Biocomplexity Workshop – Geography and Spatial Concepts
This exercise will focus on using Google Earth to demonstrate biocomplexity concepts
central for geo-visualization. The aims of this exercise are threefold:
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To exhibit the utility of Google Earth to present fundamental concepts in an
interactive environment;
To identify the role of geography and show the utility of “thinking spatially” in
the use and understanding spatial information and analysis; and
To link these activities to education standards in areas of math, science, and
technology to ensure the development of critical thinking skills and problem
solving.
Geospatial technologies demand that we understand fundamental scientific concepts in
new and different ways. Interactive maps that allow for querying, panning, and
zooming in and out are very different from traditional analog maps creating a dynamic
environment for exploration and analysis.
What is Google Earth? http://earth.google.com/
Google Earth uses satellite imagery and aerial photography to create a base layer or
mosaic that covers the globe. The imagery is regularly updated, however images dates
vary depending upon availability. Digital elevation models (DEMs) are used to view
areas in three dimensions, such as the Grand Canyon. Google Earth integrates other
programs via the Geographic Web: Wikipedia and Panoramio. Vector data, such as
roads, place names, vary greatly throughout the world. The Google Earth Community is
an online forum of placemarks, tours, and educational materials
(http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/ubbthreads.php/Cat/0).
There are three different licenses available, each with increasing functionality:
 Google Earth: free version (which this workshop will use);
 Google Earth Plus ($20 annual fee);
 Google Earth Pro ($400 annual fee).
Google Earth capabilities
 Searching for locations:
One can zoom around the earth finding places by using landmarks, natural formations
and distances from known urban areas. However, if you know the latitude and
longitude or the Northing and Easting coordinates (Universal Transverse Mercator –
UTM), you can use the cursor to find that location or entering the coordinates into the
Search window.
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 Places:
There is a Sightseeing folder that contains several placemarks. These locations can be
visited by using the check box next to the location and double clicking on the place
name.
 Layers:
Google Earth comes with a list of standard layers that can be turned on and off by
clicking on the check box. New layers are being developed and can be downloaded from
a variety of websites.
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 Google Earth tours:
You can create your own tours with specific themes. Tours provide an effective way to
automate a fly-by of geographic places and geologic features by adding placemarks and
hyperlinks to a tour folder.
 Image Overlay:
Digital images, such as aerial photos and topographic maps, can be draped over the
earth’s surface. Placemarks can also be added to the image overlay.
 Converting from other data formats to KML (Keyhole Markup Language):
KML is the computer language for managing the display of three-dimensional geospatial
data in application programs. Using different freeware programs, shapefiles can be
converted to kml to be compatible in the image window.
Trivia: The word Keyhole is an earlier name for the software that became
Google Earth; the software was produced in turn by Keyhole, Inc., which
was acquired by Google Earth in 2004. The term “Keyhole” honors the KH
reconnaissance satellites, the original eye-in-the-sky military
reconnaissance system that is 30 years old. Source: Wikipedia
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Specifications:
Coordinate System and Projection:
Geographic coordinates (latitutde/longitude), Google Earth uses a simple cylindrical
(Plate Carree) projection with a general perspective (referring to the source of light
that would project the globe onto a flat surface using a near earth distance). World
Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84) datum.
Baseline Resolution:
15 meters, globally – depends upon the quality of the satellite/aerial photos
uploaded; some locations, such urban areas, have much higher resolutions.
There are two basic Google Earth file types:
KML: text-based file composed of Tags similar to XML or HTML
KMZ: KML files that have been zipped along with related files
Google Earth supports the following image formats: *.jpg, *.bmp, *.tif, *.png,
*.jpeg, *.gif. *.tiff, *.ppm
Is Google Earth a Geographic Information System (GIS)?
Google Earth is not a conventional GIS such as ArcGIS, Idrisi, Intergraph, GRASS as it
does not provide fundamental analysis capabilities such as buffer, interpolation, or
attribute analysis. However it does offer data visualization and display to facilitate
geospatial thinking about such geographic concepts as: proximity, connectivity,
adjacency, continuity, pattern and overlay.
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To better understand the fundamental concepts of complexity science, Google Earth
allows one to overlay layers of interest to demonstrate inter-relationships, selforganization, and hierarchical structure.
Google Earth Basics:
 Viewing the Earth: Refer to the handout, Google Earth navigation. A key aspect of
viewing is that once you have zoomed in close enough, you can tilt the earth to
allow for you to view the surface in three dimensions and fly over the earth’s
surface.
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Projection: A map projection is a mathematical expression use to represent the
sphere or 3 dimensional surface of the earth on a flat 2-dimensional surface.
Projection result in some level and type of distortion: area, scale, shape, and
direction. Google Earth uses a perspective that is from In this projection
meridians and parallels are equidistant, straight lines crossing at right angles.
-Introduction to Map Projections
http://personal.uncc.edu/lagaro/cwg/mapproj/intro_mp.html
-The Geographer’s Craft - Map Projections
http://www.colorado.Edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj.html
 Datum: The datum describes the actual shape of the earth in mathematical terms.
Since the earth is actually a sphere, ellipsoid and spheroids are used to define the
shape. Google Earth uses World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84).
-Geodetic Datums:
http://www.colorado.Edu/geography/gcraft/notes/datum/datum.html
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Coordinate Systems: The globe can be viewed using different coordinate systems in
Google Earth: latitude and longitude and UTMs.
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Let’s examine 3 different ways of looking at the earth. In Google Earth, select
Tools/Options/3D View. Click on the button for Degree, Minutes, Seconds. Click
OK.
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Select View/Grid.
Examine the globe. Zoom to the origin of the grid – where the Equator meets
the Prime Meridian.
Latitude (parallels) and longitude (meridians) form an imaginary network over
the earth’s surface (graticule). Degrees of latitude and longitude (Global
Reference System) are used to locate exact positions on the surface of the globe,
they are not uniform measures on the Earth’s surface. This reference system
measures angles from the center of the Earth, rather than distances on the
Earth’s surface.
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Select Tools/Options/3DView. Click on Universal Transverse Mercator.
In many GIS applications, UTMs coordinate system. The Universal Transverse
Mercator (UTM) grid system starts at the 180o meridian of longitude and divides
the globe into narrow strips, each 6o of longitude in width (Fig 5). Each zone
(numbered 1 through 60) has a central meridian. The central meridian of each
zone has a value of 500,000 m (meters) in order to avoid negative numbers at
the west edge of the zone, and to preclude the requirement for N, S, E, W
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designations. For the Northern hemisphere, the equator is assigned the value of
zero meters. Therefore, you always use the UTM grid by reading right and up.
(For the Southern Hemisphere, the equator is assigned a value of 10,000,000 m,
and the numbers decrease toward the South Pole.)
The Universal Transverse Mercator Geographic Coordinate System:
http://geology.isu.edu/geostac/Field_Exercise/topomaps/utm.htm
-The Geographer’s Craft –Coordinate Systems
http://www.colorado.Edu/geography/gcraft/notes/coordsys/coordsys_f.html
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Biocomplexity Activities:
1. Comparing geographic representation:
Compare cartograms to Google Earth imagery. A cartogram redraws a map with
the regions of interest larger or smaller based upon a characteristic of interest.
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Examine the globe in Google Earth. Pan around the globe and consider the
size of Puerto Rico as compared to the maps below.
What kinds of comparative questions would you ask your students?
This is a map where sizes of the countries of the world are in proportion to their actual sizes on
the surface of the planet and their shapes are the same as their actual shapes with sizes of
countries.
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In this map the sizes of countries are not proportional to their actual landmass but
instead to the number of people living there; a country with 20 million people, for
instance, appears twice as large as a country with 10 million. Notice the size of Puerto
Rico.
Source: Images of the social and economic world:
http://www-personal.umich.edu/~mejn/cartograms/
2. Identify connectivity.
 In Google Earth, turn on the Roads Layer:
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Turn on the Scale legend: Select View/Scale Legend.
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Zoom out so that the entire globe can be viewed. Slowly begin to zoom in until
the roads layer becomes visible.
Note the scale: _________________
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Now, zoom to another part of the world and determine at what scale the roads
are evident.
Note the scale: _________________
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Discuss scale, resolution and data issues.
Spatial resolution: is a measure of the smallest object that can be
resolved by the sensor, or the linear dimension on the ground
represented by each pixel or grid cell in the image
-Scale in Geography: http://www.geog.ucsb.edu/~montello/pubs/scale2.pdf
-On Definitions of Scale:
http://leml.asu.edu/jingle/Web_Pages/Wu_Pubs/PDF_Files/Jenerett_Wu_2000. pdf
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Compare specific locations around the globe.
What does this suggest about development? What does inferences
might you draw about connectivity?
3. Identify hierarchy, non-linearity, and self-organization of water systems.
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On Google Earth, turn on the Water Bodies layers in Primary Database/Places of
Interest/Geographic Features:
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Zoom into Puerto Rico. You should notice that there are very few water bodies.
What this means is that there is very little hydrology for Puerto Rico that is
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currently in Google Earth. However, we can still examine the concepts of
biocomplexity in another part of the world.
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In the Fly To box, type: Nile River, Egypt.
-Zoom in to be able to see the Nile River delta. You should look at it with
both the Water Bodies layer turned on and then turn it off to examine
the satellite imagery.
-What does this tell you about the landscape? Rivers naturally form
deltas and self-organize into a dendritic pattern of tributaries that form
based upon hierarchical arrangements. This pattern appears chaotic up
close, but as you zoom out, it appears to have an organizational logic.
-Note: When you go to the beach, you see the same patterns of
drainage forming on a microscale as well this example at the macro scale.
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Now, Fly To the Danube River in Europe. Follow the River to its delta. Compare
this delta to the Nile River.
Fly to the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. Find it’s river delta.
Are there similarities between these deltas?
4. Physical and human characteristics of places by zooming in.
 Open the Google Earth My Places. Open the Sightseeing folder.
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Click on the box next to Grand Canyon, US. Click on the Play button below My
Places:
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Turn off the Grand Canyon.
Click on Christ the Redeemer, Brazil and hit Play.
Compare the physical landscape of both areas.
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5. Developing a Tour
For this activity, find a partner. You will create a tour of the some locations of interest
that demonstrate a geographic theme or a biocomplexity concept. Using your
knowledge and the resources of Google Earth and the Internet, identify 5 places that
you include on your tour.
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Make a list of your locations.
In Google Earth, create a new folder: Add/Folder. Give your folder a meaningful
name. Give your tour a meaningful description. Click OK.
Zoom to the first stop on your tour. Create a new placemark: Add/Placemark or
click on the Add Placemark icon
. Be sure that your Folder is highlighted –
then when you select the placemark it will be stored in the proper folder.
Give your placemark a meaningful name. Create a description that explains how
this demonstrates a geographic theme. Click OK.
Each successive placemark will be added to the Places window in the
selected folder. Tours play from top to bottom in the list. You can
rearrange the locations by clicking and dragging.
When you are done, right click on the folder and select Save As.. Give your file a
meaningful name and save it in a location that you will remember.
View the tour. Be sure all locations are checked. Press the Play button at the
bottom of the Places window.
Share your tour with another group and discuss the geography themes you
developed.
Resources:
Patterson, T.C. Google Earth as a (Not Just) Geography Education Tool. Journal of
Geography 106:145-152.
Fermann, E. J. A ‘Google Earth’ User Manual for Earth Science Teachers, 2006.
http://www.eastchester.k12.ny.us/schools/hs/teachers/fermann/documents/GEforESm
anual.pdf
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