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A terrain data model using orientation rather than elevation permits more efficient analysis and stores its data in a multi-band raster. Representation techniques from the computer graphics industry are readily adopted with this data model. A common data model for terrain surfaces–the raster digital elevation model (DEM)–carries with it limitations by emphasizing height. Derived products such as relief shading require additional processing to determine orientation, even though they are used more frequently than those relying on elevation (e.g. hypsometric tinting). We show some of the benefits of encoding and analyzing terrain based on surface orientation, an approach that uses normal vectors stored as multi-band raster, the data storage convention in the computer graphics industry. A change in the data model and the conceptualization of the surface's defining characteristics allows relief shading methods to run faster than conventional tools. Processing efficiencies are especially useful for more advanced shading models that may employ hundreds of relief shading calculations. In addition, an orientation-focused approach to terrain permits cartographic techniques to parallel common computer graphics methods. This project explores one such method, normal-mapping, an effect that adds texture to conventional relief shading by perturbing surface normal vectors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relief shading is designed to vary the brightness of terrain elements on a two-dimensional map to create a three-dimensional effect. One concern is how this layer can be generalized for use in multi-scale mapping. We propose a methodology that calculates relief shading from slope and aspect vectors, as these layers allow map users to recognize characteristics of the terrain and show consistent trends in spatial autocorrelation with generalization. We adjust the orientation of surface vectors with a mean filter to preserve the structural terrain elements while eliminating landforms of finer detail. To demonstrate its use, we show two examples of generalizing detailed relief shading and compare results to relief shading of the next coarser scale of DEM data available. The generalized maps remove or smooth out minor landforms while preserving more prominent landforms and eliminate issues of data gaps or interpolated data in lower resolution datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes elevation models to promote, evaluate, and compare various terrain representation techniques. Our goal is to increase the reproducibility of terrain rendering algorithms and techniques across different scales and landscapes. We introduce elevation models of varying terrain types, available to the user at no cost, with minimal common data imperfections such as missing data values, resampling artifacts, and seams. Three multiscale elevation models are available, each consisting of a set of elevation grids, centered on the same geographic location, with increasing cell sizes and spatial extents. We also propose a collection of single-scale elevation models of archetypal landforms including folded ridges, a braided riverbed, active and stabilized sand dunes, and a volcanic caldera. An inventory of 78 publications with a total of 155 renderings illustrating terrain visualization techniques guided the selection of landform types in the elevation models. The benefits of using the proposed elevation models include straightforward comparison of terrain representation methods across different publications and better documentation of the source data, which increases the reproducibility of terrain representations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Capstones in professional masters-level programs serve a unique nexus of developing professional, industry-specific competencies within a graduate-level academic setting. Universities offering such degree programs must demonstrate the benefits of an academic approach to working professionals, while focusing on the development or enhancement of a wide range of hard and soft skills required by industries and employers in the field of study. In this paper we highlight the capstone project model used in an online geospatial professional program in which students apply a wide range of technical skills as well as enhance their soft skills through problem-based projects. These projects include advisement from graduate faculty, rigorous project planning to ensure the work is integrated with and builds upon the leading edge of applied research, and include numerous cycles of revision based on feedback from faculty, fellow students, and peers in the industry. We examined completed capstone projects and surveyed past students to evaluate how relevant the capstone experience was in developing geospatial competencies. The learning model presented here is flexible and highly applicable for enhancing industry competencies for working professional students not only by providing students with the opportunity to develop research-led projects, but also for the educational institution to adjust to changing demands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Principal component analysis is often used with remote sensing to decrease the dimensionality of multi-band imagery and to realign data with new axes to maximize variance in the imagery (Campbell and Wynne, 2011). Relief shaded maps using illumination from numerous aspect directions and inclinations from the horizon can also be input to principal component analysis (PCA), resulting in principal component maps that optimize variance and mimic relief shading. Using 15° increments of azimuth and inclination to vary illumination direction yields 121 relief shadings of the Churfirsten, Switzerland at 30 m. resolution, one of the sample elevation models available from http://shadedrelief.com/SampleElevationModels/ (Kennelly et al., 2021). PCA results in the three principal component images shown in Figure 1, accounting for more than 99% of the variance found in the 121 input relief shadings. While the first two principal component maps are similar to relief shading illuminated from near the horizon and separated by 90 degrees of azimuth, the third principal component map is similar to slope shading [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cartographic representation of geographic phenomena in the space–time cube comes with special challenges and opportunities when compared with two-dimensional maps. While the added dimension allows the display of attributes that vary with time, it is difficult to display rapidly varying temporal data given the limited display height. In this study, we adapt 2D cyclic point symbols to construct 3D surfaces designed along a helical path for the space–time cube. We demonstrate how these complex 3D helical surfaces can display detailed data, including data reported daily over 100 years and data reported in four-hour intervals over a year. To create the point symbols, each value is plotted along the curve of a helix, with each turn of the helix representing one year or week, respectively. The model is modified by varying the radii from the time axis to all points using the attribute value, in these cases maximum daily temperature and four-hourly ridership, and then creating a triangulated surface from the resulting points. Using techniques common to terrain representation, we apply hue and saturation to the surface based on attribute values, and lightness based on relief shading. Multiple surfaces can be displayed in a space–time cube with a consistent time interval facing the viewer, and the surfaces or viewer perspective can be rotated to display synchronized variations. We see this method as one example of how cartographic design can refine or enhance operations in the space–time cube. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Shirley Basin is a small asymmetric synclinal structure located in northern Carbon County, Wyoming approximately 65 km (40 miles) south of Casper, Wyoming, USA. The basin formed during the Laramide orogeny of the Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary (78-49 Ma) and contains economically significant uranium deposits. The underlying Cretaceous units form an angular unconformity with the overlying Tertiary units that represents a paleotopographic erosional surface characterized by stream channels and overbank deposits of interbedded sand and clay with some organic detritus. Furthermore, the Cretaceous shales function as the lower confining unit/aquitard for in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mining, and the overlying Tertiary sandstones host the uranium mineralization. This study maps the K/T boundary in greater detail than previous studies and identifies paleotopographic features that influence sedimentary environments and structures that favor uranium mineralization. Using a larger study region and thousands of historical wells and associated electric logs not available to previous studies, this research identifies unit boundaries and enters them into Golden Software's Surfer and Esri's ArcGIS to construct a detailed structure contour map on the K/T surface. The map delineates paleotopography such as hills and river channels, with the latter showing a strong spatial association with uranium mineralization. Geologists can use these maps to identify thicker host sands and fluvial features which enhance uranium mineralization. Mining companies can reduce operational and exploration costs by drilling in these more favorable areas to efficiently delineate the ore body geometry and develop more accurate mine unit designs that will maximize uranium recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of vertical drop jumps (VDJs) to screen for non-contact ACL injuries is unclear. This may be contributed to by discrete point analysis, which does not evaluate patterns of movement. Also, limited research exists on the second landing of VDJs, potential lower limb performance asymmetries and the effect of fatigue. Statistical parametric mapping investigated the main effects of landing, limb dominance and a high intensity, intermittent exercise protocol (HIIP) on VDJ biomechanics. Twenty-two male athletes (21.9 ± 1.1 years, 180.5 ± 5.5 cm, 79.4 ± 7.8 kg) performed VDJs pre- and post-HIIP. Repeated measures ANOVA identified pattern differences during the eccentric phases of the first and second landings bilaterally. The first landing displayed greater (internal) knee flexor (η2 = 0.165), external rotator (η2 = 0.113) and valgus (η2 = 0.126) moments and greater hip (η2 = 0.062) and knee (η2 = 0.080) flexion. The dominant limb generated greater knee flexor (η2 = 0.062), external rotator (η2 = 0.110) and valgus (η2 = 0.065) moments. The HIIP only had one effect, increased thoracic flexion relative to the pelvis (η2 = 0.088). Finally, the dominant limb demonstrated greater knee extensor moments during the second landing (η2 = 0.100). ACL injury risk factors were present in both landings of VDJs with the dominant limb at potentially greater injury risk. Therefore, VDJ screenings should analyse both landings bilaterally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogeologists often are called upon to estimate surfaces from discrete, sparse data points. This estimation is often accomplished by manually drawing contours on maps using interpolation methods between points of known value while accounting for features known to influence the water table's surface. By contrast, geographic information systems ( GIS) are good at creating smooth continuous surfaces from limited data points and allowing the user to represent the resulting surface resulting with contours, but these automated methods often fail to meet the expectations of many hydrogeologists because they do not include knowledge of other influences on the water table. In this study, we seek to fill this gap in the GIS-based methodology for hydrogeologists through an interactive tool that shapes an interpolated surface based on additional knowledge of the water table inferred from gaining or losing streams. The modified surface is reflected in water table contours that, for example, 'V' upstream for gaining streams, and can be interactively adjusted to fit the user's expectations. By modifying not only the contours but also the associated interpolated surface, additional contours will follow the same trend, and the modified surface can be used for other analyses like calculating average gradients and flow paths. The tool leverages Esri's ArcGIS Desktop software, building upon a robust suite of mapping tools. We see this as a prototype for other tools that could be developed for hydrogeologists to account for variations in the water table inferred from local topographic trends, pumping or injection wells, and other hydrogeologic features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sky models are quantitative representations of natural luminance of the sky under various atmospheric conditions. They have been used extensively in studies of architectural design for nearly a century, and more recently for rendering objects in the field of computer graphics. The objectives of this paper are to (1) describe sky models, (2) demonstrate how map designers can render terrain under various sky models in a typical geographic information system (GIS), (3) illustrate potential enhancements to terrain renderings using sky models, and (4) discuss how sky models, with their well-established standards from a different discipline, might contribute to a virtual geographic environment (VGE). Current GIS hill-shading tools use the Lambertian assumption which can be related to a simple point light source at an infinite distance to render terrain. General sky models allow the map designer to choose from a gamut of sky models standardized by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE). We present a computer application that allows the map designer to select a general sky model and to use existing GIS tools to illuminate any terrain under that model. The application determines the orientations and weights of many discrete point light sources that, in the aggregate, approximate the illumination provided by the chosen sky model. We discuss specific enhancements to terrains that are shaded and shadowed with these general sky models, including additional detail of secondary landforms with soft shadows and more realistic shading contrasts. We also illustrate how non-directional illumination models result in renderings that lack the perceptual relief effect. Additionally, we argue that this process of creating hill-shaded visualizations of terrain with sky models shows parallels to other geo-simulations, and that basing such work on standards from the computer graphics industry shows potential for its use in VGE. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article features the Afghan Peace Volunteers (APV), a group of multi-ethnic Afghans. APV believes that nonviolence is necessary for the stability of Afghanistan. The group was established in 2008 as Our Journey to Smile. Since its establishment, APV has been known as an organization that promotes peaceful change in Afghanistan. As of January 2014, APV members have been living out an experiment in peacemaking.

The most often used and powerful terrain representation layers symbolize the orientation of the surface rather than its elevation. Techniques such as relief shading and slope-shading symbolize metrics of orientation, yet typically ingest elevation data to create those layers. Rather than processing elevation data to represent terrain, a shift in perspective to emphasize orientation data--surface normal vectors--can dramatically speed some analyses and opens the door to new techniques borrowed from the computer graphics field. Performance improvements are most apparent for multidirectional methods, making those techniques more available to cartographers with modest computing resources. Elevation is the dominant data model for terrain surfaces, and the de-facto input for widely available analytic cartography tools. It is the essential property driving hypsometric tinting or viewshed analyses. Yet the most widely used layers for terrain representation do not symbolize elevation, but rather orientation. These analyses depend on an interpretation of orientation from the elevation data. Each tool must do this on its own and may choose its own method for doing so. Complex techniques built upon relief shading or slope shading, such as Sky Model (Kennelly & Stewart, 2011) found in Esri's TerrainTools, perform this interpretation many times. This is duplicated work, and largely unnecessary. If adjacent tools interpret orientation differently, incongruencies introduce bias or noise to the analysis. An orientation-focused data model is available, widely used in other industries but under-used in GIS. This is a multiband raster dataset encoding surface normal vectors. Surface normal vectors completely capture pixel-by-pixel orientation independent of height and can be used directly in more modular and streamlined versions of the tools now common. This model separates elevation-to-orientation processing and executes only once, forming a persistent dataset to be fed to further analyses. The orientation calculations, because they are separate, can also be customized to the terrain type. When a tool such as Hillshade is unencumbered from this additional processing, it becomes more lightweight and executes faster, with less overhead. Multi-directional shading methodologies will benefit from improved performance in proportion to the number of lighting directions in the method. Sky Model runs the shading tool hundreds of times to accumulate a composite image (shown in Figure 1, compared with a traditional single-light shaded relief). An orientation-aware version runs several times faster than the widely available versions built atop conventional shading tools. Moving to a surface normal vector dataset permits us to implement proven techniques from the computer graphics field for novel cartographic effects. A version of displacement mapping has been used in GIS to raise patterns on a surface (Nighbert, 2002). This is a manipulation of the DEM. Bump-mapping produces a similar effect by operating on the surface normal vectors rather than the height data (Blinn, 1978). Bump-mapping, when employed with effective masking, is a useful technique to imprint textures onto the terrain that are themselves shaded properly. Critically, surface normal vector manipulations do not affect elevation analyses (hypsometric tints, shadows, etc). Patterns introduced to the relief shading, working alone or with other variables such as colour, are a means of differentiating distinct areas in the scene. Figure 2 illustrates the bump-mapping effect to create a textured shaded relief in which land use categories (forest and open water in this case) can be identified by colour, texture, or both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cartographers tout the merits of relief shading in giving terrain a three-dimensional appearance, while tending to ignore or discourage the use of shadowing for the shadow's tendency to obscure the underlying topographic details. It is possible, however, to discard relief shading and use only shadows from multiple light sources to create shadowing effects that have similar landform details and with the potential for a more dramatic three-dimensional effect when compared to relief shading. We present comparisons of a standard elevation model illuminated by a clear sky with a) relief shading, b) shadows, and c) relief shading plus shadows in Figure 1. We observe that adding relief shading to a shadowed rendering (Figure 1c) does not add much topographic detail to the shadow-based terrain representation (Figure1b). This may seem non-intuitive, as terrain is being represented not by the orientation of the land's surface with respect to a light source which is the basis of relief shading, but rather by the shadows cast by landforms that are aligned with the illumination direction. This result underscores the importance of illumination models that represent numerous point sources throughout the sky to simulate natural lighting conditions and result in soft shadows. Another important comparison between relief shading and representing terrain with shadows is that vertical exaggeration of the elevation model can produce more dramatic effects with the latter, as seen in the top row of Figure 2. This enhanced effect can be attributed to longer shadows with vertically exaggerated terrain. By contrast, vertical exaggeration of terrain for relief shading as seen in the bottom row of Figure 2 may make illuminated areas lighter and non-illuminated areas darker in grayness, but general patterns of lighter and darker areas remain the same while undergoing tonal modulations. These patterns are locked into place by the static nature of landform locations as opposed to the dynamic nature of their shadows' extents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines 101 geospatial projects and the perception of participating geospatial professionals on their success. It organizes their discussion of technical aspects of the work and managerial problems that arose within the frameworks of the geographic information science and technology (GIS&T) and the project management (PM) bodies of knowledge (BoK), respectively. Based on this author's appraisal of projects perceived as failure-prone (those perceived as failures, containing significant pitfalls, or of uncertain outcome by the professionals), technical issues are rarely cited as the cause of failure-prone projects, and integration of more numerous GIS&T BoK knowledge areas are associated with a smaller percentage of failure-prone projects. Results also reveal that most failure-prone projects have serious management issues in more than one nonfacilitating knowledge area of the PM BoK, a trend that could be useful in tracking at the onset of a project at risk of being failure-prone. Finally, by mapping managerial problems within PM BoK knowledge areas to GIS&T knowledge areas, this study identifies problems in particular managerial areas for projects with particular GIS&T components. Such competency-based approaches will allow geospatial project managers and professionals to better plan projects and recognize common pitfalls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-hatching is an artistic drawing method in which lines of variable thickness and orientation approximate tonal variations associated with shading and shadowing. Research in computer graphics has focused primarily on creating illustrations with cross-hatching that conforms to the three dimensional surface of virtual objects. Cross-hatched shadow maps apply cross-hatching to shadowed areas, with the length of these hatching lines based on the distance shadows are cast from point illumination sources at a number of discrete inclinations above the horizon. Thickness of lines increase within areas remaining shadowed at greater inclinations. By adding hatching lines from a second illumination azimuth, the resulting map is both cross-hatched and rendered with more diffuse shadows. The resulting map uses only shadows to represent terrain, a departure from other techniques such as hill-shading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers step-by-step instructions for making iPhone mapping application using GeoGears prototype application.

Abstract: Many types of maps can be created by neighborhood operations on a continuous surface such as provided by a digital elevation model. These most commonly include first derivatives slope or aspect, and second derivatives planimetric or profile curvature. Such variables are often used in geomorphic analyses of terrain. First derivatives also provide subtle enhancements to hill-shaded maps. For example, some maps combine oblique and vertical illumination, with the latter reflecting variations in slope. This study illustrates how second derivative maps, in conjunction with hill-shading, can cartographically enhance topographic detail. A simple conic model indicates that image-tone edges where slope or aspect varies by less than 0.5° are visible on curvature maps. Hill-shaded images combined with curvature enhance the continuity of naturally occurring tonal edges, especially in strongly illuminated areas. Variations in planimetric and profile curvature seem to be especially effective at highlighting convergent and divergent drainages and variations in erosion rate between or within sedimentary units, respectively. Shading curvature with consideration given to illumination models can add detail to hill-shaded terrain maps in a manner similar to cognitive models employed by map viewers. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A list of different articles published in the Spring 2006 issue of the journal "Cartographic Perspectives" is presented. The articles include "False Truths: Ethics and Mapping as a Profession," by Tom Koch, "Non-Photorealistic Rendering and Terrain Representation," by Patrick J. Kennelly and A. Jon Kimerling, and "From Afghanistan to Iraq in Media Maps: Journalistic Construction of Geographic Knowledge," by Robert R. Churchill and E. Hope Stege.

In recent years, a branch of computer graphics termed non-photorealistic rendering (NPR) has defined its own niche in the computer graphics community. While photorealistic rendering attempts to render virtual objects into images that cannot be distinguished from a photograph, NPR looks at techniques designed to achieve other ends. Its goals can be as diverse as imitating an artistic style, mimicking a look comparable to images created with specific reproduction techniques, or adding high- lights and details to images. In doing so, NPR has overlapped the study of cartography concerned with representing terrain in two ways. First, NPR has formulated several techniques that are similar or identical to antecedent terrain rendering techniques including inclined contours and hachures. Second, NPR efforts to highlight or add information in renderings often focus on the use of innovative and meaningful combinations of visual variables such as orientation and color. Such efforts are similar to recent terrain rendering research focused on methods to symbolize disparate areas of slope and aspect on shaded terrain representations. We compare these fields of study in an effort to increase awareness and foster collaboration between researchers with similar interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the trends in research and practices for cartography, the concept on redesigning urban bicycle maps and the aspects of military mapping.

The article presents a case study of a 57-year old man with known liver cirrhosis who was admitted to the emergency department because of malaise, who, on admission, was jaundiced and was with chronic liver failure stigmata. Clinical examinations revealed encephalopathy grade 2 and after progression to refractory multiple organ failure, the patient died.

Standard Elevation Models We propose the use of standard elevation models to evaluate and compare the quality of various relief shading and other terrain rendering techniques. These datasets will cover various landforms, be available at no cost to the user, and be free of common data imperfections such as missing data values, resampling artifacts, and seams. Datasets will be available at multiple map scales over the same geographic area for multi-scale analysis. Utilizing a standard data model for testing and comparing methods is a common practice among many disciplines. Furthermore, the use of digital models to test rendering techniques based on qualitative visual production has been well established for decades. Following the generation of the first digital image in 1957, image processing and analysis required standard test images upon which methods could be tested and compared. During the 1960s and 1970s, many well-known standard test images emerged from this need for a comparative technique model. Today, institutions like the University of Southern California's Signal and Image Processing Institute maintain digital image databases for the primary purpose of supporting image processing and analysis research, including geographic imaging processes. Several well-known test models have also emerged from the world of three-dimensional image analysis. 3D test models like Newell's Utah teapot, for example, is a dataset created for testing computer generated rendering techniques like shading and textures (Lehman, 173-174). Although the Utah teapot differs slightly from its real life Melitta subject, it is derived from a real and recognizable object characterized by various topological features upon which rendering algorithms can be tested. Much like the free and open Utah teapot dataset, our spatial elevation test models are free of data imperfections for the purposes of surficial rendering methods testing. However, while the Utah teapot is a single model, ours is a series of test models at various geographic scales. While the need for standard digital test images began to emerge in computer graphics, the use of sensors mounted on airplanes and satellites to collect voluminous data began to thrive, producing new datasets that required novel processing and evaluation methods. High-resolution digital elevation models capturing detailed slope, elevation, and other topographic attributes, now offer earth scientists and cartographers powerful digital datasets for both understanding and rendering Earth's landscape. Among the branches of geo-science benefitting from high-resolution digital elevation models (DEM) was geomorphometry. Geomorphometry and relief shading techniques overlap in many aspects in that they are both areas of geographic rendering that make use of digital elevation models and other similar datasets for cartographic representation (Pike et al. 2009). Both branches of topographical representation pre-date computerized mapping, yet have been revolutionized with the growth of computer processing, thus routinizing their implementations (Pike 1999). However, since geomorphometric applications parameterize complex geomorphological influences for quantitative topographical analysis, many differences exist between geomorphometric models, such as predictive vegetation modeling and our proposed standard elevation models. Although our standard elevation models are created for testing mapping techniques, unlike geomorphometric models, ours are not for predicting or identifying landscape or geomorphological occurrences. Rather, the standard elevation models we propose are for the evaluation of cartographic rendering itself. Many studies to date have evaluated methods to render terrain for display for both two- and three-dimensional (2D and 3D) cartographic displays. In general, the evaluation involves comparing the new rendering with well-known and sometimes hand-rendered exemplars or typical terrain rendering techniques. Examples of the former include methods to reproduce historical Swiss-stlye rock drawings (Jenny et al., 2014), hand-drawn relief shading (Bell, 2018), and create plan oblique relief effects (Jenny and Patterson 2007), while examples of the latter include many examples that compare custom relief shading techniques with default hillshading techniques found in typical geographic information system (GIS) software (e.g. Huffman 2019, Marston and Jenny 2015, Kennelly and Stewart 2014, Tait 2002, Patterson 1997). Such studies typically involve searching for an appropriate and high quality DEM dataset, tasks that could be simplified with standard elevation models. Additionally, past research provides us with an opportunity to inventory the DEM data that was used previously in an effort to better understand the characteristics of the study areas that were selected. We will look at these past studies to determine attributes such as the geographic location, extent, and scale of previous models used to evaluate terrain representations. We will begin with reviews of relief shading and hypsometric tinting studies, and may expand our analysis to include other techniques such as 3D terrain mapping or other specialized techniques such as hachuring. While the idea of what a standard elevation model for relief shading is may evolve as the study progresses, we currently plan to focus on the following ideas in searching for candidates. As previously stated, the data should be free to distribute, of high quality, cover various landforms and be available at multiple scales. The standard elevation models should also cover areas that have been mapped frequently over time. Historical and contemporary geo-referenced terrain maps should be available for these areas to allow the user to easily compare new techniques to existing cartographic products. We hope that developers of new algorithms will use the standard elevation models to compare their results to previously existing methods and maps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented in which the editor discusses the publication of the "Peer-Reviewed Article" section, the position of the Bernie Jenny and Aileen Buckley serving as Guest Editors, and the academic peer-reviewed articles sought by the section editors.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including cross-blending hypsometric tint for representing terrain, color scheme used by mapmakers, content analysis to selected thematic maps and outreach initiative ofBrooklyn Historical Society.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including pinning down of radical cartography, and important considerations of multiscale map design and maps from the collection of historical interest.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various topics including contributors for section "Letter from the president" cartographic collection, and visual fields piece.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including the seafloor of Hawai'i, different cartographic challenges, and the Lilly Library's War of 1812 collection.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including cartographic elements in poems, handling map projections and student competitions.

The article offers information on the Student Poster Competition at the 2009 North American Cartographic Information Society (NACIS) conference in which winners such as Mike Boruta, Diana Muncy, and Daniel Huffman have been selected by balloting.

The article focuses on the creation of mobile mapping applications for smartphones. It notes that in creating mobile mapping applications for mobile phones, developers should follow aspects of locational-based service (LBS) which include its ways of distributing information and mobile mapping application traffic.

The article announces the Peer-reviewed Student Paper Competition for 2011, which accepts peer-reviewed manuscript that will be judged by members of the editorial board of the journal.

In California, the annual number of children under age 6 y of age with blood lead levels (BLL) ≥10 μg/dL is estimated at over 1,000 cases, and up to 10,000 cases when BLL between 4.5 and 9.5 μg/dL are included. State-issued health alerts for food contamination provide one strategy for tracking sources of food-related lead exposures. As well, California passed legislation in 2006 for the Food and Drug Branch (FDB) of the state health department to test and identify lead in candy. This report presents health alert data from California over a 14-y period, compares data before and after the candy testing program began, and examines country of origin, ZIP code data, and time from candy testing to release of health alerts for lead-contaminated candies for 2011–2012. After 2007, health alerts issued for lead in candy and food increased significantly. Analysis of candy-testing data indicated that multiple counties and ZIP codes were affected. Seventeen candies with high lead concentrations were identified, resulting in rapid dissemination (<2 wk) of health alerts to local health departments and community clinicians and to the public. Surveillance of lead exposures from state-based food and candy testing programs provides an opportunity to identify and immediately act to remove nonpaint sources of lead affecting children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traceback methods by state regulatory agencies were used to complement traditional epidemiological cluster investigation methods and confirmed hazelnuts (also referred to as filberts) as the vehicle in a multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli O157:H7 infections. Bulk in-shell hazelnut and mixed-nut purchase locations were identified during the initial epidemiological interviews. Based on purchase dates and case onset dates, regulators in Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin traced product back through the supply chain. Six (86%) retail locations received the suspect hazelnut or mixed-nut shipments from a Minnesota distributor, with one retailer (14%) receiving products from a Wisconsin distributor. Both distributors received 100% of their bulk in-shell hazelnuts and mixed nuts from a distributor in California. The California distributor received 99% of their hazelnuts from a packing company in Oregon. The California distributor received the hazelnuts in 50-lb (22.7-kg) bags and either resold them without opening the bags or used the in-shell hazelnuts in the manufacture of their in-shell mixed nuts. Records at the packing company in Oregon were incomplete or lacked sufficient detail needed to identify a suspect farm or group of suspect farms. Laboratory samples collected from human cases and subsequently recalled product matched the outbreak pulsed-field gel electrophoresis subtype of E. coli O157:H7. Hazelnut harvesting practices create a plausible route of contamination from fecal matter from domestic ruminants or wild deer. This outbreak investigation demonstrates the use of product traceback data to rapidly test an epidemiological hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The Great Falls-Lewistown Coal Field (GFLCF) in central Montana contains over 400 abandoned underground coal mines, many of which are discharging acidic water with serious environmental consequences. Areas of the mines that are completely submerged by groundwater have circum-neutral pH and relatively low concentrations of metals, whereas areas that are only partially flooded or freely draining have acidic pH (<3) and high concentrations of metals. The pH of the mine drains either decreases or increases after discharging to the surface, depending on the initial ratio of acidity (mainly Al and Fe2+) to alkalinity (mainly HCO3 −). In acidic, Fe-rich waters, oxidation of Fe2+ after exposure to air is microbially catalyzed and follows zero-order kinetics, with computed rate constants falling in the range of 0.97 to 1.25mmol L−1 h−1. In contrast, Fe2+ oxidation in near-neutral pH waters appears to be first-order with respect to Fe2+ concentration, although insufficient data were collected to constrain the rate law expression. Rates of Fe2+ oxidation in the field are dependent on temperature such that lower Fe2+ concentrations were measured in down-gradient waters during the day, and higher concentrations at night. Diel cycles in dissolved concentrations of Zn and other trace metals (Mn, Ni) were also noted for down-gradient waters that were net alkaline, but not in the acidic drains. The coal seams of the GFLCF and overlying Cretaceous sandstones form a perched aquifer that lies ~50m above the regional water table situated in the underlying Madison Limestone. The δD and δ 18O values of flooded mine waters suggest local derivation from meteoric water that has been partially evaporated in agricultural soils overlying the coal mines. The S and O isotopic composition of dissolved sulfate in the low pH mine drains is consistent with oxidation of biogenic pyrite in coal under aerated conditions. A clear distinction exists between the isotopic composition of sulfate in the acid mine waters and sulfate in the adjacent sedimentary aquifers, making it theoretically possible to determine if acid drainage from the coal mines has leaked into the underlying Madison aquifer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]