DRG map

lter.kbs.msu.edu/maps/gis_data.php

The above map is known as a digital raster map, or a DRG, and is really helpful in mapping topography and geographical features of the land. DRG maps, especially seen in this example, are great because they are taken from topographical maps and then scanned so that they are able to fit into a Mercator projection, which is helpful because it gives more of a realistic view to viewers. This map is very useful for hikers and other outdoor sports that need to navigate their way around because not only are there geographical features, such as lakes, forests, streams, etc. but there are also contour lines that are able to show different heights, representing mountains or hills.

Isopleth map

http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=kt4j49n6r5&brand=calisphere&doc.view=entire_text

There are many different kinds of contouring maps and this isopleth map is one example of a map that uses the ideas of contouring to "connect" data to show a specific pattern. This map presents information that is shown about the different amounts of harmful chemicals that are found throughout the San Fransisco Bay area. From the changes that were collected and plotted throughout the several months, researchers were then able to use the isopleths to infer possible sources of the pollution and solutions for the clean-up of the chemicals within the water. This isopleth map is one example of how contouring lines are really able to show a change and of a specific characteristic in a location and to what extent it increases and decreases.

Isohyet map

www.fao.org/docrep/009/a0415e/A0415E11.htm

This is a great example of an isohyet map, showing rainfall data, and this map is very important because it is able to help with weather forecasts in the future. For this specific example, the map is showing what the rainfall patterns are in different areas of India to help them determine the best types of water treatment and management, in order to conserve their water because of the constant shortage in this country. This map helps to show the areas that have the most rainfall, by connecting them in rings, and therefore is able to determine the places that would be the most prosperous for data and information feedback.

Isotach map

www.srh.noaa.gov/mlb/sls19paper10-1.html

This map is an example of an isotach map, which is a map that displays information about varying wind speeds across the globe and then connects wind speeds that are the same by a single line, therefore making it easier for the reader to see the patterns in the change of winds. This particular map is an isotach map of data that was taken from a "La Nina" in which the polar winds were lower then they should have been. There are several types of winds, including the polar jet stream, the Northwestern, etc. and the isotach maps are a great tool for tracking the patterns of similarity and changes, helping to predict, as this map also does, possible weather difficulties.

Isobar map

www-das.uwyo.edu/.../chap13/coastal_rain.html

This map is an isobar map that illustrates how similar pressures are experienced throughout a country in different places on any particular day. This map explains how even in one country there can be very different pressures and, as a result, lots of different weather and forecasts. In these two images, pressures that are the same are connected by lines which, in most cases, end up encircling either an area of extremely high or low pressure. This map is important because it is able to contrast two different seasons in Australia and, because of it, shows how the rainfall, and other weather, can change.

LIDAR map

http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/MSH/Eruption04/Monitoring/eruption_monitoring_oct-nov_2004.html

This LIDAR image is taken of Mount St. Helens at two different time periods in which the amount of boulders within the crater floor. LIDAR is a great mapping tool for this type of image because it provides a very precise and very accurate image for the two different times and therefore was helpful in predicting if and when Mt. St. Helens would erupt. LIDAR works by sending out lasers to make measurements of the earth and then report back to compile very specific maps that are able to show change if only within a few slight centimeters.

Doppler radar map

www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/18578344.html

This map is an image that was taken using a technology known as doppler radar and displays a map of a portion of Texas that was, at that moment, experiencing a massive rain downpour. The doppler radar system uses satellite images and information to relay back images to a computer that then constructs a map. The doppler radar system utilizes colors to express changes in severe weather patterns through common colors that people in America can associate with. For example, most Americans will associate red with a warning or caution and green as perhaps cool and calm. This imagery is used by the weather service, most often, to display not so much geographical changes but changes in weather and climate throughout a specific geographic region.

Black and white aerial photo

www3.shropshire-cc.gov.uk/.../lan/lan_f02.htm

This map is a black and white aerial photo and it is similar to the infrared aerial in some ways, but also has its own unique perspective and differences from other maps and photos. In this map, it is important to see the trend that the black and white photo is able to over more of a finner scale and gradient to the overall larger picture. In this photo, unlike the infrared, there is only a black and white scale so it gives the map and geographical features more texture and pattern and therefore the interpreter of the map is able to see differences in detail of the landscape, which might have been missed if there were simply color differences.

Infrared aerial photo

www.camdencountylandtrust.org/Grover%20Island.htm

This is a photo known as an infrared aerial photo that is also considered a very different type of map because it is able to show the land in a way that provides different coloring through the natural changes in the landscape. This map is one taken from the natural preserve on Grover Island and it is really important and useful because they kinds of maps and photos are usually taken from the air, allowing a somewhat larger section to be photographed, in order to have a bigger frame of reference, and to have this large area mapped in less time than it would to walk through and map it by foot. Finally, the colors of infrared aerial photos are able to portray the sharp natural boundaries among the land as well as provide useful geographical features.

Statistical map

http://www.boardofed.idaho.gov/naep/data/sci05/sci05_map-08-1-science.htm

The map shown here is an example of a statistical map because it shows the relative rates of success in science of white students across he United States. This is a great example of a statistical mp because there are no absolute values, such as Florida is 100 I.Q. points lower than students in Idaho, it simply states that in reference to Idaho, Florida is lower. This map proves its usefulness in many situations but most importantly when strictly "fact" data is not necessary, but simply relative relationships are most important.

Cartogram

www.irri.org/gis/cartograms/cartograms.htm

This is a map known as a cartogram because it takes information and displays it on a "normal" map, or one that most people are use to encountering, bu than changes the area so that it is a more visual representation of how certain characteristics affect different areas. In this specific example, a Mercator Projection is taken and then has the statistics of poverty across the world applied to it, and then is "distorted" to show the percentages in area, not simply by shading, coloring, or patterns. I think that most bizarre part of this map is that, living in America, we are use to seeing the US as a huge country, however, in this map the United States is barely even visible. Although this is a reassuring thing, its a little hard to think about when referenced to places like India and China.

Flow map

http://www.evergladesplan.org/education/requested_downloads.aspx

This map of the Florida Everglades and the flow of water in the past, the natural flow, the present, our man-made flow, and the future, a return to a somewhat natural flow, takes the type of map it is, a flow map, and uses it in its literal terms. The above map tracks the flow of water that is released from the everglades and shows how its man-made changes in the past has severely changed the wildlife and even geography of the land in South Florida. This map is specifically a flow map because it shows how this water flows throughout Florida and, in this case, as in most flow maps, is very important because it is not contained and conformed by boundaries and therefore is able to show the effects of one factor over a much larger scale.

Isoline map

www.directionsmag.com/article.php?article_id=896

The above map is an example of an isoline map because displays a map of a small portion of Nova Scotia in which the consideration of a new "mega" mall is being built and the costs and benefits are trying to be assessed. This map is important because it shows the trends in increased patronage as one gets closer to the actual mall and by placing lines around similar levels of anticipated shopping, it is much easier to see the biggest area of impact. This map is helpful because if the highest level of patronage had a circle that bulged on one side, then he cartographers could help the builders of the mall to perhaps move the location of the mall more to the center of the actual circle.

Proportional circle map

http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2007/12/giraffe_species.php

The above map is a very unique type of map because it is a proportional circle map, but it is one that relates to science and genetics. I think this is one of the best maps that I have found because the most important thing that I have learned in this class is that all things can be maps, if they explain or help the unknown become known, something that this map does well. This particular map represents different phenotypes of giraffes and by the size of their circle, their relative abundance in the world, helping to determine their relationship to one another and their ancestral placement.

Choropleth map

http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/Info.do?page=userguide/detailedguidance/statisticalpresentation/statisticalmaps/best-practice-statistical-maps.htm

This is a map that is able to explain and show the trend of increasing increments by varying colors. For this particular map of Great Britian, it shows information about the amount of money that was spent in England by overseas residents, with increasing shades of pink corresponding to more and more money spent. This map is a good tool because it gives a very, very good and easy visual of where the boundaries are for money spent and therefore could provide more interest and questioning into geographic reasoning into why they are such drastic boundary differences between places that are relatively close.

Dot distribution map

www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/03nov/01.htm

Dot distribution maps, such as the one above, are useful because they are able to provide more "specific" information about a certain topic, in this case the number of concrete slab bridges. Dot distribution maps are able to show a very large scale area and then pinpoint if, and how many, of a type of group there is. One important advantage to this type of map is that it is much easier for a reader to understand this type of map because instead of always constantly having to look back to a legend and see which color or pattern relates to what kind of density, they will simply be able to see by the number of dots and how clustered they are.

Propaganda maps

www.jamd.com/image/g/3142188

This map is known as a propaganda map because it uses the simple ideas of maps and twists ideas and thoughts of an unknown, or possible known place, to suit a specific groups needs. This map is a great example of a propaganda map because it is trying to portray how much better China would be if it were ruled by Japan, therefore displaying a map of China with peaceful and happy Japanese people and flags and others running scared. It is a main purpose of propaganda maps to use something that is familiar, like a map, and really change the meaning of it by amplifying some aspect and having that re-shape our previous knowledge, either positively or negatively.

Hypsometric map

research.usm.maine.edu/.../bathymetry/

This is a hypsometric map and it is similar to a topographic map because it shows relief, in this map specifically, by contrasting colors. This map exhibits the differences in elevation in seamounts in New England and how they range in differences as one gets closer to the shelf. These types of maps are important because they are able to help better visualize the differences in land, therefore giving people a better understanding of things that we can not easily such, such as underwater surfaces or even land from far away countries.

PLSS map

www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/.../twp/rangemap.htm

The above map is a map of Harrison county in Iowa and is a great example of the Public Land Survey System, or PLSS. This mapping technique is a way in which the U.S. sought to map the land of America in a systematic ways in order to divide land owned by the government into public use. This map shows how the main unit of division is a square and that there are major lines, both horizontally and vertically, as well as smaller lines that divide the large parcels up into smaller ones that are finally used for other services.

Cadastral maps

www.house-sa.com/Farm5/Summary.html

The above map is a cadastral map and it portrays land that is up for sale in Africa. These kinds of maps are really important because they show some land features such as trees, small roads, and waterways as well as property lines. Cadastral maps are great tools because they are able to show boundaries on a map that are not able to be seen on the ground. Unlike in olden times, when land boundaries were very temporal, such as a row of trees or shrubs, that could be possible destroyed in a storm, this map is able to concretely map out what land is up for sale and what it generally looks like.

Thematic map

notts.localknowledge.co.uk/

This is a thematic map that displays information about the level of poverty and deprivation that exists in Nottinghamshire, England. This map is unique because it is a way in which different levels of deprivation across a certain area in England are accounted for and therefore processed in terms of how much help specific places should get. Although this map doesn't necessarily show any specific geographic features, it is very important because it helps to map out social and, in this case, economic features of land.