Comments on: Over Flanders fields http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/ Airpower and British society, 1908-1941 Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:34:03 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66620 Brett Holman Tue, 18 Dec 2007 14:15:15 +0000 http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66620 That's a good idea -- thanks! That’s a good idea — thanks!

]]> By: Alun http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66560 Alun Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:47:21 +0000 http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66560 Rather than plotting points on a map, could you plot circles or polygons to give information on how inprecise the points are? The larger a polygon the more transparent it could be, to avoid the less accurate sightings from overwhelming the map. Rather than plotting points on a map, could you plot circles or polygons to give information on how inprecise the points are? The larger a polygon the more transparent it could be, to avoid the less accurate sightings from overwhelming the map.

]]> By: Brett Holman http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66241 Brett Holman Tue, 11 Dec 2007 15:27:30 +0000 http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66241 I think it's great stuff, and you're right, there's a lot more that people could be doing with these capabilities. There have also been a couple of good examples recently at The Blogger Will Always Get Through... showing WWII British <a href="http://www.nbcd.org.uk/blog/detail.asp?ID=144" rel="nofollow">invasion</a> <a href="http://www.nbcd.org.uk/blog/detail.asp?ID=145" rel="nofollow">defences</a>. I haven't played with doing anything in Google Earth yet; one obvious thing for me to try is to plot all the various scareship sightings took place, which I did already in a different way. But the problem there is that I don't have very precise locations for those (I used the nearest town, usually). Which doesn't matter for large-scale maps, but in Google Earth you can zoom in to very small scales, which gives a spurious impression of accuracy. I suppose this is a problem with many maps people are creating, and they probably don't worry about it too much; but I'd like it if I could indicate uncertainty in some way. I think it’s great stuff, and you’re right, there’s a lot more that people could be doing with these capabilities. There have also been a couple of good examples recently at The Blogger Will Always Get Through… showing WWII British invasion defences.

I haven’t played with doing anything in Google Earth yet; one obvious thing for me to try is to plot all the various scareship sightings took place, which I did already in a different way. But the problem there is that I don’t have very precise locations for those (I used the nearest town, usually). Which doesn’t matter for large-scale maps, but in Google Earth you can zoom in to very small scales, which gives a spurious impression of accuracy. I suppose this is a problem with many maps people are creating, and they probably don’t worry about it too much; but I’d like it if I could indicate uncertainty in some way.

]]> By: Martin W http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66190 Martin W Mon, 10 Dec 2007 17:41:24 +0000 http://airminded.org/2007/12/11/over-flanders-fields/#comment-66190 Hi Brett, I found it somewhat funny that you mention aerial photogrpahy and Google Earth today, considering what I have been working with recently. The following article has been posted this morning at the Spitfire Site: <a href="http://www.spitfiresite.com/history/articles/2007/12/british-airfields-in-europe-01.htm" rel="nofollow">RAF Airfields in Mainland Europe, 1944-45</a> The conclusion from my humble (and still early) experiments is that Google Earth can and should be used more for mapping and visualising historical events. For example, charting the last route of Bismarck shouldn't be a problem, or schematic maps of the battlefields, and I am myself contemplating showing aerial mission routes in it. Googles .kml markup appears good for these purposes. The same markup can also provide a source of reoyalty-free maps, albeit still a bit primitive, see my other post about it <a href="http://www.spitfiresite.com/blog/2007/12/good-source-of-free-maps-anyone.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. I'd be grateful if you have any further ideas about it to share. Hi Brett,

I found it somewhat funny that you mention aerial photogrpahy and Google Earth today, considering what I have been working with recently. The following article has been posted this morning at the Spitfire Site:

RAF Airfields in Mainland Europe, 1944-45

The conclusion from my humble (and still early) experiments is that Google Earth can and should be used more for mapping and visualising historical events. For example, charting the last route of Bismarck shouldn’t be a problem, or schematic maps of the battlefields, and I am myself contemplating showing aerial mission routes in it. Googles .kml markup appears good for these purposes. The same markup can also provide a source of reoyalty-free maps, albeit still a bit primitive, see my other post about it here. I’d be grateful if you have any further ideas about it to share.

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