Beverly Hills Quadrangle

Assignment: The 7.5 Minute Map: Beverly Hills

1. What is the name of the quadrange? Beverly Hills Quandrangle

2. What are the names of the adjacent quadrangels? Canoga Park, Van Nuys, Burbank, Topanga, Hollywood, Venice, Englewood

3. When was the quadrangle first created? 1966

4. What datum was used to create your map? North American Datum of 1983 (NAD 83)

5. What is the scale of the map? 1:24,000

6. At the above scale, answer the following:

a) 5 centimeters on the map is equivalent to how many meters on the ground? 1200

b) 5 inches on the map is equivalent to how many miles on the ground? 1.89

c) one mile on the ground is equivalent to how many inches on the map? 2.64

d) 3 kilometers on the ground is equivalent to how many centimeters on the map? 1.25

7. What is the contour interval on your map? 20 feet

8. What are the approximate geographic coordinates in both degrees/minutes/seconds and decimal degrees of:

a) the tip of the Santa Monica pier  34° 0’ N  118° 30’ W = 34.0 N 118.5 W

b) The Upper Franklin Canyon Reservoir 34° 7’ 25” N 118° 24’ 10” W= 34.1229° N, 118.4027°W

9. What is the approximate elevation in both feet and meters of:

a) Greystone Mansion in Greystone Park 580 ft, 177 m

b) Woodlawn Cemetery 260 ft, 79m

c) Crestwood Hills Park 640 ft, 195m

10) What is the UTM zone of the map? Zone 11

11) What are the UTM coordinates for the lower left corner of your map? Skip this question

12) How many square meters are contained within each cell (square) of the UTM gridlines? 1,000,000

13) Obtain elevation measurements, from west to east along the UTM northing 3771000, where the eastings of the UTM grid intersect the northing. Create an elevation profile using these measruements in Excel (hint: create a line chart).

14. What is the magnetic declination of the map? 14°

15. In which direction does water flow in the intermittent stream between the 405 freeway and Stone Canyon Reservoir? South

Interesting Maps

Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Use Map 

Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge is located just south of Cheney and encompasses over 18,000 acres of land. A map of the visitor use area taken from the U.S.Fish and Wildlife website is posted above. I have spent a significant portion of my life for the last 3 years on locations listed on the map. School, work and my personal life have somewhat co-mingled within the refuge boundaries. I am interested in this map for obvious reasons, but I also enjoy the aesthetics of this particular version.  The makers did a nice job of relating spacial differences through one easy to use graphic image. In this particular instance, I find the correlation between mental pictures and map locations interesting. 






Directions to Camp Cowles Boy Scout Reservation 

I will be spending a bit of time at the Camp Cowles Scout Reservation with my son Cayden, who is a Tiger Cub scout this year. Interestingly enough, this will be my 3rd year attending the camp, but first time actually being a participant in the events as opposed to working at the event. I have helped scouts identify animal sign and made Plaster of Paris animal tracks each year, but will get the added benefit of sleeping in a tent this year. This particular version I found at the Inland Northwest Boy Scout website lacks several key components of a good map (e.g. legend, direction, aesthetics) but does effectively get travelers to their destination. 









The True Size of Africa 

Lastly, more than one map, but a combination of maps drew my attention. I read a story about the true size of Africa being distorted on the majority of maps some time ago, and today's assignment made me think of that article again. I found this series of maps posted at abovetopsecret.com. The top map is what I have always believed to be accurate, but the lower is actually more realistic. I'd love to go into my theories about government propaganda and conspiracy theories, but they might be are listening.