lecture 2: the earth as a rotating planet Flashcards
the shape of the earth i
oblate ellipsoid
why ia the earth not perfectly round
centrifugal force of its rotation
earth rotates ______ on its axis
counter clockwise
the earths rotation causes the _____
coriolas effect
what is the coriolis effect
winds and ocean currents are deflected to the right of their path in the northern hemisphere; left in the southern hemisphere).
The ______ is a spherical coordinate system
geographic grid
The geographic grid is a
spherical coordinate system (set of circles called parallels and meridians) used to determine the locations of features on the Earth’s surface.
parallels
include a set of circles arranged perpendicular to the axis of rotation (equator, midway between the north and south poles is the longest parallel).
Meridians
are a set of circles at right angles to the parallels.
great cirlce and small circles
A Great circle any circle of Earth’s circumference whose centre coincides with the center of Earth.
With small circles the plane of the intersection passes through the surface of the sphere , but not its centre.
Only one parallel is a great circle—the equatorial parallel. All other parallels decrease in length toward the poles, which are called small circles.
prime meridian at
greenwich england
polar projection
can be centred on either the North or South Pole.
Mercator projection
include a rectangular grid where meridians areas straight vertical lines, and parallels are straight horizontal lines
Goode projection
relatively better approach for projection, uses two sets of mathematical curves to form its meridians. It uses sine curves between the 40th parallels, and beyond the 40th parallels, towards the poles, it uses ellipses.
