Lab 3: Neogeography!

View The Loire Valley: The Best Place Ever! in a larger map

This lab was my first experience with dynamic mashups as a component of neogeography. Using Google Maps, I was able to construct an interactive map of the Loire Valley in France. I included many Châteaus, restaurants, a Cathedral, and even an amusement park in my map. Moreover, I was able to use the tools in Google Maps to construct routes between features and embed photo and video into the mashup.

This lab allowed me to see the potential for neogeography as a revolutionary tool in GIS. Its accessibility to any and everyone makes it a valuable tool for those exploring GIS, and provides people with an easy way to learn more about the world around them. Furthermore, it is puts a personal and artistic spin on GIS, which definitely makes it more appealing as a field of science and discovery.

Unfortunately, in constructing this mashup, I came to realize that there are pitfalls and potential negative consequences of neogeography. While its accessibility to any and everyone can be seen in a positive light, neogeography offers people liberties in the information they present to the public—much like Wikipedia. Thus, what one finds in a mashup or an interactive map may not be accurate. This is not always intentional—in trying to construct routes between Châteaus and restaurants, I was unable to place the start of the route directly on the icon that denoted the map feature. Thus, if someone were to use my mashup as a guide for their tour in the Loire Valley, they might have trouble navigating between these locations.  While these problems exist, neogeography is still revolutionary in the field of GIS, and will be even more beneficial once the kinks get worked out!

Lab Two: USGS Topographic Maps!

1. The Quadrangle is Beverly Hills, CA.

2. The adjacent quadrangles are Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, and Inglewood.

3. The Quadrangle was first created in 1966

4. This map has three datums: the North American Datum of 1927, the North American Datum of 1983, and the National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929.

5. The scale of this map is 1:24,000.

6. (a). 5 cm= 120,000 cm on ground. This is 1,200 meters.

(b).5 inches= 120,000 inches on ground. This is 1.8939 miles on the ground.

(c).1 mile= 63360 inches. We divide this by 24000, which equals 2.64 inches on the map.

(d). 3km= 300,000 cm. We divide this by 24000, which equals 12.5 cm on the map.

7. The contour interval on the map is 20 feet.

8. The approximate geographic coordinates of:

(a). Public Affairs Building= 34 degrees, 4 minutes, and 30 seconds N and 118 degrees, 26 minutes, and 50 seconds W.

(b). The tip of Santa Monica pier= 34 degrees and 37 seconds N and 118 degrees, 28 minutes and 26 seconds W.

(c). The Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir= 34 degrees, 7 minutes, and 15 seconds N and 118 degrees, 24 minutes and 45 seconds W.

9. The approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:

a). Greystone Mansion: 620 feet (188.976 meters)

b). Woodlawn Cemetery: 140 feet (42.672 meters)

c). Crestwood Hills Park: 620 feet (188.976 meters)

10. The UTM zone of the map is 11

11. The UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of the map are 3763000 North and 362000 West.

12. 1x10^6 meters squared

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: 

14. The magnetic declination of the map is 14 feet

15. The water in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir flows southward.

16. Crop out UCLA from the map and include it as a graphic: