shape speed direction Flashcards
what is the shape of the earth?
oblate spheroid
what way does earth rotate?
west to east. (counterclockwise if viewed above)
what is the tilt of the earth?
23.5 degrees
where is the equator?
line drawn in the middle of earth
what is the polar axis?
runs from the geographic north pole (true north) to the geographic south pole
what is magnetic poles?
poles which arent situated at the exact north and south geographic poles, with dotted lines between the poles being the magnetic flux.
angular difference between true north and where your compass points is called what?
variation
what are the meridians of longitude?
lines running from geographic north to south pole
what are parallels of latitude?
lines running horizontally around the world
what is the latitude of the equator?
0 degrees
what is a great circle ?
a circle that when drawn on a sphere passes through the centre of that sphere. cuts it in half.
every meridian of longitude and its opposite half on the other side of the world are known as what? and what is the opposite half?
great circle, anti meridian
what is a small circle?
any other circle drawn on earth other than the equator.
what is a rhumb line?
a line crossing all meridians of longitude at the same angle which is a constant direction.
what is the Greenwich meridian or prime meridian?
zero point for longitude which is in Greenwich england. located 0 degrees east or west. where time measured in GMT is used as UTC
latitude is described in what typically?
degrees, minutes and seconds
what is the 360 degree method of indicating direction?
compass directions
what are the cardinal and intercardinal directions?
N,S,W,E (000, 180, 270, 90)
meridians of longitude run from what?
true north to true south
how is true direction measured?
difference between the path or track of the aircraft, and the merdian
e.g aircraft flying directly north (360). the angle between a meridian (always points north) and track is 35 degrees therefore 360 - 35 = 325 degrees T (True)
what is true north?
direction along Earth’s surface towards the geographic North Pole