GeoMapApp: Instructions and Tutorial

These steps should be repeated for each of the cities profiled above.

You will use Geomapapp to create elevation profiles and locate the lowest and highest elevation points in each city.

Your finished assignment will include:

1. Screenshots of each step for each city
2. An elevation profile for at least three locations of each city to provide a characterization of each city's topography.
3. A completed chart for each city summarizing the information you have collected (see below).
4. A discussion of the relationship between population density and elevation for your area and its significance to the coastal hazard risks faced by the residents.
   

Directions for creating elevation profiles for target coastal cities: New Orleans, Mumbai, Guanzhou, and Shenzhen. Read these directions before beginning work. Follow the directions for each of the four cities.

1. Go to GeoMapApp. Download the software according to the directions for your computer. Remember that if you are using a Mac with OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion) or 10.9 (Mavericks), you will need to follow the instructions given in the "Mac OS X 'Mountain Lion' version 10.8 Installation Walkthrough" link found on the GeoMapApp Help Pages.
2. You will also need to load Java on your computer if you do not already have it.
3. Open GeoMapApp and explore basemap layers (see basemap dropdown menu tab in toolbar) for examining the topography of the study sites. The goal is to be able to view the topography of an area as accurately as possible so this will require selecting a dataset that gives us a high resolution (denoted by a measurement such as 10 m, 30 m, 1 km.. The smaller the unit measure (in this list, 10m), the higher the resolution will be and therefore the more detail you will see on the map displayed when you zoom in. A 1km resolution is not helpful for our purposes here.
4. There are two basemap layers available in the dropdown menu that will allow us to explore the topography of the chosen cities in detail:
   • NASA Elevation Model (USA is 10m resolution. Use this to explore New Orleans only. New Orleans has such slight elevation changes this high resolution map is the most accurate.);
   • GMRT Image (Use this for the cities outside the US). Do not use this one for New Orleans as the flat topography does not display well or accurately in this dataset.
5. You can open multiple layers and check and uncheck the layers to view or hide them. (the layer manager box sometimes gets hidden beneath the map).
6. Locate the region of interest and zoom in by clicking the "+" on the toolbar and drawing a box around the city you are targeting. Repeat this process until you have the right scale (you can see details such as streets, buildings, etc.) for exploring the elevation.
   

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   Above is a screen shot in which the NASA Elevation model layer is turned on (checked in Layer Manager) and we are zoomed in on New Orleans to an extent (2812 m) that allows us to see small elevation changes when mousing over the terrain. The elevation is shown in the bar above the map next to the toolbar icons. Credit: GeoMapApp
   
   
   

   Notes:

   • To zoom out, click the "-" icon and the left click multiple times until you reach the desired scale.
   • In order to locate the target cities, use Google Earth to pinpoint the general coordinates and then use these coordinates in GeoMapApp to zoom in.
     

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     This screen shot shows GeoMapApp zoomed to Mumbai, India with Google Earth inset also zoomed to Mumbai. The coordinates 72°E; 19°N are the target coordinates for Mumbai. Credit: GeoMapApp
     
     
7. Explore the tabs at the top of the screen.
   1. Go to the square grid icon. This opens Global Grids.
   2. This opens Global Grids
      

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      This screen shot shows the Global Grids box open on Mumbai, India. Credit: GeoMapApp
      
      
   3. Click on the profile tool (insert icon).
   4. Draw a line on your map in the area of interest. This will produce an elevation profile of you area.
      

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      This screen shot shows an elevation profile example of Mumbai. You will need to do several, searching for the lower and higher elevations, to create a more comprehensive picture of the elevation of this large city (refer back to the elevation information you obtained using Google Earth.) Credit: GeoMapApp
      
      
   5. Click on the contour tool found in Global Grids. Adjust the contour interval to 5m in order to show enough detail in topography.
   6. This will open contour lines on the map.
   7. Use the elevation data in the profiles you create to determine the lowest and highest elevation for the city you are investigating. This will be entered in the chart on page __
      

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      This screen shot shows 5m contours in Mumbai. Credit: GeoMapApp
      
      
   8. Make screen shots of your map and elevation profiles
   9. Write a short description of each area you analyze using GeoMapApp, describing the nature of elevation in the area.
   10. If possible, open the population density basemap for your area (these data are not available for all locations).
   11. Describe the relationship between population density and elevation for your area.
   12. How does this relationship relate to the idea of how vulnerable this location is to coastal hazards?

When you have the desired screen view on your computer screen, make a screen shot of it.

Making Screenshots with a Windows Computer: Instructions

On a PC, simply press the ctrl and prnt scrn keys simultaneously then release. Next, go to your document and right click and hit paste or use keys ctrl v simultaneously. The image of your screen will paste into your document.

Making Screenshots with a Macintosh Computer: Instructions

On your keyboard, press Command + Shift + 4 and then release all keys.
Next, go to your document and use ctrl v to paste. The image of your screen will paste into your document.

Note: In Mac OS X v10.6 and later, the screenshots are saved as PNG files on the desktop. They're automatically named "Screen shot (date and time).png." You can open these screenshots with Preview or other image editing apps.
You can insert these files into your document.
More information on screen shot features on a mac:

g) Write a short description of each area you analyze using GeoMapApp, describing the nature of elevation in the area. If possible, open the population density basemap for your area (these data are not available for all locations). Describe the relationship between population density and elevation for your area. How does this relationship relate to the idea of how vulnerable this location is to coastal hazards?

References

GeoMapApp

Introduction to GeoMapApp: Exploring Earth's Topography. Annotated Teacher Edition