Bivariate Maps...

Source: http://www.neiu.edu/~lbbrown/387/cartogram/assignment.htm

I found this map to be an interesting map because it combines color with population. The scale according to the site is a two-color array that combines that total population of whites and asians in the state of Virginia. The color array is differentiated into a darker red for more of the Asian population.. with a darker blue for more of a white population. It is interesting that there is not much mix except for Northern Virginia in the counties of Loudoun, Fairfax, and Prince William Counties.. which is close to downtown DC. It is also interesting to note that there appears to be very few counties outside Northern Virginia with a large Asian population.

The use of the two-color array is a good example of how to show a bivariate map. It is easy to understand and for the map's audience to see what is presented.

Color Choropleth Map

http://www.turboperl.com/dcmaps.html

While looking online for color choropleth maps, I came across this website. This website is interesting in the fact that it shows one type of scale, natural breaks. This leads to some maps having large amounts of data in some of their zones. The maps were developed by Dr. William Smith, and the maps that he helped make make it easy to see how a color choropleth map changes color and shape when different data is input.

Dot Density Map of African American Pop. in 1960 over US

Source: http://www.uic.edu/educ/bctpi/greatmigration2/dataviewer/usa/USAcounties.html

This map shows the dot density of the African American Population across the United States in 1960. It is interesting to note that most of the population is along and East of the Mississippi River and along what is now known as the I-95 corridor or over most of the SE US. We see that in the Midwest and West, except for a few cities such as Denver and San Francisco, there were not a large amount of African Americans living there.

Two Maps -- One Election Map and One Energy Consumption Map

Both of these maps are very interesting. The top map shows Energy Consumption across the United States before the turn of the century using circles, which makes the map easier to read. It seems weird looking at the map that LA and WY are the biggest energy consumers. The second map is an intriguing map I found online regarding the 1996 presidential elections. Its a weird map that shows proportionality and chloroplethic tendencies on how the state voted for either the Democrat or Republican presidential candidate.

This image I found at this website: http://www.censusmapper.com/CM_Help/choroplethmaps.htm shows the percentage of population in poverty across the United States. It seems to show that the greatest area of poverty is in the Southern and Southeastern portion of the nation. You can also note that there are some "holes" where major cities are located in the South. One could ask if being in a rural area has anything to do with being in poverty.

Federal Land Ownership

I found this basemap online while searching for different maps. This map, while a bit outdated, shows how much land that the federal governement owned in the late 1990s. On the map, we see that the West has more land under federal ownership than the Midwest or the East. This map will make one wonder why the Government owns so much land in the West... while very little east of the Rockies.

This image shows the current drought situation in the state of Virginia by county. I chose this image not only because it shows the drought in our home state, but it also shows the information countywide. Therefore, you can see exactly which county has the most extreme drought and needs the rain the most -- and which county does not. Its an intriguing map that is updated weekly by the US Drought Monitor, which is an offshoot of NOAA.

This image was found at: http://www.drought.unl.edu/dm/DM_state.htm?VA,SE