Lab1: SSC & Blog

Map#1: Dynamic Map of NASA World Wind

Source: NASA World Wind.jpg, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_World_Wind) , accessible at 4:00am Oct, 8, 2010 (GMT-8:00)

Source: Sun_anim.gif, Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASA_World_Wind) , accessible at 4:00am Oct, 8, 2010 (GMT-8:00)

             This gif format animated map is captured from an open source virtual globe software, NASA World Wind by NASA. This map is showing how shadow changes in a certain area along a day. I find out that this map is quite useful on choosing living space when we need to move to a new habitat; because different people have different requirements for the amount of sunlight in habitats, and sometimes it is difficult to visualize the amount of sunlight of an apartment or room by simply using the cardinal directions (East, West), since there are lots of factors affecting the amount of sunlight, for example, trees, buildings nearby, and so on. Also, this dynamic map is useful for hikers.  They can choose routes with more shadows to decrease the demand of stamina to finish their journey.

Map#2: Thematic World Map of Corruption Perception Index (2009)

Source: map_screen.jpg, Transparency International (http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009) , accessible at  4:00am Oct, 8, 2010 (GMT-8:00)

               The theme of this thematic map is about the Corruption Perception Index (CPI) of different countries in the world. The boundaries of this map are defined by different countries, and the colors show different CPI; the deeper the color implies the country is more corrupted. I think this map is interesting because corruption has huge effects on politics, economics, religion, Humanitarian Aid, education, and so on. For example, if you want to start a business or to find a place for a retired life, you should choose those countries with a higher CPI (lighter in color).  A better decision can be made by looking at this map.

Map#3:  Left fragment of Piri Reis Map

Source:Piri_reis_world_map_01.jpg, MUSLIM DIALOGUE
 (http://www.muslimdialogue.com/piri-reis-map.html),
accessible at 4:00am Oct, 8, 2010 (GMT-8:00)

Source:Piri_600px-piri_reis_map_interpretation.jpg,
MUSLIM DIALOGUE
 (http://www.muslimdialogu
e.com/piri-reis-map.html),
accessible at 4:00am Oct, 8, 2010 (GMT-8:00)

Piri Reis Map is compiled by Piri Reis, an Ottoman-Turkish cartographer. The map above is the left fragment of Piri Reis Map. The left fragment of the map shows the area near Central and South America shores.  I choose this map because I am surprised that without today’s technology, the cartographer in the past could still draw Nautical Chart with a reasonable accuracy. Compiling Nautical Chart is more difficult than the land maps, since, in the past, the ship’s speed mainly depends on speed of the wind, and the speed of wind is always changing. It is so amazing that Piri Reis can compile Atlas with such a reasonable accuracy.