September 21, 2011 – Anything Geospatial

Natural Resources Canada (NRCAN) has a nice online resource where visitors can access a digital archive of the Atlas of Canada. Maps dating back to 1906 are available as scanned digital files, or can be viewed online using a handy web map viewer. Made up of over 1,000 maps, the archive include all five past editions of the Atlas of Canada, 1906 to 1995, the Canadian sector of the International Map of the World, 1956 to 1987, and the first Glacier Atlas of Canada, 1969 to 1972. Topics of maps include maps themed on: Population, culture, aboriginal peoples, economics, transportation, environment, and historical themes. Scanned maps are available as a high-res PDF or JPG download, typically 1-3 MB in size

Lighthouses and sailing routes, 1915

Check out the NRCAN map archives HERE

In a new report from NOAA, the Joplin tornado offers important lessons for disaster preparedness. The report identifies best practices and makes recommendations to help save more lives during future violent tornadoes. Through interviews with more than 100 Joplin residents, the NOAA team found that societal response to warnings is highly complex and involves a number of factors, such as risk perception, overall credibility of warnings and warning communications. The report includes a number of key recommendations:

Improve warning communications to convey a sense of urgency for extreme events.
Collaborate with partners who communicate weather warnings to develop GPS-based warning communications
Collaborate more throughout the weather enterprise to ensure that weather warning messages are consistent to reduce confusion and stress the seriousness of the threat; and
Continue to increase community preparedness.