map+projections


 * Map Projection**

What is cartography? its the science of map-making

What is a cartographic map projection? is a systematic transformation (also called //mapping//) from a round surface to a plane.

Why is the Earth’s shape called a spheroid or oblate ellipsoid? like in all space bodies above a certain mass, the Earth's materials aggregated in a spherical shape, which minimizes gravity and potential energy however, quick rotation around its axis caused a bulging at the middle (Equator) and a flattening at the poles;

How is latitude measured? What does it show? Using a sextant, measure the angle between the horizon and the North Star. it shows that Latitude is commonly determined by means of a sextant or other instrument that measures the angle between the horizon and the sun or another celestial body, such as the North Star (see Polaris ). The latitude is then found by means of tables that give the position of the sun and other bodies for that date and hour.

What are the Earth’s hemispheres? What separates the hemispheres? Eastern / Western: Separated by the Prime Meridian Northern / Southern: Separated by the Equator

Explain why the Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer are important. This area does not experience seasons because the sun is always high in the sky. Only higher latitudes, north of the Tropic of Cancer and south of the Tropic of Capricorn, experience significant seasonal variation

Why doesn’t the sun set at the Antarctic Circle on December 21? the earth has gone halfway around its orbit, and is opposite the point where it was on the summer solstice. The southern hemisphere of the earth is tilted toward the sun, and the sun's rays are perpendicular to the earth's surface at 23 ½ degrees south

What is the accepted Prime Meridian? Why is this a convenient location? 0 degrees longitude Where is it located? (Countries/areas)

Why do all map projections have distortion? What things are distorted ? to preserve some properties of the sphere-like body at the expense of other properties. Why are Mercator maps often used incorrectly as world maps? How should it be used? Why? the Mercator projection has fallen into disuse from many reliable sources.

Look at the Equidistant Cylindrical map. What happens to the actually distance the farther north or south of the Equator you measure? Why ? its shorter on one side

Why is the shortest distance between two points on a map usually not a straight line? Explain. because the earths surface is curved

What are the pros and cons of using a conformal map? pros- preserves angles cons - an easy route would not be the most economical choice in terms of distance, as the geodistic line shows.