Chapter 1 - The Geographer's Toolkit Flashcards
physical geography
the study of Earth’s living and nonliving physical systems and how these systems change naturally through space and time or are changed by human activity
system
a set of interacting parts or processes that function as a unit
process
a stepwise progression of events
geography
the study of spatial relationships among Earth’s physical and cultural features and how they develop and change over time
anthropogenic
created of influence by people
spatial scale
refers to the physical size, length, distance, or area of an object (e.g. a cloud or rainforest)
temporal scale
the window of time used to examine phenomena and processes as well as the length of time over which they develop and change
map
a two-dimensional representation of a location’s surface; can be drawn at any spatial scale
large-scale perspective
makes geographic features look large to show more detail (e.g. a map of UCF’s main campus)
small-scale perspective
makes geographic features small to cover broad regions (e.g. a map of Florida)
energy
the capacity to do work on or to change the state of matter
matter
any material that possesses and occupies space
radiant energy
the energy of electromagnetic waves, such as light or x-rays
photosynthesis
a process by which plants, algae, and some bacteria convert the sun’s radiant energy to stored chemical energy
chemical energy
energy in a substance that can be released through a chemical reaction
geothermal energy
heat from Earth’s interior
atmosphere
the layer of gases surrounding Earth that extends outward from the surface of the Earth for hundreds of kilometers, containing more than a dozen different gases and performs many functions crucial to life, such as providing life-sustaining oxygen and blocking the harmful rays from the sun
biosphere
all life on Earth
crust
the rigid outermost portion to Earth’s surface
lithosphere
Earth’s rigid crust plus the heated layer beneath it
hydrosphere
encompasses all of Earth’s water in its three states: solid, liquid, and gas
cryosphere
the frozen portion of the hydrosphere
positive feedback
a process by which interacting parts in a system destabilize the system
negative feedback
a process by which interacting parts in a system stabilize the system
weather
the state of the atmosphere at any given moment and is made up of ever-changing events on time scales ranging from minutes to weeks
climate
the long-term average of weather and average frequency of extreme weather events
erosion
the scouring and stripping away of rock fragments loosened by weathering through flowing water, ice, or wind
deposition
the laying down or depositing of sediments that are being transported by flowing water or ice
geographic grid
a coordinate system that uses latitude and longitude to identify locations on Earth’s surface
latitude
the angular distance measured from Earth’s center to a point north or south of the equator
parallel
points of the same latitude connected together to form a line
tropics
geographic region between 23.5 degrees north and south latitude
prime meridian
counterpart to the equator: the 0 degree starting point of which all lines of longitude are determined
longitude
the angular distance measured from Earth’s center to a point east or west of the prime meridian
meridian
points of the same longitude connected together to form a line
global positioning system (GPS)
a global navigation system that was developed in the 1970s and 1980s by the US Department of Defense and uses more than 30 satellites operated by the US government to determine the geographic coordinates of any location
cartography
the science and art of map making
equal-area map projection
preserves the true areas of continents at the expense of their true shapes
conformal map projection
preserves the true shapes of continents at the expense of their true areas
great circle
a continuous line that bisects the globe into two equal halves and represents the shortest distance between two points on Earth
map scale
specification of how much the real world has been reduced on the map
topography
the shape and physical character of Earth’s surface in a given region
elevation
the vertical distance of a land surface above or below mean sea level
relief
the relative difference in elevation between two or more points on Earth’s surface
contour lines
lines of equal elevation in relation to sea level
remote sensing
technologies such as aerial photography and satellite data that collect physical information and data without direct contact with the subject
radar
short for radio detection and ranging; active remote sensing to study Earth’s surface by sending rapid pulses of radio waves and receives the return signals reflected off Earth’s surface to create detailed and precisely georeferenced three-dimensional reconstructions of surface topography
digital elevation model (DEM)
a three-dimensional representation of Earth’s land surface or underwater topography
doppler radar
an active remote sensing technology that is widely used in the study of the atmosphere and meteorology
geographic information system (GIS)
processes and analyzes large volumes of spatial data using computers to capture, store, analyze, and display spatial data, providing visual tools to help users gain a better understanding of the spatial relationships among geographic phenomena
