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Explore a world of maps this Geography Awareness Week

On GIS Day, delve into Geographic Information Systems, the technology that analyzes and maps all types of data

by Jennifer Nerad

The #30DayMapChallenge offers a new theme each day in November. For day 13’s prompt, “10 Minute Map,” Professor Aquila Flower created a map showing the age of buildings in Bellingham from 1880 to 2022, using publicly accessible data.

We are in the middle of Geography Awareness Week, the annual celebration of geography, and today, Nov. 19, is GIS Day!  

GIS (Geographic Information System) is a technology used to create, manage, analyze, and map all types of data, to integrate where things are with what things are there. GIS is used in science and almost every industry to help people understand patterns, relationships, and geographic context.  

Alongside cartographers around the world, Professor of Geography Aquila Flower, the director of WWU’s Spatial Institute — the interdisciplinary center for environmental and spatial research housed in the College of the Environment — is using GIS to create maps all month long for the 30-Day Map Challenge. 

With a new prompt every day, we are “mapsolutely“ certain you will enjoy these highlights. Flower is sharing her maps on LinkedIn, but you can follow along with the hashtag #30DayMapChallenge on your social media platform of choice.  

 

For day 17’s prompt, “A New Tool,“ inspired this visualization of average wind flow in January over the Salish Sea Bioregion.

For day 17’s prompt, “A New Tool,“ Flower used ArcGIS Online’s flow renderer for the first time to create a visualization of average wind flow in January over the Salish Sea Bioregion. It highlights interesting differences in wind direction in the area. You can see this moving visualization in full flow on ArcGIS. 

 

For day 15’s prompt, “Fire,” Flower compiled all the fire perimeters since 1880 recorded in five databases.

For day 15’s prompt, “Fire,” Flower compiled all the fire perimeters since 1880 recorded in five databases. The temperate rain forests of the Salish Sea bioregion are often assumed to be too wet to burn, but fire is actually an important part of the ecosystem.  

 

For Day 10’s prompt, “Air,” Flower shared maps that compare historical and projected late-21st-century surface air temperature in the Salish Sea region.

For day 10’s prompt, “Air,” Flower shared some maps that the Spatial Institute published in “Climate Change in the Salish Sea Region: Historical and Projected Future Trends in Temperature and Precipitation,” as part of the Salish Sea Institute’s Emerging Issues series. This map compares historical and projected late-21st-century surface air temperature in the Salish Sea region. 

 

For day 12’s prompt, “2125,” Flower shared a map of projected relative sea level rise in the Salish Sea by the year 2100 (not quite 2125, but close).

For day 12’s prompt, “2125,” Flower shared a map of projected relative sea level rise in the Salish Sea by the year 2100 (not quite 2125, but close). In contrast with absolute sea level rise, relative sea level rise takes into account tectonic movement that may increase or decrease the amount of sea level rise experienced at a given location along the coast.  

 

For day 5’s prompt, “Earth,” Flower shared a map of the Salish Sea and its coastal watersheds as if everything was land, with no sea at all.

For day 5’s prompt, “Earth,” Flower shared a map of the Salish Sea and its coastal watersheds as if everything was land, with no sea at all.   

 

Learn more about geography and GIS through WWU’s Spatial Institute, the interdisciplinary center for environmental and spatial research housed in the College of the Environment (CENV). For more maps of the Salish Sea Bioregion, explore the Salish Sea Atlas.

Jennifer Nerad covers Western's College of the Environment and College of Business and Economics for the Office of University Communications. Have a great story idea? Reach out to her at neradj@wwu.edu.