NORAD tracks Santa

The countdown to Santa's flight has begun and with the Christmas holiday just a few days away I wanted to make sure to pass along the NORAD Santa information which will be tracking Santa Claus as he delivers presents on Christmas Eve, for those of you with little ones make sure to show them, as an incentive for why they should get to bed on Christmas Eve.

http://www.noradsanta.org/en/index.html

In addition to the website resource for tracking Santa's progress. NORAD will also be placing Santa's path into an updating Google Earth file that can be added directly to the Google Earth to take advantage of the other features of the program.

The story behind how NORAD became the official Santa trackers is quite a good one, taken from the NORAD website is the explanation about how NORAD became the official tracker of Santa Claus:

For more than 50 years, NORAD and its predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) have tracked Santa’s flight.

The tradition began in 1955 after a Colorado Springs-based Sears Roebuck & Co. advertisement for children to call Santa misprinted the telephone number. Instead of reaching Santa, the phone number put kids through to the CONAD Commander-in-Chief’s operations "hotline." The Director of Operations at the time, Colonel Harry Shoup, had his staff check the radar for indications of Santa making his way south from the North Pole. Children who called were given updates on his location, and a tradition was born.

In 1958, the governments of Canada and the United States created a bi-national air defense command for North America called the North American Aerospace Defense Command, also known as NORAD, which then took on the tradition of tracking Santa.

Since that time, NORAD men, women, family and friends have selflessly volunteered their time to personally respond to phone calls and emails from children all around the world. In addition, we now track Santa using the Internet. Millions of people who want to know Santa’s whereabouts now visit the NORAD Tracks Santa website.

Finally, media from all over the world rely on NORAD as a trusted source to provide updates on Santa’s journey.

Now you know how the tradition got started, hopefully you enjoy this fun little twist on geospatial technology.

From all of us at CFGIS we hope you have a safe and happy holidays!!!

Geography of College Football

College football has been the center of discussion for many in the past few weeks and not just because of the wild finish of the season or the build up to the many great bowl games that will be starting soon. It has been geography which has taken center stage in many of the conversations.

This may not seem strange to those of use who follow the big rivalries of college football each year such as Michigan - Notre Dame, Florida - Florida State, or Texas - Oklahoma which pit close geographies against one another every year in the ultimate battle of bragging rights (Which I am happy to say belongs to FSU this year).

But back to the first question what has happened this year to put geography in the limelight?

Two words: Conference Realignment

Every year smaller schools compete hard for the opportunity to enter the larger conferences which can lead to better recognition, more recruitment, and in some cases an increase in annual money. Congratulations to the University of Central Florida for entering the Big East this year. What has made this year particularly of notice though is that many conferences are adding teams which are well outside of the traditional geographic area for that conference and many of these programs are well established.

This year we have already seen University of Missouri enter the SEC and Boise State enter the Big East. The ACC added both Pittsburgh and Syracuse to its new roster.

The breaking of these traditional geographies have many questioning the names of conferences and if those geographies truly matter any longer. It will take some time to see what if any change occur from these new additions.

Some others are worried about what these additions will do to those long standing rivalries which we have all come to know and love, others believe we will start to see new larger geographic rivalries start to build as teams travel greater distances to take on conference opponents.

Only time will tell if these new geographies will prove to build greater rivalries or push college football conferences too far.

In the meantime click here to view the common census sports package which allows users to choose an area and see the fan breakdown of that area. See if you can spot the lines of these great rivalries and where the borders really lie.

End of the 2011 Hurricane Season

The 2011 Hurricane season came to a close on November 30th. Being in Central Florida we are always aware of the dangers that hurricanes pose to our shorelines. While we in Central Florida were fortunate this year to not have any severe impacts however that does not meant that it was not an active season for storms.

This video from NOAA utilizes the GOES East Satellite to bring you the entire 2011 hurricane season in less than five minutes, allowing you to see many of the storms form and dissipate over the past few months.



From NOAA:

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season officially ends on Nov. 30 and produced a total of 19 tropical storms of which seven became hurricanes, including three major hurricanes. This level of activity matched NOAA's predictions and continues the trend of active hurricane seasons that began in 1995.


Surprisingly, none of the first eight tropical storms reached hurricane status, a record since reliable reports started in 1851. Hurricane Irene's effects in the Caribbean and the United States led to 43 deaths and accounted for the bulk of this season's damage at $7.3 billion. Irene was the first landfalling hurricane in New Jersey in 108 years. Hurricane Katia had far-reaching effects causing severe weather in Northern Ireland and Scotland and power blackouts as far east as Saint Petersburg in Russia. Tropical Storm Lee caused major flooding in Pennsylvania, New York and into the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The strongest storm of the season was Ophelia, which reached category four strength in the Atlantic Ocean east of Bermuda.


An integral part of NOAA's ability to monitor and predict hurricane formation and movement is the data that is provided by the GOES satellite, with its visible imagery, infrared sensors, and sounding capabilities. This animations merges both the visible and infrared imagery taken by the GOES East (GOES-13) satellite every 30 minutes over the Northern Hemisphere from June 1 -- November 28, 2011.

Inspiring maps for the Blind

Topographic maps can be difficult to understand. Being able to extrapolate into a third dimension while seeing lines on a piece of paper can be complicated, especially when you consider the variations of slope, cross cutting rivers, and other features which often are depicted throughout a topographic map. Now take this one step further, put on a blindfold and attempt to read the topographic map. How would you read it, could you decipher the map, where would you begin?

This was the question posed recently at Gainesville State College when Efren Chavez, a blind student, signed up for a geology class which required students to interpret a topographical map. Click below to read the full article and learn how professors were able to use the technique of creating a mirror image to create depth in a two dimensional map which can be read by the blind.

Click here for full story from the Atlantic Journal-Constitution (Image Courtesy of AJC)

ECFRPC Receives $2.4 Million HUD Sustainable Community Regional Planning Grant

Great news for the Central Florida region!!! The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council has received a 2.4 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) please see below the official press release and visit www.ecfrpc.org for more information.

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL RECEIVES $2.4 MILLION HUD SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES REGIONAL PLANNING GRANT

ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, FL – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Regional Administrator of the Southeast, Ed Jennings Jr., yesterday awarded the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council a $2.4 million HUD Sustainable Communities Regional Planning Grant to develop transit around East Central Florida’s SunRail stations.

The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council accepts the award on behalf of the East Central Florida Sustainable Communities Consortium, a partnership of local governments, private developers, educational institutions, and non-profit agencies. The Consortium will use the grant funding to prepare for development around the future station locations for the SunRail commuter rail system, scheduled to begin operation in 2014.

Commissioner Cheryl L. Grieb, Chair of the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council (ECFRPC), accepted the $2.4 million check from HUD at Monday’s award ceremony on behalf of the ECFRPC and the ECF Sustainable Communities Consortium. “SunRail represents a historic opportunity to transform growth patterns around the stations to attract high-quality, higher-paying jobs and to provide residents the opportunity to access these jobs using public transit. The grant funding will support detailed station area planning for six of the 12 Phase I SunRail stations, affordable housing assessments for all 12 station areas, and regional collaboration to share best practices and to guide future transit planning in East Central Florida” said Grieb.

Out of 468 applications, the East Central Florida Regional Planning Council was 1 of 56 selected grantees from around the United States. This grant is part of the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, which represents an association between HUD, the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to ensure that the agencies’ policies, programs, and funding consider affordable housing, transportation, and environmental protection together.

The East Central Florida Regional Planning Council was established in 1962 as an area-wide association of local governments serving the six counties of Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia. The ECFRPC is one of 11 regional planning councils mandated by the Florida Legislature under the authority of Chapter 186, Florida Statutes. The Council provides a forum where members and leaders can discuss complex regional issues and set regional goals and objectives.

Members of the East Central Florida Sustainable Communities Consortium:
• East Central Florida Regional Planning Council
• Brevard County
• Lake County
• Orange County
• Osceola County
• Seminole County
• Volusia County
• City of Daytona Beach
• City of DeBary
• City of Deltona
• City of Longwood
• City of Orlando
• City of Palm Bay
• City of Sanford
• Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority (LYNX)
• FDOT (District 5)
• Lake-Sumter MPO
• METROPLAN ORLANDO
• Space Coast TPO
• Volusia TPO
• Creative Village Development, LLC
• Shimberg Center for Housing Studies, University of Florida
• Nonprofit Housing Roundtable of Central Florida
• Orlando Health
• Health Council of East Central Florida
• myregion.org
• Urban Land Institute (ULI)

National Geography Bee

Do you know which state is the largest? What ocean current drives ships between Europe and the Americas? What about which present day county is home to the ruins of Persepolis?

The National Geography Bee presented by National Geographic tests students from across the nation and the world in their geographic knowledge. The questions as you can see above are much more than simply knowing where a state or country is but also understanding parts of how the world works and the ways different regions relate to one another.

Whether you are a parent, teacher, or GIS professional the ability to identify where you are in the world and analyze relationships is key to better understand how everything works together. Explore the NGB website and take quizzes to see how your geography knowledge ranks up against people from all over the world and explore many different resources for parents and teachers.

If you are a teacher or a parent and want to learn more or get your school involved the deadline to get your school registered is fast approaching. Click here to go to the National Geography Bee home page for information on how to get your school registered to compete!!!

Celebrate GIS Day November 16th, 2011

GIS day is only a week away!!! This global event brings together GIS professionals worldwide, uniting around the technology which is changing how we make decisions and discover exactly "Where We Are" in the world.

To learn more about GIS Day including videos, educational material, and much more please visit the official GIS Day website.

CFGIS is happy to announce that several of our county users groups and jurisdictions will be hosting their own GIS day events this year. We are very hopeful that many of our CFGIS community members will be able to attend and take advantage of these great meetings to learn more about GIS and how it is being used in the local community everyday.

Here is a brief list of the events that we know of in the Central Florida Region:

Nov 16th 11:00 - 3:00 - City of Palm Bay/Brevard County Users Group -
250 Community College Pkwy SE South Pavilion of Building 2, Palm Bay, Florida

Nov 16th 10:00 - University of Florida/IFAS Osceola County Extension -
1 Courthouse Square, Kissimmee, FL

Nov 16 - Lake County Users Group - Will be visiting Tavares High School to educate students and give presentations

Nov 16 9:00 - 5:00 - Polk County - Polk County EOC
1890 Jim Keene Blvd, Winter Haven, Fl

If you know of any other GIS Day celebrations that we might have missed, please announce them here!!!

Thank you and hopefully we will see you at one of these great GIS Day celebrations!!!