Geo 7 Lab 3

View Orlando trip in a larger map


      Neogeography literally means "new geography". This term is used to describe the use of geographical techniques to create one's own map for personal and social activities. Nowadays, most people rely on these technologies and tools almost everyday. Google map, Google Earth, and GPS, are all examples of neogeography. These tools are very easily accessible, can be easily updated, and are relatively accurate. Neogeography is really helpful when one needs to find out a location, the direction to a certain place, and even to plan a trip. The usage of neogeography is rapidly distributed throughout the world, and it will be a major geographical tool in the future. We live in a generation in which there is no need to memorize any maps because of neogeography.

     Although extremely helpful in everyday life, neogeography also has pitfalls. One of the possible problems I can find with neogeography is the fact that the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Anyone can create their own map based on their personal knowledge and experience, and theses maps can be published for everyone else to see. These maps only reflects the author's own perspective, thus might not be completely accurate. With the same assumption, there might be many version of the same map that are made by different people around the world, which sometimes might be confusing for someone to read. Although having possible problems, neogeography is still an excellent tool for us to explore the world!

Geo 7 Lab 2

1. What is the name of the quadrangle ?

Beverly Hills quadrangle .

2. What are the names of the adjacent quadrangles ?

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

3. When was the quadrangle first created ?

It was first created at 1966.

4. What datum was used to create your map ?

North American Datum of 1927 (NAD 27) and North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83) were used to create this map.

5. What is the scale of the map ?

Scale 1 : 24,000

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 / 100)
1,200 meters
b) 5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground ? (5 * 24000 / 63360 )
about 1.8939 miles
c) 1 mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map ? ( 1 / 24000 * 63360 )
2.64 inches
d) 3 kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map ? ( 3 * 1000 * 100 / 24000 )
12.5 centimeters

7. What is the contour interval on your map ?

The contour interval is 20 feet .

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

a) the Public Affairs Building
34˚ 4' 29" N and 118˚ 26' 20" W; 34.075˚ N, 118.439˚ W
b) The tip of Santa Monica Pier

34˚ 0' 28" N and 118˚ 30' 00" W; 34.008˚ N, 118.500˚ W
c) The upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir

34˚ 7' 15" N and 118˚ 24' 40" W; 34.120˚ N, 118.412˚ W

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

a) Greystone Mansion in Greystone Park
550 feet 167 meters
b) Woodlawn Cemetery
140 feet 42.7 meters
c) Crestwood Hills Park
650 feet 197.4 meters

10. What is the UTM zone of the map ?

Zone 11 is the UTM zone of the map.

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

The UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of the map is 3763000 m Northing and 362,000m Easing.

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

1000 * 1000 = 1,000,000 square meters

13. Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the easting of the UTM grid intersect the norhing. Create an elevation profile using these measurements in Excel. Figure out how to label the elevation values to the two measurements on campus. Insert your elevation pofile as a graphic in your blog.



14. What is the magnetic declination of the map ?

The magnetic declination of the map is 14 degrees east.

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

The water flows from North to South in the intermittent stream.

16. Crop out (i.e. cut and paste ) UCLA from the map and include it as a graphic on your blog.

Geo 7 Lab 1

Map # 1

     This map is selected from an article called "An Interview with Frank Popper about Shrinking Cities, Buffalo Commons, and the Future of Flint".  What's shown in this map is the change in US population from 1970 to 2030, where orange indicates increases and blue indicates decreases in population. It is clearly shown that the West Coast, especially California, has the most population growth among the country. On the other hand, the East Coast shows the most population decrease. I found this map very interesting because I was expecting a dramatic population increase in the East Coast, since those states are the oldest and most developed states in the United States. Especially when New York and its surrounding states support the majority of this country's financial system. It is interesting to see that people are actually moving out of the East Coast area and moving into the Western areas for more opportunities. 

Map #2

     This is a map I found in Wikipedia on the introduction of China. The map shows the population density of China using different shades of red and yellow. The central part of China clearly has the highest density whereas the northwestern part barely holds any population. I found this map interesting because China is such an over-populated country, but half of its land is almost empty with no residents. After researching the geographic information of this empty area, I found out that this area contains a lot of mountains. The high altitude makes it very hard for humans to develop cities here due to the harsh environmental conditions. 

Map #3

      The source of this map is "Census, 2001". This is a population density map of India before 2000. It is clear to see that the population of India is distributed almost evenly among the country. Although the population is a little bit denser towards the north, overall the country does not have many empty areas. In comparison to the population density map of China, this map shows that the population distribution of India is actually quite even. It is interesting because it makes me wonder what is going to happen when India's population keeps growing at such rapid speed. Soon the country will run out of space since India is so much smaller than China, and there are not many available spaces.