Cartographic animation and Interaction in the world today

Animated maps are becoming incredibly common over the internet. You can find them in many places dealing with a plethora of data. You can find interactive history maps, interactive reference maps, interactive maps exploring census data, and a myriad of animated maps concerning a broad range of subjects. Some interactive mapping sites include interactive reference maps such as: Google earth, world wind, virtual earth; some interactive driving directional maps or reference maps such as: Google maps, map quest, yahoo maps. These are all great mapping programs some located exclusively on the web while others can be bought or downloaded.

Some maps such as this interactive map of the united sates shows people the state capitols while the mouse cursor is over each respective state. Other maps show different aspects of history such as this map which shows the holocaust during world war two. Many maps across the internet are animated or have interactive capabilities.

The maps I wish to explore further are different weather maps. Most weather maps have capabilities of animation or interactivity. Weather maps can show a broad variety of things, some of which are radiation, precipitation, visibility, pressure levels, and wind velocity animated maps. Animated weather maps show weather patterns that change over time. This can be extremely useful to weekend travelers or professional meteorologists.

Some animated weather maps are located here: http://www.cpc.noaa.gov, http://www.weather.gov, http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/rev/.