ASPRS Student Scholarships

The Northern California region of ASPRS has posted information on their website about the new student scholarships for the 2010-11 academic year. You can read the announcement here, and download the application here. In order to be eligible for consideration, the applicant must be an active student member of ASPRS. A completed application and current transcript must be submitted for consideration no later than December 15, 2010.

Mapping Pakistan Floods

From www.hydrology.nl

Late July 2010, heavy rain caused record flooding in Pakistan, especially along the Kabul River in the northwestern part of the country. The UN, governments and private organizations are joining forces to help. One of the means is to provide accurate and timely data about the situation on the ground. Maps, as supplied by many organisations, are very helpful for getting an overview of the problems, e.g. of the flood extension.

Pakistan_UNOSATThe main city of the area, Peshawar, is isolated by water. On the 31st of July, 800 deaths and thousands of affected people are reported by authorities. Material damage is also considerable and access to a lot of urban areas is impossible. The European Commission has allocated 30 millions euros to help people affected by this major disaster. In mid-August the state of emergency was reinforced in the southern province of Sindh due to the flood spreading in this region.

The United Nations, governments and private organizations are joining forces to help. One of the means is to provide accurate and timely data about the situation on the ground. Maps, as supplied by many organisations are very helpful for getting an overview of the problems, e.g. the flood extension.

Oil Spill History

For those of you wondering about the latest news on the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill there is a great KML file that a reader posted on the Google Earth Blog. It geolocates many significant oil spills, organizing them by the largest 50, and including others that are noteworthy. It includes great descriptions of how much oil was spilled and how it happened. For the BP Deepwater spill it even has a clock estimating the oil spill real time.


There is also a great comparison tool developed by Paul Rademacher showing the oil spill to whatever town you choose. Incredibly I compared it to HSU town Arcata, CA. Not only did it cover the complete area for the town, it pretty much covers the entirety of Humboldt County!

GeoStat

Geo-Stat is an interesting site creating visualizations of statistical information. It allows the user to choose data, and has the ability to create tables, graphics, and reports for the data. A user can also import their own data to use within the application.

CNN is spatial-clueless

CNN reporters believe that the recent Times Square attempted attacks caused higher-ups to blur Google Earth imagery. Obviously they are missing fundamental knowledge of satellite imagery and the workings of Google maps.

CalGIS Day 1

Huntington Beach, CA, oceanside at the Hyatt. A warm up of NOAA and open source technical sessions, $15 fruit bowls, and authentic Italian cuisine. The 13 hour drive down sort of taxed us, but Alex the bell boy gave us a great introduction to our next few days at the Hyatt. The next few days have a great lineup for all partakers to get their GIS on. Pictures to come soon.

Take 10 Challenge Map

The 2010 Census is upon us. On average only 73% of households fill out their census forms every 10 years. The Take 10 Map shows how your state currently stacks up in census participation.