Cartography from the Early Modern to the Digital Age
I think that the most notable change is obviously the inclusion of data on Oklahoma after 1880. I also thought it was notable that overall production in Kansas increased, while it stayed relatively the same everywhere else. Colorado had some increases in the 1940 map but not before.
Heat maps can be an excellent way to understand concentrations in given areas. The military could also use heat maps. Understanding where fighting is concentrated could alter the course of a mission or how resources are spent. Knowing that something is going on versus seeing where it is happening are two different ways of combating a problem. Heatmaps allow readers to understand more than surface-level activity and information on a map.
For this project, I do not think there is much new information to be uncovered by comparing the map of Missouri from the 1960s to the map used for Google Earth today. Some things that are interesting to compare are the changes in infrastructure in the form of highways and roads compared to how they were nearly 60 years ago. The interconnectedness of cities, both big and small, is on display when comparing these two maps. It is also interesting to see some new cities pop up on the more recent map. And to see some cities from the 1960s not being named anymore or being completely absorbed by larger cities or even changing counties.
The weakness in this approach to mapping changes historically is that a fair amount of information is missed. Just looking at the overlayed map makes for a game of “Where’s Waldo?”. Not all changes are directly explained, leading to a loss of information for the reader and them not understanding the actual changes that have taken place over the course of 60 years. A way to make this approach better would be to make the map more interactive and display all major changes in each county as the reader hovered over it. That way, changes are more evident, and information is not lost needlessly.
This heat map demonstrates regions in which there was a heavier concentration of of Cholera deaths. The darker the region the more deaths. Without seeing specific dots indicating death, you can still see a heavy correlation between the broad street pump and amount of deaths.
This map demonstrates several different factors. Each polygon represents the closest distance to each pump (the purple dot). Each green dot is a death or a number of deaths. Each polygon also lists the amount of death in one region. This map indicates that there is a heavy correlation between the Broad Street Pump and the most deaths in the region.
I think that Heat Maps would be a good tool to show area impacted. In this case, certain areas were more impacted by the cholera epidemic than others. Areas can also be impacted by severe weather or crime. I think in this case, Voronoi polygons were more useful because it indicated that a pump, which required walking distance, was the source of the disease. Polygons show a better relationship to distance than needed to travel than heat maps.
I think Voronoi polygons could specifically be useful in my project because I am mapping access to schools. Distance to schools, and distance to a “good” school has a lot of determination on outcomes like future earnings. Mapping the access to good schools could help demonstrate a pattern in student outcomes in different neighborhoods of Omaha.
The Dust Bowl was an event that impacted Central and Southern States during the 1930s. It has been attributed to a number of different causes, including the over cultivation of land during droughts.
This is a map of the total cultivation of land in 1880 in the states most impacted by the Dust Bowl. Land Cultivation is primarily centered around eastern Kansas and eastern Texas.
This is a map of the total cultivation of land in 1900 in the states most impacted by the Dust Bowl. Land Cultivation has expanded to include regions of central Kansas and central Oklahoma, while the area of Texas has widely remained the same, but the amount of cultivation in each individual county has changed
This is a map of total cultivation of land in 1940 in the states most impacted by the Dust Bowl. Cultivation has further expanded to include most of Kansas, Oklahoma, and eastern and central Texas. It has also more heavily expanded into Colorado and New Mexico.
I think this map helps to prove the theory that land cultivation accompanied by droughts helped contribute to the dustbowl. There is a definite increase in land cultivation across this area, and over cultivation accompanied by abnormal weather conditions can be a recipe for disaster in agricultural areas.
For my geo-referenced project I used an image of Pompeii dated from 1832. The map details the archeological sight from what was currently found during the 1800s and 30s. The geo reference tool allows me to focus on a particular section of the map thus, allowing me to learn more and provide detail information on the area.
In terms of the course, large population centers are better mapped out with heat maps, strata maps, and anything requiring data.
Success!
1.) For practicum 2: I successfully geo referenced a map of the second day’s battle of Gettysburg. In terms of using the geo referenced image as a guide; it will be easier to view and see where key events of the battle occurred. As such, helping Historians and Archeologists to accurately map out locations of these events and designate certain areas of historical and archeological significance.
2.) It depends on what type of map you use to geo reference. Some Google Maps aren’t useful due to using modern locations for historic events. Like what I have found with my project on the Salem Witch Trials, using modern maps and geo referencing might not be the best approach to use. Due to locations changing overtime and the lack of knowledge of where key people lived during the trials.
Apologies, I the story map part of it made me thought we wouldn’t have a blog post you would just have access. My fault! My Katrina story map can be found here:
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/964463ddf59d4baf8a4d9e93bba1cb6a
