aerial topography

Maps have always been a fascination of mine. I never seem to tire of looking at maps, old ones, new ones, cities, countries, whatever, it doesn’t matter, I’ll keep looking. Topographic maps are especially fascinating – being able to see the undulations of the hills, and the way the rivers and streams have carved their way through the hills has always held my attention. While I was in college I used to fly back home for christmas and stare out the window at the snow covered landscapes below. One stretch I was always enjoyed was crossing upstate New York, between Buffalo and Syracuse. With a covering of snow the striations left behind by the glaciers was easy to see.

Just last month I was flying out west on a crystal clear day and I was able to take a few photos of the snow covered Great Plains, the Rockies the parts of the southwest canyon lands. The real challenge was trying to figure exactly where I was. I’ve included a few of the photos here, and there are more over here.

Two rivers in the snow
This one shows the headwaters of two rivers off in the distance. The confluence was behind me so I didn’t get a good look at that. I believe that this is near Souix Falls. What’s interesting is the break in the snow cover the closer you get to the rivers.
[ Please click on the photos for a larger image ]


drainage patterns
A little while later some impressive drainage patterns to the south of the waterway became much more pronounced and widespread. The dendritic nature of watersheds is very visible and highly developed. This particular photo is one of my favorites of the series.

There are several more photos in my gallery, Moon Shots, including Denver from 30,000 feet, the Front Range and the canyon lands. So go take a look.

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