Human Geo 1.1 Vocab Flashcards
Place
A specific point on Earth, distinguished by a particular characteristic. Panama City, capital of Panama, is uniquely situated on Panama Bay, which opens out into the Pacific Ocean.
Region
An area distinguished by one or more distinctive characteristics. Geographers divide the world into a number of regions (Latin America).
Scale
A specific point on Earth, distinguished by a particular characteristic. Panama City, capital of Panama, is uniquely situated on Panama Bay, which opens out into the Pacific Ocean.
Space
The physical gap or interval between 2 objects. Many objects are distributed across space in a regular manner for discernible reasons.
Connection
The relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space. Geographers are concerned by the various means by which connections occur.
Map
A two-dimensional, or flat, representation of Earth’s surface or a portion of it. Geography is distinguished from other disciplines by its reliance on maps to display & analyze information. It is a scale model of the real world. It can be hasty, elaborate, or precise.
Cartography
The science of making maps. Contemporary cartographers are assisted by computers and satellite imagery.
Geographic Information Science (GIScience)
Analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technologies. It helps geographers create more accurate and complex maps and measure changes over time in characteristics of places, and lets geographers find out whether relationships between objects are significant or coincidental.
Geographic Information System (GIS)
A computer system that captures, stores, queries, and displays geographic data. Each type of information is stores in a layer. Some of the data used in GID come from photos.
Photogrammetry
The science of taking measurements of Earth’s surface from photographs. Corporations and gov’t agencies use it and remote sensing to create high-quality 3D virtual representations of parts of Earth.
Remote Sensing
The acquisition of data about Earth’s surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or from other long-distance methods.
Global Positioning System (GPS)
A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers. It is most commonly used for navigation, and thanks to it, our electronic devices provide us with lots of information.
Geotagging
Identification and storage of a piece of information by its precise latitude and longitude coordinates. It has led to privacy concerns.
Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI)
Creation and dissemination of geographic data contributed voluntarily and for free by individuals.
Citizen Science
Scientific research by amateur scientists.
Participatory GIS (PGIS)
Community-based mapping, representing local knowledge and information.
Mashup
A map that overlays data from 1 source on top of a map provided by a mapping service. It comes from the hip hop practice of mixing songs. Individuals can create mashups on their personal computers because mapping services provide access to the application programming interface (API), which links a database with mapping software.
Map Scale
The relationship between the size of an object on a map and the size of the actual feature on Earth’s surface. It is presented in 3 ways:
1. Ratio: Shows the numerical relationship. 1:1,000,000 means that 1 unit represents 1 million of that same unit on the actual ground on Earth.
2. Written: The relationship is described in words (1 centimeter equals 10 kilometers).
3. Graphic: A bar line marked to show distance on Earth’s surface (first, determine the distance on the map in inches, then hold it against the bar line and read the number opposite the map distance on the ruler).
Projection
A system used to transfer locations from Earth’s surface to a flat map. Earth’s spherical shape means some distortion is unavoidable when Earth is drawn on a flat piece of paper. 4 types of distortion occur:
1. The shape of an area can be distorted (elongated or squat)
2. The distance between 2 points may become increased or decreased
3. The relative size of different areas to each other may be altered
4. The direction from one place to another can be distorted.
Meridian
An arc drawn on a map between the North and South poles.
Longitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of meridians drawn on a globe and measuring distance east and west of the prime meridian (0 degrees). Inability to measure longitude was the greatest obstacle to exploration and discovery for many centuries. In 1714, the British Parliament offered a cash prize to the first person who could measure longitude accurately.
Parallel
A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians.
Latitude
The numbering system used to indicate the location of parallels drawn on a globe and measuring distance north and south of the equator. The equator is 0° latitude, and the place where every day has 12 hours of daylight. Latitude can be accurately measured by the length of daylight & the position of the Sun and stars.
Prime Meridian
The meridian, designated as 0° longitude, that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England. The meridian on the opposite side of the globe is 180° longitude. A location can be designated more precisely by dividing each degree into 60 minutes (‘) and each minute into 60 seconds (‘).
Isoline Map
A map that connects places of a particular value by lines.
Dot Distribution Map
A map that depicts data that consists of discrete observations. Each dot represents a predetermined number of observations, which could be one or many.
Chloropleth Map
A map in which areas are shaded or patterned in proportion to the measurement of the variable.
Graduated Symbol Map
A map that displays symbols that change in size according to the value of the variable.
Cartogram
A map in which the projection and scale are distorted in order to convey the information of a variable.
