Guangzhou, China

Formative Assessment: Google Earth

To orient yourself, begin by reading the profile of Guangzhou here.

Google Earth: Fly to Guangzhou by clicking on the city's name in the Google earth My Places pane to the left of the screen.

1. First view the area at approximately 400 km eye altitude (bottom right of screen; make sure you have the "Status Bar" enabled on the "View" menu; and make sure you have selected "Meters, Kilometers" as your Units of Measurement in "Preferences"). Note the location of Guangzhou and its proximity to other locations such as Hong Kong and the South China Sea. Note the Pearl River (Zhujiang) estuary. If you click on the photo link at the mouth of the Pearl River labeled "Humen Pearl River Bridge", you can view >100 photos that give you an idea of this general area. Use the ruler tool (top toolbar) to measure from the center of Guangzhou to this location. This will give you an idea of the size of the urban area and its proximity to water.
2. Zoom in so that you are viewing central Guangzhou (placemark) and an area to the south east of the center. Zoom to an "eye altitude" (see bottom right of screen) of "40 km". Your view should be like the screenshot below. Use the Ruler tool (top toolbar) to measure the distance from west to east of this view. Keep this distance in mind as you explore this large city. Note the channels of the Pearl River flowing through the city to the South China Sea.
3. Pan over the view starting near the placemark and travel southeast to the Pearl River. Pay attention to the elevation shown on the lower right of the screen. It continually changes as you mouse over the image. Make a note of the elevation range close to the placemark and then explore the areas near the Pearl River channels. To get accurate ground elevations, you may need to zoom in and make sure you are mousing over ground not tall buildings or trees, which of course will give you greater elevation.
4. Find a location that is at, near, or below sea level. Choose a photo location in one of these places. Click the photo to open it and then choose "fly to this location". If you zoom out slightly after flying there, you will get a good idea of what kind of place this is – for example, a residential, commercial or industrial area or another type of area. Make a note of this. How would you characterize the area in terms of population density (high, medium, low)?
5. Repeat this activity for a total of at least 3 locations. In each location look carefully to see if you can find any signs of flood control structures such as flood walls, levees, barriers, etc.
6. Proceed to the "Assessments" folder and open the Module 1 Assessment. Answer the questions in Question Set 1, Google Earth: Guangzhou.

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One interesting location that is low-lying is Guanzhou University area. This can be located by beginning at the Art Museum at 23°02' 17.06 N; 113°22' 41.77 E (-9 ft) and exploring the area. Several photographs in this general area show the waterfront. Try to locate flood control structures in this area. Save a screenshot and the coordinates if you find one.
Credit: Google Earth

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