Final/Census Lab

The first map I made displays the population densities of Asian Americans in the continental United States based off of census data from the year 2000. As one can see, the highest densities of Asian Americans are on the West Coast, particularly in California. This might be because the West Coast is closer to Asia and therefore migration streams would have immigrants arriving to ports on the West Coast where they would be most likely to settle before attempting to move further into the United States. Moreover, California is home to one of the largest economies in the world that brings many international businesses, especially Asian companies-- encouraging Asian immigration.

The second map details the population densities of the black/African American population of the United States. There is a clear concentration of African Americans in the Southern United States. My only inference is that this might be a result of the slave trade wherein Africans were brought to plantations in the Southern United States to help with the farming of cotton and tobacco. Since this occurred two hundred years ago these families have become established in that region and are less likely to move.

The third map describes the population of 'some other race' leaving me to infer what this race might be. Most of the concentration of this 'other' race is in the Southwest United States which is near the Mexican border. Could this race perhaps be hispanic/latino? Word on the street (and from my population geography class) is that apparently on the census this group generally marks other because none of the other race categories apply to them.


At first I tried to work through this lab without doing the tutorial before which rendered the entire thing confusing (yes, I realize we were told multiple times to use the tutorial). Moreover, ArcCatalog kept giving me error signals and shutting down at first which became entirely frustrating. All of my friends informed me that this lab was really simple, but because of these difficulties, it was one of the more frustrating experiences (especially since my patience is low due to finals week). Once everything was running properly and I had reviewed/performed the tutorial, the lab was relatively easy.

Exploring geospatial analytics with the help of ArcGIS has been interesting. Once mastered the software is really obvious and easy to use. Getting to the point of mastering it, however, can be really frustrating and takes time and patience. As such, I wish some of the tutorials/instructions for using the software had been clearer and included more screen shots so that we could have had better guidance in learning the software without as much frustration. I hope that I can continue to utilize ArcGIS for future research projects.

DEM's: Making Maps from Elevation Data!

This week was my favorite project because for the first time we got to work with 3D modeling using elevation/topographic data--also known as DEMs (Digital Elevation Models). I chose to use data from the San Francisco Bay Area because as a Northern California native I know how interesting the terrain is due to the large amounts of geologic activity there. At first using/making DEM's seemed like a daunting task, but the most difficult part of the entire lab was simply downloading the information from the USGS website. ArcMap/ArcScene were very user friendly and allowed for a lot of creative expression by being able to change the different elevation color schemes and backgrounds for the map. I used ArcMap to create several maps including the Shaded relief model which displays various elevation areas using a scale of light to dark purples. The slope model shows that there is a steep slope in the area as almost the entire map is colored in with the magenta representing the steepest grade of slope. The aspect model demonstrates which direction areas of the map are facing and shades them a certain color (indicated by the legend). Finally, the 3D model demonstrates how the area would look if one were looking in reality from a birds eye perspective. Below I've included the Raster Download Information which includes the decimal and geographic coordinates of the area in the Bay I mapped.

Raster Download Information for this portion of the San Francisco Bay Area:

Number of columns: 3707

Number of rows: 6427

Resolution in x direction: 0.000277777777796473 Degree

Resolution in y direction: 0.000277777777796473 Degree

Coordinate system ID Native: 4269

Top edge Native: 38.5024999993735 Degree

Bottom edge Native: 36.7172222214756 Degree

Left edge Native: -123.098611111054 Degree

Right edge Native: -122.068888888763 Degree

Coordinate system ID WGS84: 4326

Top edge WGS84: 38.5024999993735 Degree

Bottom edge WGS84: 36.7172222214756 Degree

Left edge WGS84: -123.098611111054 Degree

Right edge WGS84: -122.068888888763 Degree

The final product--the 3D model:

The Original image produced when ArcMap processed the Raster Data:

Map Projections

Map projections are essential when creating a two dimensional interpretation of our three dimensional world. Map projections are significant because of their ability to represent the earth on a flat surface--a huge convenience for map users. Without projections, we would be forced to refer to globes when wanting to view a representation of the earth. Imagine having to carry around a globe on a hike or while driving in your car while looking for directions!?!

Some caveats to creating projections is that no projection can preserve real life distances, shape, area and right triangles exactly as they appear in reality/on a three dimensional surface simultaneously. Moreover, an unskilled or unaware map user may not be aware of the built in biases of projections. The mercator projection is infamous for creating misleading perceptions of continent size and area amongst users. Yet, it is still one of the most popular ways of displaying the earth and can be found in various classrooms/textbooks!


Projections can, however, be manipulated to show one of these features extensively. Therefore, different projections are more appropriate for certain contexts. For example, the mercator projection featured above is meant for Nautical navigation. Meanwhile, the conformal conic projection (also represented in the diagram above) is better suited towards aeronautic navigation because it presents circles as straight lines.

Finally, new and improved electronic technologies oriented towards the field of map projections and cartography specifically should allow for more accurate and varied cartographic representations of the earth. These same technologies also allow projections to be incorporated further in our daily lives and allow more 'average joes' to be able to create and use their own maps. This, however, has several consequences as most people are still very unaware of which projection is appropriate for which context. As previously stated, a projection used in the wrong context can provide wrong and/or misleading information.

Arc GIS Tutorial

Exploring GIS: Potentials and Pitfalls

Over the past two weeks I had the wonderful (and honestly draining) opportunity to explore the ArcGIS tutorial. The tutorial aims to instruct and introduce the essential aspects of ArcGIS software. The tutorial is divided into cumulative sections in order to present a chance for students to repeat some skills and to reach a point where they can operate the software independently. During this short period of exploration I discovered that there are several potentials and pitfalls to using ArcGIS.

Potentials:

When one begins to use the ArcGIS tutorial one realizes exactly why this software is worth approximately 10,000 dollars a bundle. The software is clearly capable of performing a variety of analytical functions. While it displays maps and allows for cartographic manipulation based on data layering, it can also perform general statistical analysis. For example, in the ArcGIS tutorial one can create graphs, charts, tables based on data sets and layers. Not only does ArcGIS have a lot of built in capabilities, it can also serve a variety of purposes and uses in many different fields including: city planning (as demonstrated by the tutorial), tax purposes, business marketing, emergency planning, interpreting census data, political science and so much more!!!

Moreover, the software is surprisingly relatively simple and easy to use. I am not the most technologically inclined individual and the software was easy to explore through the tutorial. My real frustrations came from a lack of knowledge about windows operating systems in general rather than the program itself. In fact, by stage five of the tutorial I caught myself having fun playing with the borders, shading and coloring of my project.

Pitfalls:

While ArcGIS is an incredible software with a lot of capabilities it was certainly not without its own downfalls. The software can become easily overwhelmed and experience freezing/slow down and sometimes crash. Thus it is imperative to press save after every stage completed. Unfortunately, I learned this the hard way when at the end of stage five the program experienced a 'fatal error' and decided to reboot without recovering my progress. While this issue is easily avoided if one repeatedly remembers to save ones work, it would probably get frustrating if I was researching a big project and had to fear that I could lose all my progress at any given stage.

Another grave pitfall for this software is being available only to PC users and not to other platforms like Mac and Linux. Mac and Linux are better known for their graphic capabilities and for their ability to multi task--two features that are essential for running ArcGIS. In addition, more college students are beginning to use macs and this is the prime age group for learning geo-spatial technologies.

Finally, one of the gravest pitfalls of ArcGIS is its price. This software has the proven capability of having so many functions. It can give anyone who knows how to use it the power to learn more about the surrounding world and to make changes politically, economically and for our own personal safety. Yet, at a price of 10,000 dollars a bundle this software quickly becomes unaccessible to the average individual and only truly available to college students fortunate enough to be at a University with a Geography program, rich professionals and to politicians and some planning/emergency services organizations.

Despite my complaints ArcGIS is an amazing software and here is my finished product as a result of the tutorial:

Neogeography and My Map of Tel Aviv

View Tel Aviv on my Mind in a larger map

I created this guide to Tel Aviv in order to provide the average tourist with a simple and easy guide to some of the main points of interest and destinations in Tel Aviv. Because I have spent a lot of time in that city I was able to provide recommendations to several restaurants, shuks (outdoor markets) and historical/cultural sites. Incorporated into the points of interest on the map are explanations of what the place is and its relevancy. As such, I won’t re-discuss the meaning and value of every place mentioned on my map. The tour can be done either by walking or by taking public transportation (I tried to provide relevant bus lines wherever I could). I only wish I had known about this feature in google maps while I was still in Israel so I could have forwarded my map to some of my friends who came to visit the country when I did not have time to give them a tour of the ‘white city’ myself.

Neogeography provides many advantages to the field of geography including the ability for people to instantaneously share relevant cultural and cartographic information with others. Moreover, neogeography (especially through simplistic and easy to use softwares like google maps) grants the average person the ability to map the world through their own personal perspectives and interests. This is a particularly important development in geography because throughout history those who hold power and control have determined the information conveyed through maps and other cartographic data. Allowing the average person to distribute geographical data, however, comes with several consequences. For example, with the expansion of softwares like ‘my maps’ people have the ability to distribute inaccurate information. Moreover, neogeography contributes to a larger amount of subjectivity in cartography, which can cause issues in areas where territory or places are already disputed. Finally, while pre-existing tool kits might seem easy to use, sometimes glitches make them difficult and frustrating to employ. While trying to make my map I had several issues drawing lines (the lines wouldn't coordinate with where I clicked my mouse) and embedding youtube videos.

USGS Topographic Maps--Survey Questions

1. The name of this quadrangle is the ‘Beverly Hills Quadrangle’
2. The surrounding quadrangles include Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice and Inglewood.
3. This quadrangle was first created in 1995
4. The Datum used to create this map is NAD 27 and NAD 83
5. The scale of the map is 1:24,000
6. At the above scale
1. 5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to1200 meters on the ground
2. Every 5 inches on the map is equivalent to 1.8939393939 miles
3. Every mile on the ground is equivalent to 2.64 inches on the map
4. Three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to 12.51 centimeters on the map
7. The contour interval on the map is 20 feet.
8. The approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:
1. The Public Affairs Building: 34 d 4’ 20’’N, 118d 26’30’’W; 34.075N, 188.443
2. The Tip of the Pier: 34d 0’ 27’’N, 118d 30’ 00’’ W; 34.0075 N, 118.5W
3. Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir: 34d 7’ 0’’N, 188d 24’ 30’’; 34.117N, 118.406W

9. The approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:
1. Greystone Mansion: approx. 550 ft/167.64 meters
2. Woodlawn Cemetary: approx. 140 ft/42.672 meters
3. Crestwood Hills: approx. 720 ft/219.456 meters
10. The UTM zone is 11
11. The UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of the map are 3763000N, 361500E
12. There are 1,000,000 Square Meters in each square of the UTM gridlines
13. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel (hint: create a line chart). Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus.
14. The magnetic declination of the map is 14 degrees
15. The water flows fromNorth to South as the V’s that indicate upstream point North
16. UCLA Campus:

14. 

What makes a map (or three) interesting to me.....

Maps, such as the three posted above, become interesting to me as soon as they begin to provide insights and meaning into places that are important to me.

The Israel Map

For example, above in the first map displayed, I picked a political map of Israel from the Nations Online Project (at nationsonline.org) because I spent the last year studying abroad there and I love being able to look at a map and easily identify and imagine all the locations present on it. Moreover, the map of Israel is fascinating in that it is a symbol of the marriage of geography and political science as the 'mapping' of this small, yet very controversial piece of territory has changed so rapidly over the last hundred years due to various political events. The Israel map provided by Nations Online features a key that explains the various borders (most are still in the process of truly being decided) and transportation forms present in the region, as well as includes Israel's nearest neighbors. It also provides a guide to Israel's different districts and a scale both in kilometers and miles.

The Upside Down World Map

In second grade my teacher explained that people in the Southern Hemisphere look at the map upside down so that their hemisphere is on top. I always thought that was really funny, so the second map I am displaying (again, the second image posted above) what is titled an "Upside Down World Map" drawn from an 'Australia on Top' perspective. The map can be found at mapcenter.com and shows all the oceans and continents and major cities (standard for most world maps) only from a different hemispheric point of view. The map also comes with a handy legend and includes the international date line. I find this map interesting also because it shows that physical geospatial information can be manipulated according to one's perspective or location in the world. Usually we tend to think of the world only from our own perspectives and barely consider how the world is imagined visually in other locations and cultures.


The Male and Female Brain Map

The last map I picked out is actually split into two maps--one of what is supposedly present in a male brain and the other of what is supposedly present in a female brain. This map, which can be found at the website 'darkroastedblend.com' (a culture blog focused on romance), doesn't map out physical locations in the world like the other two maps I discussed. Instead it splits up the two sexes' brains and essentializes them by creating mapped compartments in their brain for stereotypes of what the two sexes supposedly think about on a regular basis such as 'sex' or 'commitment'. I find this map interesting because it highlights the variety of applications maps have in this world. This map demonstrates how humans have learned to map out humor, the body and again their own individual and general perspectives.