Lab #7 Census 2000/2010

The map above shows the distribution of the Black population as a percent, within each county, throughout the United States.  This map is representative of the 2000 census data reports.  The first step in reading this map is to get familiar with the legend that shows what each color represents quantitatively. The dark blue hue illustrates the areas where the percent of the Black population is below 3%.  As you move down the into the light beige you'll see 25% to 35% of the population is Black.  Red of course represents a high percentage (59% and topping out at 86%).  Now looking at the map itself,  It is a raster image produced by joining a map of all U.S. counties, with the 2000 census data, which is what the percent values are based on.  Once you understand what the colors and areas represent, it is easy to notice patterns on various scales.  On the large scale, a generalization can be made that regionally; the South has the highest percentage of Blacks, followed by the Southern East Coast up to New York, and then Northern Midwest, around the Great Lakes.  The West and Northern regions have low percentages of Blacks, with only Counties in major cities showing out of this generalization.  Interpreting this map can be done on a smaller scale as well.  Take California; The Counties with highest percentage Blacks are Los Angeles County, San Bernardino County, and the Counties around  San Francisco.  Generally speaking, the Counties existing on the coast have low percentages, and the metropolitan areas along with the growing urban areas inland have greater percentage.

This map is the same U.S. Counties map, but instead of overlaying the Counties with the 2000 census data for percent of population being Black, it was overlayed with percent of population being Asian. Again, distribution patterns can be seen on a large scale.  The west coast region and the northern east coast show the greatest percentage of Asians.  The interior of the continental U.S. shows little to no distribution pattern with scattered patches of relatively higher percentages of Asians.  Analysing the counties in Washington State, one should notice the high percent values attributed to the counties southeast of Puget Sound.

 

This last map shows the percent of races that are not categorized as White, Black, American Indian, Asian, and Pacific Islander.  The data used to produce this map therefore mainly represents the Hispanic population, however it does include miscellaneous races as well, but these are relatively negligible.  The most notable pattern illustrated by the map is the high percent values assigned to counties within the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.  This is related to high number of Mexican immigrants that have settled in the U.S. over time.  There is also some somewhat high percentages assigned to counties along the east coast down to Florida.  This pattern can be attributed to the immigration of Hispanics from the Caribbean to the eastern U.S.

In doing this Lab, I was able to learn some of the methods used in GIS to create some thematic maps representing the counties of the continental U.S., with regards to the percent of the population according to race.  This was achieved by combining spatial data (counties shape file) with attribute data (census statistics) within ArcGIS.  This is an important skill for anyone considering a future in GIS study.

Lab #6

Geographical Coordinate System: GCS_North_American_1983


Extent (in degrees)

Top: 34.339
Left:-119.233
Right:-119.171
Bottom: 34.27

Lab #5 Projections

Map projections represent the physical world as a two dimensional image.  Projection always creates some level of distortion.  There are three main types of projections, 1.)Equal Area  2.)Equidistant 3.)Conformal.  Equal Area projection as the name implies preserves area.  Equidistant projection preserves distance, and Conformal projection preserves angles.

Equal Area projections, are noted as preserving area accurately, however measurements of distance are unreliable.  An example would be the Cylindrical Equal Area projection, which represents the areas of continents closely to reality. A fallout of Equal Area projections is that latitudinal distances are greatly distorted, especially towards the poles.  These distortions can also be seen in the Hammer-Aitoff Equal Area projection, which represents area of continents accurately but distorts length and angles of the continents.  This is why the distance between Washington, D.C. and Kabul is misrepresented in Equal Area projections.



Cylindrical Equal Area
Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan = 10,100 miles

Hammer-Aitoff Equal Area
Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan = 8,400 miles

Equidistant projections are useful in measuring distance accurately, but have other shortcomings.  The Cylindrical Equidistant projection produces continent shapes that are distorted longitudinally.  Additionally, the size of Antarctica has been greatly increased in this projection.  In the Sinusoidal Equidistant projection, continent shapes are greatly distorted.  This type of projection is the best choice when measuring long distance on a global scale.


Cylindrical Equidistant
Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan = 5,070 miles

Sinusoidal Equidistant
Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan = 8,104 miles 

Conformal projections represent the angles and outline of continents well but lack distance and area accuracy. The Gall Stereographic projections is a type of conformal projection which carries these features.  In this projection areas are greatly distorted, especially toward the poles.  The distance between Washington, D.C. and Kabul is also misrepresented in this type, therefore it is a poor choice for distance data.  It is more useful as a directional navigation reference.  A modified mercator projection, called a Miller Cylindrical, is another type of Conformal projection which is used for maritime navigation purposes.

Gall Stereographic
Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan = 7,182 miles

 Miller Cylindrical
Distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan = 10,076 miles

The thing to learn from this lab exercise is when using GIS, it is important to consider projection differences and to note these differences to choose an appropriate map projection.

Geog 7 Lab#3 "Neogeography"

View southern california surf spots in a larger map

This is a map I made using google my map, which is designed to highlight key surfing destinations up and down the southern California coast. I used the mash-ups feature, to allow users to access either a photo or video clip relating to a specific geographic point (famous surf breaks).

This type of map belongs to new web field called Neogeography, or new geography.  In Neogeography, the individual is given the tools to create and publish maps of different sorts.  Web 2.0 allows for dual exchange of information, which facilitates this user-computer exchange.  It takes the tools similar to GIS to the public where spatial representations are produced and shared, spreading geographical related information.  The problem commonly noted with geospatial web programs is the authority and precision of the maps produced.  Anyone can use these websites to publish maps that may or may not be accurate.  Regardless of these shortcomings, Neogeography has proven useful and accessible form of gathering a personalized geographical information.

Lab #2 Geog 7

1.) The Beverly Hills quadrangle.
2.) Canoga Park,Van Nuys, Burbank, ,Topanga, Hollywood, None[pacific ocean], Venice, Inglewood.
3.) 1966
4.)NAD27 North American Datum of 1983. National geodetic vertical datum of 1929
5.) Scale map=  1;24,000
6.) a.) 1/,24,000=5cm/x; [1,200m]
     b.)1/24,000=5in./(x)mi. 1 mile= 63,360 inches; [about 1.9 miles on the ground]
     c.) 1/24,000=x/1mi.      1/24,000=x/15840in.       24,000x=15840in. ;  [0.66 inches]
     d.) 1/24,000=x/3km      1/24,000=x/300,000cm    24,000x=300,000cm -> x=12.5cm ;
           [3km; 30,000cm]
7.) 20 feet
8.) a.) (Public Affairs building)- 34 degrees 1 minute 38 seconds North and 118 degrees 29 minutes and 11 seconds West. In decimal degrees- 177 North and 118.486 West.
     b.) (Tip of Santa Monica Pier)- 34 degrees 0 minutes and 31seconds North and 118 degrees 29        minutes and 11 seconds West.  In decimal degrees- 34.0086 degrees North and 118.497 West.
    c.) (Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir)- 34 degrees 7 minutes 10 seconds North and 118 degrees 24 minutes and 37 seconds West.  In decimal degrees- 34.1195 degrees North and 118.5028 degrees West.
 9.) a.) (Greystone Mansion)- 560 feet, 170.688 meters.
      b.) (Woodland Cemetery)- 140 feet, 42.672 meters.
      c.) (Crestwood Hills Park)- 600 feet, 182.88 meters.
10.) Zone 11
11.) 361500m East and 3763000m North.
12.) 1,000,000 suare meters
13.) See end of blog
14.) Magnetic declination = the difference between the geographic North Pole and magnetic north.
  [14 degrees/248miles]
15.) North to South
16.) See below

Lab #1 Geog 7

This map serves a very specific purpose, which is to illustrate how worldwide Internet traffic is nonexistent in particular countries, creating "black holes".  A map like this is very useful in portraying a message that is evident at first glance of the map.  Countries with repressive governments have eliminated freedom within cyberspace in order to seize control of communication and information pathways.  It was taken from another blog called "aggregated intelligence" (http://blog.aggregatedintelligence.com/2008/02/interesting-maps-Internet-censorship.html)

This is a thematic map of the United States showing the amount of beer breweries per capita in each state.  This map uses categories (shown by shade of brown) to show how many beer breweries there are in relation to human population.  It shows Oregon, Montana, Maine, and Vermont as having the most( over  21) and the "Bourbon country" of the southern states having the least amount of breweries.  I don't like the per capita element of this map.  I think it doesn't represent the data properly.  Nevertheless it is an interesting map in that it does show where in the U.S. beer is being produced.   It also shows how the beer industry and culture is distributed spatially.  This map was taken from google images (coolinfographics.com)

This is a Thematic map of the world representing human immigration trends. It was taken from google images (willisms.com) I find it interesting because by distorting the nations sizes to symbolize the growth or loss of immigration makes for a new and insightful visual representation. This map must have been difficult to produce.  Notice how it is the "core" wealthy countries that are receiving the most immigration.  It is a very straight forward thematic map, that is easy to read.