Nukutavake Island FP - Third Time Posting is the Charm

Nukutavake Island - Landsat Image S-07-15_2000 (1:25,000)

Nukutavake Island - Marplot Map (1:25,000)

Nukutavake Atoll - EVS Precision Map (1:25,000)

The second map is the new and improved version of my EVS Precision island maps. Not only have I made better use of the text fonts found in Marplot, but I've added a North Arrow. Also, and most important, I've adjusted the colors. I promise that any of you creating a large body of original maps will find yourselves constantly tweeking the colors. This particular color pallet is probably version 101. Seriously, colors are the ultimate subjective layer of information one places on a map. Quite often they reflect your moods. If you are having a bad day, wierd colors result and a good day leads to peaceful earth-tone pastels.

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Nukutavake Island (Noukoutawake) is a small island, of coral formation, located about 8 miles NW of Pinaki. It is about 3 miles long in an E-W direction, and is wooded except at its E end. There is a radio station on the island.In May, June, and July the population of this atoll moves to Vairaatea, and in August, to Pinaki to harvest copra.

(SD Pub-126)

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Group: Centre East Group
Archipelago: Tuamotu Archipelago
Country: France - French Polynesia - Tuamotu Is.
Region: Oceania 18
Lat: 19.28º S Long : 138.78º W
Area: 4.5 sq. km
Altitude: ? m
Depth to nearest land: 3000 m
Nearest island: 14.5 km @ 143° (Atoll Pinaki)
Group: 980 km
Nearest continent: South America
Distance: 5400 km Isolation Index: 108

ISLAND TYPE: low coral Natural Protection Indicator: 2
CLIMATE: tropical
CATASTROPHIC THREATS: cyclones Threat Indicator: 1
ECOSYSTEMS: Coconuts; fringing reef Number of Ecosystems - Terrestrial: 1 Marine: 1
Percent shoreline: Coral Reef: 99% Mangrove: 0%

HUMAN OCCUPATION: Uninhabited, ?
Population: 0 Density: 0.0 persons/sq. km
Major Human Activities: coconut plantations
Percent population in agr/mining/fishing: 17% Human Threat Indicator: 1
Gross Domestic Product: $ 7236 per capita Economic Pressure Indicator: 4

DATA RELIABILITY: Data Rel. Indicator: 1

HUMAN IMPACT INDEX HI: 5
CONSERVATION IMPORTANCE INDEX CI-Terrestrial: 5 Low
CI-Marine: 4 Low

Last updated: 27/02/89

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Nukutavake (aka Queen Charlotte Island) is an atoll located in the eastern part of the Tuamotu Archipelago at 138°48’ west longitude by 19°17’ south latitude. It is 1,125 kilometers (699 miles) from Papeete. British Captain Samuel Wallis was the first European to discover this atoll in 1767. This is a unique atoll because although it is flat and of coral formation, it has no lagoon. While some accounts claim there are no signs of there ever having been a lagoon, other accounts claim that what was once a lagoon has been entirely filled in by sand and limestone particles from the external coral reef. Part of the atoll is covered by dense vegetation, while the rest has a coconut tree plantation covering some 800 hectares (1,977 acres). Nukutavake is 5.2 kilometers (3.2 miles) long. Its width ranges from 450 meters (1,476 ft.) to 1.3 kilometers (0.81 miles) in the director of the village. The atoll covers an area of 360 hectares (890 acres).

The village, located in the northeastern part of the atoll, has some streets and a main road from the coast and the coconut plantation. There is an aerodrome 800 meters (2,625 ft.) south of the village, linking the atoll to the outside world. There is a whaleboat dock opposite the village that allows for transferring people and cargo from and to cargo ships that anchor offshore. The 1996 census recorded a population of 196 persons. The atoll is the administrative center for a district made up of the associated districts of Vahitahi and Vairaatea.

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This island was mapped quickly. Not carelessly, but quickly. It took about 1-hour to digitize and create the map. Another 30-minutes to post and comment.

Also, the discovery of the additional island information from the web site of the President of French Polynesia (what a job!) will enhance the information associated with this island. I did send him an email to present my website. However, no reply as yet.

Enjoy!

Balesin Island RP

Balesin Island RP

Balesin Island - Landsat Image N-51-10_2000 (1:31,250)

Balesin Island - EVS Marplot Map (1:31,250)

I don't purposely work on islands that have "claim's to fame", but all of the ones I have worked on seem to have interesting stories to tell. Balesin Island is no exception. Seems this small island is the location of a high-class resort. You and 40 of your friends can enjoy the miles of sandy beaches. Just pony up $85 per room per night and transportation to the island. Your accomodations are top rate. The service is exquisite. Everything is first class.

I was going to say something silly, but I won't. I have never been to the island, but one of the websites that sells the islands attributes makes it look great. Now, alittle about why I mapped it.

One of my students wants to become a cartographer. During my lunch time, I showed her how I go about making an island map. Since I had this Landsat image loaded on my computer at school, I slected a small island, Balesin Island. I showed her how to digitize a shoreline and the various layers of additional information that I would map to complete this project. I estimated that this project would require an additional 4-hours of work. It has taken about 6-hours to complete. Tomorrow, I'll share this completed project with my aspiring cartographer. Hopefully, she will remain inspired.

Enjoy!

Nikumaroro Atoll KR - Third Time is the Charm

Nikumaroro Atoll - Marplot Map (1:30,000)

This is my third time posting this. I received an e-mail from a representative of TIGHAR, a group that has visited this atoll searching for clues to the whereabouts of Amelia Earhart. He asked that I post the following information to discourage visits to the island. The only way one is allowed to visit is with permission of Kiribatian authorities. Read on.

"The best landing place, marked by a white pyramidal concrete structure, is about 0.3 mile S of the village. A boat channel has been cut through the reef in a 054˚ direction and in line with the concrete beacon. Landing should be attempted just after HW when there is less surf than on a rising tide. With a SE wind, landing can be effected in the lee of the wreck at any stage of the tide."

(Sailing Directions Pub-126)

Comment from Pat Thrasher at TIGHAR: The beacon is long gone. It was cleaned off by a storm in 1990 or so. The wreck is gone except for the shell of the triple expansion steam engine. No lee.

BUT. It is completely, utterly ILLEGAL for anyone to land there at all. It is a protected area, bird sanctuary, and about to become a World Heritage Site. No fishing, no landing, no nothing, except as sanctioned by the government of the Republic of Kiribati. We have permission and will have a Customs officer with us. No equipment may be landed without strict adherence to environmental concerns about introduction of insects, bacteria, molds, etc.

Nikumaroro is a sensitive archeological and cultural site. I hope you will discourage landings rather than promoting them with information about when and where to make them!

Nikumaroro Atoll KR

Nikumaroro Atoll (Gardner Island) (4˚40'S., 174˚31'W.) is a wooded, wedge-shaped atoll lying about 137 miles W of Orona Atoll (Hull Island). The atoll is surrounded by a fringing reef, which dries at LW, extending about 0.2 mile offshore. The NW and SE extremities of the reef appears to be extending. Depths off the atoll, which is steep-to except at its NW and SE extremities, average 366m, 0.3 mile from the reef. Nikumaroro Atoll (Gardner Island) encloses a lagoon into which there is no navigable passage. With the exception of two breaks, a large one on the W side and a narrow one on the S side, the land rim of the atoll entirely surrounds the lagoon.

The lagoon is encumbered with coral heads, but seaplanes have landed successfully.

A conspicuous stranded wreck lies close W of the N extremity of the atoll. The wreck was reportedly breaking up.

Tides—Currents.—Off the atoll the set is W, and varies in direction and strength with the prevailing wind. Close inshore, the current follows the trend of the land to the W. There is a deserted village on the W side of the atoll, about 1 mile S of the N extremity, off which anchorage may be obtained by small vessels, very close inshore. Two small beacons N of the village indicate the approach.

Directions.—The best landing place, marked by a white pyramidal concrete structure, is about 0.3 mile S of the village. A boat channel has been cut through the reef in a 054˚ direction and in line with the concrete beacon. Landing should be attempted just after HW when there is less surf than on a rising tide. With a SE wind, landing can be effected in the lee of the wreck at any stage of the tide. The reef is extremely slippery and wide, and the landing is not recommended if any equipment is to be landed or brought off. (SD Pub-126)

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This is a redo of a previous post dated 2/25/2006. I wanted to bring in my current colors and include the standard images and maps (1:200,000, 1:100,000, 1:50,000 and 1:25,000). In addition, I wanted to show the Ikonos image that was used to help in digitizing the vectors that makeup this map.

If you have difficulties reading the Flash presentation, go directly to my Flickr account and check out the set of images with the same name as the title of this post.

Enjoy!