Robert Simmon

@rsimmon

Data Visualization. Ex-Planet & NASA Earth Observatory. Blue Marble, Earth at Night, color, cartography, occasionally skewed views of Earth. Looking for a job.

1218 Siguiendo5885 Seguidores2803 Publicaciones

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Robert Simmon@rsimmon· 26d

This is neat — maps of U.S. States over time from the Census Bureau. www.census.gov/dataviz/visu...

small multiples map showing U.S. states as they were added ever decade from 1790 to 1960.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· 29d

I’m not a meteorologist, but this looks bad. #california #weather

Screenshot of the weather underground forecast page for San Leandro, California, showing a current temperature of 1151 degrees Fahrenheit. Sunny and 78 tomorrow.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jul 11

This is neat — celestial map + timeline of meteor showers. www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet...

Blue and white map showing the celestial sphere (strip along the center) along with frequency of meteor sightings throughout the year (bar graph on top).

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jul 10

I just discovered that France has a fantastic Geoportal, with dozens (hundreds?) of datasets available via WMTS. Like this 1916 map of the front lines in Verdun. data.geopf.fr/wmts?SERVICE... #GIS #cartography #maps

Map of the front lines in Verdun, 1916, displayed in a QGIS window.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jul 8

Some interesting projections here. #cartography from the David Rumsey Map Collection: www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet...

4 maps of global air routes from 1958. The top, and largest map, is an oval twice as wide as it is high, centered in southwest France. The other three maps are in a row along the bottom. The leftmost is a gnomic projection centered on the North Pole. The center is another oval map, but centered in the North Pacific. The map in the lower-right corner is a gnomic projection centered in the Southern Ocean between Australia and Antarctica.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jul 4

Excellent use of terrifying colors here. www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/sh/earth... #cartography #dataviz

The California Geological Survey (CGS) Map Sheet 48 (MS 48) depicts expected ground shaking intensity from future earthquakes across the state. The shaking intensity is represented using the Modified Mercalli Intensity (MMI) scale, which describes the perceived earthquake shaking and correlates strongly with earthquake-induced damage. MS 48 maps the level of shaking with a 2% probability of being exceeded in 50 years, equivalent to a 2,475-year average recurrence interval.

While the highest hazard areas are near major active faults, damaging earthquake shaking is possible anywhere in California. Factors such as proximity to faults and local geologic conditions influence shaking intensity. For example, sedimentary basins generally experience amplified shaking.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jul 2

OMG. The drawings of Frederick Law Olmstead (Central Park, National Zoo, Mountain View Cemetery …) are archived on Flickr. www.flickr.com/photos/olmst...

Vintage planning map of Central Park, New York, NY.

Vintage planning map for Mountain View Cemetery, Piedmont, CA.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jul 1

Pocket Fire, Arizona. June 30, 2026. Copernicus/Sentinel-2. 🛰️🗺️🖼️ app.watchduty.org/i/103670 browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu

Satellite image of smoke rising above the forested landscape of Northern Arizona.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 30

When you *almost* get the perfect satellite swath. (Aspen Acres Fire, June 29, 2029.) browser.dataspace.copernicus.eu?zoom=11&lat=...

Screenshot of the Copernicus Data Browser, showing smoke from the Aspen Acres Fire near Pueblo, Colorado getting cut off at the edge of the Sentinel-2 satellite swath.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 30

Anther day of explosive #wildfire in the West. GOES-West June 29, 2026, from about 1:00 p.m. until sunset MDT.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 30

Thus ushering in my 15 minutes of fame.

Classic blue marble render of the Western Hemisphere featured on the original Apple iPhone. Favorite of flat Earthers everywhere.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 29

The deadly Snyder Fire formed as four other fires merged over the weekend (Snyder Mesa, Jones, Gore, and Knowles). It’s one of at least 6 major fires currently burning in the Four Corners region: creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/st...

Gray smoke plumes rise from lower left to upper right. Burns scars are dark gray, The mostly arid landscape is otherwise light reddish brown, with green vegetation filling the thin riparian areas.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 29

Fires spread across the Southwest yesterday, with major blazes in Utah, Arizona, and Colorado. This video shows the growth of several fires throughout the day on June 28. 🛰️🔥🗺️📽️

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 26

Thunderstorms damped the Cottonwood fire today, but only 1/10" of rain fell — so it’s still burning, with “extremely critical” fire weather predicted for tomorrow. 😔 app.watchduty.org/i/104112

True-color satellite image of bright white cumulus clouds above the active Cottonwood fire in southwestern Utah. Squint a bit and you can almost distinguish the very light gray smoke from cloud cover.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 25

Cottonwood Fire. June 24, 2026, 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. More info: app.watchduty.org/i/104112

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 24

The Cottonwood Fire is a monster. Here’s yesterday’s GOES-West data, one frame per minute. 🔥🛰️📽️

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 24

Accompanying music inspired by György Ligeti’s Artikulation:

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 24

Join me at the @datavizsociety.bsky.social Outlier Conference for my talk tomorrow (Thursday) 11:25 a.m. EDT/8:25 a.m. PDT Everything I Know about Visuals I Learned from Sound: How does expertise in mixing, recording, and synthesis translate to #dataviz? outlier2026.vfairs.com/en/#about

Promo for Outlier 2026 — Join Me! Virtual data viz conference 24 > 26 June 2026.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 19

What a cool article. I especially like the JWST selfie.

Image of the James Webb Space Telescope’s 18 hexagonal mirrors taken from within the telescope.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 18

Part of me wants to say this is a graph crime — no common baseline, why is this even a map? — but on the other hand it’s effective. Maybe not good at showing precise quantities, but good at giving a vibe. Source: www.dallasnews.com/sports/stars... #dataviz 📊

Bar graph on a map showing hiw an NHL salary in Dallas would need to be adjusted for tax rates in other states. Dallas contract in green, additional compensation in orange. In increasing order: Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburgh, New York, San Jose.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 17

Claude is genuinely impressive here, breaking down this NASA Earth map by Josh Stevens: “But that "perspective" in the NASA image is subtle — it's not a globe, it's a flat plane in oblique view with a trapezoidal mask.” science.nasa.gov/earth/earth-...

Figure showing a vertical slice of temperature anomaly data along the equator, with sea surface temperature data mapped to an inclined plain above it. The data are from an El Niño event, so the ocean water is very above average in the eastern Pacific, and below average in the western Pacific.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 10

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 9

Indeed. It’s wild. Not just the fossils, but the oil seeping out of the ground.

Tar (asphalt) pit with embedded fossils.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 9

#smallmultiples #dataviz 📊

Backlit grid of fossil dire wolf skulls at the La Brea Tar Pits & Museum

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 8

I usually try to mix up my t-shirts, but not for this trip!

Three folded t-shirts, each from a different Rush tour.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· Jun 5

Mount Yasur has been erupting continuously (as far as we know) since at least 1774, when Captain Cook “discovered” it. More here: creators.yahoo.com/lifestyle/st... Sentinel-2 imagery from the Copernicus data browser. 🛰️🖼️

A 2 by 2 grid of satellite images showing a gas, ash, and steam plume rising from Yasur Volcano. Clockwise from upper left May 9, April 19, and April 9, 2026, December 25, 2026.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· May 31

Anybody want decades-old sample data from DigitalGlobe?

Photo of a CD in a translucent plastic case labeled DIGITALGLOBE with 5 high-res images printed on it.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· May 28

“CAUTION: Since all the colors in this Figure are photographs of Centroid Colors, they are approximations of them and so should never be used in place of the actual samples.” Color: Universal Language and Dictionary of Names National Bureau of Standards, 1976. nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/Leg... 🎨

Scan of a color plate from COLOR Universal Language and
Dictionary of Names.

The first figure is a column of five color chips with the same green hue and saturation, arranged from lightest to darkest.

The second figure is a row of green color chips with the same hue as above and equal lightness, but increasing in saturation from gray to vivid green.

Each color chip is accompanied by a precise description. "very light green", "light green", "moderate green", etc.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· May 22

The relative index is important not just because the original index exaggerates current El Niños, but it also minimized La Niña.

Graphs comparing the relative oceanic niño index (blue line) to the oceanic niño index (red line) from 1950 to 2025. Over time the original oceanic niño index was rising, exaggerating the magnitude of El Niño events, while minimizing La Niña events.

A second graph shows the difference in the two indices, and show the original oceanic niño index creeping up over time.

Robert Simmon@rsimmon· May 20

Ever worked with an elevation data of South America and had trouble with forest canopy affecting the map, particularly in areas where there’s been deforestation since the DEM was collected? I found a new continental terrain model that strips away the tree cover! www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/16... 📊🗺️