Basic Geographic Ideas, Traditions and Terms Flashcards
What is human geography?
Human Geography deals with the spatial organization of human activities and with people’s relationships with their environments.
This focus necessarily involves looking at natural physical environments insofar as they influence, and are influenced by, human activity.
What is geography’s four traditions?
- Spatial Tradition (locational tradition)
- Area studies tradition (regional tradition)
- Man-land tradition (human-environmental, human-land, culture-environment tradition)
- Earth science tradition
What is part of the spatial tradition?
Mapping Spatial analysis Boundaries and densities Movement and transportation Quantitative techniques and tools, such as computerized mapping and Geographic Information Systems Central Place Theory Areal distribution Spatial patterns
What is in the area studies tradition?
Description of regions or areas World regional geography International trends and relationships How regions are different from one another The chorographic tradition (regions
What is in the man-land tradition?
Human impact on nature Impact of nature on humans Natural hazards Perception of environment Environmentalism Cultural, political, and population geography
What is in the earth science tradition?
Physical geography
The lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and biosphere
Earth-sun interaction
Offshoots are geology, mineralogy, paleontology, glaciology, geomorphology, and meteorology
The study of the earth as the home to humans
What does Knox and Marston say having a geographical imagination allows us to do?
“Allows us to understand changing patterns, processes, and relationships among people, places and regions”
What is GIS?
A system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data.
What does GIS reflect/ represent?
The merging of cartography, statistical analysis, and database technology
How does GIS store information?
Stores information about the world as a collection of thematic layers that can be linked together by geography.
How many total points are there in a composite layer?
100 possible points
What are the five layers in a composite rating system?
- Aspect
- Slope
- Land Use
- Soils
- Elevation
What is remote sensing?
The process of collecting data about objects or landscape features without coming into direct physical contact with them.
“Observing but not touching”
What do most remote sensing platforms measure?
Reflected or emitted electromagnetic radiation.
What is lidar?
Light detection and ranging
A beam of light is shot from a sensor
Laser pulse
Pulse is reflected off an object and returns to the system receiver.
A receiver system measures the time from when the pulse is sent and when it returns
Discrete first and last returns
