Geog 461W: Student Projects
Dynamic Cartographic Representation
Most maps produced today are electronic, dynamic, and often ephemeral - with millions of maps generated on the web each day. At the same time, computer graphics technologies developed to enable scientific visualization generally are being adapted and extended for applications with geographic information. The goal of this course is to provide students with both the conceptual understanding and practical experience needed to design effective dynamic representations and assess their effectiveness.
During the term we explore the potential and implications of recent advances in cartography, exploratory data analysis, and information visualization as they relate to the theory and practice of geographic visualization (geovisualization). A key focus of the course is on "dynamic" representations of geographically referenced information. Dynamic representations are those that change as a result of user actions or data updates. Topics include: animated and interactive maps, exploratory multivariate spatial data analysis, geovisualization to support knowledge construction, interactive web maps, navigation aids for real and virtual worlds, map-enabled decision-support, collaborative geovisualization, dynamic maps to enable learning, semiotic principles for design of dynamic maps and related geovisualization tools, and perceptual/cognitive issues in dynamic geo-representation (including methods for studying the success of visual displays and interaction devices as well as tool usability).
All students take part in a group term project. Groups consist of
2-3 students. The projects focus on design and production of a dynamic,
map-based, web-capable geospatial tool targeted to support some clearly
articulated objectives. Recent student projects are listed below.
2013 Projects
State2State
Flows
Provides an overview of annual inter-state migration flows from 2005 - 2011.
Sean Cooley, Jon Poler, Andrew Yacina
2013
NCAA Men's Tourney: Twitter Conversation
An exploratory visualization showing conversation about the 2013 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament on Twitter.
Nicholas Fink, Patrick Lavelle
Fire Map
An exploratory visualization tool for analyzing spatiotemporal trends in forest fires, designed for and used by the Dr Smithwick's Geog 097 course on sustainability.
Sarah Hanson, Anthony Marze, Jessica White
Disease Rate Map
Visualization of census demographic information and CDC disease rate information for counties in the US.
Steven Hartwich, Anthony Ruane
Hurricane
Map
An exploratory visualization tool for analyzing spatiotemporal trends in hurricane tracks from 2002 - 2009.
Helena Kotala, Haiyun Ye
MapStats Redux
A re-imagination of the MapStats project featuring vector graphics and interactivity.
Daniel Tauriello, Jonathan Zenker
2012 Projects
EnergyViz
Visualizes the production and consumption of a variety of energy commodities in the United States.
Brandon Mallon, Aaron Marks, and Victoria Wilds
Texas
Crop Mapper
Animates Texas’ crop production in relation to drought for both corn and wheat for the years 2002 – 2011.
Marry Morris, Erin Cafferty, and Omar Al-Hashimi
Space-Time
Pattern Visualization
Displays spatiotemporal data and patterns for event histories based on the analysis of text from geo-located news reports.
Qian Di
Space-Time Pattern Visualization Video
Drug
War Violence Mexico
Demonstrates the growth of violence and its relationship to drug smuggling, growing, and transportation activities over a four year period.
Chaoran Chen, Brian Chorman, and Ben Saxey
Drug War Violence Mexico Demo Video
Chesapeake
Bay Pollutants
Provides an overview of water quality metrics and overall “State of The Bar” for the Chesapeake Bay Watershed over a 10 year period.
Bryan Gardiner, Laura Flyte, and Zach Stephens
Chesapeake Bay Pollutants Demo Video
jtCULTUREmap
Visualizes the historical and cultural significance of the rayon industry as it moved to the United States.
Katie Hess-Reichard
VisitorViz
Enables users to view and explore park information for America’s National Parks, Historical Monuments, and National Recreation Areas from 1981 to 2011.
Brianna Hammond, Kirsten Luzik, and Clare Price
2011 Projects
Deer
Mapper
Provides a means of exploratory data analysis for New Hampshire whitetail deer hunting harvest data.
Developed by: Ethan Jackson, Evan Klauda, Bo Yao
CityPulse
Visualizes the human factors that give cities their unique feel.
Developed by: Jim Cunningham, Rick Fourroux, Ryan Mullins
REEClaiming
An interactive map designed to explore the possibilites for future mining of rare earth elements (REEs) in the United States and to aid in allocation of resources.
Developed by: Amanda Bowe, Morgan Iannuzzi
Marcellus
Shale Explorer
Informing Pennsylvanians of the impacts of Marcellus Shale production throughout the Commonwealth.
Developed by: Harrison Forbes, Joseph Ritzman, Dan Uminiski
Marcellus Shale Explorer Demo Video
State
College Nightlife
Our mission is to provide all the essential information one needs to plan a night out in a highly interactive and user-friendly manner.
Developed by: Alan Cunningham, Charlie Fuller, Kase Hartog
State College Nightlife Demo Video
US
Lung Cancer Mortality
An interactive map to explore lung cancer mortality rates by U.S. County over 5 years.
Developed by: Sal Burgio, Brett Clark
US Lung Cancer Mortality Demo Video
2010 Projects
A.C.T.I.V.E
Plan
Application for Community Traffic Improvement and Evaluation.
Developed by: Stephen Butzler, Andy Stauffer, Jinlong Yang
Centre
Region FireGIS
Privides spatial data analysis and mapping tools for fire company calls and response times.
Developed by: Michael Archer, James Doyle, Kevin Griffith
BOOMsys
The Basic Ordnance Observational Management System - geovisual analytics of improvised explosive device (IED) attacks in Iraq.
Developed by: Ben Finch, Matt Murdock, Nick Maziekas
SchoolViz
An interactive mapping tool for high school students and their parents to filter various criteria during the college selection process.
Developed by: Brent Baker, Luke Heverly, Cory Hunter
West
Nile Virus Visualizer
Tool to explore patterns in West Nile Virus detection data across the counties of Pennsylvania for the year 2003.
Deverloped by: Paulo Raposo
WorldStat
A statistics map for exploring world socio-economic data.
Developed by: Steve Sylvia, Kristyn Sullivan
2009 Projects
eRedux
An interactive map to explore carbon footprint and energy consumption in the United States.
Developed by: Erik Olson, Valarie Troya
Penn
State Campus Map
An interactive campus map of Penn State University, with buildings, points of interest, and other features.
Developed by: Tim Johnson, Mark Smithgall, Adam Thomas
Lehigh
Valley Traffic
Animated map shows traffic volume for select traffic count locations in the Lehigh Valley area of Pennsylvania for the years 2004-2006.
Developed by: Jon Kistler, Tyler Stoner, Tony Yates
