CHOROPLETH MAP

A choropleth map is defined as a thematic map in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the statistical variable being displayed on the map. This one shows alcohol related fatalities by county in Massachusetts for 2006. The legend reflects a range of the number of fatalities in each county. I think this is a great map for communicating these statistics and the website actually has lots more information including maps for all states.

Link to website source:
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-30/ncsa/STSI/25_MA/2006/25_MA_2006.htm

DOT DISTRIBUTION MAP

This map of British Columbia is a dot distribution of the population figures from their 2001 census. I think a little more detail might be helpful to determine the actual location of the more heavily populated regions. The zoomed in areas of Victoria and Vancouver offer a better view but the large map could at least have some cities or something for reference. On this map each dot represents 25 people and they are randomly distributed.

Link to website source:
http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/DATA/POP/georef/thematic.asp

PROPAGANDA MAP

Propaganda maps seem very popular during times of war to influence the opinions or behaviors of large numbers of people. This is a propaganda map dating from just before World War II, created by the Nazi-German side. It shows Czechoslovak bomber planes covering all of Germany. The article indicates that they were trying to convince the German public that the Czechoslovak side was responsible for the ‘threat’.

Note: I posted this map in June before the slides for week 11 were available. I later realized it was in them so I have added a different propaganda map at the end.

Link to website source:
http://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2006/12/11/49-czechoslovakia-threatens-germany-1934/

HYPSOMETRIC MAP

This is a hypsometric map showing the average annual precipitation in Arizona done by the Spatial Climate Analysis Service, Oregon State University. This map uses color to represent the third dimension of yearly rainfall averages for the state. The color choices really show up well making it easy to read and interpret. The mapper is using a very simple base map without any cities or towns to clutter the image. It looks like most of the state averaged below 20 inches of rain per year during the study period from 1961-1990.

If you click twice on the picture it shows up more clearly.

Link to website source:
http://www.asu.edu/lib/hayden/govdocs/maps/mapsites.htm

Week 7 - Remote Sensing KML

This is a current, infrared, meteorological satellite image centered on Japan, including South Korea, North Korea, the eastern part of China, and Taiwan. The website where I found this seems focused on typhoon images in the area. They have some awesome satellite images of recent and past typhoons.

http://agora.ex.nii.ac.jp/digital-typhoon/region/japan/