EVS-Islands

Some months back, I came across a project called Coast Chart. It is an effort to remap the coastline of west Africa, from Senegal to Congo - 6000 km of coastline. They are using EO (Earth Observation) data to do their mapping. All of the coastline will be at 1:50,000 scale with certain harbors at 1:15,000 scale. I think their project is fascinating. I have had conversations with individuals involved in the project and they have affirmed my efforts using Landsat ETM+ imagery. They will, not only use Landsat, but a number of other EO sources. Another big difference is they are getting paid for their efforts (1,000,000 EURs) and I'm not. Honestly, that is okay. I love building my maps. Whatever I want to map, I map. I am an effort of "one".

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/21/2006 08:29:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Small islands, yet they represent a potentially volitale situation between countries. I am sure both Spanish and Moroccan citizens have strong opinions about the ownership of these small plots of land. Mine is not to weigh in on either side, but to make the best map possible. I am including a couple of links (link-1, link-2) that will give you some of the history behind these three small islands.

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/21/2006 07:56:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Bulgarian Islands? Are you serious? As you can see Bulgaria does have a couple of islands. There are a number of riverine islands, but only a few coastal islands located in the Black Sea. These islands are situated east of Burgas. Ostrov Sveti Ivan is the largest of the Black Sea Bulgarian Islands. It is the site of St John's Monastery (in ruins) and a lighthouse. Ostrov Sveti Anastasia was once site of a convent which was vacated in 1923. The island became a prison shortly after. In 1925 there was a prisoner's revolt. Consequently, the name of the island became Ostrov Bolshevik in honor of the prisoners. After the end of the Soviet Union the name of the island was changed to St Anastasia to honor the convent of previous years.

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At another time I had occassion to become familiar with Bulgaria. As I studied the maps of the country's coastline, I wondered if there were islands along the coast. Seems there are. The digitizing of the islands was swift. The coastline of Bulgaria was somewhat more difficult. I spent just a few hours on this project. Now my curiousity is satisfied - "Does Bulgaria have any islands?" "Sure!, They have a couple."

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/19/2006 03:45:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This is the last of the island triumvirate that make up the islands located within the Southern Red Sea Choke Point (Bab-el-Mandeb). Dumera Island is divided between two countries - north belongs to Eritrea and the south belongs to Djibouti. Sailors navigating the Red Sea use this island as a waypoint.

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/18/2006 11:34:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Swabi' Islands - Landsat Image N38-10_2000 (1:62,500)

Swabi' Islands - Marplot Map (1:62.500)

Southern Red Sea Choke Point - Landsat Image N38-10_2000

Swabi' Islands (aka Seven Brothers) is a group of islands that are controlled by Djibouti. These islands make up part of the Southern Red Sea Choke Point. The islands also figure in to the migration of early man out of Africa. I think the Bab-el-Mandeb near Barim Island is a more likely crossing point. In fact, an even better crossing point is along the Mediterranean Sea into modern day Palestine (Cana) and on into Israel.

view Swabi' Islands on Google Maps

Enjoy!

Labels: Djibouti, EVS, Global Mapper, Indian Ocean, island, Landsat, Marplot

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/18/2006 09:55:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Barim Island - Landsat Image (N-38-10_2000)

Barim Island - Marplot Map (1:25,000)

Barim Island - Southern Red Sea Choke Point

The above image tells the story. Barim Island (aka Parim Island and Jazirat Mayyuun) is located at an extremely busy strait. This entrance and exit from the Red Sea allows for the uninterrupted flow of oil into Europe. The island is controlled by Yemen. It is interesting that this island was once under the control of the British when Yemen was Aden.

This strait is called Bab-el-Mandeb and is reputed to be one of the busiest maritime passages in the world. Wikipedia has some good information on the passage.

view Barim Island on Google Maps

Enjoy!

Enjoy!

Labels: EVS, Global Mapper, island, Landsat, Marplot, Red Sea, Yemen

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 11:30:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Miyako-Retto - Landsat Image (N-51-20_2000)

Miyako-Retto - Marplot Map (1:200,000)

This is my last post of the day. I have a date with my wife, children and grand children for dinner. See you all tomorrow.

The Nature of Miyako Island - What to see and do on Miyako Island with nature as a focal point.

The Miyako Islands - Lots and lots of great information about what to do and see on the islands.

view Miyako-Jetto on Google Maps

Enjoy!

Labels: EVS, Global Mapper, island, Japan, Landsat, Marplot, Pacific

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 05:22:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

These two islands are part of the Miyako-Retto group. They are to the east of the main group of islands.

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 05:21:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Due east of Taiwan is where these interesting islands are located. I am going to work on posting detailed images and maps of some of the islands in this group.

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 05:02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

I would post information from Sailing Directions. However, for this island the information is scanty. There are numerous web sites that contain great information about this island. Iriomote-Jima is an eco-tourists delight. It is largely covered by a dense sub-tropical forest. It has sufficient rainfall to sustain rivers. The rivers are navigable and serve as highways into the interior of the island. I digitized this island about 2-years ago. It was one of my first efforts using Global Mapper. I also digitized reefs for the first time. It is a nice shoreline map. Here are a few links that will enable you to further explore this neat island: Okinawa Travel Guide - Some interesting pictures and information. The Islands of Yaeyama - Another tourist oriented site with loads of information and photos. Iriomote Island - This site has an interesting layout that allows you to explore the island. Enjoy the exploration.

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 05:00:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This is the other large island within the Yaeyama-Retto group. It has a port that is listed in the World Port Index (only significant ones are listed). See the links at Iriomote-Jima for information on these islands.

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 04:58:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

This is the central group of islands within the Yaeyama-Retto.

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 04:56:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

These islands are the outlying islands of the Yaeyama-Retto. They are uninhabited to heavily inhabited. They each have their own unique stories. Following the links and see if they are of interest to you: Okinawa Travel Guide - Some interesting pictures and information. The Islands of Yaeyama - Another tourist oriented site with loads of information and photos. Have fun exploring!

Posted by Mr Minton at 4/17/2006 01:48:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post