Articles

An example of the building footprints open data set for Australia. Source: Microsoft.

11,334,866 Building Footprints for Australia

Caitlin Dempsey

Microsoft has released 11,334,866 building footprints covering the country of Australia.

October 2020 will see two full moons. Image: NASA, public domain.

Blue Moon on Halloween 2020

Caitlin Dempsey

For the first time since 2001, October will have two full moons.

Freshwater habitats are in decline and under threat. Lindsey Slough in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is being choked by invasive aquatic vegetation. Photo: USGS, public domain.

WWF Report: Wildlife Has Declined 68% Since 1970

Katarina Samurović

In their latest Living Planet 2020 report, WWF revealed that global wildlife is facing catastrophic decline.

Recycle your old sneakers.

How to Recycle Sneakers

Caitlin Dempsey

There are a few options for recycling or donating your old sneakers.

Attu Island, Alaska, July 4, 2000. Source: NASA Terra Satellite, public domain.

This Island is the Westernmost Point of the United States

Caitlin Dempsey

Located towards the end of the Aleutian Island chain, this Alaskan island is the westernmost spot in the United States.

Mount Logan is the highest in mountain in Canada at 5,959 meters (19,551 feet)

What is a Mountain?

Caitlin Dempsey

While it is widely assumed that a mountain is higher than a hill, there is no universally accepted definition of a mountain.

Recent Developments in Spatial Analysis and Computer Vision

Mark Altaweel

Computer vision offers spatial analysts the possibility to conduct a variety of analyses without using traditional spatial tools.

Database schema.

GIS and SQL

Mark Altaweel

One way to leverage the power of GIS as a data service and analytical tool is to better integrate relational database capabilities.

What are the Top Geography Programs in 2020?

Caitlin Dempsey

The latest QS World University Rankings by Subject reveal updated rankings for Geography departments around the world.

The left image shows the USDA CDL layer for Corn and soybean classification around Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa in 2001. The right image shows the results of the Corn-Soy Data Layer (CSDL). Figure: Wang et al., 2020.

Mapping Crops: Filling in Data Gaps with Landsat Archives

Caitlin Dempsey

A recent study analyzed twenty years of Landsat data to look at corn and soybean crops across the US Midwest from 1998-2018.

An analysis by The Washington Post found the 35th Congressional District to be among the top ten gerrymandered congressional districts. Maps created using Natural Earth data and the 16h Congressional District.

Using Spatial Methods to Combat Gerrymandering After the 2020 US Census

Mark Altaweel

The challenge for GIS is to create methods that can better determine what less biased district maps look like that are acceptable to the judiciary.

Review | Dreamers and Schemers

G.T. Dempsey

Barry Siegel's "Dreamers and Schemers" features William May Garland who propelled LA's early development into a major metropolis through his ‘irresistible life force’ of salesmanship.

A group of crows roosting in a tree at dusk.

Why Do Crows Flock in Large Numbers?

Caitlin Dempsey

Why do crows start gathering in large numbers at certain times of the year?

Paulette Returns as a Zombie Storm

Caitlin Dempsey

Paulette briefly evolved back into a tropical storm, making it a zombie storm according to NASA and NOAA.

Review | The 99% Invisible City

G.T. Dempsey

The 99% Invisible City explains the small mysteries in our everyday urban geography.

Screenshot from the Forest Observatory site.

The Important of Mapping Trees for Wildfire Management

Mark Altaweel

The California Forest Observatory, created by Salo Sciences, has applied a new artificial intelligence tool that maps every tree in California.

Laptop with QGIS, a desktop GIS software program

Self-employment in GIS

Mark Altaweel

Self-employment in the GIS industry may seem daunting, but a recent MapScaping podcast with Kurt Menke, founder of Birds Eye View GIS, discusses how to build your own business.

Crowded street in Tokyo, Japan by Alex Block

Study Forecasts World Population to Peak in 2064

Elizabeth Borneman

A report recently published by the University of Washington has estimated that the global population would peak in 2064 at 9.7 billion before declining to 8.8 billion in 2100.

QGIS on a laptop. Image: Caitlin Dempsey

Survey of GIS Professionals

Caitlin Dempsey

A quick look at GIS professionals, their educational background, and the software tools and programming languages they use in their jobs.

NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP captured this image of a rare tropical-like storm system in the Mediterranean Sea intensifying off of Italy's southern coast on November 18, 2017. The image shows a well-defined eyewall as the storm entered the Ionian Sea between Italy and Greece. Image: NOAA, public domain.

What is a Medicane?

Caitlin Dempsey

Medicane is a tropical-like cyclone that forms in the Mediterranean Sea.

Imagery from NASA of Hurricane Katrina, 2005.

Using GIS to Improve Hurricane Evacuation and Preparedness

Mark Altaweel

As hurricane season gets underway in the Atlantic, GIS is being use to better prepare communities and property from the devastating effects of storms.

A globe showing carbon monoxide emissions with dark red for higher emissions and green for lower emissions.

Carbon Monoxide from the California Wildfires

Caitlin Dempsey

As wildfires burn in California, carbon monoxide is rising high up into the atmosphere where a NASA satellite is capturing readings.

This animated satellite view of the Atlantic Basin shows hurricanes Sally and Paulette, along with tropical storms Rene and Teddy, and tropical depression Twenty-One (which was named later in the day on September 14, 2020 as Tropical Storm Vicky).

Five Tropical Cyclones in the Atlantic Basin

Caitlin Dempsey

There are currently five tropical cyclones active in the Atlantic Basin.

Screenshot from the Fire Activity Map from the University of California Cooperative Extension. Taken September 13, 2020.

Using GIS to Monitor the West Coast Wildfires

Mark Altaweel

With fires raging in California, Oregon, and Washington, scientists, activists, geospatial companies, and others are using GIS and spatial data to better inform and protect communities.

Map of the Caribbean published in Legatio Babylonica, 1511 by Peter Martyr d'Anghiera. Digitized image from John Carter Brown Library

Earliest Known Map Showing Florida

Caitlin Dempsey

Published in 1511, the first map to show the peninsula of Florida is also a map of other firsts.

Amazon River, modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO,https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2020/09/Amazon_River

Satellite Imagery of the Widest River in the World

Caitlin Dempsey

The Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission captured this satellite image of the Amazon river that has been processed by the combining of two polarisations into one image.