+ Explore Wikipedia with Live Maps

+ NIST Tool Helps Internet Master Top-level Domains

+ Scholarly Communication Discussion Guides Updated and Expanded (via ARL)

Direct to FRD’s 20 page, PDF file.

See Also: Links to All FRD Country Profiles

From the news release:

Urban Mapping, Inc., the leading provider of location-rich content for interactive applications, today announced availability of mass transit data for more than 50 transportation systems in the U.S. and Canada. This collection of subway, light rail and commuter rail data powers the Urban Mapping Urbanware: Mass Transit™ database designed to location-enable content, support transit routing and enhance a variety of applications across local search, mobile services, mapping/GIS, real estate and other verticals. More information on Urban Mapping’s Urbanware Mass Transit database, including a coverage map, can be found at http://tinyurl.com/5yr7r5.

+ China Earthquake
Situation Map (5/12/2008)

+ Eastern Sichuan, China: Estimated Population Esposed to Earthquake Shaking (as of 12 May 2008) (PDF, 1062 Kb)

+ Eastern Sichuan, China: Earthquake Locations (as of 12 May 2008) (PDF, 148 Kb)

+ Cyclone Nargis Floods Burma (Myanmar) (as of 05 May 2008)

+ Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis - Who/What/Where, Protection Sector (as of 12 May 2008) (PDF, 94 Kb)

+ Myanmar: Tropical Cyclone Nargis (as of 11 May 2008) - Situation Map (PDF, 1272 Kb)

+ More Myanmar Maps and News ||| More China Maps and News

Source: Reliefweb and Other Sources

+ Flood Assessment for Cyclone Affected Yangon Capital Area, Myanmar (as of 05 May 2008)

+ Myanmar - Cyclone Nargis: Rapid Response Inundation Map (as of 05 May 2008)

+ USAID Humanitarian Assistance to Burma

+ Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis - Affected Areas v.1, 5 May 2008

+ Myanmar: Tropical Cyclone Nargis Interactive Map

Many more Maps and Charts Accessible Here

Sources: Various (via Reliefweb)

Direct to FRD’s 230 page, PDF file.

See Also: Links to All FRD Country Profiles

Web Tool Puts Wildlife Diseases on the Map

A new on-line map makes it possible, for the first time, to track disease outbreaks around the world that threaten the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people.

The Global Wildlife Disease News Map, developed jointly by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the U.S. Geological Survey, can be accessed at http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov.

Updated daily, the map displays pushpins marking stories of wildlife diseases such as West Nile virus, avian influenza, chronic wasting disease, and monkeypox. Users can browse the latest reports of nearly 50 diseases and other health conditions, such as pesticide and lead poisoning, by geographic location. Filters make it easy to focus on different disease types, affected species, countries, and dates.

The map is a product of the Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN), a five-year-old collaboration between UW-Madison and two federal agencies, the National Wildlife Health Center and the National Biological Information Infrastructure, that are part of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). WDIN is housed within the university’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the USGS.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey

+ World: Refugees and asylum seekers (at the end of 2007)

+ World: Displaced people (at the end of 2007)

+ North Korea: Primary airports, seaports, transportation network and cities (as of 19 Mar 2008)

Source Various Sources via Reliefweb

Track Flooding with the New USGS Flood Map

An online, user-friendly map that tracks flood conditions has been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

As expected rains drive flood waters higher along the Mississippi River Valley, USGS crews are in the field collecting data needed to update the flood maps, prepare forecasts, manage the flood and warn communities.

This new system is part of the USGS WaterWatch suite of web-based streamflow products and can be accessed at the Map of flood and high flow conditions Web site.
…
This real-time water monitoring is part of a continuing effort by the USGS to assist the National Weather Service (NWS) in making accurate and timely flood forecasts. During a flood, teams of USGS hydrographers travel to streamgages to keep the instruments operating and to make crucial calibration measurements of the streamflow.

Other information available from this web site for each streamgage include current flood levels, historical peaks and NWS flood forecast information. Monthly flood reports are also available that include maximum flows and compares the data to previous years that observations were made at each station.

Source: U.S. Geological Survey

A just received 192.com newsletter points out two new features now available from the service.

Direct to 192.com Maps.

1) Local Services have now been added to all maps on 192.com showing you the nearest banks, petrol stations, hotels, car parks or restaurants for your search. You can also search directly on the maps for the type of business you’re after. All local services listed on the map will be accompanied by full business details including a shop front photo where available.

2) Don’t Forget!

Love to look at London landmarks? Try 192.com’s new Super Zoom aerial photography! Zoom in on central London from Tooting to Upminster, Parliament Hill to Dartford. 280 Square Miles in All. More about Super Zoom here.

Direct to FRD’s 24 page, PDF file.

See Also: Links to All FRD Country Profiles

New Housing + Transportation Affordability Index Website Launches

CNT’s new Housing + Transportation Affordability Index interactive mapping tool has just launched; the new website - http://htaindex.cnt.org - will enable planners, policy-makers, housing and transit advocates, and individuals to calculate the true costs of housing and transportation in cities across the United States.

The result of a two-year study supported by The Brookings Institution’s Urban Market Initiative, the Index is the most comprehensive housing + transit analysis to date. Utilizing United States Census data from 52 metropolitan areas, the Index analyzes data through neighborhood variables – such as household income, transit connectivity, and residential density – to determine auto ownership, transit use, and ultimately the cost of transportation as percent of income.

The traditional vision of housing affordability maintains that housing generally becomes more affordable the farther one ventures from the urban center. However, the study has found that transportation costs increase dramatically in suburban and exurban areas, due to dispersed employment, retail, and other amenities.

+ Press Release (PDF; 144 KB)
+ Fact Sheet (PDF: 118 KB)
+ Fact Sheets for eight select cities (zip file)
+ H + T interactive mapping website

Source: Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT)

Worst Offenders For Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Top 20 US Counties Identified

The top twenty carbon dioxide-emitting counties in the United States have been identified by a research team led by Purdue University.

The top three counties include the cities of Houston, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Kevin Gurney, an assistant professor of earth and atmospheric science at Purdue University and leader of the carbon dioxide inventory project, which is called Vulcan, says the biggest surprise is that each region of the United States is included in the ranking.

“It shows that CO2 emissions are really spread out across the country,” he says. “Texas, California, New York, Florida, New Mexico, the Midwest — Indiana, Illinois, Ohio — and Massachusetts are all listed. No region is left out of the ranking, it would seem.”

+ Data available for download

Source: Vulcan Project (Purdue University; Professor Kevin Gurney)

This report includes a document and accompanying Microsoft Access 2003 database of geoscientific references for the country of Afghanistan. The reference compilation is part of a larger joint study of Afghanistan’s energy, mineral, and water resources, and geologic hazards currently underway by the U.S. Geological Survey, the British Geological Survey, and the Afghanistan Geological Survey. The database includes both published (n = 2,489) and unpublished (n = 176) references compiled through calendar year 2007. The references comprise two separate tables in the Access database. The reference database includes a user-friendly, keyword-searchable interface and only minimum knowledge of the use of Microsoft Access is required.

Source: USGS

TOXMAP now includes the 2006 Toxics Release Inventory data (TRI). TOXMAP’s cancer and health data has been updated, and health risk information links and EPA Environmental Health news have been added.

In addition, TOXMAP now offers more detailed roads at a variety of map scales. (Roads and other reference data can be hidden from maps via the “Other Data” subtab.)

TOXMAP is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services of the US National Library of Medicine (NLM) that uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Toxics Release Inventory and Superfund Program.

Source: NLM