New Mapping System for iNaturalist

iNaturalist just passed the one million observations mark, but what does one million observations look like? To find out, they marked the occasion by launching a new series of interactive maps that, for the first time, allow all of these observations to be visualized together (http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/map#2/10/20).

When you’re zoomed out, the maps summarize the observations as a grid. The darker the grid cell, the more observations it contains. All observations not flagged as captive or as having location issues are mapped. Observations with geoprivacy set to obscured are only included at coarse zoom levels.

At very fine zoom levels, the grid cells are replaced by individual, clickable observations. The colors indicate the branch of the tree of life that each observation represents. White borders indicate ‘research quality’ observations.

The software driving them was prepared by our collaborators at Centre de Recerca Ecològica i Aplicacions Forestals earlier this year. But it took the support of their new home at the California Academy of Sciences, including lots of hard work by Patrick Leary and iNat’s new beefed-up backend to share them with everyone.

Check out the outline of Vermont painted by all or our observations from iNaturalist Vermont, a project of the Vermont Atlas of Life.
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/map#8/43.905/-71.637

Or zoom in closer and see the observation-filled Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park. http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/map#15/43.632/-72.535

Posted on Νοέμβριος 10, 2014 0121 ΜΜ by kpmcfarland