EVS-Islands: 2008-02-03

The above map shows some of my completed island mapping projects. Each icon contains the name of the primary island associated with the project and a link to the post. Once all of my projects are posted, the map will be covered with icons. To productively use the map, zoom into a region of interest. Then select an icon.

Each of my maps is constructed of numerous layers of information. All of the layers are vector files. I will make these files available upon request. You are free to use them with certain restrictions - 1) Don't sell them. You can use them on research projects, post them to your website or things of that nature. If you aren't sure about the use of my maps, drop me a line and we can discuss your idea. 2) Give me credit when you use my vectors or images of my maps. Credit them to Peter Minton @ EVS-Islands

If I have the island vector file(s) and based upon your need, I will make them available. Images of my maps are yours to download and use, with the above restrictions applicable. Enjoy!

Friday, February 08, 2008

Thoughts - Max and EVS Precision Island Maps

I haven't seen Max for three weeks. Max is undergoing chemotherapy for an especially agressive malignant cancer. When we did talk, he was subdued and distant. His mortality is at the forefront of his thoughts. He is facing the end of his life. Before this awesome and sobering experience, Max loved to visit with any and everyone. He likes to keep an eye on our block. He loves to enjoy the company of his children and grandchildren. He loves to share a beer with Spider and Skip, two long time friends and neighbors. Now Max stays inside of his house deep in thought.

Don't put off your passion. That is the lesson Max is teaching me. We all will leave this interesting world, typically, not alive. So, if you have something you want to do, do it. If you have a product idea that you want to pursue, go for it. If you wish to sail away, get a boat and go. My goal, in life, is to leave with as few regrets as possible.

I will continue making EVS precision island maps. I will continue floating my "poor man's" hi-res island image idea by DigitalGlobe. Their imagery is exquisite and they are open to different ideas concerning their imagery. I have other passions outside of the realm of mapping that I will continue enjoying - the company of my wife, grandkids, children, golf with friends, learning, remaining vibrant amd purposeful.

I wish Max the best and Bon Voyage! I pray that his adventures contine.

Enjoy! and Peace!

Posted by Mr Minton at 2/08/2008 06:37:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Thoughts - DigitalGlobe, Thanks For The Answer. Not The One I Wanted To Hear, But Thanks Anyway.

Starbuck Island - DigitalGlobe Image from Google Earth

If you follow my posts, you know that I proposed a product idea to DigitalGlobe - a "poor man's" hi-res imagery of islands throughout the world. Instead of gigabytes of data and big bucks, these scaled images would consist of a few megabytes of digital data for most islands. I figured a price point of between $25 to $50 per image, with very large islands costing more. Delivery would have been via internet. No one would get rich, but DigitalGlobe's products would have been introduced into markets they currently under serve or do not serve at all. And I would be able to do what I enjoy doing and make a few bucks in the process.

Having many years of experience designing products, developing new markets and determining profitable prices, I knew my product idea faced an uphill, very steep uphill battle. First, who am I and why should DigitalGlobe take my idea seriously. I am a one man shop with the necessary equipment, business experience and passion to handle what I am proposing . Second, who would buy a "poor man's" hi-res image of an island? Many of you would and lots of others, once they learned about it. Just look at all of the interest DigitalGlobe's imagery generates in Google Earth. I am confident that "nickle and dime" Google Earth user would spend $25 to $50 for hi-res island imagery. They will not buy DigitalGlobe's standard products. They are too pricey for their meager budgets. Also, based on the interest in my island projects, my readers - government, business, oil & gas, education, real estate, travel agents, GIS professionals on a tight budget, island businesses, sailors, etc - would buy this scaled hi-res island image product. It would take marketing (which I would do), dependable product delivery (which I would do) and prompt customer service (which I would do).

In addition, I would produce the product. No skin off of DigitalGlobe's business nose. Their resellers won't mind, I'm not taking any of their business away. This product would work for entirely new markets, not ones currently being serviced by DigitalGlobes current product mix.

I have made at least 25 of these scaled hi-res images of islands. They take about an hour to two hours to create. Easy to do. Again, not a problem for DigitalGlobe or their resellers. I would do all of the work.

But, alas, no go! DigitalGlobe's representative said "Great idea!, but....". Don't you just hate that "but". Am I discouraged, not at all. When you have a great product idea, you must hang in there for the long haul. One day, a "poor man's" hi-res imagery of islands will be a reality. Hopefully, mine and DigitalGlobe's shared and mutually beneficial reality.

Thanks DigitalGlobe, for your considerations and, we will be in touch.

Enjoy!

Labels: DigitalGlobe, hi-res imagery

Posted by Mr Minton at 2/07/2008 02:50:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Bikini Atoll RM - Great Dive Destination If You Don't Mind The Glow

Bikini Atoll - LIIM N-58-10 (1:200,000)

I decided to digitize this atoll because the Landsat Island Image Mosaic is cloud-free and it has a certain amount of notiriety connected with nuclear weapons testing and population displacement. As a youngster, I watched rebroadcasts of one of the blasts on TV. It was probably the Bravo blast, the one that left the big hole in the northwest portion of the reef.

The islanders are still displaced. It seems they tried to reestablish themselves back in the 70's. After awhile they were beginning to glow (figuratively speaking). They were taken off of their home and scattered onto other islands. Now, tourists are allowed to visit, along with divers and fishermen. The island and it's waters have been deemed safe for short stays. Just don't drink the groundwater, eat the coconuts, land crabs or fish. One advantage if you stay for a long time - you won't need a lantern at night, your radioactive glow will provide sufficient illumination. Just a joke. I know that folks earning their livelihood from tourists, divers and fishermen will resent my "glow" remarks. I apologize to them. But, the U.S. military screwed up when they blasted holes in this atoll. 60-years later, I still say, "Shame on you."

Bikini Atoll - EVS Precision Map (1:200,000)

Enough about my personal gripes. The EVS precision map of Bikini Atoll was a fairly fast project to complete. The digitizing took 8-hours over a period of 2 days. The map assembly and posting has taken another 2-hours. 10-hours from start to finish for an island of this size is good. The reef, thank goodness, was relatively simple to digitize. Some reefs are quite complex and require many layers of information. This reef consists primarily of three layers - EVS Reef Shallow, EVS Reef Middle and EVS Reef Deep. They are distinguished by their respective shades of blue. The majority of the lagoon is classified as EVS Reef Deep. I used only a single vegetation layer, EVS Vegetation Mixed (Hi-Lo). I use this classification on most Landsat imaged islands with a mixture of palms and other trees along with shrubs and low-lying plants. When I am able to study a DigitalGlobe hi-res image along with the Landsat, I am able to make better vegetation layer classifications.

I still have work remaining on this project - EVS Reef Awash where visible waves appear along the outer reef and confirmation of individual motu names When I am satisfied with the outcome, I will repost the map. Until then...

Enjoy!

Labels: DigitalGlobe, EVS Precision, Global Mapper, Landsat ETM+, LIIM

Posted by Mr Minton at 2/05/2008 04:26:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

2 Comments:

love your sight, info is well thought out and very useful.
too bad you often inject your political rants - you site, your business - but "Shame on you."

By Anonymous, at 1/11/2009 04:37:00 PM

Dear Anonymous,

You are right "My site, my business." However, I disagree with the "Shame on you" comment.

In my study of islands, I frequently encounter situations concerning the well-being of islands and their population. Not always, but occasionally I comment. In my opinion, Bikini Atoll's circumstance is especially onerous. To test a weapon system at the expense of an island and it's population is wrong. To consider the home of the Bikini islanders less important than the refinement of nuclear weapons that we never want to use again, seems to have been a poor decision. Less harmful, but still objectionable, would have been to conduct all nuclear tests underground at our Nevada proving grounds.

And what did we learn from these island destroying tests? That we never what to use these awesome weapons carelessly. That blasting them above ground creates a long-term, highly dangerous consequence. Bikini Atoll's nuclear tests were a terrible price to pay to discover the obvious, that these weapons are bad news.

Thanks for visiting my site and I'll try to keep my rants to a minimum.

By Mr Minton, at 1/11/2009 05:15:00 PM

Post a Comment

Sunday, February 03, 2008

Nukutavake Island FP - Third Time Posting is the Charm

Nukutavake Island - Landsat Image S-07-15_2000 (1:25,000)

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

Nukutavake Atoll - EVS Precision Map (1:25,000)

The second map is the new and improved version of my EVS Precision island maps. Not only have I made better use of the text fonts found in Marplot, but I've added a North Arrow. Also, and most important, I've adjusted the colors. I promise that any of you creating a large body of original maps will find yourselves constantly tweeking the colors. This particular color pallet is probably version 101. Seriously, colors are the ultimate subjective layer of information one places on a map. Quite often they reflect your moods. If you are having a bad day, wierd colors result and a good day leads to peaceful earth-tone pastels.

Nukutavake Island (Noukoutawake) is a small island, of coral formation, located about 8 miles NW of Pinaki. It is about 3 miles long in an E-W direction, and is wooded except at its E end. There is a radio station on the island.In May, June, and July the population of this atoll moves to Vairaatea, and in August, to Pinaki to harvest copra.

(SD Pub-126)

Group: Centre East Group Archipelago: Tuamotu Archipelago Country: France - French Polynesia - Tuamotu Is. Region: Oceania 18 Lat: 19.28º S Long : 138.78º W Area: 4.5 sq. km Altitude: ? m Depth to nearest land: 3000 m Nearest island: 14.5 km @ 143° (Atoll Pinaki) Group: 980 km Nearest continent: South America Distance: 5400 km Isolation Index: 108 ISLAND TYPE: low coral Natural Protection Indicator: 2 CLIMATE: tropical CATASTROPHIC THREATS: cyclones Threat Indicator: 1 ECOSYSTEMS: Coconuts; fringing reef Number of Ecosystems - Terrestrial: 1 Marine: 1 Percent shoreline: Coral Reef: 99% Mangrove: 0% HUMAN OCCUPATION: Uninhabited, ? Population: 0 Density: 0.0 persons/sq. km Major Human Activities: coconut plantations Percent population in agr/mining/fishing: 17% Human Threat Indicator: 1 Gross Domestic Product: $ 7236 per capita Economic Pressure Indicator: 4 DATA RELIABILITY: Data Rel. Indicator: 1 HUMAN IMPACT INDEX HI: 5 CONSERVATION IMPORTANCE INDEX CI-Terrestrial: 5 Low CI-Marine: 4 Low Last updated: 27/02/89

Nukutavake (aka Queen Charlotte Island) is an atoll located in the eastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago at 138°48’ west longitude by 19°17’ south latitude. It is 1,125 kilometers (699 miles) from Papeete. British Captain Samuel Wallis was the first European to discover this atoll in 1767. This is a unique atoll because although it is flat and of coral formation, it has no lagoon. While some accounts claim there are no signs of there ever having been a lagoon, other accounts claim that what was once a lagoon has been entirely filled in by sand and limestone particles from the external coral reef. Part of the atoll is covered by dense vegetation, while the rest has a coconut tree plantation covering some 800 hectares (1,977 acres). Nukutavake is 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles) long. Its width ranges from 450 meters (1,476 ft.) to 1.3 kilometers (0.81 miles) in the director of the village. The atoll covers an area of 360 hectares (890 acres).

The village, located in the northeastern part of the atoll, has some streets and a main road from the coast and the coconut plantation. There is an aerodrome 800 meters (2,625 ft.) south of the village, linking the atoll to the outside world. There is a whaleboat dock opposite the village that allows for transferring people and cargo from and to cargo ships that anchor offshore. The 1996 census recorded a population of 196 persons. The atoll is the administrative center for a district made up of the associated districts of Vahitahi and Vairaatea.

This island was mapped quickly. Not carelessly, but quickly. It took about 1-hour to digitize and create the map. Another 30-minutes to post and comment.

Also, the discovery of the additional island information from the web site of the President of French Polynesia (what a job!) will enhance the information associated with this island. I did send him an email to present my website. However, no reply as yet.

Enjoy!

Labels: atoll, EVS, Global Mapper, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Pacific, Polynesia, Tuamotus

Posted by Mr Minton at 2/03/2008 09:45:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post