Monthly Archives: November 2019

The Global Mountain Explorer

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The geography website I choose was created by the United States Geological Survey in 2017 and is called “The Global Mountain Explorer”. This relatively new tool shows a map of mountains on top of a satellite image background giving users the most detailed view of Earth’s mountains. This resource was developed in partnership with Esri, the Center for Development and Environment of the University of Bern (CDE), the Global Mountain Biodiversity Assessment (GMBA), and the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI). The work is part of a Group on Earth Observations (GEO) initiative called GEO GNOME, GEO’s Global Network for Observations and Information in Mountain Environments. This work specifically addresses the goal to accurately delineate mountain regions using best available data. It is intended to provide information on the global distribution of mountain ranges and a variety of mountain data with a resolution 16 times more detailed than previous mapping efforts. What makes this tool useful for physical geography is that it allows anyone with connection to the Internet to observe where mountains are, what their relative altitude is, whether they are scattered or continuous, covered in snow or snow-free, etc.

https://rmgsc.cr.usgs.gov/gme/gme.shtml

USGS Earthquake Map

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The U.S. Geological Survey displays information relating to recent earthquake strikes around the world. The left side of the screen shows the recent earthquakes in the United States. It tells how many earthquakes have occurred in the map are over the last 24 hours. If you zoom out to the entire world, the panel adjusts to include earthquakes all over the world. On the map, each earthquake is represented by a circle with varying sizes and colors. The size of the circle represents the magnitude of the earthquake and the color represents the relative age of the earthquake. The plate boundaries are are outlined in red. Clicking on a specific earthquake takes you to another page that offers an interactive map, a regional information map, a seismicity map, and a shake map. Also, people can write up a felt report of their earthquake experience. Additionally, under settings tab, one can narrow or widen the earthquake parameters by size, time, and place.

This website is helpful for understanding where recent earthquakes struck and specific information about each earthquake. Earthquake map visualization helps to reveal patterns in earthquake behavior and helps educate others on the overall impact of earthquakes.

https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

Wildebeest Migration Tracker

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This website gives frequent updates about the Wildebeest migration in the Serengeti happening currently. You can watch videos, read comments, or look at a map of the migration route of these Wildebeests on this website. There are updates almost daily from people that are watching this migration in person and observing where the animals are going and how they are fairing in their migration journey.

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Figure 1: Map of the Wildebeest Great Migration (https://www.discoverafrica.com/migration/map/)

Through looking at this website you can learn about the travel of species and why those species would want or need to migrate around, including climate or predatory reasons. There is also a live feed of the migration and maps of the path of migration for every month, as well as general information about Wildebeest migration patterns.

https://www.discoverafrica.com/migration/map/ 

Volcano Discovery

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Volcano Discovery is a website that provides information on all things related to the lithosphere. It is run by a team of geologists based in Europe, Indonesia and Hawaii who work closely with international scientists from volcanological institutes and observatories all over the world. Together they have written a book ‘Volcano Discoveries: A Photographic Journey Around the World’, which they use to promote the various tours to active volcanoes that they offer on Volcano Discovery. Tour locations include Stromboli and Mnt. Etna in Sicily. 

It has an entire area dedicated to educating people on the causes and effects of earthquakes and volcanoes. They have a forum for the public to upload their own videos and photos of earthquakes or volcanoes that they have come across.  A key feature of the site is its Interactive Global Map of Active Volcanoes and recent Earthquakes. It also provides a breakdown of each eruption and quake.

Site: https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/home.html

Map: https://earthquakes.volcanodiscovery.com/

 

 

USGS’s Waterwatch

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The U.S. Geological Survey’s WaterWatch displays data relating to hydrological events throughout the country in real time.  Interactive graphs, maps, and tables show streamflow, flood areas and drought areas. Maps and data can be viewed on both national and state scales.  Past streamflow data can be easily accessed. Annual summaries of streamflow data are also kept on this website. All this data can be displayed in a surprising number of ways.  WaterWatch’s toolkit section features 21 different graphs, charts, tables, and maps displaying and comparing streamflow data. My personal favorite is the customizable Streamflow Map Animation that shows streamflow data on a map over a period of time:

https://waterwatch.usgs.gov/index.php?id=ww_animation

The USGS stores enough water data to drown any student or professional researcher.  Such data is collected by over 3,000 USGS stream gauges throughout the country. Streamflow data is important to measure on such large scales because rivers and streams connect surface runoff to to large water bodies and groundwater.  Streamflow for all streams is therefore vital to the water cycle.