Roads, Railways, Runways & Rivers

I have been inspired by OpenSkiStats' Which Way do You Ski to create my own interactive map for visualizing the orientations of roads, railways, runways, and rivers in towns and cities around the world.

In Which Way Do You Ski, OpenSkiStats created a series of "compass rose" visualizations that illustrate the strong poleward tendency of ski runs across the globe. These ski slope orientation visualizations reminded me of Geoff Boeing's Comparing City Street Orientations which uses compass roses to show the orientations of city street grids around the world.

Geoff Boeing's Comparing City Street Orientations

Inspired by Geoff's visualizations Volodymyr Agafonkin created his Road Orientations Map, a Mapbox-powered map that lets users view the street grid orientations of any town or city worldwide. Using Volodymyr's code, I’ve now developed my own Transportation Orientations Map.

My Transportation Orientations interactive map allows you to view the orientations of roads, railways, rivers, and runways anywhere in the world. It provides an intuitive way to observe and analyze how these features are oriented within any area you choose.

Key Features:

1. Dynamic Compass Rose - The compass rose updates in real-time as you move around the map or zoom in and out. It reflects the orientations of the selected feature set in the visible map area.
2. Interactive Geocoding - Quickly locate any place in the world using the integrated search bar powered by OpenStreetMap’s Nominatim API.
3. Customizable Layers - focus on specific infrastructure types by selecting from roads, railways, runways, or rivers. The selected features are highlighted on the map in red, and their orientations are reflected in the compass rose.
4. Downloadable Visualizations - Add a personal touch by entering custom text below the compass rose. Once satisfied, you can download the compass rose visualization as a PNG image with a single click.

My map is largely a clone of Volodymyr's original Road Orientations Map. All I've done is adapt it for MapLibre, add the ability to view the orientations of railways, runways, and rivers, and include an option to download the compass rose as an image.

An Extremely Distorted Map of the US Election

Following the publication of its Extremely Detailed Map of the 2016 Election, the New York Times was widely criticized for visually misrepresenting the election results. Despite this backlash, the newspaper chose to repeat the error after the 2020 election - and has now done so again!

The New York Times recently released its Extremely Detailed Map of the 2024 Election. According to the NYT, the map is still a work in progress, currently displaying results from 73% of all votes cast. Results from some voting precincts are missing but will be added in the coming weeks.

The methodology behind the 2024 map remains unchanged from that used in the original Extremely Detailed Map of the 2016 Election. This decision is surprising, given the widespread criticism the 2016 map received from cartographers and data visualization experts. Cartonerd's Cartographic Hyperbole summarized these critiques into two main points:

1. Use of a choropleth map: The map disproportionately highlights sparsely populated areas, giving them the same visual prominence as densely populated regions.
2. Web Mercator projection: The projection does not maintain equal area, a crucial requirement for accurate visual representation in electoral maps.

The map is undeniably a powerful tool for exploring precinct-level vote counts for each presidential candidate. It also allows users to quickly identify precincts that overwhelmingly voted for one candidate. However, it suffers from the same flaw as its predecessors: it overemphasizes large, rural precincts (which usually vote Republican) , leading to a visually skewed representation of the overall election results.

In the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, Donald Trump secured 49.9% of the vote, narrowly defeating Harris, who garnered 48.4%. Yet, the NYT's 'Extremely Detailed Map' gives the impression of a landslide victory for Trump due to the vast swaths of red representing rural areas. You could almost say that the NYT map creates an extremely distorted view of just how close the 2024 election truly was.

Global Ski Slope Orientations

OpenSkiStats has analyzed ski trail maps to determine the direction of travel for ski trails worldwide. In Which Way do You Ski OpenSkiStats has used ski trail maps to determine the direction of travel of all ski trails in ski resorts around the globe. 

By gathering the coordinates of all trail segments, connecting these points, and treating each segment as a vector scaled by its vertical drop, OpenSkiStats creates a "ski rose." This circular chart, akin to a wind rose, characterizes the directions of all trail segments at a ski area. Each petal represents a compass direction, with its radius proportional to the combined vertical drop of trail segments in that direction.

map and ski rose of all ski trails in Holt’s Ledge and Winslow Ledge, in Lyme, NH

As depicted in the U.S. ski rose cartogram at the top of this page, in the Northern Hemisphere, a majority of ski slopes are on the northern side of mountains. OpenSkiStats found a 'strong poleward' tendency in ski slopes worldwide - in other words, the majority of runs in the Northern Hemisphere are oriented toward the north, while those in the Southern Hemisphere are oriented toward the south.

Interestingly, OpenSkiStats also discovered a 'moderate eastward' preference in ski slopes in both hemispheres. This trend reflects a preference for morning sun, when temperatures are lower, over afternoon sun, influencing the orientation of ski trails.

Notable Memorial Map

Notable Memorials

This morning, I created a map of memorials in central London.

My Notable Memorials map displays the names of individuals with memorials in central London, many of which are blue plaque memorials.

While there’s nothing particularly groundbreaking about the map itself (although seeing the names of individuals rather than just markers is quite engaging), what stands out is how quickly I was able to create it. In under five minutes, I gathered the data and built the map thanks largely to the Download Data from OpenStreetMap tool.

Download Data from OpenStreetMap

Download Data from OpenSteetMap is a new tool that makes it remarkably easy to view and extract geographical data from OpenStreetMap in GeoJSON format.

Anyone familiar with Overpass Turbo knows it is a powerful querying tool for OpenStreetMap data. However, mastering the Overpass Query Language (OQL) can be quite challenging (though tools like ChatGPT have made writing Overpass QL queries much easier). That’s why I believe there’s a significant demand for simple, user-friendly tools like Download Data from OpenStreetMap.

The tool uses OpenStreetMap categories to populate a drop-down menu. To view and download data, you simply select one of these categories. Any subcategories are conveniently displayed in the map’s sidebar. Then, with just a click of the green 'download' button, you can export the selected data as a GeoJSON file.

Notable People Map

If I wanted to make my Notable Memorials map into something people might actually use when traveling around London I could use the Wikipedia API to add a brief biographical paragraph for each of the notable individuals displayed on the map. 

For now you might prefer Topi Tjukanov's Notable People Map, which shows the most notable people born in locations around the globe. If you want to find memorial markers then the Historical Marker Database records the locations of permanent outdoor historical markers and commemorative plaques across the world. Read the Plaque has also mapped the location of thousands of historical plaques.

LA Fires Damage Inspections Dashboard

Around 105,000 Los Angeles residents remain under mandatory evacuation orders, with an additional 87,000 under evacuation warnings. Many of these residents are uncertain and deeply concerned about the safety of their homes. So far, more than 12,000 buildings have been destroyed by the Los Angeles fires.

To provide clarity and transparency, the County of Los Angeles has published preliminary maps of buildings destroyed in the Los Angeles fires. There are four separate Damage Inspection Dashboards, one for each fire:

• Eaton Fire
• Palisades Fire
• Franklin Fire
• Bridge Fire

These interactive map dashboards display the latest assessments of damage to buildings caused by each fire. Individual buildings are categorized as Destroyed, Major (damage), Minor, Affected, Inaccessible, or No Damage on the maps.

Each map provides a sobering visualization of the devastation caused by the LA fires. Unfortunately, the extent of the damage is expected to increase, as these maps are only preliminary. Damage assessments are ongoing, with updates being made daily. If a building on the map lacks an attached report, it means it has not yet been inspected.

By zooming into a neighborhood on any of the maps, the dashboard automatically updates to show the current statistics within the selected area. These include the number of buildings inspected, the number of residential and commercial buildings, and the count of structures categorized as damaged, destroyed, or unaffected.

The Big Foot Sightings Map

In October 2004, Rodney Frank Williams's daughters reported hearing what they described as "a combination of a whale and a dinosaur" coming from the state forestland near their home in Joyce, Washington. Upon further investigation, Williams discovered a footprint "much like a large wide human print dressed in a moccasin." Additional incidents, including a mysteriously moved pumpkin, led Williams to conclude - despite skepticism from some of his neighbors - that there was a Sasquatch in the area. He subsequently reported the episode to the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization.

The Bigfoot Map is an interactive map of Bigfoot and Sasquatch sightings in Washington state. It is based on data compiled by the Bigfoot Field Reporters Association. The map features a variety of options, allowing users to filter sightings by day of the week and season. Using these filters, I couldn't detect any significant differences in the number of sightings by day. However, there is a noticeable decline in the number of sightings during the winter. This suggests to me that either:  

1. Sasquatches hibernate,   
2. Fly south for winter, or 
3. Humans spend less time outdoors in winter.  

You may also be interested in:

America's UFO Hotspot Map
UFO Stalker - the latest UFO reports made to MUFON (the Mutual UFO Network)
The Anomaly Observatory - mapping reports of paranormal activities around the world

Los Angeles Wildfire Maps

Five wildfires are currently burning in Los Angeles. At the time of writing, three of the fires remain uncontained. So far, the fires have claimed at least five lives, and 137,000 people have been evacuated. Over 1,000 structures, including many homes, have also been lost.

Genasys Protect's evacuation management tool provides an interactive map where Los Angeles residents can access evacuation information specific to their address. Each evacuation zone on the map is color-coded to indicate whether an evacuation order or an evacuation warning is currently in place. Additionally, the map displays information about the latest extent of active fires.

Similarly, Watch Duty's map highlights evacuation zones, using red to signify evacuation orders and yellow to indicate evacuation warnings. In addition to the evacuation zones, the Watch Duty map also marks the locations of Evacuation Centers, kitchens offering meal services, animal shelters, and Family Assistance Centers.

The Los Angeles Time's California Widlfires Map uses data from CalFire, the National Interagency Fire Center, and the Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination to show the locations of active fires. On the map, mandatory evacuation zones are shown in red, and evacuation warning areas are highlighted in yellow. A sidebar provides further information on each active fire, including the number of acres burned and the duration of each fire.

The Washington Post is also Mapping the L.A. wildfires. Their series of static maps shows the extent of each fire, areas under evacuation orders and evacuation warnings, and the number of people affected by evacuation mandates for each blaze.

Weather conditions contributing to the wildfires’ spread are expected to persist through the weekend. The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for much of Southern California. According to the warning, "high winds and low relative humidity will continue critical fire weather conditions in Southern California through Friday."

A Red Flag Warning signifies that "critical fire weather conditions are either occurring now or will shortly. A combination of strong winds, low relative humidity, and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior."

The Guardian has published a series of before-and-after satellite images illustrating the scale of destruction from the Pacific Palisades and Eaton fires. Their feature, Before and after the California fires uses imagery from Maxar Technologies to visualize the extent of the damage caused to some areas of L.A.

NBC News has created a map which allows you to overlay the extent of the Palisades Fire (as at 7.55m Jan. 9, 7:55 PT) on top of your own location. At the time of the map's creation, on January 9th, the Palisades Fire was more than 31.2 square miles in size -  that is roughly half the size of Washington DC’s 61 square miles.

The House Price Map

One of my favorite pastimes is searching for houses for sale in the UK and Europe. I love trawling real estate sites and discovering what kind of property I could buy if I sold my small terraced house in London. As a result of this almost daily exploration of real estate listings, you might say I have become obsessed with house prices and the cost of property in different areas of the UK.

Which is probably why I love Housemetric's House Price Map. This interactive tool is designed to provide insights into property prices in a visual, map-based format. It uses data-driven methodologies to estimate and display property values and price per square meter in England and Wales.

The map features two main views:

1. Average Price Heatmap:

• Displays the estimated current value of properties.
• Uses a simple automated valuation model.
• Larger properties tend to appear more expensive as the map does not adjust for property size.
• Aggregated clusters at higher zoom levels show median property values for those groups.

2. Price per Square Meter (SQM) Heatmap:

• Adjusts for property size by calculating the price per square meter.
• Highlights areas with the highest cost per square meter, irrespective of property size.

If you zoom in on the average price heatmap, you can view the actual last selling price of individual properties and when they were last sold, based on HM Land Registry data. The Price per Square Meter map view is restricted to registered users.

Via: Quantum of Sollazzo

Your Conception of the World is Wrong

It is often argued that the distortions of the Mercator projection affect the public's cognitive map, giving them an incorrect understanding of the relative sizes of countries and continents around the world. To investigate this claim, the Department of Geography at Ghent University conducted a study to collect data on people's perceptions of the world and test their understanding of the relative sizes of countries and continents.

The Mercator projection greatly exaggerates the size of landmasses as they approach the poles. For instance, on a map using the Mercator projection, Greenland appears nearly the size of Africa, even though Africa is 14 times larger in reality. This has led to concerns that the widespread use of the Mercator projection may contribute to widespread misconceptions about the Earth's geography.

To explore this further, Ghent University developed an online test titled How accurate is your mental map? The test was designed to assess how well participants could estimate the sizes of countries, regions, and continents, and explored their familiarity with different map projections. 

You can use this test yourself to discover the accuracy of your own mental map of the world. During the test you are asked to estimate the size of 12 different countries or continents in comparison to other regions of the world. In each of the 12 rounds you are presented with a map of two countries or continents and simply have to use the '-' and '+' buttons to change the size of the two countries or continents with reference to each other.

At the end of the test you can view your results, including a score for each of the 12 comparisons. The results also show how closely your estimates matched the actual sizes of the compared countries or continents.

Interestingly, in reference to the famous West Wing clip that criticized the Mercator projection, the study concluded that participants, on average, "estimated the continents a little more accurately when projected in the Mercator projection" than when using the Gall–Peters projection. However, the study also found that participants familiar with the Robinson projection estimated sizes more accurately than those familiar with the Mercator projection. This finding supports the idea that incorporating better map projections, such as the Robinson projection, in educational settings can improve spatial awareness and understanding of global geography.

For those interested in exploring the study's findings further, the full conclusions are available in the published paper, The Influence of Map Projections on People’s Global-Scale Cognitive Map: A Worldwide Study.

Via: OSMWeekly

SPOT: the Natural Language Geolocation Map

SPOT, is an AI-powered tool designed to simplify and enhance the geolocation process for journalists and the OSINT community. Searching for the locations in media content can be challenging, especially for those unfamiliar with OSINT tools for identifying locations which are unknown. SPOT is designed to bridge this gap by providing a user-friendly way to locate places in images and videos using natural language prompts.

What is SPOT?

SPOT is a cutting-edge AI-powered interactive map that leverages natural language processing to help users locate geospatial patterns in OpenStreetMap data. By interpreting user prompts that describe specific geospatial elements - such as landmarks, infrastructure, or unique buildings - SPOT attempts to identify corresponding locations. The tool is tailored to meet the specific needs of geolocation tasks, assisting users in verifying the locations depicted in media content.

How Does SPOT Work?

SPOT is designed to be intuitive and accessible for all users. Its standout feature is its ability to interpret clear, detailed prompts. A well-crafted prompt typically includes:

• A general location: Specify a city or country.
• Visible elements: Describe landmarks or features seen in the image or video.
• Spatial relationships: Mention distances or arrangements between elements (e.g., “500 meters apart”).

Using these natural language prompts, SPOT scans OpenStreetMap data and displays potential matches within the defined search area. Results are highlighted with colored circles, and users can explore each location further by linking to external mapping platforms like Google Maps, Bing Maps, Yandex, or even Google Street View.

However, SPOT’s accuracy hinges on the quality of data available in OpenStreetMap. If certain landmarks or features are missing from the platform, SPOT may fail to return results.

Does it Work?

I'd love to report that SPOT is a valuable new tool in the OSINT arsenal. Unfortunately, my experience with the tool has been less than successful so far, even when using prompts that correspond to clearly mapped data in OpenStreetMap.

For example:

• A search for “a Pagoda in Battersea Park in London” returned “No Results in Search Area”, even though the Peace Pagoda is clearly marked in OpenStreetMap.
• Similarly, I tried the prompt “Mills next to a river near Bromley-by-Bow Underground Station.” These mills are accurately depicted on OpenStreetMap, yet SPOT again reported “No Results in Search Area.”

It’s unclear whether the issue lies with SPOT’s search algorithms, data processing, or other limitations. I would love to hear if others have had more success with the tool - please share your experiences in the comments below!

Via: WeeklyOSM