Can you map music?

That's the question asked by GIS consultant Madeleine Ratcliffe, who works for ESRI.

On a recent LinkedIn post she described the inspiration for an ESRI StoryMap she has created.

I first heard Smetana's Vltava (or The Moldau) while driving with my mum. We're both flautists, and she knows the piece well. As we listened she explained how it traces the course of the Vltava River through Czechia. It begins where two mountain streams meet, represented by two intertwining flutes. From there, the music carries you downstream past hunters in the forest, a village wedding, moonlit dancing by the water, the dramatic St. John's Rapids, and finally to Vyšehrad Castle in Prague. 

She gave a running commentary as we listened, and it completely changed how I thought about music. I hadn't realised it could tell such a vivid geographical story.

When I joined Esri UK two years ago, I couldn't shake the idea of bringing this piece to life on a map.

Using an ArcGIS StoryMap, I've traced the journey of Vltava along the river itself. As you explore, you can listen to each section of the music, discover the historical and cultural context behind it, and see how the landscape, geography and composition are all woven together.

Thanks to Brendan Conway for the tipoff to Madeleine's work.

Watershed Pollution Map

 A new mapping option linked to the current river pollution issues...

Very excited to announce the launch of
THE WATERSHED POLLUTION MAP!

River health, landfills, sewage, road run-off, intensive farming, big industry, forever chemicals, abandoned mines, bathing waters, flood risk, protected areas and so much more... 🧵https://t.co/upIKfAJQhP pic.twitter.com/FnlRgip9ld

— Rachel Salvidge (@RachSalv) June 27, 2024

Visit the map here. 

What are the sources of pollution in your own local area?

A raindrop's journey to the sea

This is a rather fine map tool / experiment / visualisation.

It is called River Runner, and will allow you to follow the route taken by a rainfrop. 

Make your raindrop fall anywhere within the contiguous United States and the website will work out the route it will take to the sea and the tributaries and rivers it will flow through. It will then take you along that route.

It's really rather good visually, and I am assume is also accurate.

Check out Sam Learner's other map projects.

Rivers and GIS crowdsourcing project

Time to sign up for the Great British and Irish River Managment GIS Initiative, being organised by Alistair Hamill, Brendan Conway and Andy Funnell.

Get more of a sense of the Great British and Irish River Managment GIS Initiative in this video. These are the citizen scientists across these islands who have signed up so far.

Want to join us? https://t.co/x73nk7dAR7 pic.twitter.com/7XBvpKTrTk

— Alistair Hamill 😷 (@lcgeography) February 20, 2021

As it says on the sign-up page:

The local walk has been the lifeline for so many of us over the past year. The chance to get away from the desk and from the computer screen; the chance to get out and feel the wind against your back and the warmth of the sunlight on your face (or, perhaps, if you live in N. Ireland, yet more rain driving into your face!)

And, perhaps, during your local walks you have come to know your local area a bit more. Perhaps you’ve ventured down pathways or streets you don’t normally walk; perhaps you’ve come to appreciate that little bit more that place we call our community.

Maybe, like me, you’ve spent more time exploring your local river, getting to know all its twists and turns, watching it respond to the changing weather patterns. Perhaps you have come to appreciate it even more too.

If so, then the Great British & Irish River Management GIS Initiative might be just for you.

The idea behind this is to pool the resources of geography teachers and other interested parties in a kind of ‘citizen science’ data capture of river management across these islands. Not in some theoretical way – but in the way it happens on the river beside us, the river we have local knowledge and experience of. River management as it actually happens, warts and all. So we’re interested in the small scale stretch of river beside you; the kilometre or three that you walk along, that you know and love well.

We will use GIS to collect and collate the information. All it will take is for you to collect data with your phone and you will be supported into how to bring this into the wonderful world of GIS. Don’t worry if you haven’t much experience in using GIS so far. The skills you will need for this are very accessible and you will be supported in developing them.

SIGN UP HERE.

River Tees - from source to mouth

Cracking work by Steve Richardson, using Esri StoryMap tool.

Virtual tours of the Gaywood River valley

If you're after a tour with a hydrological / ecosystems services focus, check out these tours made for a rivers project close to where I live in Norfolk, created by UEA.

Dr Amii Darnell, Professor Andrew Lovett and Dr Jenni Turner have created three ‘virtual tours’ that can be viewed in the free Google Earth software and which provide an introduction to the key environmental features of the Gaywood Valley east of King’s Lynn in Norfolk. The tours have been created as part of the Sustainable Urban Fringes (SURF) initiative which brings together partners from five European countries in a number of projects to enhance the value of nearby rural areas for urban communities (www.sustainablefringes.eu). In the case of King’s Lynn one objective was to encourage local people to explore the valley and find out more about its history and wildlife.  The virtual tours have been produced to provide background information in an easily accessible form and to highlight sites that can be visited. Teaching materials are also being developed so that the tours can be used in local schools.The tours were constructed as sets of text, photos and map information that can be opened in Google Earth, provide instructions to guide the viewer to different landscape features and then display additional information about them (including links to websites). Each tour has a different theme, the first supplying a general introduction to the area, the second focusing on geology and past climates, and the third including details of possible walks and sites to visit.