Friday, October 15, 2010

Lab 3: Create my own map =) Fun Eastern Washington Road Trip


View Fun Eastern Washington Road Trip in a larger map



      As for the potential of neogeography, online interactive maps assists to extend information rapidly and straightforwardly. User-created maps are well-organized methods of assigning important information to people who dislike a paper maps. Moreover, neogeography lets us share our individual analysis of the same geographical area. The individualized maps also add a social understanding of the vicinity. However, this extensive data source holds some risks according to how the data is explained and applied. 
      Because these types of maps can be edited with no trouble and they look proficient, they may endow with misinformation. People would be misinformed into trusting the wrong data. Furthermore, the fact that the advanced programming does all of the thinking for the users may lead to a dilapidation in users’ investigative skills. Another drawback of neogeography is a threat to privacy and security. Neogeography allows for an exchange of personal information among the crowd, such as sexual orientation and political alliance. This implies that people can be targeted for crimes. Last but not least, if we over-rely on online maps, we may get lost if the area does not have internet access on the way of our trips. Therefore, paper maps are still worthwhile and reliable to be used in addition to google or yahoo maps. 


Saturday, October 9, 2010

Lab 2 Interesting map reading



1.      What is the name of the quadrangle?
Beverly Hills quadrangle.

2.      What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles?
1. Canoga Park
2. Van Nuys
3. Burbank
4. Topanga
5. Hollywood
7. Venice
8. Inglewood

3.      When was the quadrangle first created?
Year of 1966


4.      What datum was used to create your map?
2 horizontal datum: North American Datum of 1927 and 1983
1 vertical datum: National Geodetic vertical datum of 1929


5. What is the scale of the map?
 R.F. = 1:24000

6. At the above scale, answer the following:
a) 5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to how many meters on the ground?
1/24000 = map/ground
 1/24000 = 5cm/ground
Ground= 5*24000cm
             = 120000cm
             = 1200m  

b) 5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground?
1/24000= 5inches/ ground
Ground = 5*24000 inches
             = 120000inches
             = 1.8939 miles

c) one mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map?
1/24000= map/ 1mile
Map=1/ 24000 miles
       = (63360inches /1mile) * (1mile/ 24000)
       = 63360/ 24000 inches
       = 2.64 inches


d) three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map?
1/24000= map/ 3km
Map= 3/24000 km
        = (100000cm/1km)*(3km/24000)
        = 12.5 cm

7. What is the contour interval on your map?
 20 feet

8. What are the approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:
a) the Public Affairs Building;
Longitude (P.A.)= 118.30’-x
Distance( left- right)/Distance(left-P.A.)= 7.5’/x = 70cm/33cm
x= 3.54’
118.30’- 3.54’= 118.26.46’  
0.46’=60”*0.46=27.6”
Therefore, the longitude is 118. 26’28”

Decimal degree:
 26minutes*60seconds= 1560 sec
1560 + 28= 1588 sec
1588/3600 sec=.441 degree
Therefore, the longitude is 118.441 degree

Latitude (P.A.)= 34.07’30”-x
Distance( up- down)/Distance( up-P.A.)= 7.5’/x = 28.7cm/ 11.7cm
X= 2.45’
34.07’30”- 2.45’= 34.4.55’30”  
0.55’=60”*0.55=33”
34.04’63”=34.05’03”
Therefore, the latitude is 34.05’03”

Decimal degree:
5 minutes*60seconds= 300 sec
300 + 3= 303 sec
303/3600 sec=.0841 degree
Therefore, the latitude is 34.084 degree

b) the tip of Santa Monica pier;
Longitude= 118.29’52” (118.498 degree)
Latitude= 34.00’31” (34.009 degree)

c) the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir;
Longitude= 118.24’39”  (118.411 degree)
Latitude= 34.07’12” (34.12 degree)

9. What is the approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:
a) Greystone Mansion (in Greystone Park);
600feet- 20feet = 580 feet
580 feet = 176. 784 meters

b) Woodlawn Cemetery;
140 feet
42.672 meters

c) Crestwood Hills Park;
Around 630 feet
192.024 meters

10. What is the UTM zone of the map?
Zone 11.

11. What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map?
361.5 Easting and 3763 Northing

12. How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines?
1000*1000m= 1000000 square meters

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. Insert your elevation profile as a graphic in your blog.

14. What is the magnetic declination of the map?
14 degree

15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir?
Water flows from north to south.

16. Crop out (i.e., cut and paste) UCLA from the map and include it as a graphic on your blog.




Friday, October 1, 2010

Lab 1 Where I live in my life =)

This assignment will be finding three interesting maps and writing one paragraph about each map. I also need to identify the source of the maps, describe the maps, and discuss what I find interesting about the maps. Therefore, I found 3 maps online, which are closely relating to my life.


Map 1
Source: California City Poputlation Map, Californiamaps.us. Accessible at http://www.californiamaps.us/California-Major-City-Map.html 10:45am, Oct 1st, 2010



   This map is about California population. Most people live in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San diego. This illustrates that these are major areas in CA. The map implies that CA's five largest cities are Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, San Francisco, and Long Beach, and its capital is Sacramento. 


   I found this map interesting because I am now living in LA, which is one of the largest cities in CA. I learn more about population growth in CA. California's population growth includes natural increase and international immigration. A high population density may create the problems of traffic congestion, pollution, and crimes. However, more people bring more transactions and financial activities. I enjoy living in LA now, but traffic jam here is really serious.



Map 2


Souce: Washingington Road Map, Geology.com. Accessible at http://geology.com/cities-map/washington.shtml  11:47am, Oct 1st, 2010


   This map is about roads in Washington state (WA). As we can see from the map, Washington's North-South interstates include Interstate 5 and Interstate 205, while its East-West interstates are Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. Moreover, Route 2, Route 12, Route 97, Route 101, Route 195 and Route 395 are US Highways and State Routes in Washington. Cities with populations over 10,000 are Aberdeen, Anacortes, Auburn, Bellevue, Bellingham, Bremerton, Burien, Camas, Centralia, Kennewick, Des Moines, Edmonds, Ellensburg, Everett, Federal Way, Issaquah, Kelso, Kent, Lacey, Lakewood, Longview, Marysville, Moses Lake, Mount Vernon, Mountlake Terrace, Mukilteo, Oak Harbor, Pasco, Port Angeles, Pullman, Redmond, Renton, Richland, Seattle, Shoreline, Spokane, Sunnyside, Tacoma, University Place, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee and Yakima.


    I like this map because it shows all the cities' names and boundaries in WA. I lived in there for 2 years, and I stayed mainly at Bellevue and Seattle. I can calculate the land area of WA from this map, which equals to around 66,544 square miles.Many people may misunderstand that Seattle is Washington's capital, but Olympia is truly the capital of the state. Because of the rainy weather in WA which facilitates plants' growth, WA's nickname is  Evergreen State.


Map 3


Souce: Overview of Tropical Cyclones in August 2010, Hong Kong Observatory. Accessible at http://www.weather.gov.hk/informtc/tc2010/tc1008.htm 12:05 pm, Oct 1st, 2010


     This map is about tropical cyclones around Hong Kong. Amongst the five cyclones, Lionrock necessitated the issuance of tropical cyclone warning signals in Hong Kong. According to the map, Lionrock formed as a tropical depression over the northern part of the South China Sea about 600 km south-southeast of Hong Kong on 28 August and moved northwestwards. It intensified into a tropical storm the next day and turned to the north.


    Being a Hong Kong citizen, I feel that one of HK's specialities
is having typhoons.Therefore, this map is interesting to me. When
 I saw this map, I  got more familiar with  five tropical cyclones
formed over the western North Pacific and South China Sea in
August 2010. Furthermore, it indicates clearly about the
longitude and lattitude of the cyclones. Therefore, this map
is a very useful tool to show me the locations of the cyclones. 

    I was spending my summer vacation in HK during that time. It is
usually hot and humid during summer in the city. Honestly, I do
not enjoy rainstorms.  The issuance of tropical cyclone warning
signals caused by Lionrock prohibited me from joining outdoor
activities with my friends. As a result, I just stayed at home and
did nothing.