RyanR's web pages ('R' stands for Rudnicki)
San Marcos, Hays county, Texas, U.S.A.
N29°53'39"; W97°56'51" (referenced to the WGS84 datum)
Elevation ~740' above MSL

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San Marcos: The Place

Lithospheric Component

Hydrospheric Component

Biospheric Component (pending)

Atmospheric Component

Celestial Component

Personal Component

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Lithospheric Component

We live along the southeastern edge of the Texas Hill Country, on the lip of the eroding Balcones Escarpment.  To our south and east the land drops sharply to the Blackland Prairie region of Texas.  The elevation of downtown San Marcos, less than 1 mile to the south southeast, is ~560'.  Walk 1 1/2 blocks to our northwest and the elevation is 800'.  See for yourself (Raisz landform map).  

The result is two ecoregions, with different trees and birds, all within a very short walking distance (Texas Natural Regions map).  That difference is magnified by the presence of artesian springs at the base of the escarpment.  Some 23 million gallons of water per day gushes from the springs; enough to form the beautifully clear San Marcos River.  What an interesting place to live. (On the map below, the base of the red marker indicates where we live.) 

Major transportation lines (road-IH35, rail-Union Pacific) follow the escarpment NE/SW on the flat blackland prairie.

The Balcones Escarpment even has an impact on the weather.  Here's a description of the Escarpment's impact on a meteorological phenomenon called squall lines.

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Hydrospheric Component

Living as we do at the edge of the Balcones Escarpment, we're along the line of artesian springs that run along the base of the escarpment. Our town owes its existence to being at the headwaters of a river emerging from a cluster of springs. The headwaters of our river, the San Marcos, is as clean as can be. With more and more people congregating in this scenic physical environment, water quality is a major issue. Development along and on the Escarpment has generated silt and pollutants that run down intermittent streams into the headwaters of the river. Here's an example of such a possible development (December 2011). Developers proposed a 1000+ bed complex above the headwaters of the San Marcos river. The quality of life around Sewell Park, City Park, Rio Vista park, and all the other river access points in San Marcos would be forever degraded if such a high-density development had been permitted by the city.

View in a larger map

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Atmospheric Component

local radar    Time is UTM/GMT, -6hrs for CST
                   AUS/SAT WXR Discussion

cabin radar    Time is UTM/GMT, -8hrs for PST
                    EKA/ACV WXR Discussion

babcia radar    Time is UTM/GMT, -5hrs for EST
                      BDL WXR Discussion

In an effort to make these synoptic current radar maps more interactive, I'm experimenting w/ 'free' on-line mapping/mash-up tools. So, for example, if I'd like to get a closer (or farther) view of current precipitation (when it's happening in Hays county for now... Humboldt and Hartford counties later), consider this, courtesy of arcgis.com:


View Larger Map on Esri wwweb site

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Celestial Component

What's visible far above us, when the sky's clear, courtesy of

(as an aside, please be aware there's lots of weather aside from earth's.  
This site should be visited daily for solar, martian, and other solar system locales.)

While the above site also provides links for learning which satellites will be visible overhead before sunrise and/or after sunset, I like this site.

To learn which large piece of space hardware (satellite; booster rocket) is about to incinerate on its return trip to earth's surface, this site provides data (as of early 2012).

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Personal Component

1. Personal Mapping

Here are some actual and proposed links to examples of ways to make mapping personal.

The first example is the mapping of a cross-country ski trip.

The second example is mapping population distribution -- May Load Slowly. (This Java applet from Adrian Herzog, www.mapresso.com. Shape file and data from Esri.com)

The following constitute a to-do list:

mapping a volksmarch route.

mapping a geology field trip.

mapping a journey to work.

mapping a watershed.

remembering the path of a hurricane.

mapping a local earthquake.

mapping a state's landforms.

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3. Files for others:

Some at present:

UTSA trails

flight points

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Questions?...   Comments?...  
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