Solar Radiation Across the World

This map shows the solar radiation level across the world I am not sure about the measurement is but you can get a good idea of the colors and the location for instance the deep orange color is closet to the equator as you move outwards it becomes yellow than eventually green. I like that its a whole map of the world and that distribution of colors is consistent with what you would imagine the high points of solar radiation would be (higher closer to equator. I may have chose a different color though for the area near the poles maybe a light blue because we associate that with colder climates and then inside near the equator used the red color even though the legend spectrum has that color I would have made values incorporate that color.
But then again I am not sure about the application completely maybe the color scale is a universral thing where showing the red in the spectrum would be unlikely.

You can read more about the map and solar radiation in the link below

http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/ocng_textbook/chapter05/Images/Fig5-8A.htm

Lab 7: Proportional Symbol Map

Major Oil Spills

This weeks blog post dealing with proportional symbol I found a map showing the major oils spills through the years.  I like how the bigger droplet correlates to the total amount during that oil spill, but also gives you the numeric value. Also it shows you what the spill came from either  a oil tanker, pipeline, or off shore drill site. 

The link below doesn't give much more information on the map or the creator but the second link is the creators website you can see his other works that include other maps.

http://www.mappery.com/map-of/Worst-Oil-Spills-in-History-Map

http://gavinpotenza.com

Lab 6: Color Choropleth Map

Compared to the printed version, the colors on the digital copy look a lot lighter and more crisp. Especially the drop shadow it looks smudged and messy on the printed version, but on the digital copy it looks smooth. On the legend the text and colors look fine on the digital version but on the printed version the last spot on the legend is hard to read because all the colors appear darker. The light colors really didn't change as much but when you get to the middle class (seafoam green) to the darkest blue they got a lot darker in the printed version. I think I would have made the dark blue a bit lighter just so its easier to see text on the legend or maybe change the text color so I could keep the same color.

 Overall I think the digital copy looks a lot better than the printed version it could be just because of the printer though and also the paper it is printed on. For example I printed some maps at kinkos color printer for another class and the colors came out looking almost exactly like the digital copy maybe because it was an industrial printer and because the paper was a thicker glossary type.

Saudi Arabia Geological Map

This is a map of Saudi Arabia and various geological features. The use of color you can easily identify what they each represent on the legends, although the legend is sort of confusing you can get a good idea just glancing at it what each color represents. I like how the author on the website compares the vibrant choice as a tribute to a Sgt. Peppers album cover.  Also I think the choice a of a black background really makes the foreground of the countries stick out because they have white area also you really focus on that part and not the seas or anything else showing they don't really play any importance besides being a reference. 

You can read more about this map and other maps dealing with the geology in saudi arabia nd the middle east in the petroleum perspective in the link below, but also in Fenwick Library because the book that has these maps is the Aramco Handbook for employees which can be found Fenwick. 

http://www.codex99.com/cartography/8.html

Lab 5: Classification

Help of Head Start with Homeless Families

 Head start is a program that helps support children in low-income families develop strong foundation around early education and other things like health. This map describes the homeless families that have children in the head start program having a positive correlation to them eventually getting housing because the program helps the children and family get over obstacles that help the child. 

I like this map because it looks neat the boundries are easy to see from ash of the states but I think it would be better if it had light gray or a different color background to help it pop out more and establish better figure ground.  

Check out the link below if you wanna read more about the map and about the head start program. 

http://www.icphusa.org/index.asp?page=16&report=81&pg=14