Solar Eclipse Mapping – On and Off the Web Xavier Jubier (and John Tilley) SEC2007 — Los Angeles Griffith Observatory ––––––––––––––– This electronic presentation has been submitted, with permission for inclusion in the SEC2007 conference proceedings. Embedded and linked content of this presentation may NOT be commercially reproduced and/or distributed without prior consent of Xavier Jubier & John Tilley. Image copyright and intellectual property rights are non-transferable.
Introduction
The last three years have seen stunning new and free geo-applications providing a public Application Programming Interface (API)
Solar eclipse data can be readily overlaid – this provides key tools for eclipse enthusiasts
Standalone client/server – Google Earth, NASA World Wind Web-enabled – Google Maps
Eclipse path with interactive local circumstances Weather data – static or dynamic
Quality eclipse maps can also be produced using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or eclipse software and some of the same data that Google Earth uses Focus on free cross-platform tools
5MCSE Web-enabled mapping – Google Maps and Google Earth
Why Eclipse Mapping?
Obvious answer – eclipse trip planning and best viewing site selection Key considerations for eclipse trip planning
Also general interest
Accurate coordinates for eclipse track and limits Good global and local mapping Cloud cover/weather, eclipse elevation (i.e. degrees above horizon), cost, location accessibility/safety “My Eclipses” Eclipses by country or location Eclipse lists – e.g. 4 total eclipses in Australia over 10 years Study of Saros, unusual or historical eclipses, etc
Historical studies of T and Earth’s rotation
Eclipse Calculation Considerations
Value of Delta-T (T)
A 1 second change is approximately 464 meters at equator 2* 2** 6378137 24*60*60
Ephemeris used – e.g. DE405, DE406, ELP2000-82B, DE200
Refraction and topography – e.g. 2003 total eclipse in Antarctica south of Novolazarevskaya Station
Refraction plays a significant role only at very low solar altitudes – shift the path by approximately 0.5 degree at the extremes ends Topography knowledge is crucial when the eclipse occurs low on the horizon
Lunar limb profile
Latest JPL ephemeris DE405 gives position of center of mass of Sun, Earth and Moon to an accuracy of a few meters for the current time-scale JPL-DE406 gives the position of Sun and Moon to no more than 25 meters over 6,000 years
Affects position of grazing zones, contact times and eclipse duration Fred Espenak gives a “safety zone” zone” of at least one kilometer
Eclipse theory assumptions made
Can affect eclipse type – e.g. 1986 October annular, total or hybrid?
Delta-T (T) and 2008 TSE
50-year Canon published in 1986 – assumed future value of 71.7 seconds in red NASA TP 2007-214149 – 65.3 seconds in green Center lines some 1,600 meters apart – minimal practical difference Center line accuracy is significant for narrow A-T eclipses and grazing zones Future values of T are estimates – will change
Center line of 2008 August 1st total solar eclipse over Novosibirsk, Russia Different values of T: 65.3 seconds 71.7 seconds
Final value for 2008 August 1st will likely be closer to 65.7 seconds
Ephemeris and 2008 TSE
Different ephemeris Same value of T
Center line of 2008 August 1st total solar eclipse near Novosibirsk, Russia Different ephemeris and calculations with T=65.3s show a spread of some 300 meters: |-| – ~50 meters difference |-| – ~310 meters difference
Magenta track = Espenak NASA TP 2007-214149 – JPLDE200/LE200 Yellow track = JPL-DE406 Green track = Jean Meeus 5MC – ELP2000-82-mod2002 Red track = Luca Quaglia and John Tilley – numerical integration based on Prof. Aldo Vitagliano Blue track = Xavier Jubier 5MCSE database – VSOP87D/ELP2000-82B of the Bureau des Longitudes, Paris
Refer to “An approximation to the errors in the planetary ephemerides of the Astronomical Almanac” Almanac”, E. M. Standish at CalTech/JPL CalTech/JPL and “Lunar Tables and Programs from 4000 B.C. to A.D. 8000” 8000”, Michelle ChaprontChapront-Touzé Touzé & Jean Chapront, Chapront, published by Willmann-Bell Willmann-Bell
Plotting Accuracy & 2008 TSE
Display a curved track using straight line segments – coarse approximation
Importance of map projection
Orthographic – better Mercator – worse
Track position accuracy
Center line of 2008 August 1st total solar eclipse over Novosibirsk, Russia Different step-size increment values: 1.0° 1.0° – ~300-meter error at that location and up to 500 meters 0.5° 0.5° – ~100-meter error at that location and up to 130 meters 0.125° 0.125° – ~10-meter error, same order as other approximations
Use geodesic lines Use splines – e.g. Bé Bézier
Inversely proportional to the step-size increment between each computed point Proportional to the track curvature Typical error up to a few hundred meters
Choose step-size increment wisely – 0.5 degree or less for
Grazing zones Maximum duration
Grazing Zones
2008 August 1st total solar eclipse NASA TP 2007-214149 Limits of south grazing zone in magenta Southern limit in orange Center line in blue Good way to find locations on the limits Value of T used – 65.3 seconds
Google Earth visualization of southern grazing zone around Hami, Hami, China
Final value will likely be closer to 65.7 seconds Shift the tracks easterly by about 200 meters
Refraction and Topography
Total solar eclipse of 2003 November 23 – visible only in Antarctica Refraction shifted up the Sun by about 0.5° Topography had a “reversed” effect not taken into account by most! Five groups attempted the totality observation
From the ground
South of the Novolazarevskaya Russian Research Station – Xavier Jubier
Chapelet – Xavier Jubier Note: the midnight eclipsed sun was barely over the ice cap horizon. Most of the group had the sun cut by the horizon as the terrain is steadily climbing in a few hundred kilometers from the sea-level ice shelf to the Antarctic plateau at an altitude over 3,000 meters.
South of Novolazarevskaya Station on the ice cap Shackleton ice shelf Japanese ice drill station
From an airplane
Qantas QF2901 flight LAN Chile LA8001 flight
Mapping Considerations
Limitations and constraints of the medium – be aware of the pitfalls related to the underlying technology Projection class (related to type of projection surface)
Datum, geoid, coordinate Data representation
August 2008 total eclipse over China and Mongolia with cloud cover overlay in Google Earth – Xavier Jubier Uses map of cloud cover over China, Mongolia and Russia provided by Jay Anderson: http://home.cc.umanitoba .ca/~jander jander// http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~
Cylindrical (e.g. Mercator) Conic (e.g. Albers) Azimuthal or plane (e.g. orthographic, stereographic)
Raster data Vector data
Classes of Map Projection
Map projections are attempts to portray the surface of the earth on a flat surface Some distortions ALWAYS occur
Datums - Geoid - Coordinates
Geodetic datums
Reference ellipsoid
e.g. World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84), allows for flattening
Geoid models
Define the size and shape of the earth and the origin and orientation of the coordinate systems used to map the earth
Attempt to represent the surface of the entire earth over both land and ocean as though the surface resulted from gravity alone 1=Ocean, 2=Ellipsoid, 3=Plumb-line, 4=Mountain, 5=Geoid
Coordinate systems
Latitude, longitude, height Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Military Grid Reference System (MGRS)
Size of Error & Wrong Datum
Location could be wrong by up to 800 meters
Vector Data Considerations
Digital Chart of the World (DCW) 1993 – based on 1:1,000,000 scanned ONC maps from 1975-1990
DCW updated to Vector Map Level 0 (VMap0) – revision level 5 in 2000
Layers have different revision dates
Vector Map Level 1 (VMap1) – 1:250,000 but only partially available Comprehensive report
Horizontal accuracy: 2,000 meters Vertical accuracy: 150 meters
An Inventory and Comparison of Globally Consistent Geospatial Databases and Libraries by Joseph F. Dooley Jr. http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0118e/a0118e00.htm#Contents
Google Earth uses this data!
Type of Data = Raster & Vector
Raster
Vector
January 1925 total eclipse over New York, NY – Xavier Jubier Southern limit as pink line and umbra to the north.
Same eclipse with mapping and placenames from VMap0 data – Eclipse Explorer by John Tilley & Luca Quaglia
Satellite or aerial imagery Scanned maps Doesn’t scale and need further images to get more detail Need vector data to identify features Points, lines and polygons – e.g. eclipse track and limits, country boundaries, coasts, rivers, lakes, placenames, elevation data (point and contour) Can scale to its limit Can colour, highlight, show and hide selected features
Google Earth and Google Maps use both types Eclipse Explorer and GPS units use vector only
Countries and Placenames
244 entities considered to be countries (May 2007) – dynamic list!
Paper maps and even on-line maps NOT up to date
National border changes
30 changes since 1970 – Europe most dynamic
http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki wiki/List_of_national_border_changes_since_the_twentieth_century /List_of_national_border_changes_since_the_twentieth_century http://en.wikipedia.org/
Territorial disputes
207 active territorial disputes in 2007 – eclipse chaser safety!
http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki wiki/List_of_countries /List_of_countries http://en.wikipedia.org/ https://www.cia factbook/index.html /index.html https://www.cia..gov/library/publications/the-worldgov/library/publications/the-world-factbook
http://en.wikipedia .org/wiki wiki/List_of_territorial_disputes /List_of_territorial_disputes http://en.wikipedia.org/
Range from ignorable to highly dangerous Bhutan-China border relevant for 2009 eclipse
Placenames
GEOnet Names Server (GNS) has 4.0 million features with 5.5 million names for non-USA
http://earth-info.nga .mil/gns gns/html/index.html /html/index.html http://earth-info.nga.mil/
Good search facilities – new map based interface coming 20,000 updates a month Accuracy is to 1 arc-minute (~1,855 meters at equator) Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) for USA
http://geonames http://geonames..usgs. usgs.gov/domestic/index.html gov/domestic/index.html
Mapping Off the Web
Paper maps – raster GPS maps – vector Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Astronomy programs
Edmund Halley map of 1724 total eclipse – British Library Last total eclipse over Los Angeles and Griffith Observatory, next one will only occur during the next millennium… millennium…
Use vector and raster data Use vector and raster data
Mapping Off the Web
Paper maps – raster GPS maps – vector Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Astronomy programs
Google Map of 1724 total solar eclipse over the United Kingdom and France Xavier Jubier’ Jubier’s 5MCSE web tool: http://xjubier .free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html
Use vector and raster data Use vector and raster data
Paper Maps
Good for planning and use on trips Draw eclipse track using lat/lon coordinates from NASA web-site Excellent internet supplier – OMNI Resources in NC, USA
http://www.omnimap .com/ http://www.omnimap.com/
Worldwide mapping includes
ONC (Operational Navigation Charts) – used by aircraft pilots
http://www.maptown .com/worldaviation worldaviation//onc_main.html http://www.maptown.com/ onc_main.html
Russian Military Mapping extensive coverage – e.g. China at 1:200,000 in 1579 sheets
http://library.stanford sovietmil.html .html http://library.stanford..edu/ edu/depts/ depts/branner/collections/ branner/collections/sovietmil
GPS Maps
Key tool for Eclipse Chasers Normal civilian GPS – very high accuracy with augmentation (WAAS)
“WAAS gave 95% of the time horizontal position within 3.2 meters and vertical position within 6.0 meters in these tests.” http://users.erols.com/dlwilson/gps.htm Need to leave GPS in same position for at least 12.5 minutes for maximum accuracy – entire GPS Navigation Message
MUST set datum to match the map! Can store/load eclipse tracks as way-points or routes – e.g. Xavier Jubier’s 5MCSE GPS track data Recommended GPS web-site – Joe Mehaffey
http://gpsinformation.net/
GPS Base Mapping – beware!
GPS base mapping accuracy about 300 meters – note NOT positional accuracy Higher detail mapping available at cost Libya March 2006: John Tilley’s Magellan GPS showed location of hotel in Tripoli correctly – checked with Google Earth and Times Atlas BUT Tripoli and Libyan coast shown on GPS screen map 10 kilometers south of reality… Error is too large for incorrect datum Probable explanations
GPS manufacturers use cheapest possible worldwide base mapping to keep base cost low Magellan error in creating city database Mismatch or deliberate error?
Other cities checked against Times Atlas
Tunis wrong, Cairo, Malaga, Beirut correct
Geographic Information System
Vector data from Digital Chart of the World (DCW)
Elevation data from ETOPO30 Eclipse track calculations by Fred Espenak – give lat/lon points ESRI ArcGIS software
Map of August 2008 eclipse track over North Western China – Jay Anderson
Layers = elevation zones, country boundaries, roads, places
World leader High cost
Surfer – for contours Manifold GIS – with free vector mapping
Powerful Low cost
Geographic Information System
Vector data from Digital Chart of the World (DCW)
Elevation data from ETOPO30 Eclipse track calculations by Fred Espenak – give lat/lon points ESRI ArcGIS software
1999 August 11 total solar eclipse – European Cathedrals Drawn using Manifold GIS
Layers = elevation zones, country boundaries, roads, places
World leader High cost
Surfer – for contours Manifold GIS – with free vector mapping
Powerful Low cost
Mapping Off the Web
Paper maps – raster GPS maps – vector Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
WinEclipse – Heinz Scsibrany, Scsibrany, Germany
Astronomy programs – free
FInspektor – Robert Nufer, Nufer, Switzerland
Use vector and raster data
Use vector and raster data
Mapping On the Web
Client/Server application Raster image data
Vector Data
Google Earth general perspective projection (related to orthographic projection) with WGS84 datum and TSE 2008 track overlay
Different resolutions Satellite and aerial Digital Elevation Data (DEM) from SRTM (less than 16 meters vertical error) and GTOPO30 Country boundaries Roads, railways and airports Coasts, rivers and lakes Placenames
User data can be displayed
Vector data – e.g. eclipse tracks Raster data – e.g. map overlay
Google Earth Data Quality – generally excellent
Data quality
Age of data
Raster Data
http://bbs .keyhole.com/ubb ubb//postlist. SupportData http://bbs.keyhole.com/ postlist.php/Cat/0/Board/ php/Cat/0/Board/SupportData
Higher resolution More recent data SRTM data “cleaned”
Occasional problems
List of data errors at:
Accuracy of position of lat/lon lat/lon points SRTM data only covers +60° +60° to -60° -60°
Regular data updates
January 1925 total eclipse over New York City – Xavier Jubier Southern limit as pink line and umbra to the north.
Good quality image – free of shadows, clouds and blemishes Geo-referencing – is image in correct place?
Vector Data
Country boundaries, new countries, new cities, coastal erosion, climate change, accuracy of place names
Image quality – late evening shadows, clouds Misalignments – typically 10-100 meters Some tiled images duplicated
Google Earth Image/Coast Mismatch
2008 total eclipse track crosses Northern Greenland Coast data probably from VMap0 (nominal accuracy in the ~1 km range) 10-kilometer mismatch
Northern Greenland in Google Earth
Unusually large for Google Earth
SRTM Data Voids
SRTM measured heights on a grid every 30 meters
Version 1 was raw data – spikes, holes, non flat lakes and oceans Mount Everest region – raw data with many holes Version 2 was “cleaned” data – flat oceans, remove spikes and holes Version 3 – significant improvement due to use of USGS “finished” grade data
Everest, Lhotse ridge and Makalu – center Rongbuk glacier top left Drawn using DEM by John Tilley
Only 90 meters for non USA
http://srtm http://srtm..csi. csi.cgiar.org/ cgiar.org/
Mount Everest region – patched manually (Jonathan de Ferranti) Google Earth major improvement in November 2006 and July 2007
Accuracy of Tracks with Google Earth and Google Maps
Google Map with “middle level of detail” detail” for August 1999 northern limit Xavier Jubier’ Jubier’s 5MCSE web tool: http://xjubier .free.fr fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/ /en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html _Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.
Points on center line, north and south limits calculated every “n” seconds or degrees Lines drawn connecting points Google Maps “Low level detail” is fast – but slight errors occur as track position is not sufficiently accurate. Local circumstances are always precise. Google Earth is always fast and accurate with the same dataset and can use geodesic polylines
Accuracy of Tracks with Google Earth and Google Maps
Google Map with “low level of detail” detail” for August 1999 northern limit Xavier Jubier’ Jubier’s 5MCSE web tool: http://xjubier .free.fr fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/ /en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html _Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.
Points on center line, north and south limits calculated every “n” seconds or degrees Lines drawn connecting points Google Maps “Low level detail” is fast – but slight errors occur as track position is not sufficiently accurate. Local circumstances are always precise. Google Earth is always fast and accurate with the same dataset and can use geodesic polylines
Accuracy of Tracks with Google Earth and Google Maps
Google Earth with “low level of detail” detail” for August 1999 northern limit Xavier Jubier’ Jubier’s 5MCSE web tool: http://xjubier .free.fr fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/ /en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html _Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.
Points on center line, north and south limits calculated every “n” seconds or degrees Lines drawn connecting points Google Maps “Low level detail” is fast – but slight errors occur as track position is not sufficiently accurate. Local circumstances are always precise. Google Earth is always fast and accurate with the same dataset and can use geodesic polylines
Accuracy of Tracks with Google Earth and Google Maps
Google Earth with “middle level of detail” detail” for August 1999 northern limit Xavier Jubier’ Jubier’s 5MCSE web tool: http://xjubier .free.fr fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/ /en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html _Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.
Points on center line, north and south limits calculated every “n” seconds or degrees Lines drawn connecting points Google Maps “Low level detail” is fast – but slight errors occur as track position is not sufficiently accurate. Local circumstances are always precise. Google Earth is always fast and accurate with the same dataset and can use geodesic polylines
5MCSE Database Web Tool
Browse 11,898 eclipses – 2000 BCE to 3000 CE
Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses database web page
Display the Besselian elements and general data from NASA website Generate on-the-fly Google Maps, Google Earth kmz or GPS gpx files
Query the database Find eclipses occurring at a specified location Web tool available also for 12,064 lunar eclipses
http://xjubier .free.fr fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/ /en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html _Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.
5MCSE Database Web Tool
Browse 11,898 eclipses – 2000 BCE to 3000 CE
Five Millennium Canon of Solar Eclipses database web page. Four Corners lookup returns 16 total solar eclipses in 50 centuries
Display the Besselian elements and general data from NASA website Generate on-the-fly Google Maps, Google Earth kmz or GPS gpx files
Query the database Find eclipses occurring at a specified location Web tool available also for 12,064 lunar eclipses
http://xjubier .free.fr fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/ /en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE xSE_2_Five_Millennium_Canon.html _2_Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.
5MCSE in Google Earth
Faster than Google Maps Easy user customization Ability to display multiple layers
Scout the eclipse track
Eclipse-City Waw-anNamus,, Libya during TSE 2006 – Xavier Jubier Waw-an-Namus 80-centimeter 80-centimeter resolution satellite image taken at 09:56UT, 18 minutes before second contact
Static data – e.g. cloud cover Dynamic data – e.g. time animated clouds Virtual scouting of viewing sites with 3D relief
Local circumstances Display multiple eclipses at once
5MCSE in Google Earth
Faster than Google Maps Easy user customization Ability to display multiple layers
Scout the eclipse track
June 2007 cloud cover animation over China in Google Earth – Xavier Jubier
Static data – e.g. cloud cover statistics Dynamic data – e.g. time animated clouds Virtual scouting of viewing sites with 3D relief
Local circumstances Display multiple eclipses at once
5MCSE in Google Earth
Faster than Google Maps Easy user customization Ability to display multiple layers
Scout the eclipse track
August 2006 scouting in the Xinjiang Province, China: 4WD track and viewing site in Google Earth – Xavier Jubier
Static data – e.g. cloud cover Dynamic data – e.g. time animated clouds Virtual scouting of viewing sites with 3D relief
Local circumstances Display multiple eclipses at once
5MCSE in Google Earth
Faster than Google Maps Easy user customization Ability to display multiple layers
Scout the eclipse track
August 2006 scouting in the Xinjiang Province, China: View on the ground from the viewing site – Xavier Jubier
Static data – e.g. cloud cover Dynamic data – e.g. time animated clouds Virtual scouting of viewing sites with 3D relief
Local circumstances Display multiple eclipses at once
5MCSE in Google Earth
Faster than Google Maps Easy user customization Ability to display multiple layers
Scout the eclipse track
Google Earth showing TSE 2017 & 2024 using the 5MCSE web tool
Static data – e.g. cloud cover Dynamic data – e.g. time animated clouds Virtual scouting of viewing sites with 3D relief
Local circumstances Display multiple eclipses at once
5MCSE in Google Maps
Slower than Google Earth No additional software Recommended browsers
Local circumstances Display multiple eclipses on one map API limitations or oddities with various eclipses
Google Map showing TSE 2017 & 2024 using the 5MCSE web tool
Firefox (Mac, Win, Linux) IE (Windows only) Other browsers have difficulties to display complex datasets
Crossing the international dateline In polar regions
Difficult to add overlays
Requires some code
5MCSE Database: TSE 2009 Google Map
Google Map of the total solar eclipse on 2009 July 22nd: the longest of the 21st century – Xavier Jubier
5MCLE Database Web Tool
Browse 12,064 lunar eclipses – 2000 BCE to 3000 CE
Five Millennium Canon of Lunar Eclipses database web page
Display general data from NASA website Generate on-the-fly Google Maps, Google Earth files
Query the database Find eclipses occurring at a specified location Web tool available also for 11,898 solar eclipses
http://xjubier .free.fr fr/en/site_pages/lunar_eclipses/5MCLE/ /en/site_pages/lunar_eclipses/5MCLE/xLE xLE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html _Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.
5MCLE Database: TLE 2007 August 28
Google Map of the total lunar eclipse on 2007 August 28 – Xavier Jubier
5MCLE Database: TLE 2007 August 28
Visualization in Google Earth of the total lunar eclipse on 2007 August 28 – Xavier Jubier
Announcement with NASA
Fred Espenak is pleased to announce the availability on NASA web-site of a simplified version of Xavier Jubier’s 5MCSE database web tool
http://sunearth SEsearch//SEsearch. http://sunearth..gsfc. gsfc.nasa. nasa.gov/eclipse/ gov/eclipse/SEsearch SEsearch.php
At the same time the 5MCSE Google Maps available on NASA web-site will also provide the local circumstances at the mouse click location
Announcement with NASA
Fred Espenak is pleased to announce the availability on NASA web-site of a simplified version of Xavier Jubier’s 5MCSE database web tool
http://sunearth SEsearch//SEsearch. http://sunearth..gsfc. gsfc.nasa. nasa.gov/eclipse/ gov/eclipse/SEsearch SEsearch.php
At the same time the 5MCSE Google Maps available on NASA web-site will also provide the local circumstances at the mouse click location
Announcement with NASA
Fred Espenak is pleased to announce the availability on NASA web-site of a simplified version of Xavier Jubier’s 5MCSE database web tool
http://sunearth SEsearch//SEsearch. http://sunearth..gsfc. gsfc.nasa. nasa.gov/eclipse/ gov/eclipse/SEsearch SEsearch.php
At the same time the 5MCSE Google Maps available on NASA web-site will also provide the local circumstances at the mouse click location
Eclipse Explorer (1)
Eclipse Explorer by John Tilley and Luca Quaglia, Beta version available end 2007. Windows only, freeware, spatial database available at cost on DVD as over 1GB.
All solar and lunar eclipses from -11000 to +15000 Low detail base mapping shown Optional Blue Marble seasonal mapping VMap0 = high detail when zoom in Interactive display for local circumstances Lunar eclipse display Filter and sort eclipses Analyse eclipses – tetrads, duo, double duo
Eclipse Explorer (2)
Eclipse Explorer by John Tilley and Luca Quaglia, Beta version available end 2007. Windows only, freeware, spatial database available at cost on DVD as over 1GB.
Map size maximised 2008 total solar eclipse track Maximum detail around Novosibirsk Using VMap0 Built-up areas Roads Rivers, lakes Contours Placenames User can control display and colour of geographical detail by zoom level
Eclipse Explorer (3)
Eclipse Explorer by John Tilley and Luca Quaglia, Beta version available end 2007. Windows only, freeware, spatial database available at cost on DVD as over 1GB.
Interactively explore the Saros-Inex panoramas for 26,000 years of solar or lunar eclipses
Mapping limited to years -2000 to +3000 due to Delta-T uncertainties
Eclipse Explorer (4)
Create eclipse lists
Special interest lists
5 total solar eclipses visible from an area of Egypt in just 32 years – Jean Meeus “Morsels 2”
Country lists
Eclipse Explorer by John Tilley and Luca Quaglia, Beta version available end 2007. Windows only, freeware, spatial database available at cost on DVD as over 1GB.
E.g. “My Eclipses”
Create by searching for eclipses at different points within a bounding rectangle
Summary
Since SEC2004 exciting new applications have changed the way we plan eclipse trips
GIS software still produces good quality maps
Google Maps – browser-based, cross-platform Google Earth – Mac, Win, Linux NASA World Wind – Win Can use Google Earth for GIS visualizations (Arc2Earth)
More eclipse programs available with high detail free mapping What next?
Google Earth on a mobile phone with integrated GPS Google Earth with 3D animated view of the eclipse
Acknowledgements
Map projections – Peter Dana
Eclipse, weather and GIS – Jay Anderson
http://www.bureau-des-longitudes.fr http://www.bureau-des-longitudes.fr//
Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE)
http://sunearth http://sunearth..gsfc. gsfc.nasa. nasa.gov/eclipse/solar.html gov/eclipse/solar.html
PROG1A – Jean Meeus Bureau des Longitudes
http://home.cc.umanitoba .ca/~jander jander// http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~
NASA web-site – Fred Espenak
The Geographer’ Geographer’s Craft Project, Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder http://www.pdana .com/ http://www.pdana.com/
http://www.imcce php? ?nav=en/ ephemerides//formulaire/form_ ephepos..php http://www.imcce..fr/page. fr/page.php nav=en/ephemerides formulaire/form_ephepos
Eclipse Explorer – John Tilley & Luca Quaglia 5MCSE database web tool – Xavier Jubier
http://xjubier .free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html http://xjubier.free.fr/en/site_pages/solar_eclipses/5MCSE/xSE_Five_Millennium_Canon.html
Q&A
