Mapping Time: Illustrated by Minard’s Map of Napoleon’s Russian Campaign of 1812 combines historical and geographic analysis with cartography to examine mapping change over time.
May, 2014
Spatial Analysis
Verifying Ancient Roman History with GIS
Can ancient events be verified with modern technology? Caesar’s Gallic Wars recounts that more than a quarter of a million Helvetii resided in the Swiss Plateau. Running low on food, the Helvetii, according to his memoir, invaded Gaul in 58 BCE. Now, researchers are using GIS to test the veracity of those accounts. […]
Spatial Analysis
The New Boom: Remotely Tracking Growth of the Sugarcane Industry in São Paulo, Brazil
Sugarcane production is a source of varied opinions and conflicting realities. While on the one hand it is contributing both to the takeover of farmland and to minor clearing of rainforest areas in South America, particularly Brazil, it also has the potential to serve as a renewable source of sustainable […]
GPS
Crowdshipping: the Newest Development in Mobile GPS
Crowdshipping is the delivery of goods based on the selection of a courier closest to the delivery route. The service was inspired by crowdsourcing, or the act of enlisting a group of people to help with a project, and is already growing quite rapidly. Couriers typically provide one-day shipping (or […]
GIS Learning
Top Ten Online GIS Master’s Degree Programs
If you’re looking to earn a graduate degree in GIS and are considering distance learning, Justin Holman has recently published his top ten picks for online graduate degree programs. Earlier this year, Holman posted his list of the top ten GIS graduate programs in the United States. Holman presents his […]
GIS Software
The Changing Face of the Map Maker
In this essay, Chris Brown, the CEO of MangoMap, discusses how the accessibility of GIS and map making has changed. Who makes all the maps? That would be us GIS professionals right? Not anymore. Let me begin by giving you a little context. I’m the CEO of the web map […]
GIS Data
This Day in GIS: May 7 – Launch of Proba-V Satellite
Proba-V, the miniature satellite was launched on May 7, 2013 from French Guiana. The “V” in the name stands for vegetation as Proba-V’s role is to capture imagery about the world’s vegetation to be used, for example, for day-by-day tracking of extreme weather, alerting authorities to crop failures, monitoring inland water […]
GIS Data
GIS Data of the World’s Glaciers
An international group of seventy scientists hailing from more than eighteen countries have created the first global datasets of the world’s glaciers (not including the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica. The GIS dataset was rapidly developed in less than two years in order to meet the requirements of the Fifth […]
GIS Data
USGS Map Engravings for Sale This Summer
Between the 1880s and the 1950s, the USGS produces engravings used to reproduce topographic and geologic maps within the agency. Many of the excess engravings are being readied for sale or donation by the USGS. The metal engravings are mostly copper alloy with a few made of zinc. Most of […]
GIS Learning
Free Introduction to GIS Course
Simon Frasier University is offering a free self-paced MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) entitled “Exploring Geographic Information Systems“: Exploring geographic information systems (GIS) is a self-paced course where participants will learn about GIS and how the technology is being used in the real world to support problem-solving and decision-making. Participants will […]