Mapping USAF Global Range

This follows on a previous post mapping long-haul flights (this blog) in a similar manner.

Currently in the news, the UK prohibited the use of forward bases by the US, whereas that issue was sidestepped last summer for US intervention in Iran (Perplexity). Having looked at the range of fighter jets in Arctic War games (this blog), I did the same for B52 bombers (Perplexity). Here are the relevant data:

The B-52’s unrefuelled combat range is a bit over 8,800 miles (about 14,100 km). So I used a 4,400 Statute Mile buffer. I didn't use the refuelling option: while that was practical for last June B2 single overnight strike, B52 with significantly heavier loads need staging:

I lived in Cambridge UK, home of Marshall Aerospace not far from Mildenhall and other joint UK US air force bases. B52s have been built since the 50's, but they have been retrofitted at Marshall with electronics. They combine the best of both worlds: over-engineered analog jets ("fly-by-wire" came a generation later) and recent equipment. This and the B2 / B52 distinction were acc. to friends working at Marshall, I'm sure you can google it.

Tech corner: most maps are in degrees, so how to map distances? Equidistant projections allow distance measurements, but they are restricted locally not globally (Perplexity). Maps & worldwide buffers get severely distorted globally as needed at present (L to R: azimuthal, conic, cylindrical, two-point & world cylindrical, orig. 1:225M in ArcGIS Pro):

click to enlarge, original

So, I used Spilhaus projection that is ocean-centric for the same reason as mapping long-haul flights previously, emphasis added:

From my Story Map portfolio here, my second 30DayMapChallenge here during COVID, and an extra on "Day 15b: Connections": Inspired by  @pheebely  tweet "Ten Longest Haul Flights" here, which I remapped in Spilhaus projection... Why? Because it's ocean-centric! Long-haul flights tend to go over oceans, not only to follow "great circles" (shortest distance over a globe), but also for safety (less risk of ground damage in the unlikely case of an accident). In Esri ArcGIS Pro with publicly available fight path data.

Big thank you to Esri's Boyan Savric, David Burrows and John Nelson for recreating and publicizing this quixotic yet handy projection (Esri, Perplexity).

click to enlarge, original

See why to reach the Middle-East (top center), taking off from Barksdale AFB (top left) requires a transit via Fairford UK, and from Guam (middle right) via Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago also in the news for other reasons last year).

The travels of La Macareña

 ... Aaand now for something completely different! Following on tracing travels & travails on simple maps for my travels over a decade ago and recently Samurais & Richard Lionheart, I traced the journey of that song&dance everyone knows.

It all started with ye olde beer advert popping up on YouTube shorts:

Henry VIII Dissolution of Monasteries in England

This continues history posts from Roman Roads vast network and local effect, to medieval travels by Richard I and by Samurais.

Inspired by National Archives' story map: Discover the Dissolution of Monasteries by Henry VIII from 1536 to 1540, here is its intro:

 Henry VIII's break from Rome and the creation of the Church of England set in motion a revolutionary chain of events that resulted in the closure of almost 900 religious houses, displacing 12,000 people from their religious orders. While some were allowed to remain or convert, many were given pensions to surrender their churches and many still were simply evicted with no compensation. The dissolution changed the kingdom's schooling, medical care, land ownership and powerful figures - but why did it happen, and how did it affect your local area?

A Belgian holiday

 This picks up from A Roman Holiday about aspects of Roman Roads. A friend pointed out this YouTube video, How A Roman Road Changed Belgium Forever, here is their synopsis:

Why does Belgium speak two languages? The answer is a 2,000-year-old Roman road.

In this video, I explain how the Via Belgica, a highway built by the Roman empire around 50 BC, created a language border that still divides Belgium today. The road ran from Tongeren to Bavay, separating Romanized Gaul in the south from Germanic tribes in the north. That linguistic divide has persisted through the Middle Ages, Spanish rule, Austrian rule, French occupation, and Belgian independence.

Today, Dutch speakers live north of the line, French speakers live south of it, and the border is still influenced by that ancient Roman road. Even Belgium's election results are decided by this 2,000-year-old line.

Having mapped Roman Roads, I recreated a focussed map on the region, adding the Belgian Wallonie region in green. As roads were unidentified in the AWNC database, I selected them per video. I found a source (no metadata in arcgis.com) that put Via Belgica right along it, confirming my choice.

3D maps in current affairs

 This pics up on the previous Beautiful maps... as well as Arctic Waterfront... re: the distribution of influence over the Arctic in the news of late.

This time let's look at the elevation maps of the area:

• High Resolution Elevation Model of the Arctic (Esri Living Atlas)
• Seabed Sediment Thickness (Esri Living Atlas)

Arctic Waterfront, a measure of geopolitical stakes

 Update: next in the series on the Arctic is here with more data & a 3D view.

A mid-2011 post Beautiful maps in current affairs (note the updates) said: 

UN Convention on the Law of the Sea [...] by Dr Parson of the Southampton UK National Oceanographic Centre [...] described how nations were given an opportunity to claim Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) beyond the standard 200 nautical mile limit (viz. UNCLOS and UNEP). [...]

Bird-dogging COVID, a five year retrospect

This follows on the last COVID update  here, 5 yrs. after polling COVID stats Jan. 2020 to May 2021.

I went to London exactly 6 yrs. ago to get my Canadian passport: my UK "settled status" as a French national wasn't in yet; if they didn't take me as EU citizen, they couldn't refuse me as Commonwealth citizen... I met my best friend in Chinatown to witness my passport pics, before I went to the consulate to renew my passport... Well Chinatown was already all set up with one-way ingress-egress in stores, social distancing & face masks! The consulate also closed for no reason given. So, everyone but uk.guv seemed to know what had started in China late Nov. early Dec 2019 had already arrived here... 

Exhuming my thesis, part IV

This follows on my previous post here of a series started here. Also here under Great Lakes with a different perspective. And here its pivotal role in my career. Lastly a case of "AI to the rescue", it's  listed on my blog's pinned post under 2026. 

In my initial post of this series, I wrote (caps added):

That prompted me now to look up geophysical data (aeromagnetic anomalies, Wikipedia): will it allow to GLIMPSE terranes in the subsurface below the Great Lakes, as well as earlier Archean and later Phanerozoic features such as, respectively, the Wawa Lineament and the Niagara Escarpment? Lo-and-behold, I found aeromagnetic data (NOAA) and sketch-mapped them below on my desktop GIS (Esri)!

Richard Cœur de Lion's return trip

This follows on from new maps posted on history & newmaps.

Update: added fun calculation about castles at the bottom

Update 2: for an excellent narrative, go to Lionheart Substack here

Medievalist.net posted here a rethink of the circumstances of Lionheart's return from the Third Crusade, summary here and in three-sentences:

The article presents Attila Bárány’s argument that Richard I’s capture after the Third Crusade was primarily a product of high politics, not an accident of storms, pride, or divine punishment. Richard’s secretive, indirect route home and his decision to pass through risky territories are treated as calculated responses to the political threats posed by figures like Philip Augustus and Emperor Henry VI, who could profit from his detention. Leopold V’s personal resentment is seen as a catalyst rather than a sufficient cause, with Richard’s captivity and ransom functioning as tools of imperial strategy and diplomatic theatre.

Even more maps, with a twist

In this opening view from this video here, doesn't the Grand Canyon appear inverted to you? As in the deep parts pop up instead of down!

click to enlarge