Maptonics - News

Catch-up!

2/11/2020

A little while since the last posting, but have been busy!
Recently been undertaking GIS analysis on a major public consultation for Harlow Council, and also for leisure facility needs assessments for both Adur and Worthing Councils in Sussex

New projects in Worcestershire and Gloucestershire

6/25/2018

In conjunction with Ethos Environmental Planning Ltd, Maptonics is working on new GIS related projects for Stroud District Council, and for three local authorities comprising the South Worcestershire joint local plan partnership.

World's tallest buildings

8/14/2017

Trump Tweets: POTUS feed

5/24/2017

Rare Earth Metals: the economics, politics, and geography behind the ‘new gold’

4/12/2017

River systems and their management

3/5/2017

There are estimated to be 36,403 km of river in England. This excludes smaller drainage tracts, and static water bodies such as lakes and reservoirs. The figure is (very roughly) the circumference of the planet. This map summarises England's river systems and how they are managed.

Global urbanisation

2/5/2017

This map and accompany table show the estimated and projected population change in 40 of 590 major urban centres across the planet, between 1950 and 2050. It is based on UN commissioned research published in 2007: 10 years old now, but still relevant for showing overall trends. Data were collected from national census surveys where available, so the picture is not quite complete. Patterns of global population growth and urbanisation are completely different compared with the 19th and early to mid-20th Century. Europe's once great centres of industry are no longer among the world's largest cities. Most of the future growth in urban areas globally will be in low and middle income countries. The major focus of change is now emphatically in parts of Asia, Africa and South America. People and Societies cohere into urban areas for many reasons, and there are huge social, cultural, educational, and technological advantages in so-doing. Focusing human population in one place can also be effective in conserving natural resources, and in efficient use of energy. But urbanisation also presents immense problems, as this chart describes.

January 23rd, 2017

1/23/2017

Map	This self-explanatory map shows where a lot of your mess goes... it might surprise you. You are welcome to download and use as an educational resource.

A dangerous but beautiful planet

1/4/2017

The earth is covered in enormous and irregular shaped rocks (known as plates) that are part of the Earth’s lithosphere (crust and mantle). Major plates tend to be greater than 20 million km2 in area. Minor plates are less than 20 million km2 in size but greater than one million km2. Plates that are smaller than one million km2 are known as microplates. This map shows only major plates. The juxtaposition and forces driving these major plates produces spectacular, awe-inspiring, and sometimes devastating effects. This map can be downloaded and used as a student teaching aid.

Warning- incoming Santa!

12/23/2016

Warning- incoming Santa!

Every year NORAD sets its sights on Santa.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) is a United States and Canada bi-national organization charged with the missions of aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America. Aerospace warning includes the detection, validation, and warning of attack against North America whether by aircraft, missiles, or space vehicles, through mutual support arrangements with other commands.

NORAD meticulously tracks the flightpath of Santa into and over the North American continent; his fate is up to NORAD to determine. Set against the cutting edge defence mechanisms NORAD has at its disposal (satellites, tracking stations, missiles, jets) Santa is ill-equipped. He may be able to drop a handful of tinsel to confuse radar signals; he might be able to unwrap and deploy gifted drones to act as decoys, but these would be ultimately of little effect.

And, as of this point there is less than one day before NORAD identifies and begins to track Santa, and the clock is ticking: see http://www.noradsanta.org/.

But Santa is safe, as NORAD’s intention is benign and is simply to ensure Santa and his sleigh safe passage in his task over the coming hours.

The Santa Claus tracking tradition started in 1955 after a local newspaper ran an ad for a department store Santa hot line. The ad included a special phone number- the rumour has it that the number was either a misprint, or a child dialled it incorrectly; either way children were being put through to the operations hot line to Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor.
The senior officer on duty at the time was Air Force Col. Harry Shoup. He took the first call and quickly figured out what had happened. When kids asked if they could speak to Santa, Shoup said he was helping Santa and told the kids his officers could see Santa on the radar screens as he headed south from the North Pole.

Local media heard of the calls and reported the story. The next year, calls came flooding in to Continental Air Defense Command from children who wanted to know where Santa was. A tradition was born -- a tradition NORAD assumed in 1957. Since then, the program has expanded gradually over the years until it hit the Internet in 1997 with one million hits.

(Thanks to the Norad.org.uk website for some of the above.)