I. Introduction to Geographic Science
II. Universe and Solar System
III. Planet Earth
IV. Tectonic Forces
V. Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition
VI. Fluvial Processes and Systems
VII. Oceans and Coastal Environments
VIII. Atmospheric Structure
IX. Weather Processes and Systems
X. Global Climates and Change
XI. Biomes and Ecosystems
XII. Environmental Disasters
XIII. Wildfires

Physical Geography, also called earth science, is the study of our home planet and all of its components: its lands, waters, atmosphere, and interior. In this book, some chapters are devoted to the processes that shape the lands and impact people. Other chapters depict the processes of the atmosphere and its relationship to the planet’s surface and all our living creatures. For as long as people have been on the planet, humans have had to live within Earth’s boundaries. Now human life is having a profound effect on the planet. Several chapters are devoted to the effect people have on the planet.The journey to better understanding Earth begins here with an exploration of how scientists learn about the natural world and introduces you to the study of physical geography and earth science.

This textbook was designed especially for College of the Canyons students, as a resource to instill the knowledge and adventure that the discipline of geography holds for so many of us. The following units will cover a wide array of topics such as: Earth’s grid system, rivers, oceans, deserts, basic geology, and cartography.

Table of Contents
Unit 1: Introduction to Geography as a Discipline
Unit 2: Earth’s Place within the Cosmos
Unit 3: Introduction to Geology & Geologic Time
Unit 4: Mapping Earth’s Surface
Unit 5: Earth-Sun Relationships: Reasons for the Seasons
Unit 6: Earth’s Atmosphere
Unit 7: Elements of Weather & Climate
Unit 8: Basic Mineral Development
Unit 9: Igneous Rocks
Unit 10: Sedimentary Rocks
Unit 11: Metamorphism & Metamorphic Rocks
Unit 12: Weathering & Soils
Unit 13: Earths Dynamic Surface: Plate Tectonics
Unit 14: Earths Dynamic Surface: Tectonics Force
Unit 15: Earths Dynamic Surface: Volcanoes
Unit 16: Shaped by Coastal Processes
Unit 17: Shaped by Rivers & Running Water
Unit 18: Shaped by Wind as a Geomorphic Agent
Unit 19: Shaped by Glaciers

I. Chapter 1: Digital Geography
1.1 What is a Toponymy?
1.2 Distance and Scale
1.3 Topography and Our National Parks
1.4: References

II. Chapter 2: Universe and Solar System

III. Chapter 3: Earth's Landforms
3.1 The Rock Cycle
3.2 Mining the World's Minerals
3.3 North American Landforms
3.4 References

IV. Chapter 4: Plate Tectonics
4.1 Cracked Tectonic Plates
4.2 Constructive Forces for Mountain Building
4.3 References

V. Chapter 5: Tectonic Forces
5.1 The Earth Moves
5.2 Tectonic Plate Types Effects on Volcanoes
5.3 References

VI. Chapter 6: Weathering, Erosion, and Deposition
6.1 Using Remote Sensing to Avoid a Disaster
6.2 References

VII. Chapter 7: Fluvial Processes and Systems
7.1 A River Runs Through It
7.2: Down to the Last Drop
7.3 References

VIII. Chapter 8: Oceans and Coastal Environments
8.1 Ocean Features and Landforms
8.2 Marine Debris

IX. Chapter 9: Atmospheric Processes and Systems
9.1 Fluid Earth: Winds and Ocean Currents

X. Chapter 10: Weather Processes and Systems
10.1 How's the Weather?
10.2 Tropical Storms

Welcome to Physical Geography at College of the Canyons.

This textbook was designed especially for College of the Canyons students, as a resource to instill the knowledge and adventure that the discipline of geography holds for so many of us. The following units will cover a wide array of topics such as: Earth’s grid system, rivers, oceans, deserts, basic geology, and cartography.

This course teaches principles of flow, transport, and reaction processes in the natural subsurface.

From satellites gathering imagery from hundreds of miles above the Earth's surface to aerial systems mounted with lasers capable of generating 3D maps with centimeter accuracy, we're gathering more data about our Earth from above than ever before. This course will help you make sense of these complex and exciting datasets. Whether your interest is in natural disasters, environmental assessment, or national security, we'll give you the tools, methods, and techniques to extract actionable and meaningful information from these data. This course will help you understand that an image is more than just a pretty picture.

Do you know how important GIS is to the transportation industry? The spatial applications to this field are so extensive that they represent an entire sub-discipline within the GIS community. In this course, we'll learn about the primary modes of transportation and explore some of the spatial applications developed to meet the unique needs of each. We'll also take a close look at some key organizations in the industry and learn firsthand from more than a dozen transportation professionals about the role GIS plays for them. Throughout the course, we'll study GIS concepts and techniques that are fundamental to transportation and get hands-on experience with tools such as Esri's Network Analyst and Esri's Roads and Highways.

Lessons
Lesson 1: Introduction to GIS-T
Lesson 2: Roadway Centerline Data
Lesson 3: Geocoding and Conflation
Lesson 4: Transportation Networks
Lesson 5: Network Analysis
Lesson 6: Linear Referencing Systems (LRS)
Lesson 7: Highway Safety
Lesson 8: Traffic
Lesson 9: Transit
Lesson 10: Other Modes

Geospatial perspectives and technologies play a major role in planning for and responding to emergencies. Geospatial tools - from aerial mapping techniques to data acquisition, are changing rapidly as is emergency management as the frequency and magnitude of crises and disasters are increasing.
This course provides an understanding of how geospatial perspectives and technologies support all stages of emergency management activities, from small scale emergency management efforts to large scale disaster/humanitarian efforts. This includes learning about commonly used and emerging geospatial tools. It also includes an exploration of advancements in data collection, processing and analysis capabilities, such as unmanned aerial systems, geospatial artificial intelligence, volunteered geographic information, social media, and many more.

Lessons
Lesson 1: Spatial Data Science for Emergency Management
Lesson 2: Hazards and Disasters
Lesson 3: Vulnerability Assessment and Hazard Mitigation
Lesson 4: Preparedness
Lesson 5: Response
Lesson 6: Recovery
Lesson 7: Using Scenarios to Plan GIS for Emergency Management
Lesson 8: Case Study Collaboration
Lesson 9: Case Study – 2018 Sulawesi Earthquake and Tsunami
Lesson 10: Term Project

The goals of this textbook are to help students acquire the technical skills of using software and managing a database, and develop research skills of collecting data, analyzing information and presenting results. We emphasize that the need to investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate its possible applications. GIS may not be necessary (or useful) for every planning application, and we anticipate these readings to provide the necessary foundation for discerning its appropriate use. Therefore, this textbook attempts to facilitate spatial thinking focusing more on open-ended planning questions, which require judgment and exploration, while developing the analytical capacity for understanding a variety of local and regional planning challenges.
While this textbook provides the background for understanding the concepts in GIS as applicable to urban and regional planning, it is best when accompanied by a hands-on tutorial, which will enable readers to develop an in-depth understanding of the specific planning applications of GIS. Chapters in this text book are either composed by the editors using Creative Common materials, or linked to a book chapter scanned copy in the library reserve. In the end of each chapter, we also provided several discussion questions, together with contextual applications through some web links.

Unmanned Aerial Systems, or drones, are developing aggressively, and many government and non-government agencies are considering acquiring such systems. This course will focus on the geo-spatial utilization of a UAS. It will cultivate students' knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of the UAS and data post-processing systems. It introduces fundamental concepts surrounding operating a UAS such as strategies for selecting the right UAS, assessing its performance, managing resulting products (i.e. imagery), selecting the appropriate commercially available processing software, assessing product accuracy, figuring ways and means of producing metric products from UAS, and understanding rules and regulations governing operating a UAS in the United States.

We refer to Earth as the \Blue Planet\" because of its abundance of liquid water; indeed, NASA's search for life on other planets starts with the search for water. While its importance for sustaining life is perhaps common knowledge, the extent to which we depend on water in every aspect of our everyday lives and activities is less obvious. Looking into the coming decades, the global need to decrease water stress and increase water quality is inescapable. In this course, you will explore water's impact on human society from investigating your own personal water usage to developing a water portfolio to addressing global water needs as human population centers and industrial development continue to grow."

Locating restaurants in an unfamiliar place, reporting potholes to the local DOT, obtaining real-time traffic conditions... All of these are examples of geospatial web apps that are revolutionizing how people obtain and share information about the world. In GEOG 863, you will learn how to build apps like these. You'll start with a quick look at the fundamentals of web programming (HTML and CSS) before diving in to using JavaScript and a mapping application programming interface (API) developed by Esri. Using this API, you'll create both 2D and 3D visualizations of your own data and learn how to develop a user interface to enable users to interact with your map.

Lessons

Lesson 1: Creating Mapping Apps Without Programming
Lesson 2: Web Publishing Technologies: HTML/XHTML/CSS
Lesson 3: Introduction to the ArcGIS API for JavaScript
Lesson 4: Adding Layers
Lesson 5: Layer Visualization
Lesson 6: Adding Search & Query Capability
Lesson 7: GUI Development
Lesson 8: Geoprocessing
Final Project
Google Maps Content
e-Portfolios
Video Recording with Screencast-O-Matic

In essay format, this textbook considers examples of various sub-categories of Geography in combination with five regions of the Western World

This resource will be updated as needed. For the most recent version, visit: https://cod.pressbooks.pub/westernworlddailyreadingsgeography/

In essay format, this textbook considers examples of various sub-categories of Geography in combination with five regions of the Western World.

Table of contents:

1. What is the Western World?
2. What is Regional Geography?
3. Cultural Geography
4. Economic Geography
5. Historical Geography
6. Physical Geography
7. Political Geography
8. Population Geography
9. Urban Geography
10. Medical Geography
11. Pacific Realm
12. Pacific Realm: Regional Example
13. Pacific Realm: Cultural Geography I
14. Pacific Realm: Economic Geography I
15. Pacific Realm: Historical Geography I
16. Pacific Realm: Physical Geography I
17. Pacific Realm: Political Geography I
18. Pacific Realm: Population Geography I
19. Pacific Realm: Urban Geography I
20. Pacific Realm: Cultural Geography II
21. Pacific Realm: Economic Geography II
22. Pacific Realm: Historical Geography II
23. Pacific Realm: Physical Geography II
24. Pacific Realm: Political Geography II
25. Pacific Realm: Population Geography II
26. Pacific Realm: Urban Geography II
27. Pacific Realm: Overview
28. North America
29. North America: Regional Example
30. North America: Cultural Geography I
31. North America: Economic Geography I
32. North America: Historical Geography I
33. North America: Physical Geography I
34. North America: Political Geography I
35. North America: Population Geography I
36. North America: Urban Geography I
37. North America: Medical Geography I
38. North America: Cultural Geography II
39. North America Economic Geography II
40. North America: Historical Geography II
41. North America: Physical Geography II
42. North America: Political Geography II
43. North America: Population Geography II
44. North America: Urban Geography II
45. North America: Overview
46. Europe
47. Europe: Regional Example
48. Europe: Cultural Geography I
49. Europe: Economic Geography I
50. Europe: Historical Geography I
51. Europe: Physical Geography I
52. Europe: Political Geography I
53. Europe: Population Geography I
54. Europe: Urban Geography I
55. Europe: Cultural Geography II
56. Europe: Economic Geography II
57. Europe: Historical Geography II
58. Europe: Physical Geography II
59. Europe: Political Geography II
60. Europe: Population Geography II
61. Europe: Urban Geography II
62. Europe: Overview
63. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR)
64. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Regional Example
65. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Cultural Geography I
66. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Economic Geography I
67. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Historical Geography I
68. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Physical Geography I
69. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Political Geography I
70. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Population Geography I
71. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Urban Geography I
72. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Cultural Geography II
73. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Economic Geography II
74. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Historical Geography II
75. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Physical Geography II
76. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Political Geography II
77. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Population Geography II
78. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Urban Geography II
79. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Overview
80. Russian Domain
81. Russian Domain: Regional Example
82. Russian Domain: Cultural Geography I
83. Russian Domain: Economic Geography I
84. Russian Domain: Historical Geography I
85. Russian Domain: Physical Geography I
86. Russian Domain: Political Geography I
87. Russian Domain: Population Geography I
88. Russian Domain: Urban Geography I
89. Russian Domain: Cultural Geography II
90. Russian Domain: Economic Geography II
91. Russian Domain: Historical Geography II
92. Russian Domain: Physical Geography II
93. Russian Domain: Political Geography II
94. Russian Domain: Population Geography II
95. Russian Domain: Urban Geography II
96. Russian Domain: Overview
97. Russian Domain: Physical Geography III
98. North America: Cultural Geography III
99. Europe: Population Geography III
100. Latin America and the Caribbean (LACAR): Political Geography III

Access is also available here: https://cod.pressbooks.pub/westernworlddailyreadingsgeography/

This class uses lab exercises and a workshop setting to help students develop a solid understanding of the planning and public management uses of geographic information systems (GIS). The goals are to help students: acquire technical skills in the use of GIS software; acquire qualitative methods skills in data and document gathering, analyzing information, and presenting results; and investigate the potential and practicality of GIS technologies in a typical planning setting and evaluate possible applications. The workshop teaches GIS techniques and basic database management at a level that extends somewhat beyond the basic thematic mapping and data manipulation skills included in the MCP core classes (viz. 11.204 and 11.220). Instead of focusing on one thematic map of a single variable, students will concentrate on more open-ended planning questions that invite spatial analysis but will require judgment and exploration to select relevant data and mapping techniques; involve mixing and matching new, local data with extracts from official records (such as census data, parcel data and regional employment and population forecasts); utilize spatial analysis techniques such as buffering, address matching, overlays; use other modeling and visualization techniques beyond thematic mapping; and raise questions about the skills, strategy, and organizational support needed to sustain such analytic capability within a variety of local and regional planning settings. Students seeking graduate credit should enroll in the subject 11.520; undergraduates should enroll in the subject 11.188. The subjects meet together and have nearly identical content. ArcGIS/ArcMap/ArcInfo Graphical User Interface is the intellectual property of ESRI and is used herein with permission. Copyright ĺŠ ESRI. All rights reserved.

A look at the physical and human characteristics that make the regions of our world distinctive, placing particular emphasis on cultural and societal structures.

Chapter 1: Digital Geography
1.1: What is a toponym?
1.2 Distance and Scale
1.3: March of Time
1.4 References

Chapter 2: Europe
2.1 Medieval European Invasions
2.2 The Crusades
2.3 Early European Exploration
2.4 European Industrial Revolution
2.5 Europe Post World War I
2.6 International Cooperation
2.7 References

Chapter 3: Russia
3.1 Russian Expansion to the Sea
3.2 Hot Spots in a Cold War
3.3 Cold War 2.0

Chapter 4 North America
4.1: Original Thirteen Colonies
4.2: Native American Lands
4.3: A Nation Divided
4.4: The Underground Railroad
4.5: From Compromise to Conflict
4.6: What is Gerrymandering?
4.7: Your Huddled Masses

Chapter 5: Middle America
5.1 An Eye on Central America
5.2: North American Landforms
5.3: North American Trade

Chapter 6: South America
6.1 El Nino and La Nina
6.2 Tropical Deforestation
6.3 Latin American Independence

Chapter 7: Subsaharan Africa
7.1 The Human Journey
7.2 Africa's Political Borders
7.3 Africa's Independence from Colonial Powers
7.4 Slowing Malaria
7.5 Standards of Living
7.6 Natural Resource Consumption and Wealth
Case Study: Sudan and South Sudan

Chapter 8: Southwest Asia
U.N. Sustainable Development Goals

Chapter 9: South Asia
9.1 Monsoonal Patterns

Chapter 10: East Asia
10.1: Geography of Pandemics and COVID-19

The discipline of geography bridges the social sciences with the physical sciences and can provide a
framework for understanding our world. By studying geography, we can begin to understand the
relationships and common factors that tie our human community together. The world is undergoing
globalization on a massive scale as a result of the rapid transfer of information and technology and
the growth of modes of transportation and communication. The more we understand our world, the
better prepared we will be to address the issues that confront our future. There are many approaches
to studying world geography. This textbook takes a regional approach and focuses on themes that
illustrate the globalization process, which in turn assists us in better understanding our global
community and its current affairs.