

The second map above shows the population density for the country of Russia. This map is of interest due to the fact that Russia has the largest land area in the world but can be considered to be the one of the less dense countries in terms of the density per square mile for a country. The map was acquired through a website that hosts other maps of interset (http://www.roebuckclasses.com/maps/placemap/placemapindex.htm) for those with a curious mind. The density in the map is classified by the shade of red visible on the map - the darker the shade, the more dense the population within that area. Notice that the larger densities are located near bodies of water, with some cities found near rivers. By establishing settlements near bodies of water, the earlier settlements had the resources needed for sustaining life - water for farming and general sustenance of life for the inhabitants.

This final map of interest was acquired from the same source as the previous map, http://www.roebuckclasses.com/maps/placemap/placemapindex.htm , a collection of world maps, ranging from population maps to quirky maps such as lights of the world (above image). This map essentially shows an image captured from space of all the lights around the world that are visible in space. I'm sure there are people out there who have always wondered to themselves just how bright the lights of the world are and what sort of pattern can be observed if looked at from a macro standpoint - this map provides that information. Looking at the map, it's obvious that the developed nations of the world (countries of Europe and the US itself) should possess the greatest light density in the world, but another interesting phenomenon would be the country of India. For a developing nation such as India, it's intriguing just how bright the country is despite the fact it's still considered a developing country - it almost possesses the same density of lights as some of the other developed countries visible on the map.