Lab 1 - 3 Interesting Maps - Jason Ward

This map displays the locations of sea ice features within the Antarctic Region. It is provided by Kevin Arrigo, a researcher at Standford University (Arrigo 2003). The map was created from SSM/I satellite imagery (Arrigo 2003). It displays 37 areas of open water imbedded within the contiguous ice cover about the Antarctic continent (Arrigo 2003). As soon from the legend provided with the map, areas of complete ice cover year-round are indicated by the red coloring. The areas that are completely devoid of ice cover all year are indicated by purple coloring. The intermediate colors on the legend (orange, yellow, green, and blue) indicate areas containing ice coverage part of the year, with orange showing less frequent ice-free days and blue showing a greater frequency of ice-free days. This map particularly interests me because it demonstrates the vast expanse of ice that is able to accumulate beyond the landmass boundary.

Arrigo, K. R. and G. L. van Dijken (2003), Phytoplankton dynamics within 37 Antarctic coastal polynya systems, J. Geophys. Res., 108(C8), 3271, doi:10.1029/2002JC001739.

This map is of California’s physical geographical regions. It is provided by California Travel Now, which is a travel guide agency (California 2001-2009). The map interests me because it clearly displays the general geography of the state. The coast, bay, desert, mountains, and valley are illustrated using different colors and are labeled with their general geographic feature. While the change between geographic features is not as sharp and immediate as shown, the map gives a good demonstration of where the general features are located.

California Central Valley Region. (2001-2009), Graphic. California Travel Now. Web. http://www.californiatravelnow.com/centralvalley.html

This map is provided by ClassBrain.com. To create it, the USGS (United State Geological Survey) national elevation dataset was used (CA Maps 2007). The map reveals relative elevation levels throughout the state of California by means of color organization. The brown north-south oriented strip in the middle of the state shows the Central Valley, while the vertical beige features along the left edge (western coast) of the state represent the Coastal Range Mountains, and the green and white along the right edge (eastern border) illustrate the Sierra Nevada mountain range. The interesting thing about this map is found in the geography of the state. The Central Valley is clearly visible from this image. Even if the geographical features are not labeled, as in the previous map, some of the features, such as the valley and the mountains, are obvious. Also, if someone has a good knowledge of climatology, then they will be able to locate the desert regions from this map as well.

CA Maps. (2007), Map. ClassBrain.com. Web. http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/california_elevation_map.shtml