Starkey Comics’s Map of British English Dialects took Ryan ages to research. “The end result is an image which is, to my knowledge, the most detailed map of British dialects ever made. But it is still very much unfinished, and it always will be.” The rest of his post is a careful litany of caveats about what constitutes a dialect, whether it’s geographically specific and whether its boundaries can be sharply defined. “So yes, this map may be unsatisfying, arbitrary, and unfinished, and no amount of work on it will really change that. It exists mainly as a testament to the huge dialectal diversity of the English language within the UK, and as a way for me to express my fascination and love for that diversity.” [LanguageHat]
Links
Astronomy Atlas 1899: A New Kickstarter Project
Alejandro Polanco’s latest Kickstarter project, Astronomy Atlas 1899, does for 19th-century astronomy atlases what his previous Geography 1880 project did for school atlases of the era: create an anthology of the best maps, drawings and diagrams from the books available to him.
In my library, in addition to the collection of geographical atlases from the 18th to the 21st century, there is a whole series of old books on astronomy, and of all of them, the ones that attract me the most are those published between 1880 and 1930. This was a time when science was developing at an astonishing rate and astronomy was changing radically. […]
In total there are twelve astronomical atlases in this library, mostly Spanish, French and English, published between 1880 and the early 1930s. From these I have selected the most interesting engravings and drawings, arranged them chronologically and given details of the original source. I have also supplemented many of them with other engravings from the Biblioteca Nacional de España and similar sources.
Digital (€18), softcover (€45) and limited-edition hardcover (€90) versions will be produced.
Mapping North Korea in OpenStreetMap
Mapping North Korea in OpenStreetMap is, by necessity, an exercise in armchair mapping—i.e., drawing maps from aerial imagery and other data sources—because on-the-ground mapping is, to say the least, impractical. French OSM user Koreller has created a North Korea mapping guide for OSM contributors.1 See Koreller’s diary entry about the guide, plus their entry about mapping the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.
El Niño and Snowfall in North America
NOAA’s ENSO blog maps the impact of El Niño on snowfall in North America.
Obviously, snowfall is limited in its southernmost reaches because it needs to be cold enough to snow, so the effects are strongest in the higher and colder elevations of the West. To the north, however, there is a reduction in snowfall (brown shading), especially around the Great Lakes, interior New England, the northern Rockies and Pacific Northwest, extending through far western Canada, and over most of Alaska. In fact, El Niño appears to be the great snowfall suppressor over most of North America.
The above map shows the change in snowfall during all El Niño years; additional maps tease out other details (such as the difference in moderate-to-strong El Niños). [CNN]
Estate Sale Map Turns Out to Be Rare 14th-Century Portolan
The Los Angeles Times has the story of a map that turned out to be far older and more valuable than anyone expected. Ann and Gordon Getty paid £56,600 for a portolan chart in 1993, restored it and put it on display in their home. After Ann died in 2020, Alex Clausen of Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps paid $239,000 for it at the estate sale. The map was dated to 1500-1525, but Clausen suspected it was older and therefore even more valuable. Hundreds of hours of research and lab tests determined a new date: circa 1360, making it the oldest portolan chart in the U.S. and the fourth oldest portolan chart known overall. As for how much more valuable, Ruderman thinks it’s worth a lot more than $239,000: they’re listing it for $7.5 million. They’ve named it the Rex Tholomeus Portolan Chart, after the single human figure appearing on the map, and you can see the listing and read the 49-page catalogue (PDF).
Mapping Global Sea Levels at Even Finer Resolution
Launched in December 2022, the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) satellite measures ocean surface topography—i.e., sea surface height. It recently completed its first full 21-day science orbit, which is represented in the above animated globe.
The animation shows sea surface height anomalies around the world: Red and orange indicate ocean heights that were higher than the global mean sea surface height, while blue represents heights lower than the mean. Sea level differences can highlight ocean currents, like the Gulf Stream coming off the U.S. East Coast or the Kuroshio current off the east coast of Japan. Sea surface height can also indicate regions of relatively warmer water—like the eastern part of the equatorial Pacific Ocean during an El Niño—because water expands as it warms.
Sea surface height has been measured by earlier satellites (previously); SWOT does so at a much greater level of detail.
Middle-earth in 3D
Micah Vander Lugt’s Esri-powered 3D map of Middle-earth is a departure from the usual fantasy-style map in that it uses an elevation layer. It’s a fascinating perspective, and lots of fun to play with. Though not without quibbles: for example, the labels and 3D rendering don’t always agree with each other, and I’m having a hard time imagining either Minas Tirith or Caras Galadhon as 25-30 km across. [Maps Mania]
A Map of New York City Neighbourhoods
Back in December 2022, the New York Times asked readers to map their neighbourhoods. They got 37,000 responses; combined with feedback from council members, community boards and another survey, the result is a detailed interactive map of New York City neighbourhoods as seen by New Yorkers that the Times is keeping behind its paywall. The accompanying article talking about how the map came to be and what it reveals, is a bit more accessible (see also archive link). [LanguageHat]
Bad Maps, Kindness and Empathy
The 2023 iteration of the 30 Day Map Challenge is coming up, and Daniel Huffman has some thoughts about the day four prompt (“a bad map”) and making room for kindness in the mapmaking community.
It’s fun to play with those things that you’re not supposed to do! But, these are also same kinds of choices that might be made by someone who’s new to our community, and who isn’t as experienced. I’ve seen plenty of students who start out their careers by producing work that is very similar to the material that my colleagues produced when they were prompted to make “a bad map.”
Imagine, then, being one of those novices and seeing someone out there make something in the same style as you, and then see people laugh at it. Might you learn a useful lesson about design? Maybe. But there’s a kinder and more effective way to teach the next generation, isn’t there? […]
It’s no secret that I think our community has had a history of toxic critique and gatekeeping. I’ve written about it here, and talked about it at NACIS. This year, when prompted to make “a bad map,” I invite you to think of “bad” in more ways than just “what a beginner would make.”
Previously: Thirty Day Map Challenge; ‘One Bad Map a Day in February’.
GPSJam Maps GPS Interference
GPS Jam, created by John Wiseman, is an online map of GPS interference, updated daily, based on GPS accuracy information reported by aircraft. It’s not necessarily a map of where GPS is being deliberately jammed, but when you look and see that the hotspots are the eastern Mediterranean, western Russia and the Baltics, well. Active war zones (e.g. Ukraine) are blank: this map is based on civilian aircraft data and those are no-go areas.
Mapping Two Solar Eclipses
Two upcoming solar eclipses in North America—the annular eclipse on October 14, and the total eclipse on April 8, 2024—are the subject of numerous eclipse maps that track the path of totality and its duration along that path.
NASA’s Solar Eclipse Explorer currently focuses on this month’s annular eclipse, with paths of the 2017 and 2024 eclipse for comparison. [Maps Mania]
The Eclipse Company has separate maps for this month’s annular eclipse and next April’s total eclipse: these maps include data for locations along the path, including time, duration, the sun’s altitude and chance of clouds based on historical weather data. [PetaPixel]
The last time I went looking for eclipse maps, back in 2017, there was a website called GreatAmericanEclipse.com, which was the most recent of the websites showcasing the eclipse maps of Michael Zeiler. It’s still very much a going concern, with maps covering North America, individual U.S. states, and detailed maps of the path itself. These are static maps rather than the above interactive maps, but there are a lot of them, and not just for this month’s annular and next year’s total eclipse: there’s a fair bit of historical (and future!) eclipse maps there too.
Update 10:20 PM: Andy Woodruff’s scrolling map of the 2024 eclipse.
Previously: An Almost-Too-Late Roundup of Historical and Unusual Eclipse Maps; Mapping the August 2017 Solar Eclipse; Another Solar Eclipse Website; Michael Zeiler’s Solar Eclipse Map Website; Eclipse Maps.
Harry Beck Takes to the Air
So it turns out Harry Beck also did airline route maps. You will be shocked to discover what form those maps took. [MeFi]
‘Pseudo-Anachronistic’ Elements in Fantasy
This blog post from independent roleplaying games creator Periapt Games looks at the phenomenon of what’s called “pseudo-anachronistic elements” in fantasy fiction (and fantasy roleplaying games): technologies that have no business existing in the era being portrayed. Of course maps are mentioned, and at length—otherwise why would I mention it here? “Despite being ubiquitous in the modern day, reading a top-down map or even understanding what a map means is a learned skill, and not trivially so. Don’t expect pre-industrial people to be able to purchase a map, read one, or know what one is.” This is precisely what I was trying to say in my 2019 Tor.com article, “Fantasy Maps Don’t Belong in the Hands of Fantasy Characters”; it’s gratifying to see someone else making the same argument.
Previously: Fantasy Maps Don’t Belong in the Hands of Fantasy Characters.
The Return of the Map Projection Trading Cards
Daniel Huffman’s map projection trading cards are making a comeback. “While my colleagues and I did our best to let everyone know about these cards, some people inevitably missed out during the first print run. I’ve had many people contact me asking and hoping to get their hands on a pack or two. So, I am bringing them back for one final print run via Kickstarter,” writes Huffman. “I hope you’ll share this widely, so that we don’t miss anyone this time around, as this is almost certainly the last time these cards will be printed.”
Previously: Map Projection Trading Cards.
The CBC on Inaccessible Flood Maps
As the CBC’s evening news program The National reports, flood maps can be incredibly hard to find, with even municipal maps requiring an NDA to view in some cases. Now this story focuses on Halifax, Nova Scotia in the wake of flash flooding this summer; the situation elsewhere in Canada may be quite different (Quebec’s flood maps, for example, are available online, though only in French).