lab#4

It really left me a deep impression when i first used this geographic information system to complete my lab4. I was amazed by this powerful tool. People can be intimated by the various tabs and options provided by this system. However, once they start, they will find the tutorial to be a very specific guideline. Honestly speaking, although this system is user friendly, it can be very time consuming. It took me many hours to complete the whole project. Customer can easily get access to the system and follow the instructions step by step, but very few people can continue their projects to the end.

ArcMap has great benefits for GIS students. It allows the user to extract large amount of data into different layers on a map, which makes it possible show a variety of information on a single picture. The map to me was originally an object showing directions and positions. It totally changed my attitude towards maps after I completed this assignment.

There is a significant potential pitfall in ArcGIS. As it is a user friendly software, the data can always be misleading when reporting information due to the lack of professional knowledge of the user. And the readers can me misled by the professional looking map. And issues of accuracy may always exist because all the data is abstracted from reality.

Overall. ArcGIS has revolutionized the geography information system. Users can benefit from the large amount of information and make life much easier. However, it is very crucial that the basics of geography never be lost as ArcGIS develops through the years.

Lab#3

View Interesting Places to Go During Winter Break 2011 in a larger map
Neogeography has made it possible for mass people to make their own maps according to their personal preferences and tastes. For example, people can make their travel plans using neography, therefore enabling their lives become categorized and more convenient. But as map-making becomes less academic, people has to face the inaccuracies generated by mass people who lack the professional knowledge. Therefore, people can be misled by the false information. Compared with the easily accessible yet inaccurate information, what people need is the more professional and helpful information. After all, neogeography is an innovative idea to make people's lives easier and more colorful. People need such kind of technology to live a better life.

Assignment#2

Lab#2                                                                                                                                                              Yuqi Liang

1.       What is the name of the quadrangle?

Beverly Hills, CA 1995 quadrangle

2.       What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles?

Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank,  Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, Inglewood

3.       When was the quadrangle first created?

1966

4.       What datum was used to create your map?

      Horizontal datum : North American datum of 1927 and 1983

         Vertical datum: National geodetic datum of  1929

5.       What is the scale of the map?

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?  5*24000=120000centimeters=1200meters

b) 5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground?

5*24000=12000inches=12000*2.54*0.0000062137=1.8937miles

c) one mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map?

1mile=1609.344meters=160934.4cm, 160934.4/2400=6.7056cm=2.615184inches

d) three kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map?

3km= 3000m=300000cm, 300000/2400=12.5cm

7. What is the contour interval on your map?

(200-160)/2=20feet

8. What are the approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:

a) the Public Affairs Building;

North: 34degree 4 minute 16second=34.07 degrees North

East: 118 degree,26minute 34 second=118.44degrees East

b) the tip of Santa Monica pier;

 34 degrees  4 minutes 30 seconds North=34.075degrees North

118degrees 26minutes 30seconds West=118.44degrees West

c) the Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir;

West: 118 degrees 24 minutes 40 seconds   118.41 degrees West

   North: 34 degrees 6 minutes 30 seconds      34.11 degrees North

9. What is the approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:

a) Greystone Mansion (in Greystone Park);

570feets=0.3048*570meters=173.736meters

b) Woodlawn Cemetery;

140feets=42.672meters

c) Crestwood Hills Park;

750feets=228.6meters

10. What is the UTM zone of the map?

Zone11

11. What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map?

3763000meters northing

361500meters easting

12. How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines?

1000000 square meters grid

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?

Positive 14 degree

15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir?

It flows all the way 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.

 

Lab#1

Source:http://artsytime.com/img/misc/old-maps/old-maps04.jpg
This is an antique map showing what the world was like from the view of ancient people. Despite some inaccuracies of certain details, the overlook of the main continents is acceptable. What makes this map outstanding and attractive is that the painter opened up the sphere and arranged it into a two-dimensional picture which is decorated by the delicate painting as the background.

The function of the map goes beyond just to show direction; it is a fine art which can entertain its viewers as well.

 

http://geoserver.isciences.com/DataBlog/?p=88

This is a map which shows the global population density according to the colors of different regions. We could tell from this map that the main populations locate in Asia, Central Europe and the United states of east and west coasts. The colors on the map give its viewers a direct sense of how the populations are didtributed around the world. I think the popultaion density pretty much associates with many factors such as climate, economics topograghy and so on. For example, there are most desert areas in central America and western China, so the population in such areas is small. I conclude from this map that a single map contains various factors from which we can draw clues and relate to each other.

 

http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/stunning-maps-visualize-twitter-and-flickr-use/

These two pictures are by Eric Fischer, the top of which visualizes the use of twitter and Flickr in the United States and the bottom of which around the world. The viewers can tell the social networking intensity from the brightness and darkness in the picture. The viewers could see, for example, lower Manhattan is filled with white, which is the relection of the popularity of both twitter and flickr there. What's intersting about th map is that it shows us a networking picture in a 3-dimentional way and that there is still big room for social-networking to grow. It did not take a long time for Fischer to make these pictures. He writes,“It’s a C program that runs through the photos/tweets in chronological order, plotting the earliest ones the most brightly and stepping the brightness down for points that don’t show up for the first time until later on.”