Lab #3: Neogeography

より大きな地図で McDonald's Along the I-5 を表示

Neogeography is a new interactive medium to retrieve and compile information. An example of an interactive source is Wikipedia, which is constantly under revision and being renewed as virtually anyone can contribute knowledge. In the realm of geography, “Mashups” such as store locators and route planners/calculators help increase our spatial awareness while aiding us in living more efficiently. The potential of neogeography is limitless as anyone with internet access has the ability to create or contribute to a map. Any store, any park, virtually any place in the world will be available to search for, along with Information on location, appearance, and how to get there will also be available.

A potential pitfall of neogeography is the decline in reliability in the information presented. When anyone with internet access can potentially edit or alter information, one must be careful not to place too much emphasis on the legitimacy of the facts presented. The responsibility associated with volunteered geographic information is significantly less than GIS presented information. A sense of media literacy and heightened awareness/attention is required to avoid these potential pitfalls of neogeography.

One consequence of neogeography is that there is an increase in accessibility of informational maps. More types of maps are now accessed by a wider audience. Convenience has also increased immensely, as “paperless” maps provide for easier and faster searches. Authority of the professional map makers have decreased, since virtually anyone can be a geographer now and provide their own information. This authority though, hasn’t completely disappeared as professional maps are still viewed as more reliable.

Lab #2: Questions on the USGS Topographic Map of Beverly Hills

1) The name of the quadrangle is "Beverly Hills"

2) The adjacent quadrangles are:

1. Canoga Park
2. Van Nuys
3. Burbank
4. Topanga
5. Hollywood
6. na/Pacific Ocean
7. Venice
8. Inglewood

3) The quadrangle was first created in 1966, when the topography was compiled (last revised in 1995).

4) The National American Datum of 1927 (and the more recent North American Datum of 1983) was used for the horizontal components, and the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929 was used for the vertical components of the quadrangle.

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

6) Perform the following conversions:

a) (5cm on map) x (24,000cm on ground/cm on map) = 120,000cm on　ground
(120,000cm) x (1m / 100cm) = 1200m on ground

b) (5in on map) x (24,000in on ground/in on map) = 120,000in on ground
(120,000in) x (1ft/12in) x (1mi/5280ft) = 1.894 mi

c) 1mi on ground = 5280 ft = (5280ft) x (12in/ft) = 63360in on ground
(63360in on ground) x (1in on map/24,000in on ground) = 2.64in on map

d) 3km on ground = 3000m on ground = 300,000cm on ground
(300,000cm on ground) x (1cm on map/24,000cm on ground) = 12.5cm on map

7) The contour interval for the map is 20ft (dash lines indicate 10ft).

8) Find the approximate geographic coordinates in degrees/min/sec and decimal degrees for:

a) Public Affairs Building
Longitude: 118° 26’ 20” W = 118° (26 + 20/60)’=118° 26.33’= (118 + 26.33/60)° = 118.439° W
Latitude: 34°4’0” N = (34 + 4/60) ° = 34.067°N

b) Tip of Santa Monica pier
Longitude: 118° 30’ 0” W = 118.5° W
Latitude: 34° 0’ 30” N = (34 + 0.5’/60’)° = 34.008° N

c) Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir
Longitude: 118° 24’ 20” W = 118° + (24 + 20/60)’ = (118 + 24.33/60)° = 118.406° W
Latitude: 34° 7’ 15” N = 34° + (7 + 15/60)’ = (34 + 7.25/60)° = 34.121° N

9) The approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:

a) Greystone Mansion: 560 feet = 560ft x (0.3048m/ft) = 170.7m

b) Woodlawn Cemetery: 140 feet = 140ft x (0.3048m/ft) = 42.7m

c) Crestwood Hills Park: 740 feet = 740ft x (0.3048m/ft) = 226m

10) The UTM Zone of the map is 11.

11) The UTM coordinates for the lower left corner is Easting 361500 and Northing 3763000.

12) Each grid line indicates 1000m, so one UTM cell contains: 1000m x 1000m = 1,000,000sq. m

13) Elevations along Northing 3771000 are:

Easting 362000: 520ft
Easting 363000: 610ft
Easting 364000: 640ft
Easting 365000: 520ft
Easting 366000: 520ft (UCLA)
Easting 367000: 440ft (UCLA)
Easting 368000: 390ft
Easting 369000: 350ft
Easting 370000: 300ft
Easting 371000: 250ft
Easting 372000: 190ft
Easting 373000: 155ft


14) The magnetic declination is 14 degrees E.

15) Since "V's" in the contours point upstream, the parallel, intermittent stream between highway 405 and the Stone Canyon Reservoir travels from north to south.

16)

Lab #1: Three Interesting Maps

This first map from worldmapper.org (http://www.worldmapper.org/images/largepng/8.png) represents the distribution of the world population in the year 1500. Larger countries had relatively larger populations and smaller countries had smaller populations in 1500. The countries here are represented by different colors, and through their relative sizes, it can be seen that most of the world's population was in Asia and Europe. Historically, this time period is during the Spanish colonization of the Americas and the explorations of Christopher Columbus. This map is interesting because it visually depicts the distribution of the world's population in a manner that is easy to understand. By comparing the map to the normal world map, an idea of how many people lived where can be gained. Historical connections can also be made by comparing the events of time period (1500AD) to the population distribution. It can be inferred that this time period is prior to when more and more people began to move to the Americas.


This second map is a map of the Moon (URL: http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~jeffery/astro/moon/map/nasa_moon_030_landing_map.jpg) from David Jeffery's site. The map shows the various NASA and Soviet landing sites. Various arrows represent where the Luna, Apollo and Surveyor have landed on the Moon. A variety of craters, terrain, and overall texture of the Moon can be observed, along with various names for the areas. It is interesting to see something familiar to us such as a map with latitude and longitude for a location that we will probably never go to that is thousands of miles away. The fact that there are names for locations such as "Sea of Serenity" is also interesting, considering that there is no water/sea there. This picture of the Moon is far more descriptive than the moon we see in the night sky with our naked eye.

The third map is a map of Disneyland (borrowed from ebaumsworld, sharing various maps of theme parks url: http://media.ebaumsworld.com/picture/xxyzz/disneylandMapLarge.jpg). Divided into various parts such as Fantasy Land and Frontier Land, this is the map to a fun, memorable time at Disneyland. Every attraction in the park can be found located on this map from restaurants to roller coasters to souvenir shops. What I found interesting about this map is its ability to capture and excite the reader about the many attractions of the theme park, while also providing large amounts of information. The map is useful to everyone. Kids can use the map to locate which ride they want to go to next, while parents can use it to find the best routes (such as the monorail), bathrooms, lockers, and ATM's.