Mapping Water: California freshwater infogram

The volume of every major body of freshwater in California. http://flip.it/51sYyd

Mapping Ice - Arctic and Antarctic Ice Depths

Recently the European Space Agency posted imagery of sea-ice thickness from ESA’s CryoSat mission to both poles of the earth. Here is a link to a nice time series image of ice loss over three decades: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Cryosat/SEMQK4908BE_1.html 

From their site:
" ...CryoSat measures the height of the sea ice above the water line, known as the freeboard, to calculate the thickness. The measurements used to generate this first map of the Arctic were from January and February 2011, as the ice approaches its annual maximum.."

"... For the first time, data from ESA’s CryoSat mission have been used

to map the height of the ice sheet that blankets Antarctica. The preliminary data used here are from February and March 2011... CryoSat's ability to map the edges of the ice sheet is demonstrated by the detail that can be seen of the flow from east Antarctica onto the Ronne-Filchner ice shelf in the west. ... [t]he outer white circle represents the limits of earlier missions and the inner circle shows that CryoSat is collecting data up 88° latitude..."

Full credit to the Map Room for bringing this to my attention.

Mapping the Deepwater Horizon Incident, Gulf of Mexico

Given the wealth of information that is developing around this uncapped oil spill - I put together some NOAA and Twitter updates for review.

The latest report from NOAA:
Quick "Cut & Paste" from site:
" ... Oil continues to flow into the Gulf of Mexico at an estimated to 5000 barrels (210,000 gallons) per day from three leaks in damaged piping on the sea floor. The Unified Command decided to test a new technique to apply dispersants to oil at the source - 5000’ below the surface. Another test and follow-on analysis of the effects of dispersant and dispersed oil in the water column are necessary before the technique is operational, but if successful it could reduce or prevent an oil plume from forming at the surface...."

".... Preparation for drilling of a relief or cut-off well is underway - one drilling rig is on site and one should arrive this weekend, but the process will not be complete for several months. Work also continues on a piping system designed to take oil from a collection dome at the sea floor to tankers on the surface; this technique has never been tried at 5000’. High winds and seas curtailed surface skimming and application of dispersant by air today, but production of dispersant has ramped up to 70,000 barrels per day...."

"...Hundreds of thousands of feet of boom have been deployed to contain the spill, with hundreds of thousands more assigned. The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries announced the closure of both recreational and commercial fishing in areas of likely impact and the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals closed molluscan shellfish (oyster) harvesting areas in the coastal parishes of Plaquemines and St. Bernard...."

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/

Some Additional Resources:

EPA: Federal Response to BP Spill in the Gulf of Mexico
This site tracks EPA's ongoing work in the area and help answer questions about the incident.


Deepwater Horizon Response on Facebook
This site is providing information regarding the April 20 incident in the US Gulf of Mexico involving a Transocean drilling Rig Deepwater Horizon.
 
On Twitter: Oil_Spill_2010
This site is providing information regarding the April 20 incident in the US Gulf of Mexico involving a Transocean drilling Rig Deep Water Horizon.

Cool Geo-Pic: Currents Collide and Coastal Waters Bloom off Patagonia

This Cool Geo-Pic comes again from NASA's Earth Observatory. I love the nutrient patterns based on the blooms from change ocean currents.  The pathways from my fridge to the couch are much less interesting ....

Quick "Cut & Paste" Highlights:
" ...Located over the continental shelf of southeastern South America is one of the world’s most productive and complex marine ecosystems. Covering about 1.2 million square kilometers (4.6 million square miles) of coastal waters, the Patagonia Large Marine Ecosystem stretches from the Rio de le Plata (a wide estuary at the mouth of the Paraná River) to the southern tip of the continent...."



"... In November 2009, as summer approached in the Southern Hemisphere, the foundation of the ecosystem’s food web—plant-like microorganisms called phytoplankton—bloomed expansively, brightening the waters with living ribbons of color...."
"....The sea surface temperature image (right) reveals one of the reasons for the region’s productivity: the convergence of two wind-driven ocean currents. The warm, salty Brazil Current meanders south over the continental shelf, where it meets the cold, less-salty Falklands/Malvinas Current, a north-flowing branch off the Antarctic Circumpolar Current...."

"....In the spring and summer, the convergence zone occurs at about the latitude of the Rio de la Plata, which is where it seems to be based on the water temperatures shown in the sea surface temperature image. Blues and purples (cooler water) dominate the image south of the estuary, while pinks and yellows (warmer water) dominate the image north of there...."


Full Article - Click Here



References / Credits:
These images are made from data collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite in November 2009. Aqua has been collecting data on the ecological and physical state of the ocean since its launch in 2002. Monthly maps of chlorophyll and sea surface temperature from Aqua are available in Global Maps on the Earth Observatory.


NASA Earth Observatory images created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the Ocean Color Group team at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
Instrument: 
Aqua - MODIS

Cool geo-Pic: Mediterranean Region by Population

This cool Geo-Pic comes from the United Nations GRID-Arendal Maps & Graphics feed.

They have a similar series on migration, water supply, environment & security.

Desertification Environment and Security in the Mediterranean: Desertification


Non-renewable Natural Resources Environment and Security in the Mediterranean: Non-renewable Natural Resources

Population Environment and Security in the Mediterranean: Population
Water Environment and Security in the Mediterranean: Water
Migration Environment and Security in the Mediterranean: Migration

Agriculture and Fisheries Environment and Security in the Mediterranean: Agriculture and Fisheries

Credits:
Titled Picture: Population. Environment and Security in the Mediterranean: Population
Source: Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University; World Gazetteer
Cartographer/Designer: Emmanuelle Bournay and Matthias Beilstein, Zoï Environment Network
Appears in : Environment and Security Issues in the Southern Mediterranean Region
Published: 2009

Cool Geo-Pic: Lake Tiberias (Sea of Galilee), Northern Israel

This Cool Geo-Pic comes again from NASA's Earth Observatory.

Quick "Cut & Paste" Highlights:
".... Israel’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Tiberias, is also known as the Sea of Tiberias, Lake of Gennesaret, Lake Kinneret, and the Sea of Galilee. The lake measures just more than 21 kilometers (13 miles) north-south, and it is only 43 meters (141 feet) deep. The lake is fed partly by underground springs related to the Jordan sector of the Great Rift Valley

, but most of its water comes from the Jordan River, which enters from the north. The river’s winding course can be seen draining the south end of the lake at image bottom...."

".... Ruins of the famous biblical town of Capernaum, re-discovered in 1838 by the American explorer Edward Robinson, lie just north of Tiberias on the northwestern shore of Lake Tiberias. Excavations have revealed a synagogue from the fourth or fifth century, making it one of the oldest in the world...."

download large image (1 MB, JPEG) acquired August 15, 2009

Full Article - Click Here


References / Credits:

Astronaut photograph ISS020-E-31066 was acquired on August 15, 2009, with a Nikon D2Xs digital camera fitted with an 400 mm lens, and is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by the Expedition 20 crew. The image in this article has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast. Lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by M. Justin Wilkinson, NASA-JSC.

Instrument:
ISS - Digital Camera

The World's Largest Populations Require Glacier Melt for Water Flow - a Map Display

This Cool Map comes from the UNEP/GRID Maps Library. What seems most telling, is that 3 billion+ people rely on glacier melt water flow for their basic water requirements. This is the most stark example I have have seen on the "inland" impact from climate change.

Quick "Cut & Paste" Highlights:

" ...Many of the largest rivers in the Himalayas Hindu Kush region are strongly dependent upon snow and glacial melt for waterflow. Many of the largest rivers in the Himalayas Hindu Kush region are strongly dependent upon snow and glacial melt for waterflow. Except for the fact that glaciers are melting rapidly in many places, we do not have adequate data to more accurately project when and where water scarcity will affect irrigation schemes in full. Making accurate projections is also difficult because of variations in the effects on ground and surface water, as well as on water for urban needs and industrial purposes Furthermore, the cost of water may also increase, seriously complicating the water scarcity question. Recent studies show that cost of water has increased by about 400–500% since 1990 in the Indo-Gangetic Basin of India..."

Full Article - Click Here

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References / Credits:

(Source: Rees and Collins, 2004; UNEP, 2007).
Link to web-site http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/food-crisis/
Cartographer/Designer Ieva Rucevska, UNEP/GRID-Arendal
Appears in Environmental Food Crisis
Published 2009, Joel Benoit