Maria Est Atoll FP
Maria Est Atoll FP
Maria Est Atoll (22˚01'S., 136˚11'W.) is a small atoll covered with brushwood; the lagoon is inaccessible from the sea. (SD Pub-126)
The French call this Maria Est Atoll. This is to differentiate between another Atoll Maria they control. I'm not sure if this atoll has a permanent population. Probably not, as the size is small and the lagoon lacks sea access. Most likely, islanders visit to harvest copra or brushwood (for carving).
As a kid, this is the type of island that fascinated me - uninhabited, with vegetation (rain water) and off the beaten path. When the world became too much to handle, these places looked inviting. Come to think of it, they still do.
The map took 4-hours plus to complete. There are a total of 10-layers that make up the map: 3 are reef (EVS Reef Deep, EVS Reef Shallow, EVS Reef Awash), 4 are ground cover (EVS Sand/Rock/Clay, EVS Barren, EVS Sparse Vegetation, EVS Mixed Vegetation), 1 is the island proper (EVS Island), 1 is the island outline (EVS Enhanced Vector Shoreline) and the final contains the island name(s) (EVS Island Name). All island maps I make contain a minimum of 3-layers (EVS Enhanced Vector Shoreline, EVS Island and EVS Island Name). Atolls lend themselves to multiple layers as the reefs and groundcover are typically easy to discern and are consistent in appearance.
When you map using Landsat imagery as your base image expect clouds. Most Landsat imagery is nearly cloud-free. However, if the image does contain clouds, they can obscure the underlying ground features. Clouds can render mapping into frustrating "guess work". In the image above you will note the northern end of the atoll is very dark. This is due to a lone cloud floating by (just off of the image to the north). The shapes of the underlying features are nearly indistinguishable from the black ocean background. As a result, the map section of those features, is educated "guess work". It is practiced "guess work", but still just a "guess".
Enjoy!
Labels: atoll, EVS, Global Mapper, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Pacific, Polynesia, Tuamotus
