Monday, May 4, 2009

Adding the Mannahatta Project to the links list

You'll see the Mannahatta Project link to the right. It's one of the most exciting geophysical projects I can imagine: the recreation of Manhattan Island as it was in 1609!

Mannahatta creators started with the 1782 British Headquarters map of Manhattan island, now archived in the U.K., and worked with GIS to (in a sense) superimpose that map on today's city. It's reckoned to be accurate within 40 meters, which I find just brilliant, given that the amount of 1609 Manhattan never built on in four centuries probably comes down to a matter of square yards.

A reminder to people here in Westchester County: since geologically Westchester and Manhattan are one unit, what you learn about Manhattan will generally apply to our own turf as well. Today there's a one-agricultural-zone difference between the two -- that's why it will be snowing here and raining in the city -- but observations about native plants, animals, and fish will apply here too.

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