Some More Global Pollution

          I found this map to be very interesting as it shows the world’s pollution hotspots from an outer space vantage point. The darkest red areas depict the highest concentrations of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere. Not surprisingly major cities in North America, Europe and China show very high levels of NO2. Africa and SE Asia have higher concentrations because of the vegetation they burn. Interestingly, if you look closely at oceans between continents you can see a light blue steaks especially around the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. These streaks are actually ship tracks.
          Nitrogen can be released into the atmosphere a variety of ways. Naturally it can come from lightning; however, more often it comes from burning fossil fuels, industry and vehicles. Large quantities can contribute to array of health issues mainly respiratory in nature.  It can also contribute to ground level ozone which is harmful as well.

Appropriate Point of Reference

http://bigthink.com/blogs/strange-maps

          The above picture depicts BP's “Deep Horizon Rig”, which spilled about 50 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. This geographic catastrophe began on April 20th and continued for 86 days. The above map to the right shows how much area was affected by the spill (10, 000 square miles). When looking at the map depicting the spill over the ocean it doesn’t seem quite as ominous as when it is superimposed over a land map close to home.

This site http://www.ifitweremyhome.com/disasters/bp can move the oil blob around for you and explains a little about Mercator projection as well.

Neat Hike Close to Home

          I was really busy last Sunday, but I did find some time to go on a hike (with my GPS in hand) close to the HACC area.  If you want to find this hike for yourself just drive North on 11/15 and exit at Duncannon and you will notice some fairly impressive mountains the Susquehanna cuts through (water gaps).  I initially found this hike by word of mouth and it took some searching.  It is called "Hawk Rock;" however, there are so many hikes called hawk rock in the Pennsylvania area that it can be quite confusing.  The view from the top is really unique.  Looking north you can see parts of Perry County and the Susquehanna river.  About half way on the hike there is a rock slide as well.  The Appalachian trail passes through this area.  Total distance is just over two miles round trip and can be done in about an hour and a half.  The peak elevation was about 1,100 ft.

View to the North and West

View to the North and East

Too close for comfort?

          With GPS devices becoming more accurate and more prevalent in our daily lives it sometimes makes me wonder where the line should be drawn legally regarding their use.  Recently police put a GPS unit on a suspects vehicle without him being aware of it.  He was convicted and the judgment went in favor of it being legal to trace his movements in this manner.  Pineda-Moreno who was convicted will be taking his case to a higher court.  This case raises many questions.  Is your vehicle private property?  Did law enforcement breach his 4th amendment rights (no unreasonable search and seizures).  Arguments for both sides are made in this article pertaining to this case.
          The cost of GPS tracking units are really quite inexpensive.  I did quick search and I came across GPS tracking units for around a hundred and fifty dollars.  That's fairly inexpensive, as to where almost anyone could afford to own one.  It would not be unreasonalbe for parents to buy tracking devices for their young drivers cars without them knowing or police to track a violent fugitve; however, like many I am torn with the question of, "How far is too far?"
http://www.brickhousesecurity.com/gps-car-tracking-vehicle-logging.html

A More Accurate GPS Device

      I’ve always wondered just how accurate our GPS devices are.  Frequently they are reported to be accurate to approximately 20 feet.  My Garmin unit says (after acquiring four or more satellites) it is accurate to + - 9ft.  However, over the next 10 years there will be a series of GPS satellites launched to replace each of the 24 existing satellites, which will provide a variety of improvements.  The most recent launch was in Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 27, 2010 when the Delta IV rocket was launched with Global Positioning System GPS IIF SV-1.  The mission of this 10 year project is to receive stronger and more accurate signals, which will bring accuracy within 3 feet and provide a stronger indoor signal.  Increased signal strength sounds good.  Makes me wonder though, could some consider it an invasion of privacy at some point.  Where does it stop?  Here's the rocket launch of the next generation of GPS satellites.  This launch is in English.

Hiking Spot

        In class last Wednesday I loaded the Pub Crawl places into Google Earth and noticed under tools "GPS".  So I decided to experiment with it when I got home.  Google Earth almost effortlessly loaded waypoints and tracks from the Garmin GPS unit.  So here are screen shots of last Sundays Flat Rock Trail hike at Colonel Denning State Park.  It's about a two hour hike round trip and has an amazing view east and west of the valley at the summit.  PA DCNR Colonel Denning.  You can see Pine Grove Furnace State Park which is at southern end of the South Mountain range (facing south).  Interstate 81 and the PA turnpike are visible from the overlook as well. This is a land feature in our area that is said to be easily distinguishable from "space".  The GPS unit max. elevation was 1,975 ft. which is close to the information shown by dragging the mouse over the highlighted track imported into Google Earth.