my most recent attempt.
As you can see the map looks much better. The cloudyness is gone, and the color ramp is gorgeous.
To my original program, I added functions for linear interpolation of color, and another that allow for an arbitrary number of discrete {scale : color ramp} mappings to be specified. If you look closely you will also notice some of the color ramps blend in a power-law curve, rather than linearly; you can see it where the green is concentrated around the coasts, but quickly blends to a lighter color where the ramping up slows down.
for color I mimicked the Parganos color scheme (the map had just been posted to the forums and was handy
