Rebecca Maxwell, Author at GIS Lounge

A visualization comparing GPS data from New York City taxis in the days surrounding Hurricane Sandy with the same data under normal traffic conditions.

Using GPS Data to Help Cities in Emergencies

In October of 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast of the United States causing billions of dollars in damage. The super storm became the … Read more

Creating a mosaic by stitching several orthorectified images. Source: Meo et al, 2012).

Using Drones to Create Fast Orthorectified Maps

by Rebecca Maxwell

Computer scientist Mark Pritt, along with colleagues at Lockheed Martin in Gaithersburg, Maryland, developed a new algorithm to handle thousands of images and speed up the process of creating an orthorectified map from UAV aerial imagery.

Using Landsat images analyzed by a neural network, Anemone and his colleagues created a land cover map of the Great Divide Basin. Potential fossil locations are light red, and likely locations are dark red. (Map adapted from Anemone, et al., 2011.)

Finding Fossils with Remote Sensing

by Rebecca Maxwell

In the field of paleontology, finding fossils is often a substantial undertaking. Researchers usually have to assemble crews of up to 15 people, each one … Read more

Instructions from the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan on how to download its 3D terrain maps to print.

3D Maps for the Blind

by Rebecca Maxwell

The Geospatial Information Authority of Japan (GSI) is developing low-cost technology to print 3D tactile maps for the blind.

Using 200 million measurements collected by ESA’s CryoSat mission between January 2011 and January 2014, researchers from the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany have discovered that the Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking in volume by 125 cubic kilometres a year. The study, which was published in a paper published on 20 August 2014 in the European Geosciences Union’s Cryosphere journal, also showed that Greenland is losing about 375 cubic kilometres a year

CryoSat Shows Record Loss of Polar Ice

by Rebecca Maxwell

Scientists concerned about climate change are closely monitoring the thickness of polar sea ice. For many years, ice cover has been deemed a significant gauge … Read more

Mapping the Outbreaks of Diseases

by Rebecca Maxwell

In August of 2014, the World Health Organization declared a public emergency in response to the growing number of Ebola cases that have struck several … Read more

Create Your Own Mental Maps with MindRider Helmets

by Rebecca Maxwell

A mapping application called MindRider hopes to improve biking experiences by creating mental maps of routes with the help of a special helmet.

EarthCube Data Initiative

by Rebecca Maxwell

Improvements in technology have led to the wide dissemination of information. As long as you have a computer, tablet, or smartphone, you can access a … Read more

Crowdsourced Maps With Wikia Maps

by Rebecca Maxwell

Harnessing the power of technology, crowdsourcing data and maps draws upon a large group of people from all over the globe in order to pull … Read more

Evaluating Ecosystems from Space

by Rebecca Maxwell

The ESA has launched their Space for Ecosystem project in order to more accurately evaluate the benefits of a natural resource.

Mapping Soil Moisture from Space

by Rebecca Maxwell

Soil moisture might not be considered a critical factor to the health of our planet but a series of satellite missions are proving otherwise. Scientists … Read more

Map Traps: Intentional Mapping Errors to Combat Plagiarism

by Rebecca Maxwell

Mapmakers have been known to slip in what are called trap streets, fictional streets inserted on a map which the intention of fighting plagiarism.