Using Google Earth over GIS Software in Archaeology

Monday April 28th 2008
Filed Under Google Earth 

Anthropology.net has a post about the publication in the Journal of Human Evolution entitled “Google Earth, GIS, and the Great Divide: A new and simple method for sharing paleontological data” that advocates the use of Google Earth over GIS mapping applications for its ease of use in sharing archaeological and paleontological data.  The entry makes the preliminary argument:

GIS systems expedite analyzing and managing large amounts of spatial data, and can really improve mapping locations where artifacts or fossils are found. Unfortunately, the price point and learning curve involved in using GIS applications, like ArchGIS make it an unapproachable technology.

An article in advance in the Journal of Human Evolution introduces how the most basic version of Google Earth can be easily used in lieu of other GIS software to display and share paleontological data.

While the post does briefly review some of the negative issues to using Google Earth data over a standalone GIS, the interest seems to be mostly in the area of simple displays of data and doesn’t open up a debate on the abilities of GIS software to perform spatial analysis as compared to Google Earth. 

PowerPoint Based Presentations for GIS

Monday April 28th 2008
Filed Under GIS Techniques, Link Library, Reference 

Find ready-made and available for download PowerPoint presentations online. PowerPoint presentations can be valuable tools in presenting GIS ideas or as educational materials.  Read more

GIS in the Rockies

Sunday April 27th 2008
Filed Under Conferences 

September 10-12, 2008 at The Ranch in Loveland, CO
http://www.gisintherockies.org
Mapping Your Assets: The 21st GIS in the Rockies Conference will focus on the importance of evolving asset management strategies and technology for professionals working in the geospatial marketplace.

Online Mortgage Maps

Sunday April 27th 2008
Filed Under Internet Mapping, United States GIS and Data 

The Federal Reserve has released dynamic maps showing subprime and alt-A mortgage loan information across the United States.  While the concept is very interesting, it seems that the Flash application was developed with little understanding of cartographic principals.  The chloropleth maps are available at the ZIP Code level but the pop-up statistics only show information at the state level.  The shading on the map is faded and often hard to read; the shading of the foreclosure rates at the national level is almost indecipherable.  There is a menu of graded symbology for shading the map for a different variables but the intensity of the shading isn’t quantified on the legend.  There are planned monthly updates of the data but currently the map is limited to showing nonprime mortgage loan information for December of 2007.  Those interested in the tabular data can access Excel files from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Nonprime Mortgage Conditions in the United States data page.

Privacy in GIS Issues

Tuesday April 22nd 2008
Filed Under Link Library, Privacy Issues 

The increase of GIS usage has brought with it a rise in public concern over privacy. The proliferation of easily accessible public information via the web is one of the reasons.  The availability of not only aerial and satellite imagery but also street level imagery has also raised questions about the balance between the public’s righto access information versus the individual person’s right to privacy.  A.F. Westin in Privacy and Freedom (1967) defined privacy as “the claim of individuals … to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.”  Read more

Earth as Art

Tuesday April 22nd 2008
Filed Under Current Events, Fun, Remote Sensing, World GIS and Data 

Happy Earth Day!

The USGS and NASA jointly maintain the “Earth as Art” website which brings to the public stunning images of the Earth taken by the Landsat-7 satellite and the Terra Satellite’s Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). The site was originally created in 2002 by the USGS National Center for EROS in order to publicize the Landsat program. The images on the web site were selected for aesthetic purposes rather than for the scientific value that they offerr.

Visitors can browse the images by continent or alphabetically to access high resolution JPEGs.

Image of the Shetland Islands

USGS Releases New Shake Maps

Monday April 21st 2008
Filed Under Data 

The United States Geological Survey has released updated National Seismic Hazard Maps for the United States. From the press release:

Earthquakes remain a serious threat in 46 of the United States. For some areas such as western Oregon and Washington, the new maps contain higher estimates for how hard the ground will shake compared to earlier versions of the maps released in 1996 and 2002.

But for most of the United States, the ground shaking estimates are lower. This revision incorporates new seismic, geologic and geodetic information on earthquake rates and the manner in which the energy released in earthquakes dies off with distance from the rupture.

The USGS National Seismic Hazard Maps can be accessed here.

Twitter in 3D

Monday April 21st 2008
Filed Under Fun 

Now you can see all your Twitter messages mapped across a globe. TwittEarth is a Flash application that pinpoints Twitter messages as they pop up around the world. The globe spins in response to new geolocated Twitter messages every 10 seconds. Either login in to post your own messages or simply space out to the globe spinning in response to new Tweets popping up.

Seen via Wired.

Origami Maps

Sunday April 20th 2008
Filed Under Current Events, Maps 

Origami seems to be a theme of the moment. First Google made the odd statement that “Mapping has come a long way from the origami paper creations of the past” as part of their KML news release. Now a court case is the battleground between two mapping companies fighting over the rights to origami techniques for map folding. GeoCenter, which produces Berlitz maps and Compass Maps are battling out in court over who owns the rights to this particular method of folding maps.

In case you want to thumb your nose at the spatial justice system, here are some instructions to creating your own uniquely folded maps:

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