What's Across the Ocean?

A couple of years ago Eric Odenheimer made a very popular static map which was reported as showing you what country you would see if you stood on the beach anywhere in North, South or Central America and could see all the way across the ocean.

What Odenheimer's map actually shows you is the country across the ocean which is on an equivalent latitude. Andy Woodruff was inspired by Odenheimer's map to create a series of static maps which actually show you what is actually across the ocean if you look perpendicular to the coast.

In Beyond the Sea Andy takes into account that the coastline actually bends and turns and faces in lots of different directions and that the world is round. Therefore what country is across the ocean perpendicular to the coast depends on where you are standing on this twisting coastline. Andy's explanation about the maps goes into a lot more detail about how he calculated these great circle lines for different points from the world's coastlines.


Esri UK was in turn inspired by Andy Woodruff's maps to create an interactive map of Coastal Views from the United Kingdom. Esri's map draws lines from different points along the UK coast showing which country lies across the ocean if you look perpendicular to the coastline.

The advantage of using an interactive map is that Esri has been able to add a little more information to their map. If you click on any of the lines drawn on the map the name of the country across the ocean is revealed, as is the number of miles away the country actually is.

Printing 3D Models of Maps

The Tile Exporter helps you to make 3d models of your favorite locations around the world. Enter a location into the Tile Exporter and it will generate the OBJ file that will allow you to print out a model of the location on a 3d printer.

Tile Exporter uses OpenStreetMap data to generate the 3d models. This means that the accuracy of the model will depend on the accuracy of the map and building height data of OSM. Luckily this is pretty accurate for most locations around the world. The Mapzen powered generation tool also means that you can preview the model on your computer screen before attempting to print it out on a 3d printer.



Have you ever dreamed of owning your own 3d scale model of the Grand Canyon or the Matterhorn? Thanks to the Terrainator you now can. The Terrainator is very similar in design to Tile Exporter. The main difference is that the Terrainator is used to create 3d models of interesting terrain rather than 3d buildings.

The Terrainator uses Google Maps to help you select your favorite area of terrain. It then creates an accurate scale model and uploads it to Shapeways, ready for 3d printing. The cost of the model depends on the volume of material required to make the model. Flatter models are therefore cheaper than mountainous areas, although they are much less fun. It is also possible to purchase the created STL files from Terrainator if you want to print out your own terrain model yourself.

The Terrainator is limited to areas of the world where it has accurate terrain data.

3d Marathon Mapping

The Catalina Eco Marathon is a grueling race through some pretty tough mountainous terrain. It isn't easy to convey just how how hard the Catalina Eco Marathon can be to run but Mapbox have given it a good try with their interactive map of the course.

The Catalina Eco Marathon Map uses MapboxGL's new extrude property to overlay a 3d elevation chart over the course of the marathon route. The elevation chart visualizes just how steep parts of the course actually are. The 3d elevation route is itself interactive and you can mouse-over sections of the course to find out the elevation at any point.

The map includes an inset panel which displays a 2d elevation chart of the course. You can interactive with this chart to find out the elevation and distance of different parts of the course. The 2d chart is also synchronized to the map, which means that the map view also updates to show the location of the selected part of the marathon course.

How the World is Connected

The countries of the world are connected in many ways. There are the transportation links that allow us to travel from one country to another. There are the global communication networks which allow us to speak with people on the other side of the world. There are also transnational pipelines and electricity grids which allow countries to import and export power.

Exploring the World of Connectivity shows some of the massive infrastructure networks that make possible global communication, travel and energy exchange. The infrastructure networks displayed on the map are based on those outlined in Parag Khanna’s book 'Connectography - Mapping the Future of Global Civilization'.

The mapped networks are categorized into the three main areas of transportation, energy and communication. These different categories can be isolated on the map by using the filters in the map sidebar. Each of the three categories are subdivided into individual infrastructure networks which can also be selected using the filters in the map sidebar.

Mapping London's Winter Wonderland

If you are visiting London this winter you can look forward to ice skating at Somerset House, the Christmas market on the South Bank, the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square and the Christmas lights decorating Oxford Streets.

London Covered by glh Hotels is a nice interactive map of things that you can see and do in London this winter. It is also a clever way of marketing glh's London Hotels. The map shows the locations of London's special winter events, ice skating rinks and winter markets. It also shows the location of some of the best stores to visit to complete your Christmas shopping.

As you browse the map you can add any of the points of interest that you fancy to your own personal itinerary. You can, of course, also book your stay in any of the featured glh hotels.

The map itself is a nice custom designed map with neat illustrations of the featured points of interest. The custom map has been made interactive using the Mapplic mapping library. Mapplic is a mapping library which is particular effective in creating interactive maps from your own custom made maps or images.

How to Map Your Videos

You might have seen the Scottish Mountain Biking Trails map, featured earlier this week on Maps Mania. Scottish Mountain Bike Trails provides video tours of Scottish mountain bike trails, in which each video is synchronized to a Cesium map. This means that as the headcam video of a trail plays you can follow the action on a map of the same trail.

If the Scottish Mountain Biking Trails map has inspired you to think about mapping your own videos then you might want to have a look at Map Channel's new Video Maps creation tool. Using Video Maps you can easily create your own video journey map, in which your video is synchronized to a Google Map,

To create a Video Map you need to have a YouTube video of a journey or trip. You also need to have a GPX file of the same journey in order to map the locations in the video to the Google Map. If you have the video and the GPX file you just need to share them with Map Channels and Video Maps will do all the rest.

Your finished Video Map includes your video, two different Google Map views (map & oblique 'Bird's Eye' view), Street View and an elevation chart. When you press play on the video the two maps and the Street View automatically update to show the current location in the accompanying video.

The Occult Map of London

Throughout history the streets of London have been haunted by a number of ghoulish figures. In the nineteenth century the fire breathing, metal clawed Spring-Heeled Jack would stalk the streets of South London attacking helpless pedestrians. In the twentieth century it was the Vampyre of Highgate who stalked the grounds of Highgate Cemetery.

You can learn more about London's ghoulish past on History Today's mapped Guide to Occult London. The guide uses Knightlab's StoryMapJS platform to tell the stories of the people, myths, and places in London’s occult history. Many of the examples of occult locations on the map also feature links to previous articles on the subject on the History Today website.

If your heart can take more frightful tales of London then you might also like Grim London, an interactive map plotting and recounting the history of some of London's most spine-chilling events and apparitions.

Mapping the Universe

The Gleamoscope interactive map allows you to explore the Milky Way across the range of electromagnetic frequencies. It allows you to view the night sky in a way that isn't visible to the naked eye.

Humans can only see a very small part of the electromagnetic spectrum (visible light). Astronomers therefore use telescopes that are able to detect different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. Gleamoscope allows you to view the results of the all-sky survey from the Murchison Widefield Array telescope in Western Australia. The different electromagnetic frequencies are represented on the map using false colors, representing the data from wavelengths we can’t see as colors that we can see.

If you right-click on a location on the Gleamoscope map you can view the selected part of the Milky Way in more detail on either the Wikisky or WorldWideTelescope interactive maps.

The Homeless of LA

In January the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority carried out a survey of the homeless in Los Angeles County. The survey estimated that there were 44,359 homeless living in the county, which is an increase of 12% since 2013.

The Los Angeles Times has released a dot map from the survey, revealing the distribution of homeless people throughout the county. Each dot on the Where are L.A. County’s Homeless? map represents one homeless person or a makeshift shelter or vehicle occupied by the homeless.

The dots do not represent the exact location of homeless people in the county but are randomized throughout each census tract. If you select a census tract on the map you can view a breakdown of the number of homeless counted in the neighborhood.

You can read more about the census and its results in an accompanying LA Times' article L.A. County has its most accurate count yet of its homeless population.

Mapping Car Accidents in Birmingham

The Open Transport EU Car Accidents map is a visualization of 28,519 car accidents in the UK city of Birmingham. The map uses Open Transport EU's own WebGLayer JavaScript library for exploring coordinated multiple views of location data.

As well as the heatmap the Open Transport EU Car Accidents map includes a number of interactive graphs which show the number of car accidents in the city by day of the week, time of day, severity of accident, the speed limit and by date.

Each of these graphs can also be used to explore the data in detail. Using the graphs to filter the results shown on the map means that you can view accident hot-spots in Birmingham by time of day, day of the week etc.

Thank Sampson County this Thanksgiving

If you live in North Carolina there is a good chance that your Thanksgiving turkey comes from Sampson County. According to the USDA farm census Sampson County sold 16,394,921 turkeys in 2006.

If you want to know where your turkey, sweet potatoes, green berries and cranberries were raised or grown then you should browse Esri's Where Did Your Thanksgiving Dinner Come From? interactive map. To find out where America's Thanksgiving foods come from just select one of the foods from Esri's Thanksgiving plate. You can then view a map showing where that food is raised or grown across the United States.

This Thanksgiving America will consume around 250 million turkeys, millions of barrels of cranberries and hundreds of thousands of acres worth of green beans. Smithsonian created this interactive map so that you know who to thank for your Thanksgiving meal.

Mapping Montreal's Hot Spot of Crime

The Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest is the robbery center of Montreal. At least that is one conclusion that can be drawn from a new interactive crime map of the city.

Vue Sur la Sécurité Publique is an interactive map of crimes reported to the police in Montreal since the beginning of 2015. The map allows you to view the locations of a number of different crimes that have been reported to the police over the last two years.

Using the map's filter controls you can select different date ranges and also view different types of crime on the map. If you select to view only the crime of theft ('vol qualifie') the map reveals a distinct hot-spot of crime all along the Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest.

One of the dangers of crime maps is that neighborhoods and streets may be stigmatized as hot-spots of crime based on inaccurate data The accuracy of crime data depends on a number of different factors, including victims actually reporting crime, the police accurately recording the data and the data being accurately plotted to the correct location.

The danger of errors in mapping crime was highlighted in this Seismograph San Francisco Bike Theft Map. While creating a map of bike thefts in San Francisco Seismograph found that 850 Bryant Street was a curious hot-spot of bike crime in the Californian city. It turns out that 850 Bryant Street is actually the address of a police station. Stolen bikes with no location data were simply plotted by the police to the address of the reporting police station. 850 Bryant Street is therefore the bike theft equivalent of Null Island in San Francisco and not a real hot-spot of stolen bikes.

It is entirely possible therefore that the Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest in Montreal is not a cesspit of crime. I strongly suspect that the curiously large number of thefts on the Rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest is a result of an anomaly in the way that crime is reported to or recorded by the police in Montreal.

Scotland's Mountain Bike Trails

Scottish Mountain Biking Trails uses the Cesium 3d mapping library to show the location of all of Scotland's mountain bike trail centers. The site also provides video tours of every single mountain bike trail on the map

If you select a marker associated with a mountain biking center on the map you can view details of the facilities available. Each route of a center's available mountain bike trails are shown on the map using colored lines. The colors of these lines indicate each trail's grade (based on the grades used in cross country skiing).

The killer feature of the Scottish Mountain Biking Trails map is the headcam video tours of each of the bike trails. If you click on a bike trail on the map you can watch a YouTube video of someone riding the whole trail. The video is synced to the map. This means that as the video plays the 3d map view animates to show you the current location in the video. If you select the video icon in the video window you can switch the video to full screen and the map to the smaller window (click it again to switch back to view the 3d map in the larger window).

Hiking with Street View

The Anacostia Tributary Trail System allows you to explore nearly 63 miles of hiking trails along and around the Anacostia River with 360 degree panoramic imagery. The map shows all the available trails in the system and allows you to virtually walk each and every trail with custom street view imagery.

The street view imagery includes a handy automatic play feature that allows you to take a virtual hike along any of the trails. After you have selected a trail from the main map you can just press the play button and sit back and watch as an animated tour takes you through all the available panoramic imagery. An elevation chart of the trail is shown along the bottom of the panoramic imagery. You can jump to any location in the trail by clicking on the trail's elevation chart.

The panoramic imagery for the Anacostia Tributary Trail System was provided by Terrain360. You can explore many other 360 degree panoramic image tours of trails throughout the United States on the Terrain360 website.

Mapped Picture Search

Pic4Carto is an easy and simple way to find open sourced photographs of any location in the world. Simply click on the Pic4Carto interactive map and you can find photographs of that location from Flickr, Mapillary and Wikimedia.

Pic4Carto has been designed to help OpenStreetMap editors add details to the world map. It enables OSM editors to quickly find street level photographs of any location. These photographs can then be used to identify the precise location of objects to map, such as fire hydrants, benches, streetlamps and postboxes. However Pic4Carto can also be used by anyone who wants to search for open sourced photographs by specific location.

You can search Pic4Carto by simply zooming into a location on the map or you can use the inbuilt search engine. You can then define your search area by selecting from the cell grid overlaid on the map.

Dutch Immigration

German and Belgian born residents of the Netherlands don't like to stray too far from their respective motherlands. The Multicultikaart interactive map of foreign born residents of the Netherlands shows that both German and Belgian born residents are most concentrated along the borders of the country where they were born.

The Multicultikaart uses data from the Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics to show where first generation immigrants live in the Netherlands. The map also allows you to select individual countries to show where abouts first generation immigrants from that country live in the Netherlands.

You can select individual municipalities on the map to view a breakdown of the foreign born population living in that area. When you select a region on the map you can view a list of countries where first generation immigrants in the area were born. This list includes the number of immigrants from each country living in the selected region.

Alternative Energy in the UK

The UK Data Explorer has released an interactive map of Operational UK Renewable Electricity Sites. The map shows the location of wind farms, hydroelectric power stations, solar farms and other forms of renewable energy.

The markers are color coded on the map by type of renewable energy and are sized to represent the maximum power output of the renewable energy site. You can click on the different types of renewable energy plant in the map sidebar to filter the map to only show the selected type of energy provider.

If you use the filtering tools you can see how the majority of onshore wind and hydroelectricity production is located in Scotland, while solar energy is concentrated mainly in the south of England.

The 3D Map of the Cultural Landscape

The Google Arts and Culture team has teamed up with digital interaction artist Cyril Diagne to create a 3D map from hundreds of thousands of individual works of art.

The t-SNE Map creates a 3d virtual landscape from thousands of paintings shared with Google by art museums and galleries across the globe. The map uses Machine Learning algorithms to organize the artworks by visual similarity. The more visually similar artworks sppear to each other the closer they are shown on the map.

You can view individual works of art by zooming in on the map. The map also includes a 'Guided Tour' which provides quick links to zoom and pan the map to categorized groups of similar artworks on the map.

How Big is Trump's Wall?

President-elect Donald Trump has presumably begun the detailed construction plans for the Trump Wall and started to send out the invoices to Mexico for the construction costs. From Donald Trump's detailed policy plans we know that the Trump Wall will be up to 15 meters high, made of concrete and steel (but also possibly fencing) and will be 3,200 kilometers long.

If you are having difficulty envisioning just how far 3,200 kilometers is then you can use the Berliner Morgenpost's interactive map. The Trump Wall Comparison Map allows you to overlay an outline of Trump's proposed border wall between the USA and Mexico on any location on Earth.

To move the wall to another location you just need to drag the wall's handle around on the map. The Berliner Morgenpost's interactive compensates for the Mercator projection used in the map by adjusting the size of the wall depending on its latitude.

The Periodic Table Interactive Map

The Periodic Table Map is an interactive map of the periodic table. The table uses the familiar controls used in interactive maps (zooming & panning) to allow you to explore and discover information about the chemical elements.

As you zoom in on the periodic table map more information is revealed about each of the chemical elements. Zoom right in on an element on the map and you can view images, video and the Wikipedia entry about the element.

The map also includes a number of filter options, You can use these options to view the known periodic table for any historical year or to filter the map to only show specific categories of elements. It is also possible to filter the map to show the state of elements (solid, liquid or gas) for any chosen temperature.

The 3D Ski Map

The Mammoth Mountain ski resort in California has released an impressive trail map which allows you to explore the mountain in glorious 3d.

The Mammoth Mountain Interactive Trail Map shows the location of ski trails and ski lifts. You can find quick links to trails and lifts in the sidebar menu. Clicking on any of these inks will pan and zoom the map to your selected location. You can also explore the map in freestyle by using your mouse's right button to drag the 3d perspective around (use double touch on a phone or tablet).

If you aren't a skier then you can view a 3d summer view of the mountain instead. Use the winter and summer buttons at the top right to switch between the two seasonal 3d views of the mountain.

Memorial for Planet Earth

Now that chief climate change denier Myron Ebell has been appointed to lead the overhaul of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) it might be a good time to begin the grieving process for planet Earth. If you are not ready to mourn the loss of the planet then you might want to spare a thought for all the endangered and extinct species of life.

What is Missing? is a global map and timeline of animal species around the world that have either become or are in danger of becoming extinct. What is Missing? includes both a global map and a timeline view of these animal species. In both the map and timeline view you can select any of the individual markers to learn more about the individual endangered or extinct animal species,

What is Missing? includes a number of videos and stories providing information about some of the planet's most endangered species. It also includes information about actions that you can take as an individual to help protect endangered animals, prevent habitat loss and reduce emissions.

San Francisco Commuting Times

Commutometer is an isochrone map which shows you how far you can commute on public transit in San Francisco within a set time limit. Click anywhere on this map of San Francisco and you can find out how far you can commute from that location using the city's public transit system.

To find out how far you can commute you just need to select a location on the map. Use the slide control to select the number of minutes of your commute. An isochrone layer is then drawn on the map to show where in the city you could commute in the entered time. This isochrone layer can also be configured to display a color gradient showing how far you can travel in 5 minute stages.

Commutometer can also be used to find the quickest public transit route between two locations. If you click on the map twice the map will display the quickest route for that journey, including details about how long the journey should take.

Mapping the Supermoon

This evening, if we have clear skies, you will be able to view the largest appearing supermoon since 1948. A 'supermoon' is when a full moon coincides with the moon's closest approach to the Earth.

Finding the moon isn't very difficult. You really only have to look skywards. However if you need some help you can always use Mooncalc to discover in which direction you should be looking. Mooncalc maps the motion of the moon and the moon's phase for any day, time and location.

To find out the position of the moon you just need to share your current location with Mooncalc. You can then use the time slide control to find out the position of the moon for any time of the day. Mooncalc can also tell you when the moon will rise and set and its elevation. You can also use the calendar control to find out the phase of the moon and its position for any other date.

Maps of the Fortnight

If you are looking for a little escapism at the end of this momentous week then how about undertaking a virtual hike along the Grand Canyon. Earlier this year Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko walked 875 miles along the Grand Canyon. National Geographic has created a wonderful story map which allows you to follow this epic journey on a fantastic interactive map.

As you scroll through Hiking the Grand Canyon you get to follow the route of this 70 day hike on a gloriously rendered map of the journey. As you progress through the hike the map includes stunning video footage and photos that the two hikers captured on their expedition. Text overlays also keep you up to date with the trials and tribulations experienced on this epic adventure.

The map itself provides a beautiful oblique relief view of the National Park. The map even changes color as you progress through the story. Check out the wonderful rendering of snow as Pete and Kevin battle the elements on their wonderful adventure.


Another way to escape might be to step back in time and explore the streets of 1920's New York on Google Maps. The Fantastical Beasts Magical Map uses the power of Street View to transport you through space and time to a New York where Muggles and wizards stand on the brink of war.

Using the Fantastical Beast Magical Map you can explore a number of locations from the new Harry Potter prequel movie 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them'. The movie is set in 1920's New York and the map allows you to step inside and view some of the movie's most important locations using Google's 360 degree panoramic imagery.

This isn't the first time that J.K. Rowling's magical world has appeared on Google Maps. Fans of Harry Potter can also explore Diagon Alley on Street View. If you use Google Maps to slip through the secret door in the Leaky Cauldron pub you will find yourself transported to Diagon Alley on Street View.


The Digital Elevation Model from Hell is an Esri relief map which shows areas of low elevation as they might appear if the gates to hell are thrown open. On this map the molten crevasses of the Underworld have consumed anyone who hasn't taken the higher ground.

If you scroll to the bottom of this Esri Story Map you can view the molten color gradient used to style this DEM. This molten color gradient is similar to an effect which you can duplicate with Mapbox Studio. Mapsmith has a nice tutorial which explains how you can create a map inspired by neon signs by overlaying different colored polylines on top of each other. You can view Mapsmith's completed Neon Map here.

Mapping the History of American Elections

The first American presidential election was held between December 15th 1788 and January 10th 1789. The winner was the non-partisan George Washington. Time's How America Voted in Every Election Since 1824 doesn't quite go back that far in history but it does show the electoral college history for every U.S. election since John Quincy Adams was elected president in 1824.

The 1824 election was the first time that a candidate won the presidency without receiving a plurality of the vote. One eventual outcome of this was that Andrew Jackson (who won the popular vote) eventually led a faction which split from the Democratic-Republican party to form the Democratic Party.

The Time animated map showing how America has voted in every election since 1824 colors each state in each election by the party of the candidate who won the most votes. You can hover over a state on the map to see which candidate won in the chosen year and how many electoral college votes that they won.

Mapping School Funding Cuts

The UK government's 'Fair Funding' reforms for schools will mean that in real terms 92% of UK schools will see cuts in their funding. You can find out which of your local schools will lose out and by how much on this new interactive map.

The National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers has released the School Cuts interactive map. Using the map you can find out how much your local schools will suffer under the government's new funding regime. Enter your postcode and local schools will be shown on the map using '+' and '-' markers. The '+' markers show schools that will see an increase in funding. The '-' markers show schools that will experience cuts in real terms (you are unlikely to see a '+' marker on the map).

If you select a school on the map you can find out how much money that school is losing. You can also view how much money that is per pupil and how many teachers could be lost (based on the average teacher's salary).

Where Trump Won

Before the U.S. presidential election a number of comparisons were made by commentators between the emergence of Donald Trump and the Brexit vote in the UK. Now that America has voted we can see that there seem to be many similarities in the types of voters who supported Trump and those who voted to leave the EU in the United Kingdom.

In both the UK and the U.S. what many are calling the 'anti-establishment' vote was strongest in rural areas, while both Trump and Brexit proved far less popular in the inner cities. The reasons for this discrepancy is probably best explained by exploring the huge economic and demographic differences in these two environments.

Bloomberg has created a series of maps visualizing how different demographic groups voted across America. The maps in The Voters Who Gave Trump the White House show that Hilary Clinton was the more popular candidate in the country's wealthiest areas. Trump however outperformed Clinton in lower and middle income areas. Trump was also far more popular in white, lower educated and rural areas of America. He also gained far more support from voters who describe their ancestry as 'American'.

In The Voters Who Gave Trump the White House the New York Times has mapped where Donald Trump surpassed Mitt Romney in America. Trump made huge gains in rural America. Clinton was very popular in large metropolitan areas, however Trump did make huge gains in smaller cities, especially in the once industrial heartland. He was also very popular among white voters without a college education.

The outcomes of the UK's Brexit vote and the U.S. presidential election seem to show a big cultural divide in both countries between those who live in inner-cities and those who live in more rural areas. In both elections the anti-immigration argument appears to have proved hugely popular. Ironically it seems to have resonated most in those areas which are the least diverse.

The rural white, lower income, less educated populations of both countries appear to feel left behind by what they see as the establishment elite. The political right in the USA and the UK have found an easy scapegoat to blame for the problems of those who feel left behind in both countries. At the moment the left appears to be struggling to provide an alternative argument as to how they will address the concerns of those who used to be their core support.

America Goes to the Devil

Sometimes it feels like America has descended into even deeper levels of hell. At such times you need the Digital Elevation Model from Hell.

The Digital Elevation Model from Hell is an Esri relief map which shows areas of low elevation as they might appear if the gates to hell had been thrown open. On this map the molten crevasses of the Underworld have consumed anyone who hasn't taken the higher ground.

Truly this is the end of days.

If you scroll to the bottom of the map you can view the molten color gradient used in this DEM. This molten color gradient is similar to an effect which you can duplicate with Mapbox Studio. Mapsmith has a nice tutorial which explains how you can create a map inspired by neon signs by overlaying different colored polylines on top of each other. You can view Mapsmith's completed Neon Map here.

Live Election Maps

The early projections are now in and it appears that traditional choropleth maps have taken a lead in media reports of live results from the U.S. election. There has been a lot of discussion during the campaign about how election maps can distort the overall picture of how America has voted. Lots of pollsters have therefore predicted that cartogram maps were going to be the big winner in this year's election.

However early results from The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Guardian suggest that the choropleth map will be the big winner in this election. The live election maps from all three newspapers allow you to view live election results for the President, the Senate and the House, coloring each election area by the party of the (projected) winner.

Early election results however can be misleading. I suspect that over the next few days, as the media carries out more detailed analysis of the results, we will see a lot more cartograms visualizing where and how American's have voted.

Mapping Possible Voting Issues

Whatever the result of today's U.S. election I suspect there will be some debate over the next few days around issues of voter fraud, suppression and intimidation. Electionland is using Google Trends to track voting issues around the country as they happen.

More than 650 journalism students, 450 journalists, 250 media organizations, two nonprofits and seven technology companies have come together to create the Electionland Google Trends Map. The map shows in real-time where people are using Google to search for words and issues about voting.

To create the map Electionland has compiled a list of words that people might use (in Spanish & English) to indicate voting issues while searching Google. Some of the issues that are addressed in these key words are:

• Long wait times at polling stations 
• Voting machine issues 
• Voter intimidation 
• Inactive voter status 
• Provisional ballot status

The map itself color codes the results on the map by these five different voting issues. You can also filter the map by any of these issues. Therefore, for example, you could select 'Long wait times' to view where voters could be experiencing long queues before casting their vote. A drop down menu allows you to zoom in on any state to give you a view of the apparent voting issues in the selected state.

The History of Leather

The University of Saskatchewan's Trading Consequences project is studying the historical, economical and environmental impact of international commodity trading in the British Empire during the 19th century. The project uses text-mined spatial data and trade statistics from historical records to help analyse the growth and impact of the British Empire on international trade.

Mapping Supply Chains for Nineteenth Century Leather uses the SourceMap supply chain mapping platform to visualize how the UK's leather tanning industry developed in the nineteenth century. In the eighteenth century the tanning industry depended largely on mostly localized sources of raw materials but developed during the nineteenth century into a global commodity network, sourcing raw materials and exporting finished products around the world.

The project uses a series of supply chain maps to show how the UK's leather tanning industry developed into a global industry during the nineteenth century. It includes four maps showing the growing network of supply chains in the tanning industry through time as the British Empire grew and exerted its influence around the world.

Election for Sale

MapD's US Political Donations map allows you to explore the donations made to the Democratic and Republican parties dating back to 2001. The map includes a number of tools which allow you to filter the map by political party, by recipient and by date.

After filtering the map by party and date you can explore details of the donations received using the markers on the map. If you select the colored markers on the map you can view details on the amount of the donation, the name of the recipient & recipient's party and the name of the donor. It is also possible to share a link to your personally filtered map.

The MapD blog has used the map to pick out a number of interesting stories that emerge from the map. These stories include an analysis of the types of donations received by both Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Mapping the Journey of New York's Trash

Every year New York produces over 14 million tons of trash. That garbage gets collected every week by 1,668 city collection trucks. From there New York's rubbish is taken to one of the city’s waste transfer stations. Most of it is then loaded onto trains and barges and shipped to landfill sites or to waste-to-energy plants.

You can now follow the journey of New York city's waste on an interactive map, created for The Guardian by Blueshift. The Long Journey of New York City's Waste plots the path of New York's trash from each of the city's neighborhoods to its final destination. As the animation plays out you can follow the journey of the city's solid waste, paper and glass/plastic/metal. The map also shows you how much waste is generated by each of the city's neighborhoods.

You can learn more about how New York's City's trash is collected, where it is processed and where it all ends up on The Guardian's accompanying article.

The Gerrymandered States of America

I have a feeling that election maps are going to feature quite a lot this coming week. So let's get the ball rolling with an interactive map from the Washington Post which gives a gerrymandered score for each congressional district in the United States.

The Washington Post has determined the gerrymandered score of each district based on the "ratio of the district area to the area of a circle with the same perimeter". The result of this rough analysis is that districts which follow a regular shape tend to be more compact and score low on this ratio, while districts which have a lot of squiggles and offshoots score highly and are rated as being more gerrymandered.

The How Gerrymandered is your Congressional District? map colors each congressional district based on this gerrymandered score. You can mouse-over each district on the map to view its gerrymandered score, the state average score and the name & party of the district's representative. You can also read a little more about how the scores were determined and which states have the most gerrymandered districts in the Post's article on America's Most Gerrymandered Congressional Districts.

Mapping New York's Trees

The New York City Parks Department's 2015 tree census recorded 209 species of trees in New York and 666,134 trees in total. You can explore the results of the census on a new interactive map.

The New York City Street Tree Map uses Leaflet.js to show the location of every New York city tree. Using the map you can search through the records of New York's trees by location, by species and by size. Each tree is colored on the map by species. The size of the marker is scaled to reflect the trunk size of each tree.

If you select a tree on the map you can view details on the tree's species, size and its closest address. You can also view an image of the tree from Google Maps Street View. You can learn more about individual species of tree by using the species filter. The species filter not only allows you to select to view an individual species of tree on the map but to also read a detailed description of the species in the map sidebar.

Hiking the Grand Canyon

Earlier this year Pete McBride and Kevin Fedarko walked 875 miles along the Grand Canyon. National Geographic has created a wonderful story map which allows you to follow this epic journey through the Grand Canyon.

As you scroll through Hiking the Grand Canyon you get to follow the route of this 70 day hike on a gloriously rendered map of the journey. As you progress through the hike the map includes stunning video footage and photos that the two hikers captured on their expedition. Text overlays also keep you up to date with the trials and tribulations experienced on this epic adventure.

The map itself provides a beautiful oblique relief view of the National Park. The map even changes color as you progress through the story. Check out the wonderful rendering of snow as Pete and Kevin battle the elements on their wonderful adventure.

Juan Mata Maps the World

Manchester United star Juan Mata is not only a world class football player he is also a part-time amateur cartographer. When he isn't busy on the Old Trafford pitch he likes to relax by tinkering with the Google Maps API.

You can check out his latest effort on the El Matamundi. The map locates every football stadium around the world where he has played during his long career. The map looks a little basic but Juam Mata seems to have already learnt how to effectively use Google Maps Styles to customize the colors of the map. He also knows how to use marker clustering to display a large number of markers on one map.

I guess that Juan Mata might actually pay some developers to maintain and run his website. So, although Mata tweeted that "Football gave me the chance of getting to know plenty of stadiums. I've located and compiled them on Mata's WorldMap", he might actually not have made the map himself.

Nevertheless I'm going to dig out my old football boots from the back of the cupboard. If Juan Mata can make maps then I don't see why I shouldn't give professional football a go.

ISS Spotting

NASA has released a new interactive map which makes it much easier to spot the International Space Station as it orbits the Earth. The map can tell you the best times to see the ISS, where you need to look and how long it will be visible.

Share your location with the Spot the Station map and you can view details on the best dates and times to view the ISS. The map also tells you where to look in the sky and the length of time that the space station will be visible.

You can also view these details on Astro Viewer, a real-time Google Map tracking the position of the ISS. Astro Viewer not only allows you to view the current position of the ISS on a map but also allows you to view a list of the next sighting opportunities for your location, with a visibility indicator that predicts the brightness of the ISS on its pass.


If you get tired of looking up at the sky then you might want to check out the view from the International Space Station as it looks down on Earth. The ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment provides a live video stream of Earth that is broadcast from the ISS.

Since this video broadcast went live there have been a number of applications released which have embedded the USTREAM video on top of maps showing the current location of the ISS above the Earth.

One of the best maps of the ISS HD Earth Viewing Experiment is ISS Live, a beautiful WebGL Earth visualization showing the position of the International Space Station alongside ISS's live view of the Earth.

Another interesting map of the live video stream and the position of the ISS is radioISS. This map allows you to view the ISS HD Earth Viewing video while listening to radio stations from around the world. As the International Space Station travels around the Earth radioISS automatically tunes into radio stations from the country that the ISS is currently flying over (or from countries nearby).

The Only Election Map You Need

Nate Silver rightfully earned a lot of plaudits for successfully forecasting the outcome in 49 of the 50 states in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. However, if you want to know who will win next week's presidential election, you should ignore FiveThirtyEight and ask an elementary school pupil instead.

Between now and November 4th elementary school children across America will be casting their votes in the Every Kid Votes! mock presidential election. The mock election is a great way for kids to actively learn about the American political system. Adults might also be able to learn a little something from the results of this mock election - as elementary school kids, participating in Every Kid Votes!, have predicted the winning candidate in the last three presidential elections.

Which is good news for Hilary Clinton. The Every Kid Votes! Election Map currently shows Clinton on target to win 367 electoral votes and Trump to win 165. That's a landslide for the Democratic candidate. However Donald Trump still has a couple of days left before all the elementary kids have cast their vote.

Just don't tell Cartonerd about this map. I'm sure he would like nothing more than to break the hearts of a million school children by writing a scathing critique of the Every Kid Votes! election map.

Fantastic Beasts on Street View

You can now step back in time and explore the streets of 1920's New York on Google Maps. The Fantastical Beasts Magical Map uses the power of Street View to transport you through space and time to a New York where Muggles and wizards stand on the brink of war.

Using the Fantastical Beast Magical Map you can explore a number of locations from the new Harry Potter prequel movie, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The movie is set in 1920's New York and the map allows you to step inside and view some of the movie's most important locations using Google's 360 degree panoramic imagery.

There are four scenes in all which you can explore in Street View on this Magical Map. They include the Blind Pig club, the Steen National Bank, the home of the Goldsteins and the Magical Congress of the United States of America.

This isn't the first time that J.K. Rowling's magical world has appeared on Google Maps. Fans of Harry Potter can also explore Diagon Alley on Street View. If you use Google Maps to slip through the secret door in the Leaky Cauldron pub you will find yourself transported to Diagon Alley on Street View.

The Languages of New York

Languages of NYC is a fascinating map showing the most frequently spoken languages at home in New York City at census tract level.

English and Spanish are the most frequently spoken languages in most of New York's homes. However Languages of NYC includes the option to exclude English or English & Spanish speakers from the map, which allows you to see what other languages are most frequently spoken in New York neighborhoods.

The map also allows you to view the distribution of individual languages on the map. Using the check boxes in the map side panel you can select to view the census tracts where any language, or combination of languages, is most frequently spoken. It is also possible to hover over individual census tracts on the map to see the most frequently spoken language (excluding English & Spanish).