"Following the US Topo Product Standard and several vintage USGS topographic maps, this map of the Sutter Buttes aims to recreate the feel of a USGS 7.5-minute topographic map. The subject of this map, the Sutter Buttes, are a collection of dormant volcanos located in the Sacramento Valley of Sutter County, California. This small volcanic range is referred to as Histum Yani by the Maidu Indians, representing an area where Maidu spirits lay after death.
This map was built in ArcGIS Pro and Adobe Illustrator. All elements outside of the map frame were recreated in Illustrator to match the major elements seen on USGS topographic maps. Within the map frame, the contour lines were created using a 1-arc second DEM and colored to recreate the feel of a vintage map. Using this DEM, the map frame was rendered using Blender to give a greater sense of depth to the landscape.
This dynamic map, “Individual #52189”, is a map that documents the longest travelled Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) from a study published in 2020. The study documents the travel paths of Green Sea Turtles equipped with satellite tracking devices and draws conclusions about their ability to navigate the open ocean. One notable individual, #52189, travelled from the tagging site all the way to the southern end of Mozambique, a distance of over 5000 kilometers. This animated map shows their path of travel and nearby countries plus a bathymetry layer. It was created first in ArcGIS Pro 3.2.1 using XY data from Movebank (https://www.movebank.org), bathymetry from GEBCO (https://www.gebco.net/), and country boundary shapefiles from Natural Earth (https://www.naturalearthdata.com/). Additional touch-ups were done in Adobe Illustrator 28.4.1, with the final animated effects created in Adobe After Effects 24.3.
The objective of this study is to understand the soil characteristics of the Tuolumne River watershed in California's Sierra Nevada Mountain region. High annual precipitation rates influence the Tuolumne River watershed's runoff, flood potential, and hydraulic behavior. Flooding events impact robust urban areas in Mariposa and Stanislaus Counties. Evaluating data from ESRI ArcGIS Living Atlas SSURGO Downloader in ERSI ArcGIS Pro, this study illustrates the influence of the soil characteristics of the Tuolumne River watershed on hydraulic behavior. This study demonstrated that the upper portion of the Tuolumne River watershed has higher runoff and erodibility than the lower portion. It argues for human activity and soil orders as contributing factors, not sole catalysts, for lower runoff and erodibility within the lower portion of the Tuolumne River watershed. These findings are present in higher density of human populations and floodplain landscapes in the lower portion of the Tuolumne River watershed.
This is a map of climbing routes to the summit of Mt. Shasta. Maps from the Mount Shasta Avalanche Center’s website were used as a reference for digitizing the routes. Natural features, glaciers, and high alpine campsites are also featured. Four 3D renderings are also included showing the profile of the mountain and the routes to the summit.
"In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region of the United States, causing roughly $125,000,000,000 worth of damage and killing almost 2000 people. One of the most affected areas was New Orleans, Louisiana, which experienced extensive flooding due to multiple catastrophic breaches in the local levee system. In the aftermath of Katrina, it has become clear that disaster preparedness across all levels of government must improve, especially as unmitigated climate change increases the likelihood of severe weather events. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that members of marginalized communities are uniquely threatened by the effects of natural disasters, heightening the need for urgent action. Through GIS (geographic information systems), census data, and analysis of the historical impacts of Hurricane Katrina, this project aims to identify neighborhoods and populations within New Orleans city limits that are vulnerable in the event of another major hurricane.
This map aims to showcase regions of exceptional geography. In order to represent this unique terrain, digital elevation models and hillshading are great tools for cartographers to bring mountains and valleys to life on paper. This expansive state offers an interesting and colorful approach to terrain mapping, at both a large and small scale.