EVS-Islands

Pulau Reong - Google Earth Locator

Pulau Reong - DigitalGlobe Image from Google Earth (1:12,500)

Pulau Reong - EEVS Map (1:12,500)

This island map has taken about 2-hours from start to finish. The most difficult aspect of digitizing it was how to handle the western portion of the island. I elected to use Landsat N-51-05_2000 imagery to complete vectors for the western portion of the island. The majority of the work was done in Google Earth using DigitalGlobe (DG) hi-res imagery.

This island interests me for what it doesn't have. As I studied the DG imagery I cannot find any human signs - no village, no house, no plantation, no large areas of bare earth. It seems that this island's primitive vegetation layer, which is heavily forested, is intact.

I would love to explore this island. Could you image moving through the forest and encountering the flora and fauna within this pristine environment. White sand beaches are found along much of the shoreline. Although the island gets heavy rainfall, there are no visible swamps or mosquito-laden wetlands.

Now back to reality, The island is probably full of bugs, small and large critters. It probably has reptiles named Deadly Five-Pacer. You know, five paces and you're a gonner. Any time you see a tropical forest, the area is innundated with rain and subject to blistering high humidity.

How negative! The explorer in me would love to visit this island. The practical city-dweller, he would still like to visit, but with mosquito nets, raincoats and snake bite kits.

Enjoy!

Labels: DigitalGlobe, EVS, Google Earth, Indonesia, Landsat

Posted by Mr Minton at 9/22/2007 04:16:00 PM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

When is an island an island? Silly question? Not really.

My current database of island names consists of approximately 86,000 unique names. It is a very complete list. I have it loaded into Marplot and am able to locate quickly and accurately, islands throughout the world. However, quite often, my island names database lacks the names of small off-shore islands. They are often referred to as islets, rocks, cays, sand bars, reefs or motus. Technically, they are islands - naturally formed areas of land, surrounded by water, which are above water at high tide. (definition taken from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - Part VIII).

--As my maps are not yet complete, I will use Landsat ETM+ imagery for this discussion.--

How many islands are within the Pulau Romang Group of islands, Indonesia? I count nine main islands - Romang, Nyata, Mitan, Laut, Tellang, Limtutu, Kital, Maopora and Dyuha. Around Pulau Romang are an additional eight small off-shore islands. In the Pulau Tellang Group are four more off-shore islands. Pulau Maopora has eight more. That totals up to an additional 20 off-shore islands.

Every island has stories to tell, even the small, seemingly insignificant dots that are just off-shore. Consequently, when I map at a scale that permits me to digitize these off-shore entities, I map them. I feel they need to be recognized so that they have an opportunity to tell their stories. Unfortunately, their stories are seldom known, except to locals. That's a shame.

So, how many islands are there within the Pulau Romang Group? Is it nine or is it 29? Either way, I always show them on my EVS island maps. I can't say the same for other mapping efforts, but on mine you will see the very small off-shore islands in all of their glory eager to share their stories.

Enjoy!

Labels: Indonesia, island, Landsat, Marplot, Pacific

Posted by Mr Minton at 2/24/2007 10:42:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post

Pulau Bankobankoang - Landsat Image S-50-05_2000

Pulau Bankobankoang - Marplot Map

I will post Sailing Directions information and any Internet information on this island later. I just wanted to get the project posted. The real breakthrough on this image and map is the ability to more accurately digitize and map the EVS Reef Deep layer.

Pulau Bankobankoang - Landsat Image with Color Dodge Effect

The solid yellow in the above image is the hidden reef layer, which I have labeled as EVS Reef Deep. There is an even more subtle area that is defined by scattered yellow dots. This is most likely an even deeper reef layer.

Enjoy!

Labels: atoll, EVS, Indonesia, island, Landsat, map, Marplot, Pacific, reef

Posted by Mr Minton at 12/22/2006 07:35:00 AM | Permalink | Comments | links to this post