Final Map Presentation

Final Project Critique

Weekly Blog Post: Bivariate or Multivariate

I thought this map was really nice.  It comes from the National Geographic Education Student Map Awards.  It was created by Katie Ginther from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  It not only shows the size of the craters, but how old the craters are.  In the corner, it also shows in a clever way the near misses of asteroids and meteoroids.  I love this topic, and believe it is a well crafted map.  Good job, Katie!

Source:   http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/media/student-map-awards/?ar_a=1

Lab 10: Bivariate Map

Lab #9: Dot Density

Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I would like to map the Emperor Penguin colonies in Antarctica.  a National Geographic Expedition to Antarctica is at the top of my "bucket list" of places to visit in my lifetime, and thought it might be fun to map the area.  I chose penguins because they are the most iconic image of the South Pole.  I narrowed my topic down to Emperor Penguins because despite there only being five main species of penguins on the actual continent, there are A LOT of penguins within each species.  I'm talking millions of breeding pairs in the Adelie Penguin species alone.  Emperor Penguins are smaller in number, and much more manageable for an amateur map maker.

I have gone back and forth on the type of map I am envisioning.  I originally wanted to create a dot density map, but I cannot find supporting material for dot placement.  Since penguins mostly live on the coast, it wouldn't make much sense to have a bunch of little dots along the coast only (they have nesting grounds further inland, but I cannot find data on their locations).  So, I am making a proportional symbol map instead.  I have found data from peer-reviewed research published in 2012 by a group of experts from the British Antarctic Survey, the Polar Geospatial Center in Minnesota, Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, and the Australian Antarctic Division.  They used satellite imagery to determine colony size and location for 46 different Emperor Penguin colonies, some of which were undiscovered before.  The data lists the number of penguins counted in the imagery at each colony, and provides total count numbers.  A link to the research journal entry can be found at this link:  http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0033751

This map will be of Antarctica in it's true form, so I will need a base map in a polar stereographic projection.  I am having trouble finding such a base map, as most that I have found are already shaded and colored.  That will be my main challenge, I believe.  My other challenge will be symbol placement, as proportional symbols may overlap as colonies are close together in some areas.  I am hoping a transparent symbol, or an outlined circle will help that.

I am hoping that within the next week to have the base map so I can begin attempting to shade and make it look nice before adding the data to it.  After that, I do not imagine it will take long to add the data in their correct placements, as long as I give myself the proper time.

Below is a map from the research that I am using data from.  It shows the different colonies and where they are located around the continent.  

This is a proportional symbol map based on data that I can't find, but it's similar to what I had imagined.  I do not like the different colors, as I do not know what they are trying to tell us, but the idea is generally the same:

Weekly Blog Post #9

This is a dot density map of the Austin, Texas area.  The dots are depicting the amount of tree coverage in the area, and Austin has 37%!  If I ever have to move back to Texas, it will be to Austin.

I chose this map because not only is it beautiful (I love dot density maps), but it really does a good job of showing you the data.

Weekly Blog Post #8

ISOLINE!  This is a map from the National Weather Service to show precipitation levels for Halloween....spoooooooooky!

Lab #8: SMERG!!!

 I don't know what SMERG is, but it's BAD!

Lab #7: Proportional Symbol

Weekly Blog Post #7: Proportional Symbol

This map came from a Washington Post article from January.  It shows the number of people who die trying to migrate to Europe.  The larger symbols show the greater amount of deaths, and is very striking.  I thought the colors were well done, and the symbols do a great job of depicting the information clearly.

Source:  Washington Post

Color Choropleth Map. HOORAY for Color!

 This map was optimized for the web, and the colors look exactly how I wanted them to look.  The purple variations are noticeable (I chose purple because that is the color associated with Alzheimer's disease, and the Alzheimer's Association).  The background color was a muted yellow, which is a good contrasting color with purple.  It makes the purple stand out more.  However, on different screens it is different colors.  On my screen at home, it's much more muted and nice.  On the screens at school, it has a tinge of green.  However, on the printed version, the purple variations aren't as bright and beautiful as they are on the web.  The background color is also brighter, and a bit more greenish yellow.  It doesn't look bad, but I wish the purple had been more pronounced on the print.  Since this is for the web, though, I am pleased with how it came out.

Bench Mark

Woohoo!  Found at Locust Shade Park on Highway 1, outside of Quantico.  It's a benchmark!

Weekly Blog Post: EBOLA

Ebola is the big topic as of late, with fears and concerns about it spreading after a man traveled to the US after visiting West Africa.  He became sick with Ebola, and died a few days later.  This week we have been tasked with finding a map with good color choices.  I chose this map from the World Health Organization about the Ebola outbreak in West Africa.  It's not the most colorful of maps out there, but I think it effectively uses color to show the data they are trying to portray.  The yellow stands out to show where the outbreaks have been recently, and the red dots shows the number of cases.  The red adds a sense of urgency, which I believe if warranted since Ebola is so deadly and can spread easily in places with poor sanitation and health care.

Source:  World Health Organization

Lab 5: Choropleth Maps

This week we were tasked to create two maps using the same data, but using different class interval schemes.  I used Natural Breaks and Equal Interval. 

Weekly Blog Post: Choropleth Map

This is a choropleth map from 2000 of the estimated number of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease in each state.  Alzheimer's Disease is a topic very close to my heart, which is why I chose this map.  I also think it is a straight forward map, and easy to read.

This came from a report done by the Alzheimer's Association.
http://www.alz.org/national/documents/report_alzfactsfigures2009.pdf

Lab #4: County and State Lines of Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia

 I made my first map!  The state and county lines were imported, and the rest was done my me.  What do you think?



This week we are to find a campus map with a good graphic design.  While this map is only in a grayscale, I still found it well done.

 

 

Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

 

Weekly Blog Map #3

This week we have been studying Typography in Introduction to Cartography.  Our blog assignment for this week is to find a map with interesting typography, and I found this map of Chicago (or at least part of Chicago):  http://makingmaps.net/2011/01/31/word-maps-words-on-maps-map-typography/

I chose this map because of how neat it looks.  They used typography to show the roads, rivers, etc instead of lines and shapes.  It's a bit busy, but it really is a neat looking map.  I wouldn't use it to get around Chicago, but it would be a nice piece to hang on the wall.

Lab 2: Mollweide Graticule

Weekly Blog Post #2

Gnomonic Cubic Maps:  http://www.progonos.com/furuti/MapProj/Normal/ProjPoly/projPoly2.html

I chose this map for the interesting map projection because, frankly, I have never seen this kind of projection before.  The distortion is interesting, as you can see with Africa.  I'm not really sure what purpose this type of projection would be for, since it's so different.

Lab #1: Various Representations of the Earth

For our first official lab, we created four different representations of the Earth in 2D.  This was to get us better acquainted with the program we will be using in the class, Adobe Illustrator.  It was required to be done in Gray scale because our Professor says if we can create a high quality illustration or map in black and white, color will be no problem.  Enjoy!

Antarctica!

For my first map choice, I have chosen a map of Antarctica.  "Antarctica?  Why Antarctica?"  I can hear you asking.  One of my bucket list things to do before I die is to go on a National Geographic Expedition to Antarctica.  It is my dream to see it's beauty and life with my own eyes.  I also chose this map because it shows Antarctica in it's true form, and not spread out across a flat map.

Antarctica Map:  Map of Antarctica and Southern Ocean
Created by NASA and the Landsat Image Mosaic of Antarctica Project
Found on: Geology.com