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| < Off-Topic ~ US Aerial Photography |
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 Posted:
Sun May 31, 2009 4:32 pm
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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I don't remember the thread, but earlier in the year we were discussing how some areas of the US look really "regular" on the aerial photo's, you know like on google - like every neighbourhood being seemingly square in the suburbs of Detroit or wherever. Tonight I was just having another browse on there, and I looked up "Colby, KS" in google maps, and zoomed out a notch or two - and it seemed like the whole state of kansas was full of circles within squares.... This looks really bizarre to me but I guess there must be a logical explanation for why it's arranged like this? 
I mean, I can imagine if they're growing some kind of crops maybe it is easier to drive the harvesting machinery in circles or something, or maybe for irrigation, but I can't imagine why they'd all be happy to waste the space in the corner of their land etc? Unless land is just so cheap they don't care? I guess I'm going to have to do more research to explain this bizarre-seeming pattern, unless someone here is from Kansas and can clue me in as to what on earth is going on there? Looks like a case for Mulder and Scully. |
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Sun May 31, 2009 5:45 pm
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Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 291
Location: Washington, USA
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| LOL. It's center pivot irrigation! The irrigation systems are anchored in the center of the circle and large boom sprayers move around the center connection to water the crops. Central WA looks like that too. Try searching Columbia Basin to see more circles! It really does look weird! |
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Thu 21:53] wondercheese: we weren't trying to cause damage, and we DID pay for the broken lotion! |
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| Posted:
Sun May 31, 2009 8:15 pm
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Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 74
Location: union sc
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| if you look up earth on google and go south a bit youl see a picture of pacman about to eat a pac pellet lol aks wiz i showed him in class once |
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| Posted:
Sun May 31, 2009 8:23 pm
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Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 74
Location: union sc
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| Aceb6 wrote: | | if you look up earth on google and go south a bit youl see a picture of pacman about to eat a pac pellet lol aks wiz i showed him in class once |
you ave to look up eath TX on google maps and its kinda faded but it is right south east of it |
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| Posted:
Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:39 am
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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| Aceb6 wrote: | | if you look up earth on google and go south a bit youl see a picture of pacman about to eat a pac pellet lol aks wiz i showed him in class once |
LOL cool - yeah I've seen a lot of those pacman shapes in the US. 
| wondercheese wrote: | | LOL. It's center pivot irrigation! |
Ah. That sounds plausible. Thanks
I was beginning to think if it is true that crop-circles are to do with UFO's, then it looked like everyone in Kansas had already been replaced and got their own UFO landing pad
Although it does seem to waste a good amount of land in each square eh?
By my calculations they would be wasting (4-pi)/4 - that's 21.46 % (to 4 sig.fig.) of every square.  But I suppose the benefits must outweigh this fact or they'd not do it. I've not seen any of those over here yet - all our fields tend to be more irregular shapes but generally rectangular, like this:
And yes, I do have too much time on my hands today. Can't heel due to an injury sadly, although I'm only here posting because the physio exercises I am supposed to be doing are SOO boring LOL. |
Last edited by Merrie_England on Mon Jun 01, 2009 6:44 am; edited 1 time in total
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"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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Mon Jun 01, 2009 12:21 pm
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Museum Curator
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Posts: 1474
Location: Central North Dakota, aka The Middle of Nowhere
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| Land's cheap here. |
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| Posted:
Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:27 pm
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Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 291
Location: Washington, USA
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| Land is cheap, but water isn't (always anyway), and neither is the irrigation equipment. The center pivots may waste usable land space but they save money in water/equipment. Some farmers plant trees in the corners to maximize land use. THey have to set up irrigation for the trees too, but it's cheaper and they can sell the trees for pulp or lumber. |
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Thu 21:53] wondercheese: we weren't trying to cause damage, and we DID pay for the broken lotion! |
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Mon Jun 01, 2009 1:51 pm
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Joined: 03 Jan 2007
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Location: Ol' Virginny
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Yeah, and they also do it cause it makes kick ass google earth pics.  |
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| Posted:
Mon Jun 01, 2009 10:53 pm
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Joined: 19 Jan 2009
Posts: 74
Location: union sc
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| if you dont know already there are these cool landforms in peru that look like animals |
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| Posted:
Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:05 am
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Joined: 15 Jun 2008
Posts: 1391
Location: UK
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| DeezUU wrote: | | Yeah, and they also do it cause it makes kick ass google earth pics. |
LOL
| wondercheese wrote: | | Land is cheap, but water isn't (always anyway) |
Ah, that'll be why they don't do it here: we get more water than we'd ever want falling from the sky every day. Hardly any need for artificial irrigation even in summer. |
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"The best part of falling is getting back up again" |
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| Posted:
Tue Jun 02, 2009 4:45 pm
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Joined: 18 Mar 2008
Posts: 291
Location: Washington, USA
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| Yeah, you'll only see those circles in areas that are intensively irrigated. In wet areas they have fields more like the ones you posted from your area. |
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Thu 21:53] wondercheese: we weren't trying to cause damage, and we DID pay for the broken lotion! |
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| Posted:
Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:42 pm
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Joined: 04 Dec 2007
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Location: Colorado Springs, CO
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