wired.com— Through ground and satellite surveys of land cover, the U. S. Geological Survey?s Gap Analysis Program has generated data that conservationists may be able to use to create and sustain habitat for wildlife.
Jun 15, 2010View in Crawl 4
The map isn't made for graphical representation. Each "pixel" of it contains a numerical value, which is associated with a meaning (such as a class, boolean value, etc) in a database. In a Geographic Information System, the database can be used in all sorts of tools and algorithms to discover spatial relationships, or simply to query "where" certain conditions are met - or might be met given various supplemental conditions.At the current scale, this map does look very pixelated and "MS Paint-like," but if you zoomed in at a larger scale more homogenous regions would easily be visible.This map is meant to be read by computers and programs, not humans. Humans perform the analysis and interpret the results and then possibly create their own, more aesthetically pleasing version, from such results.
Agreed. Most people either haven't learned or just forget that 99.99% of the species that have ever lived on this planet are now gone. Extinct. Never to return - all vanished before man even entered the stage.This is not to justify any human actions that are detrimental to other life. But we must take great care in determining which of these species have simply lost the evolutionary arms race and which ones have been decimated due to human activity. I don't believe that is a very easy task, and I predict that advertising and politics will further confuse people on these decisions.
This GAP Data is very useful in GIS analysis. They also have a layer for each state showing Federal, State, and Private land which can be very useful to anyone looking to recreate on public lands. I'd like to see them regularly publish this data to kml (or dynamically feed it), for Google Earth Users.
minxyandme2Jun 16, 2010
Well, I personally believe that US Americans were unable to do this because some people out there in our nation don't have maps.
burrduggJun 16, 2010
Easier said than done. Now you have to teach dumb Americans what a map is.
stevensj2Jun 16, 2010
The map isn't made for graphical representation. Each "pixel" of it contains a numerical value, which is associated with a meaning (such as a class, boolean value, etc) in a database. In a Geographic Information System, the database can be used in all sorts of tools and algorithms to discover spatial relationships, or simply to query "where" certain conditions are met - or might be met given various supplemental conditions.At the current scale, this map does look very pixelated and "MS Paint-like," but if you zoomed in at a larger scale more homogenous regions would easily be visible.This map is meant to be read by computers and programs, not humans. Humans perform the analysis and interpret the results and then possibly create their own, more aesthetically pleasing version, from such results.
carbonetcJun 16, 2010
Is this really what you got out of the article? Or, more likely, skimming the description?
stevensj2Jun 16, 2010
Agreed. Most people either haven't learned or just forget that 99.99% of the species that have ever lived on this planet are now gone. Extinct. Never to return - all vanished before man even entered the stage.This is not to justify any human actions that are detrimental to other life. But we must take great care in determining which of these species have simply lost the evolutionary arms race and which ones have been decimated due to human activity. I don't believe that is a very easy task, and I predict that advertising and politics will further confuse people on these decisions.
Closed AccountJun 16, 2010
Looks like any other map I can purchase from Office Depot.
goweigusJun 16, 2010
what about the dreaded Homo Sapien who is known to love oil and consume incredibly vast amounts every day?
jingjangJun 16, 2010
This GAP Data is very useful in GIS analysis. They also have a layer for each state showing Federal, State, and Private land which can be very useful to anyone looking to recreate on public lands. I'd like to see them regularly publish this data to kml (or dynamically feed it), for Google Earth Users.
captininsanityJun 18, 2010
Is this really what you got out of my comment? Or, more likely, unable to detect a joke?