Ebrenn y'n nos - mis-Gwynngala 2015 - audio

I have now recorded the September episode of Ebrenn y'n Nos.

See my earlier post for a transcript.

Skians conference 2015

I went to the conference 'Skians' of the Cornish Language Research Network in the last couple of days. They will have a website dreckly, but in the meantime here is their facebook page.

The conference had a number of presentations on a range of topics about the language, ranging from grammatical topics, the various manuscript sources of Cornish, to translating Cornish poetry into Italian.

One particular topic that I thought I could shed some light on with my work on maps was Ken Mackinnon's "Henderson’s Black-more revisited: disinterring a lost landscape" which discussed the Cornish language in the china clay (kaolin) mining area of mid-Cornwall, in which the landscape itself has been altered and some of the older history obscured by the activities of the industry.

For instance, a stone called "Men Vagar" originally stood at Longstone Downs but was moved to Roche when the original site was covered by a china clay spoil heap.

Ken's presentation also said that the Cornish language had been spoken in the area until the late 17th century, which was later than I had thought.

I have reproduced an extract from my own topographic maps, with names in Cornish from MAGA, and topography from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, and with the slope lines method that makes use of the segmentation method developed for my MSc thesis on Martian glaciology! 
I also add the mines that I detailed from various sources on my website.

The elevation I show with colour shading.
Land at sea level is white, which becomes more green up to 250m. I also overlay yellow at higher elevations from 100m up to 350m. 
I also have a number of hills marked from the database from www.hill-bagging.co.uk. 
I overlay various vector data including roads from OpenStreetMap and foreshore, and inland water from OS Opendata layers.

In this version, I show slope with the red channel, overlaid with slopes of 15 degrees or over solid red. large version

This version shows slope direction using the segmented digital elevation model (based on the method used in my Martian glaciology thesis). I visualise it in the way I did in some earlier blog posts, where the steeper the slope, the thicker the lines. Concave slopes are blue, convex are red, and they are black if they are planar. larger version

Same as above, but with a different elevation colour-coding which perhaps makes it easier to see what the actual elevation is, but maybe harder to distinguish the slope lines. larger version

Edit - OpenStreetMap landuse:'quarry' 

In the landuse layer of OpenStreetMap, the 'quarry' type captures most (but not quite all) of the artificial land surfaces due to kaolin quarrying.  larger version

 

The Meriga Project - British Isles

Since I have the 1 arcsec SRTM data ready to go for the British Isles, I thought I'd make a more detailed map for the Meriga Project shared-world speculative fiction anthology for the British Isles. See my last post for an explanation.

OS grid ref projection. 1:3million if printed at A3. full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:1.5million if printed at A3. full-size version

Some more detailed maps

I have rendered some more detailed maps at a scale of 1:500000 at A3, of certain areas, which should now cover most of England and Wales, though I have not yet done Scotland and Ireland.

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. The England-Scotland border now has a substantial inlet along the Tweed. The Tyne also reaches far inland. full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. Substantial flooding in the Vale of York results in the North York Moors now being an island, with other islands forming the remnants of Lincolnshire. full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. The overland routes linking the expanded seas are now rather shortened. full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. Nottingham, Derby and Loughborough are now seaside towns. full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. The Anglian Isles are inhabited by people making the most of the declining land area. full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. Perhaps central London was drowned catastrophically after the Thames Barrier (or its successor) failed. The technological limitations of this age make underwater salvage risky, but rewarding... full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. Devon and Cornwall now have a much thinner connection to the 'mainland' after the Somerset Levels and the Exe valley sank under the rising seas. Cornwall has a maze of drowned river valleys and is inhabited by two distinct cultural groups, firstly semi-nomadic people travelling in small boats and secondly the upland agricultural settlements. West Penwith is now an island separated by a strait since sea levels were 30m above the pre-industrial level.  full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. Wales is now more deeply incised by river estuaries, with much of Anglesey underwater.  full-size version

OS grid ref projection. 1:500000 if printed at A3. Similarly to the Cornish coast, some parts of Wales have a maze of islands and small river valleys inhabited by the nomadic boat people.  full-size version

The Meriga Project - summary maps

The blogger and author John Michael Greer wrote the book Star's Reach set centuries after the decline of industrial civilisation in the wake of resource depletion and climate change.
He is now looking for stories for a shared-world anthology set in the same world as Star's Reach, the Meriga Project. In the 25th century, the Greenland ice cap and most of Antarctic ice have melted leaving sea level 50m higher than at present. It is possible to view the effect of this at websites like flood.firetree.net.

I thought it worthwhile however to make my own maps of this world in QGIS. I have used the CleanTopo2 digital elevation model. For reference I mark present day coastlines and borders from the Global Self-consistent, Hierarchical, High-resolution Geography Database (NOAA) and the locations of major urban areas >750k inhabitants, from Nordpil (based on data from the UN Population Division).

I have used an Equidistant Conic Projection for the continental scale ones, and Albers Equal Area Projection for the more close-up ones. Most of the maps have a scale of 1:30 million if printed at A4. I link to full-size JPGs of the maps at my own website.

I have not included Antarctica so far, I may do so later if I get hold of a decent bedrock DEM and make some reasonable assumptions about remnant ice sheets at this point.

The northern part of N America, comprising present-day USA, Canada and Greenland. full-size version

The former USA and Central America. full-size version

South America. full-size version

North Africa. The Jordan valley and Dead Sea basin is not in fact flooded, since 50m sea level rise is not enough to make the connection from the Mediterranean. full-size version

Southern Africa. full-size version

Northern Asia. full-size version

SE Asia. full-size version

SW Asia. full-size version

Australasia. Note the sea does not actually flood the Lake Eyre basin in Australia (link). full-size version

Europe. The Jordan valley and Dead Sea basin is not in fact flooded, since 50m sea level rise is not enough to make the connection from the Mediterranean. full-size version

A closer view of eastern Canada and NE USA. This has a different projection which if I remember rightly was Albers Equal Area Conic. full-size version

SW USA. full-size version

SE USA. full-size version

N Europe. full-size version

S Europe. full-size version

Ebrenn y'n nos - mis-Gwynngala 2015

Apologies I haven't got round to recording this month's Ebrenn y'n Nos - various things have got in the way and I haven't had the chance to do a high-quality audio recording. Here is the text of it.

Dydh da. Ottomma rann nowydh kevres “Ebrenn y'n nos” mis-Gwynngala.

Yma an dydhyow orth aga berrhe ha'n nosow dhe hirhe dres an mis ma. Dhe'n 23a mis-Gwynngala, an kehysnos yw, pan vydh hirder an nos kehaval orth hirder an jydh.

Yma an trihorn hav hwath y'n ebrenn wosa hi dhe dewlhe, y hwra gortos ena bys dhe vis-Kevardhu drefenn kyn hwra an sterennow sevel hag esedha a-varra hag an seson dhe vos yn-rag, amser an howlsedhes a dheuth ha bos a-varra keffrys.

Yma Sadorn owth esedha a-varra, mes hwath gweladow yw yn Soth-West y'n gorthugher.

Dhe'n pymthegves mis-Est a wrug Gwener mos ynter an howl ha'n norvys. Nyns o an alinyans poran drefenn bos nebes ynklinyans dhe resegvaow an planetys. Ytho, ny wrug Gwener treustremena a-rag enep an howl y honan. A-varra an hav ma yth esa Gwener yn ebrenn gorthugher, y'n mis ma hi a wra dasomdhiskwedhes y'n ebrenn bora avel Borlewen. Erbynn diwedh mis-Gwynngala, bydh planetys Meurth ha Yow yn ebrenn bora kyns an howldrevel. Meurth yw pell diworth an norvys a-lemmyn ha nebes gwann y splannder, saw braster 1.8. An skeul 'braster' po magnitude yw koynt drefenn bos niverow byghanna dhe sterennow moy aga splannnder. Yma an ster gwanna neb yw gweladow dre dhewlagas nooth braster 6, an splanna sterenn Sirius yw -1.6 ha'n loor leun ogas ha -12.

Yow yw pella diworthyn es Meurth mes marthus brassa ha splanna y'n ebrenn. An dhew anedha a wra bos gweladow yn ta gwaynten nessa.

An loor yw dhe'n kwartron diwettha 5ves mis Gwynngala, yma loor nowydh dhe'n 13ves, kwartron kynsa 21a ha loor leun dhe'n 28ves. Loor leun an mis ma, yw gelwys avel 'gorloor'. An reson yw, yma an loor orth hy savla nessa dhe'n norvys dhe'n keth termyn usi hi leun. Ytho, an loor yw nebes brassa ha splanna y'n ebrenn es yw usadow, mes an difrans yw byghan yn hwir.

Mes kyns bora dhe'n 28ves mis-Gwynngala, y fydh difyk an loor. An loor a wra tremena a-ji skeus an nor, ha dos ha bos tewl ha rudh, ny vydh golowys marnas dre ayrgylgh an nor. An loor a wra tremena yn skeus an nor (yn stroth – an umbra) ynter 0207 ha 0527 (amser hav Predennek) hag y fydh yn skeus kowal ynter 0311 ha 0423. An loor vydh gweladow yn ebrenn soth-west yn termyn an difyk.

Difyk an loor 3a mis-Meurth 2007, skeusenn gwrys genev.

Ni a dhyskas an hav ma a-dro dhe'n efanvos New Horizons, hag ev dhe dresnija Pluton. Ev a wra spedya yn efan down lemmyn mes hwath a wra dannvon data dhe'n norvys a wrug ev kuntell a-dro dhe Bluton. Iskargans an data yw pur lent, ogas ha 1 kilobyt pub eylenn. Dhe'n kevradh na, rann Radyo an Gernewegva a wrussa iskarga yn pymp dydh. New Horizons a wra dresnija taklenn grogys Kuiper 2014 MU69 dhe'n Dy' Kalann 2019.

An efanvos DAWN usi ow mos yn resegva a-dro dhe Ceres, an brassa planetik y'n Penngrogys, a dhiskudhas menydh ynyal 6 km y ughelder war y enep. 

http://astronomynow.com/2015/08/08/ceres-mysterious-bright-spots-and-4-mile-tall-pyramidal-mountain-in-3-d/ http://astronomynow.com/2015/08/25/dawn-sends-sharper-scenes-from-dwarf-planet-ceres/

Gwydheo diworth NASA a-dro dhe DAWN

Curiosity, an 'rosyell' war enep Meurth a wrug dannvon omskeusenn (selfie) dhe'n norvys. Ev a usyas y bregh robot avel gwelen omskeusenn. NASA a wrug gwrias an imajys war-barth bys dhe'n omskeusenn nowydh. Curiosity re wrug lywya moy ages 11 km a-wosa ev dhe dira war Meurth yn 2012. http://astronomynow.com/2015/08/23/mountain-climbing-mars-rover-sends-back-low-angle-selfie/  

An omskeusenn Curiosity war enep Meurth

An komet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko a wrug drehedhes y savle ogassa dhe'n howl yn y resegva 13ves mis-Est. http://astronomynow.com/2015/08/14/rosetta-studies-comet-67p-at-perihelion/ http://astronomynow.com/2015/08/03/philaes-descent-to-comet-67p/ Yma an komet ow kelli 300kg o dhowr ha 1000km doust pub eylenn. Kyn hwrug an tirell Philae difuna yn mis-Metheven, ha dannvon sinell dhe'n resegvell, ny wrug an kestav pesya, saw nebes amserow a-wosa rag termyn berr. http://astronomynow.com/2015/07/11/new-contact-with-intractable-comet-lander/ http://rosetta.esa.int

Gwydheo a-dro dhe'n hwilas rag an tirell Philae

My a wayt i dhe glywes diworto arta. Bys nessa prys, Duw genes rag an mis ma.