Telling Stories with Maps

map imageEmily Wilson wrote a blog post for Map@Syst on the story maps being created by UConn Extension:

CLEAR’s Extension faculty have long used maps to educate land use decision makers and the public about Connecticut’s landscape and natural resources.  The Connecticut’s Changing Landscape (CCL) research project has been the foundation of the education.  CCL is a series of satellite-derived land cover maps for six dates between 1985 and 2010 (2105 is coming soon) that includes 12 classes such as development, turf, agricultural field and forest.

Although the CCL website has evolved with time and technology, it has always strived to integrate the graphic, quantitative and geospatial information in easy to access ways – virtually the same MO of the Story Map.  Story maps easily integrate text, multi-media like photos and video, graphics and of course, interactive maps in one, contained interface.

CLEAR’s extension faculty were energized and began to implement loads of CCL information into CLEAR’s first Story Map – Connecticut’s Changing Landscape.  It is an ideal way to boil down the inherently complex information including combinations of land cover categories, time intervals, derivatives and scales.

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