Thursday, March 28, 2024

The SpaceX Starlink Map

animated globe showing the 5,601 Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth

StarLinkMap is a new real-time animated map of the 5,601 satellites currently orbiting the Earth as part of Starlink's huge satellite internet constellation.

Starlink's megaconstellation of satellites, built and operated by SpaceX, provides high-speed broadband to even the most remote corners of the globe. Launched in 2019, Starlink boasts over 5,000 satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), and eventually plans to expand to over 42,000 satellites. Starlink satellites orbit Earth at a much lower altitude than traditional communication satellites. This lower orbit translates to significantly reduced signal latency, meaning that they can offer faster internet speeds.

The StarLinkMap shows the real-time location of all 5,601 satellites in the Starlink constellation. Select any one of these 5,601 satellites on the map and you can view its number and the path of its orbit. Even if you select the 'Live' view you can see the individual satellites orbiting the Earth. However, if you select the '16x' speed option, it is much easier to see the satellites moving relative to the Earth. 

As well as the interactive real-time map SarLinkMap includes a dashboard which provides a wealth of information about Starlink, including information on the launch of the last Starlink satellite and when the next satellite is due to be launched.



You can also follow the orbits of Starlink satellites on the Satellite Map. This map also consists of a 3D globe of the Earth showing the real-time location in space of all Starlink satellites. 

A search option on the Satellite Map allows you to find any individual satellite on the map by name. You can even use the 'Settings' menu to filter the satellites shown on the map by individual SpaceX launches. The settings menu also allows you to switch between the 3D globe view and a 2D Mercator map projection.

As well as visualizing the huge Starlink constellation in real-time the Satellite Map also shows the locations of Oneweb and GPS satellites.

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Solar Symbology

an animated US map of the April 8th solar eclipse
The one thing that you are guaranteed to see before a solar eclipse is lots of maps. With just over a month to go before April 8th's total solar eclipse new solar eclipse maps are being released almost daily. 

The Spanish Language television network Univision has released an interactive map which is very similar to the Bloomberg eclipse map (see below) but is even better. Like Bloomerg's map the Univision 2024 Total Solar Eclipse map uses solar symbols to show how much of the sun will be obscured according to both time and location.

As you can see in the animated screenshot above the map uses animated solar symbols to show the sun's obscuration by time for different locations across the United States and Mexico. The Univision map improves on the similar Bloomberg visualization by including a timeline control. The Bloomberg map automatically animates through the April 8th solar eclipse. The simple addition of a time slider control on the Univision map means that users can select to view the extent of the eclipse at any time for themselves.
 
a solar eclipse map with small sun symbols showing the extent of the eclipse visible across the US

Over on the Esri blog Kenneth Field has introduced his new Total Eclipse map. Kenneth's map uses small symbols to visualize the extent of the eclipse possible at different locations across the United States. Each symbol on the map shows the 'the moon’s position at the time of maximum obscuration' providing a fantastic visualization of the extent of the eclipse visible across the whole country. The map also includes a dark band which shows the path of totality across the US.

animated US map showing the extent of the solar eclipse visible at different locations
Bloomberg's How to Find the Best Cities to Watch the Solar Eclipse also uses solar symbols to visualize the extent of the eclipse visible at different locations. On this map the symbols are actually animated to show the passage of the moon across the sun as seen from different cities in North America.

The Bloomberg article also includes a drop-down menu which allows you to select a city to view an animation simulation of the moon's obscuration of the sun at that location on a larger scale. Other maps show the degree of obscuration visible across North America and the possibility of cloud cover at different locations.

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Mapping SpaceTime

I recently stumbled upon Time Map, an interactive map which attempts to show points of interest around a location by walking time. Enter a location into the Time Map and a venue category (eg pizza restaurants) and the map will display a series of concentric circles around your location, each of which represents a minute of walking time. 

All the nearby points of interest are overlaid on top of these circles showing you at a glance how long it will take you to walk to each location. If you click on any of the displayed venues a map is then displayed with detailed walking directions to the venue from your entered location.

Václav Volhejn has a problem with this kind of time radius map. The circles displayed actually show equal distances from a point and not equal travel times. Real world obstacles, such as buildings, rivers, and train lines mean that we can't always travel in a straight line between two points. So in reality it is going to take us different lengths of time to walk to different locations even if they are all on the same 5 minute walking time radius.

a map of Los Angeles distorting between showing distances and time.

Which is why Václav has invented Spacetime maps. Spacetime maps distort space to show travel times rather than distances. This might sound a little complicated (because it is) but you can get an idea of how the map works in the animated screenshot above, which is switching between showing distance between points to showing travel times between different locations.

Of course cartographers are used to using isochrones for visualizing time on maps. An isochrone is a line on a map that connects all the places you can get to within a certain amount of time. Because of the physical barriers to straight line travel isochrones are very rarely circles.

Václav Volhejn's YouTube video introducing his map has a neat explanation of what he is doing 'One way to think about it is we are going to bend the isochrone back into circles'. 

It is a neat explanation but unfortunately this distortion of the physical space means that Václav's Spacetime maps are not as easy to read as isochrone maps. Václav accuses iscochrones as being as 'boring af'. Which I think in a neat way brings us to the conclusion that Václav's Spacetime maps is a fun experiment. An experiment which is probably not going to replace the isochrone as the best way to visualize travel time.

Monday, March 25, 2024

The World Air Quality Report 2023

world map showing annual PM2.5 levels in 7,812 global cities

IQAir has released its annual World Air Quality Report. The 2023 report reveals that last year only seven countries met the World Health Organizations' PM2.5 air pollution guideline.

The IQAir Annual World Air Quality Report is a yearly analysis of global air quality, compiled by the Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir. The report gathers data on PM2.5 (which is particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less) from thousands of ground-based monitors around the world. This data is then used to assess air quality on a national and regional level.

The IQAir website features an interactive map alongside the 2023 report. This map allows you to explore the annual PM2.5 levels in 7,812 cities around the world. The map also shows how each city ranks globally compared to all the other analyzed cities. For example New York had the 2,627th worst air pollution last year with an average PM2.5 level of 11.6 (the WHO guideline is a PM2.5 level of 5).

The seven countries who met the WHO PM2.5 air pollution guideline were Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius, and New Zealand. The top five most polluted countries in 2023 were Bangladesh (with an annual PM2.5 level more than 15 times higher than the WHO annual guideline), Bangladesh, India, Tajikistan and Burkina Faso. The report also revealed that in 2023 for the first time Canada had the worst air pollution in North America (largely due to the increased number of wildfires). 

Saturday, March 23, 2024

The Future for Trees

an animated map showing the current distribution of the Evergreen Oak in Europe and how that distribution might change during this century

Like many people a few years ago I realized that not only is climate change happening but that human beings as a species are doing next to nothing to prevent its escalation. I do believe that the worst excesses of climate change are still preventable. I just see very little evidence that we are making the changes necessary to stop global heating, or even slow our ever increasing rush towards climate crisis.

I've recently noticed that a growing number of mapped visualizations are also no longer focused on the possibility of climate change but more on how the environment will almost inevitably be impacted. For example the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils Explorer has released an interactive map which visualizes how different crops will be affected by climate change in Africa. The visualization maps out where in Africa climate-resilient crops will likely have bigger and smaller yields thanks to global heating.

Of course crops aren't the only flora which will be affected by climate change. The natural habitats of tree species (like all plant species) will be seriously impacted by global heating. Which is why Our Forests Tomorrow has released an interactive map which shows where different tree species in Europe might struggle to survive after global warming and where they might need to migrate in order to survive.

The interactive map in Our Forests Tomorrow allows you to select from 67 different European tree species and see where in Europe they are likely to struggle to survive and where they might thrive thanks to global heating. The maps are based on the EU-Trees4F study, which analyzed the potential distributions of 67 tree species under climate change.

There are other responses to what I think of as environmental existentialism. Acknowledging that your elected representatives are proving spectacularly ineffective at addressing the climate crisis does not need to be defeatist. It can instead be the first step towards the Dark Mountain

Friday, March 22, 2024

FlightRadar's New GPS Jamming Map

FlightRadar's GPS jamming map showing high levels of GPS interference around the Black Sea

Yesterday the live real-time global plane tracking website FlightRadar released a new interactive map which detects and tracks interference and jamming of GPS signals across the world. The map uses a simple to understand colored overlay to show in near real-time areas around the globe currently experiencing levels of interference to global navigation satellite systems.  

GPS jamming involves intentionally blocking or interfering with GPS signals using a device called a GPS jammer. GPS jammers transmit radio signals on the same frequency as GPS satellites, making it difficult for GPS receivers to pick up the real GPS satellite signals that they need to function. A GPS device receiving a jammed signal will therefore be unable to determine its location and/or become inaccurate.

As you might expect GPS jamming is often experienced in conflict zones. For example in 2022 Space reported that Russia was jamming GPS signals during its invasion of Ukraine. It has also been widely reported that since the recent joining of NATO by Finland and Norway the Baltic region has seen a marked increase of GPS jamming (undoubtedly by Russia).

FlightRadar's new GPS Jamming Map analyzes NIC (navigation integrity category) data to determine where in the world GPS signals are currently being jammed or experiencing interference. NIC is a metric used to determine the quality and the consistency of navigational data received by aircraft and this metric indicates the reliability of an aircraft's position data. FlightRadar uses the NIC values of planes around the world to determine where GPS jamming or interference is currently affecting GPS signals.

Thursday, March 21, 2024

The Sea Trade Monitor

map of the world showing maritime trade routes and recent disruptions caused to maritime trade

PortWatch is a new platform which monitors disruptions to global maritime trade. The platform uses real-time data on ship traffic and maritime trade to provide an alert system on trade disruptions likely to impact shipping trade routes. 

Recent attacks by Houthi rebels on ships traversing the Red Sea have helped to highlight how marine trade is vulnerable to geopolitical instability.. These attacks have forced many shipping companies to reroute vessels around the southern tip of Africa, adding significant time and expense to maritime trade. 

Disruptions to international sea trade can have major economic consequences. In March 2021, when the container ship the Ever Given got stuck in the Suez canal, one of the world's most crucial waterways was blocked for several days. The blockage impacted the movement of a wide range of goods, from consumer products to essential supplies like oil, and it was estimated to have cost billions of dollars per day in lost trade. 

screenshot of the PortWatch Spillover Simulator

The possible global impact of disruptions to maritime trade is why the International Maritime Fund and Oxford University have partnered to release their new PortWatch maritime trade platform. The platform includes an interactive map of Recent Maritime Trade Disruptions. This map plots incidents which have caused disruptions to maritime trade and the ports which have been affected by these disruptions. 

The disruptions mapped by PortWatch include geopolitical conflicts (such as the disruptions caused to trade in the Red Sea by the Houthi rebels) and disruptions caused by severe weather events (such as the ongoing disruption to traffic through the Panama canal due to severe drought conditions).

The Portwatch platform also includes an interactive Spillover Simulator, which allows anyone to simulate a disruption to a particular maritime port and view the likely effect of the disruption on economies around the world. The simulator models the effects of specific port disruptions on the global maritime transport network, on the port's trading partners, and on the supply chain network.

If you want to monitor real-time ship traffic (which can be very useful in visualizing the real-time effects of specific disruption events to maritime trade) then you can use the interactive maps provided by MarineTraffic and VesselFinder.

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

The most mis-mapped US states

According to the 55,387 players of the online game 'Find the Location of ...' Texas, California and Virginia are the most well-known states in the United States. Based on the results of this popular mapping game North Dakota, Missouri and Wyoming are the least well-known states

FlagWhiz.com's map game Find the Location of ... requires players to position the outlines of states onto a near empty map - which only contains the place-name labels for the 48 states of the contiguous United States. The game is fun in itself but FlagWhiz.com has also spent some time analyzing the results to discover which are the most mis-mapped states by players of the game - revealing some interesting insights into which US states are the most and least known - at least in terms of where they are located.

In each round of 'Find the location of ...' you are given the outline of a US state. You simply need to drag the state onto its correct position on the map based on the position of its capital city. Once you press 'done' you are shown by how many miles you missed the state's correct location on the map.

FlagWhiz.com has now posted a chart to Reddit showing the results of the 55,387 games played so far. The chart organizes the 48 contiguous states by the average number of miles each state was mis-mapped by the game's players. Texas was the least mis-mapped state with an average mis-mapping 27.05 miles. The most mis-mapped state was Wyoming, which on average players got wrong by 90.67 miles.

The chart has received its fair share of criticism on Reddit. With many posters making the point that the quiz is more of a test of how well players know the names of the state capitals than a test of the geography of US states.

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

A Total Scrolly Eclipse

In three weeks time, on April 8, people across large parts of the USA will be able to watch a total solar eclipse. The path of totality, where the Moon's shadow completely falls during a total solar eclipse and where the view of the sun is completely obscured by the moon, will travel around 4,000 miles over North America from the Pacific Ocean west of Mexico, through 15 U.S. states, to the Atlantic off Canada.

You can follow the path of the total April 8 solar eclipse on the Washington Post's new scrollytelling solar eclipse map. As you scroll through Follow a mile-by-mile map of the total solar eclipse you travel north-westwards on a satellite strip map of the eclipse's path. 

The journey starts on the western seaboard of Mexico at 2:07 p.m. As you scroll along the path of the eclipse major towns and cities along the path of totality are highlighted on the Post's strip map. These locations are indicated using reference lines with information on the time of totality at each highlighted location and the chance of clouds. The distance traveled is regularly updated along the bottom of the satellite strip map.

Also see: 

Where to Watch April's Solar Eclipse
Solar Symbology

Monday, March 18, 2024

Mapping the History of the Railway

Martin Brake has created a number of interactive maps which visualize the historical development of transport networks in Germany, London, Paris and Barcelona. His Timemap Timelines project provides an animated map for each featured city which shows how its transit network has grown over time. For example the screenshot above shows the development of the London Underground between 1858 and 1947.

Using the timeline control on each map you can navigate to any year to view a map of the city's transit network at that point in history (including trains, trams, lightrail, subways and funiculars). As well as the individual city maps Timemap Timelines includes an animated map which shows the development of the whole rail German network over time.

Martin warns that 'all the data is not correct'. I found out while creating my own animated map The First 50 Years of the London Undergound that it isn't always easy to determine the exact dates of when individual transit lines were opened and that different historical sources might give different dates. For my map of the history of the London Tube I relied heavily on Wikipedia. I have had to make several revisions to the map since its first publication thanks to a number of keen eyed observers spotting errors in the dates. I suspect that my map is still not 100% accurate.

You can view animated maps of other rail networks being constructed around the world on the amazing Citylines. Citylines is a collaborative platform which is busy mapping the public transit systems of the world. Using Citylines you can explore interactive maps visualizing the local transit systems of hundreds of cities around the globe. You can also use Citylines to explore how each city's public transport network has grown over time. 

My favorite feature of Citylines is the ability to view a city's transit network developing through time. Each city's transit system map includes a date control, which allows you to view the extent of the local transit network for any year in history. Press the play button on the map and you can view an animated map showing how the city's transit system has developed through history. 

Via: WeeklyOSM