SO262 Physical Geography

The physical environment influences natural resources, human culture, national security, and military operations. This course examines the basic scientific principles of physical geography, and how location on earth influences climate, landforms, soils, and natural vegetation.  We will study the processes at work, the features created, and their spatial distributions.  We will use satellite imagery and geographical information systems to look at case studies around the world and examine the wide range of natural environments. 

Review: Monday 12/10, 0900 to 1200, CH087

Final exam: Tuesday 12/11, 0755, CH087

March 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami

Fall 2012 Sahel Projects

spring_2011_projects

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/10/mapping-syrian-air-war/

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/lava-lake-in-the-halemaumau-crater-at-kilauea-reaches-new-high/

http://hvo.wr.usgs.gov/multimedia/uploads/multimediaFile-419.mov

This course was taught as SO286 in fall 2006 and spring 2007.  It was first taught as SO262 in the fall of 2007.  This page contains material from semesters when Professor Guth taught the course.

• Using Adobe Connect
• Fall 2009 Student Final Projects
• MODIS Rapid Response System

	Satellite composite image of world.  The latitudinal distribution of climate and land cover clearly shows at this scale, with a belt of brown colored deserts across the Sahara, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, and on through Mongolia.  A smaller belt occurs in the southern hemisphere, and also in the western part of the Americas.  The dark green tropical rain forest show up in Brazil, equatorial Africa, and Indonesia.    From NASA 1 km resolution imagery of the world, from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, or MODIS.
	Classification of the earth surface in 23 categories.  Note that the categories generally follow latitude.  You can also note the effect of mountains, such as the Himalayas.   From Global Land Cover 2000, a 1 km level classification of the earth's surface.
	World topography.  Note the highest mountains in the Himalayas and Andes. After the dominant trends with latitude, most features of the physical world also reflect the control of altitude.   From MEASURED AND ESTIMATED SEAFLOOR TOPOGRAPHY ( Smith, W. H. F., and D. T. Sandwell, 1977, Global seafloor topography from satellite altimetry and ship depth soundings, Science, v. 277, p. 1957-1962.)

Links:

• Global climate maps
• Global climate animations (University of Oregon) 
• Monthly satellite imagery 
• http://rocksfromabove.blogspot.com/p/google-earth-files.html
• Climate information tool --estimate parameters for climograph, and evapotranspiration
• MICRODEM download

NASA Visible Earth

NASA Earth Observatory

ESA Imagery

Faculty teaching SO262:

• Professor Guth 

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Last revision 10/1/2012