Geography: Its Nature and Perspectives Flashcards
absolute distance
an exact measure of the separation between two points using a standard measure such as inches, meters or miles
absolute location
the precise location of any object or place on the earth’s surface as determined by a standard grid or coordinate system
latitude and longitude are most commonly used to determine absolute location
accessibility
ease with which you, goods, and/or ideas can reach a destination
determined by a place’s connectivity; the more means there are for interacting with a place, the higher its accessibility
administrative regions
politically determined; boundaries are exact
are hierarchical or nested. eg: in the USA, states exist within the country, counties exist within states, and census tracts exist within counties.
aggregation
the size of the unit under investigation such as cities, counties, states, or countries
like simplification, completely depends on the purpose of the map
level also depends on the data geographers have access to
if a geographer investigates population density with data at the state level, his map will dramatically differ from a geographer that has density data at the country level
azimuthal projections
planar projections: formed when a flat piece of paper is placed on top of the globe and a light source projects the surrounding areas onto the map
typically, the north pole or the south pole is oriented at the center of the map, giving an impression of looking up or down at the earth
barriers to diffusion
something that inhibits a phenomenon from spreading across space
physical barriers: objects that prohibit interaction from taking place (eg: mountain ranges, rivers, highways - where interactions occur on food)
sociocultural factors: when a person’s beliefs, culture, or place in society prohibit interaction with certain people or places
psychological barriers: things like fear or ignorance that keep individuals from interaction with certain people or places
cartograms
transform space so that the political unit, such as a state or country, with the greatest value for some type of data is represented by the largest relative area, and all other polygons are represented proportionately to that largest polygon
can be powerful for illustrating comparative patterns. eg: a cartogram of electoral votes in the US would make some states really small and some really large - this shows a more accurate picture of each state’s influence on the political process
cartography
the art and science of making maps
the goal of cartographers is to develop maps that accurately and elegantly convey spatial information
cartographic scale
also called map scale; refers to the ratio between distance on a map and the actual distance on the earth’s surface (eg: 1:200)
ratio remains constant despite units (inches, feet, miles, etc)
on small scale maps, ratio between map units and ground units is small and maps represent a larger piece of the earth’s surface
on large scale maps, ratio between map units and ground units is large, meaning map represents a relatively small piece of the earth’s surface
choropleth maps
use colours or tonal shadings to represent categories of data for given geographic ares; countries, states, or counties most commonly use polygons
a map population density by county in the US might use 5 shades of green to classify density values
cognitive maps
a dynamic internal representation of a place or environment
the sketch map is the external representation of the spatial information that exists in a person’s head
each cognitive map is highly individual, dependent on information an individual deems important, and is limited by amount and type of experience an individual has with a place
cognitive/perceptual/vernacular regions
they describe how people informally organize places in their mind
even though formed by individuals, usually are shared between people because of culturally shared beliefs. eg: most people would draw similar boundaries around the “Deep South”
boundaries are imprecise, vague, or variable
concentration
when spatial distributions of objects or features appear in close proximity to one another, they are said to be concentrated. this is also called a cluster
conformal projection
the shapes of small areas are preserved
in many conformal projections like the Mercator Projection, compass direction is preserved making them useful for navigation purposes
connectivity
a measure of all the means of connection and communication between places
virtually synonymous with relative distance as some places are highly connected to one another yet separated by significant distance
contagious expansion diffusion
describes diffusion resulting from direct contact with an individual
all infectious diseases such as AIDS are spread by contagious diffusion
density
the amount of a particular feature within a given area. it is not the same thing as dense, which implies a cluster
eg: population density is the number of people within a given area
diffusion
the way in which phenomena such as technological innovations, cultural trends, or outbreaks of diseases travel over space.
two main processes spread phenomena across space: expansion diffusion and relocation diffusion
relocation diffusion
physical movement leads to spread, usually as a result of migration; number of adopters is relatively small
expansion diffusion
interaction leads to spread and numbers of adapters grow rapidly before stabilizing
distance decay
describes the pattern of diminishing likelihood of interaction with a place with increasing distance from that place
eg: the majority of people who shop at a particular grocery store live or work close by. few customers in that strore live far from its location.
different activities have different distance decay curves; that is, people travel short distances for everyday goods like milk and bread, but travel farther to attend special events
distance small = interaction strong; distance large = interaction slight
distortion
all flat maps are distorted as a result of projecting a three-dimensional surface onto a two-dimensional surface. the only accurate representation of the earth’s surface is a globe
some other projections distort certain features in favour of preserving others
generally, the major features that get distorted or preserved are shape, area, and direction
distribution concepts
concepts that are used to understand how certain objects, features, and phenomena are organized in space
concentration, density, dispersion, and pattern area are all distribution concepts
dot density maps
use points to represent particular values. eg: cropland harvested where each dot represents 1,000 bushels of corn
value comes from the ability to facilitate perception of spatial pattern; in example of corn cropland harvested, an obvious spatial pattern would emerge in the Midwest
the disadvantage is that data that does not meet the threshold (eg: only 999 bushels of corn harvested in a particular are) does not appear on the map
earth’s graticule
SEE CARD #25
environmental geography
results from the intersection of human and physical geography
environmental geographers, or geographers who study human environment relationships (HER), come from almost every academic discipline and frequently occupy prominent positions at the forefront of debates regarding anthropogenic, or human-induced, environmental change, conservation planning, and sustainability
concerned with anything from the history of a given landscape and the effects of pollution on impoverished neighbourhoods, to the creation of nature reserves for endangered species
equal-area projection
cartographers using or making these types of projections are interested in the preservation of an area; in other words, shapes or directions are distorted but sizes of landmasses are correct in relation to each other
distance decay curve
SEE CARD #21
first law of geography
everything is related to everything else, but near things are more closely related than far things
describes “the friction of distance” meaning that the farther away something is, the less likely someone is to interact with it
5 themes of geography
LOCATION refers to position on earth’s surface
HUMAN/ENVIRONMENT INTERACTION refers to cultural ecology or the relationship between culture and environment
REGIONS are way to organize or compartmentalize space
PLACE differs from location in that it refers to associations among phenomena within a particular area
MOVEMENT describes the interconnections between areas
formal regions
sometimes called thematic regions because they are defined by one or more variable or theme
group strength varies throughout the region; some places represent the theme defining the region more strongly than others
because of varying membership strength, boundaries are imprecise or vague. a clear line does not separate one area from another. change between regions tends to be gradual
eg: climate regions, language, religion, or any other theme that does not correspond to administrative boundaries
fuller projection
maintains the accurate size and shape of landmasses but completely rearranges direction
cardinal directions - north, south, east, and west no longer have any meaning
functional regions
the boundaries are drawn around an interaction region: every functional region has a node that people interact with. the spatial pattern of that interaction defines that region
for example, commuters to a particular city, newspaper circulation, or branch operations with a major bank
generalization
averaging over details; in a cartographic context generalization results from scaling changes
small-scale maps have high generalization, or less detail, but show larger pieces of the earth’s surface are
large-scale maps have less generalization, or more detail, but show smaller pieces of the earth’s surface
a map of the entire US (small scale) will not show the small towns and villages that would appear on a map of a local area (large scale)
geographical information system (GIS)
a software program that allows geographers to map, analyze, and model spatial data
use thematic layers, consisting of individual maps that contain specific features such as roads, stream networks or elevation contours
global positioning system (GPS)
an integrated network of satellites that orbit the earth, broadcasting location information, in terms of latitude and longitude, to handheld receivers on the earth’s surface
gravity model
first described in the 1850s, it is based on Isaac Newton’s law of universal gravitation
lij = PiPj/Dij^2 lij: interaction between places i and j Pi: population of place i Pj: population of place j Dij^2: the distance between places i and j, squared.
an important implication is large cities may still have extensive interactions despite being separated by great distances; for example, NY and LA
Hierarchical Expansion Diffusion
describes spread first to major nodes and then down a hierarchy. fashion trends typically spread hierarchically by first appearing in major fashion nodes such as London, Milan, and Paris, and then spread from there.
Within the major nodes, a phenomenon spreads, typically, by contagious diffusion (eg: a fashion trend spreading within Milan)
human geography
the field of geography that looks at variations in human behaviour over space
human geographers look at human characteristics including: population, economy, agriculture, urbanization, culture, political systems, and how those characteristics vary depending on where you are on the earth’s surface
human geographers also look at the complicated relationship between humans and their environments
SEE CARD #39
isoline maps
maps that use lines to represent quantities of equal value
most common example is a topographic map where each line represents a constant elevation
lines spaced close together indicate a rapidly changing value, whereas lines far apart indicate little change over space
isolines can be used to show other values that vary continuously over space such as temperature or population density
latitude and longitude
LINES OF LONGITUDE (meridians) originate at the prime meridian which passes through Greenwich, England, and ends at the International Date Line. All lines of longitude meet at the poles
LINES OF LATITUDE (parallels) run parallel to one another. they originate at the equator and terminate at the poles
together, they allow for precise determination of location on the surface of the eart
maps
pictorial models of reality that use symbols to convey meaning, power comes in their ability to make something nonspatial (ex: population rates), spatial, thereby facilitating the perception of spatial relationships.
the only way to see the entire earth’s surface at once
mercator projection
preserves accurate compass direction but distorts area of landmasses relative to each other
landmasses become increasingly distorted, or large in size, at latitude near the north and south poles
originally created by projecting the earth’s features onto a cylinder (a cylindrical projection), which results in lines of latitude becoming parallel rather than intersecting leading to tremendous distortion at the poles
network
the areal pattern of connections between places
some networks describe literal connections between places such as connections between subway stops on a metro map. However, some are less literal; for example, many emerging internet sites such as “facebook” are social networks, describing all the links between a group of “friends”
pattern
a distribution concept that conveys how objects, features, or phenomena are spatially situated in relation to one another
for example, some features can have a linear pattern, some centralized, some triangular
pattison’s four traditions of geography
1964 - pattison published a piece on the discipline of geography’s four defining traditions:
THE EARTH: science tradition as defined by Pattison is essentially physical geography
THE CULTURE: environment tradition is essentially the same thing as HER or environmental geography
THE LOCATIONAL TRADITION: relates to the analysis of spatial data through cartography
THE AREA: analysis tradition refers to regional geography, which involves an investigation and description of a unique piece of the earth’s surface
perceptual regions of the USA
the northwest, west coast, inter-mountain west, southwest, great plains, midwest, south, new england, mid-atlantic, south florida
SEE CARD #47
peters projection
a cylindrical projection that retains accurate sizes of all the world’s landmasses
reveals how large the landmasses near the equator actually are
often viewed as a political statement - an attempt to focus attention on the world’s poorest countries
physical geography
physical geographers study spatial characteristics of the earth’s physical and biological systems
many natural scientists, including meteorologists, climatologists, ecologists, oceanographers, geologist, soil scientists, and hydrologists, study physical geography
through the understanding of the spatial variability of the phenomena under investigation each of these types of scientists gain insight into why certain phenomena behave the way they do in certain places
preference map of the USA
SEE CARD #50
preference maps
show people’s ideas about environmental, social, or economic quality of life in various places.
in general, most americans rate their home state highly, and most show preferences for coastal areas, especially California, and the East Coast
projection
refers to the process by which the three-dimensional surface of the earth is transferred to a two-dimensional map
traditionally, maps were made by placing a light source (eg a candle or bulb) inside of a translucent globe and then projecting the globe’s features onto another shape (usually a piece of paper) surrounding it.
currently produced through numerous different, complicated, mathematical equations
proportional symbols maps
size of the chosen symbol (eg: circle triangle, or flow line) indicates relative magnitude of some value for a given geographic region
flow lines often used to show movement of goods or people over space; lines get relatively thinner and thicker as values shrink or expandused to nag
reference maps
used to navigate between places and include topographic maps, atlases, road maps, and other navigational maps
region
one of the fundamental units of analysis in human geography
regionalizing allows geographers to group pieces of the earth’s surface together according to certain similarities
regions do not exist as well-defined units in the landscape; instead they are conceptual constructions that geographers use for convenience and comparison
regional geography
regional geography, or Pattison’s area - analysis tradition, is the study of regions.
regions vary in size; a region may be an entire continent, for example, North America, or a smaller area, such as southern Florida
regional geographers, no matter the size of the region under study, investigate the unique characteristics, patterns, and processes existent within that place
relative distance
relative distance is when less precise but often meaningful measures are used to describe separation between two points
most common relative distance measure is time, or how long it takes to get from point A to point B, which is typically relative to a person’s mode of transportation.
eg: NY might be 5 hours by plane from LA but over 3 days by car
relative location
relative location describes a place’s location in terms of its relationship to places around it
it is more common in everyday language
remote sensing
process of capturing images from earth’s surface from airborne platforms such as satellites or airplanes
images can be digital or analog photographs and data can be collected from several bands of the electromagnetic spectrum
resolution
refers to a map’s smallest discernable unit; basically it is the smallest thing visible on a map
if an object has to be 100 meters long in order to show up on a map, then that map’s resolution is 100 meters
robinson projection
an example of an attempt to balance projection errors
does not maintain accurate area, shape, distance, or direction, but minimizes error in each
provides an aesthetically pleasing balance leading to its frequent use by cartographers at organizations such as the national geographic society (which is where the projection was made)
scale
geographic scale is a general concept that refers to a conceptual hierarchy of spaces, from small to large, that reflect actual levels of organization in the real world
a characteristic scale in human geography, from small to large, is the increase in size from the neighbourhood, to the urban area, to the metropolitan area, and finally, to the region
geographers seek to understand how processes occurring at one scale may affect activities at other scales
simplification
refers to level of detail portrayed on a map
if a cartographer designs a map of the entire US, he would probably not include minute details such as locations of towns smaller than 50 thousand people
level of simplification depends on the purpose of the map and the size of the are the map is portraying
site vs situation
site refers to the physical and cultural features of a place, independent of other places around it
situation describes a place’s relationship to other places around it
eg: new orlean’s site is poor: it is essentially a below sea level, meaning big rain events lead to significant problems. however, its location on the Mississippi River delta makes its situation in relation to the rest of the US very important
spatial association
describes the distribution of two or more features and how they do or do not correspond to one another
powerful concept in spatial analysis as it allows geographers to understand why certain spatial patterns exist
for example, the mapping of type 2 diabetes and socioeconomic status (SES) reveals a strong spatial association: the states with the highest rates of type 2 diabetes also have lowest SES
spatial perspective
an intellectual framework that allows geographers to look at the earth in terms of the relationships between various places
geographers look at the spatial distribution of different types of phenomena and ask why and how certain phenomena come to occur in certain places
some major questions of geographers are: how do two places interact economically, socially, and culturally? why do some places have more in common than others? how are social phenomena conveyed over time and space?
stimulus expansion diffusion
describes the pattern by which a concept is diffused but not in the same form as in original contact
for example, some native american groups’ exposure to written language stimulated them to develop their own written language systems that differed from the language they were exposed to
systematic geography
study of the earth’s integrated systems as a whole, instead of focusing on particular processes in a single place
this approach allows geographers to apply their knowledge of a specific spatial process broadly beyond unique places to other areas across the globe
thematic maps
thematic maps display one or more variables across a specific space such as population variables, voting patterns, or economic welfare
many ways to display thematic data; some common methods include choropleth maps, proportional symbol maps, isoline maps, and cartograms
time-distance decay
the idea that the longer it takes for something to spread or move over space, the less likelihood of interaction with or spread of that phenomena
essentially description of time as a barrier to spatial diffusion
time-space convergence
the idea that with increasing transportation and communications technology, absolute distance between certain places is, in effect, shrinking
for example, increased transportation technology has “shrunk” the distance between New York City and London; it used to take days, even weeks, to cross the Atlantic by boat; it now takes only half a day by plane
increased communications technology allows places to communicate instantaneously with each other, which, in effect, completely negates distance’s effect on interaction (via voice or text communication)
topographic map showing elevation contours
SEE CARD #72
visualizations
exist digitally and use sophisticated software to create dynamic computer maps, some of which are three-dimensional or interactive
some allow geographers to investigate features that cannot be seen with the naked eye; others use models to show how landscapes change over time
in some, people can walk through, or fly over, landscapes
