lecture 2- this is geography Flashcards
two basic parts of geography
space and place
space=
physical location, gap or interval between objects or points
place=
a space have attached human meaning to
ex. a house
geagraphy means “—”
earth writing
what are the 6 types of scales in geography?
- personal- local- regional national- international- global
Think of scales as a gradient, where does one finish and the next one start?
map scale
what are maps used for?
reference tool
2D representation of earth’s surface
communication tool
cartography
meridians=
longitude
ex. north to south pole
parallels=
latitude
ex. the equator
why are flight routes curved when we get further from the equator?
not the best map to use
v good for ships but not good for fuel efficiency
what 2 “timings” do we use in maps?
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)
what is the most used map?
Mercator projection
Mercator projection map properties
= distorts size, preserves shape,
areas near the poles appear much larger than they actually are!
When doing a map projection, you need to choose if you value to preserve —, —, or —
size, shape or direction
Mercator projection origins
- preserves orientation very well, was made to help sailors find a reference point to navigate in the oceans
- getting further north or south it becomes almost impossible to use because it gets distorted, that is why Greenland is huge on the map!
what area of the world does the mercator projection map put prevalence on?
- puts prevalence on Europe and the northern and southern hemisphere
-we have been so used to the orientation of the counties on this map, perhaps this has influenced global politics
Topographic map
or hiking etc., useful for showing the elevation, high and low points, using contour lines or isobars, closer lines= steeper elevation
Geological map
diff types of geological formations, minerals, to figure out what is below the earth
Political map
shows counties and states, have an agenda, drastically change over time (borders, city names), when was it printed? Who printed it?
Physical map
preserves shape of counties more, shows deserts, forests as well
Cadaster map
shows city plans, electrical grids, city planning
Thematic map
uses a shape or color to show contrast, ex. darker colour is a more densely populated area
Cartography propaganda
who is included and excluded, how is it portrayed?
Geographic information science
the science of analyzing data, figuring things out about the world
Geographic information systems
the system that is used to analyze the data
Photogrammetry and remote sensing example
satellite
Spatial analysis (4)
- location
- distance
- regions
- interactions
location: nominal
names
location: absolute
coordinates
location: relative
in relation to other things
location: cognitive
what does the place mean to you?
Toponyms
place names
- can be different names, names change as well
distance: absolute
straight line from one point to another
distance: relative
how will we get from one point to another (driving, bus route…)
distance: cognitive
how you perceive the distance between the two points
how willing are you to make the trip?
Tobler’s first law of geography: the friction of distance!
Everything is related to each other but as soon as distance increases, the less they are related
Distance-decay
Time-space compression
Example of Tobbler’s first law of geography
a grocery store far away from your house versus one close to your house
In a 1km radius, things are very related to you, the further you go the faster the relationship to you decays
Regions
= a combination of locations based on a shared attributes and definable characteristics bit not always a fixed boundary
- can be a variety of scales
Interactions
= how different phenomenon work in conjunction with each other
- patterns and outliers
- accessibility (limiting?)
- networks
Interactions: Agglomeration (example MEC)
where the MEC used to be on Broadway, created a local economy based on outdoor equipment, now there are many outdoor stores in that specific area
(agglomeration)
Case study: watermain breaks
Hard to maintain and monitor
Collected 10 years of data about common breakages, who/how many people are being affected, how long to fix?
Superimposed the info and created a map to fix the water mains in the most effective way with limited funds
