EQD-maps program – formerly EPmap – May 1, 2012

The EPmap programs are in the process of being renamed, probably EQD-maps (EarthQuake Data Maps). This is because information regarding the programs will likely be formally circulated to researchers around the world before too long. And we want to avoid any conflicts with programs developed by other parties as EPmap appears to have been. EPmap was just a name that we used to get the ball rolling.

The sun and moon wave data are finally running correctly. And as soon as some of the moon data are checked for orientation on the charts work will get started on preparing a downloadable program.

We need to find a few days when the moon is directly above the point farthest north and also a few days when it is closest to the Earth so that the waves on the charts can be properly oriented. Left on the waves will mean north or far from the Earth. Right will mean south or close to the Earth.

It is easy to tell how to orient those data for the sun. But those types of data for the moon are a little more difficult to find. I asked some people who are experts on this to check on those dates.

Problems we were having lately with the sun and moon wave data were due to the fact that an unnamed computer programmer forgot to add an “anchor” statement to the computer code telling the sun and moon data generation routines the actual time when the time windows being used with the programs were supposed to start. So, the programs were drawing waves that had starting times that were whenever the programs liked. That was a little confusing at first.

That programmer gets upset when I poke fun at his code. So, I won’t mention his name. However, he did an excellent job with the actual sun and moon data generation code that we developed years ago.

For example, there was a major eclipse of the sun on August 1, 2008. And when the subsolar and sublunar longitude data are displayed for that time period they point exactly to that day for an eclipse.

In my opinion, the programs are quite impressive. They can now compress and display multiple sun and moon data waves on individual charts in an orderly manner. And with time we will probably add a feature that lets the programs display the various waves with different colors.

Some demo charts of the programs’ latest features will probably be posted here within a few days.