Unit 1 Maps Flashcards
What is a GIS?
A collection of computer hardware and software that permits spatial data to be collected recorded stored retrieved manipulated analyzed and displayed to the user
What does GIS stand for?
Geographic Information System
What does a GIS do?
Take the phenomena of various thematic maps and combine/layer that information into one map to analyze the relationship amongst data
What is a GPS?
a space-based global navigation satellite system that provide location and time information in all weather anywhere on earth when there in unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites
What does GPS stand for?
Global positioning system
Who maintains GPS?
the US government
What are two major types of maps?
General Reference and thematic maps
What are general reference maps?
-maps in which the base data is there for it’s own sake -the map itself is the information not the reference pointt for some other layer of data
What are examples of general reference maps?
Political, physical, topographic, climate, economic/resource, road map
What are the characteristics of a political map?
-focuses on the state and national boundaries of an area -included the location of cities -no topographical features
What are the characteristics of a physical map?
-shows the physical features of a place in eluding mountains lakes and rivers -elevation is demonstrated by a change of color, (green=low and brown=high)
What are the characteristics of a topographic map?
-shows different physical landscape features -display is different through the use of contour lines -contour lines and their spacing show changes in elevation and the rate at which it changes
What are the characteristics of a climate map?
-shows specific climate zones of an area based on the average temperature, precipitation etc. -uses colors to show difference in chosen weather condition
What are the characteristics of an economic/resource map?
-shows the specific type of economic activity or natural resources present in an area -uses different symbols or colors
What are the characteristics of a road map?
-most commonly used -shows major and minor highways and roads -use of important reference including airports, campgrounds, monuments, etc
What are the characteristics of a thematic map?
-use the base data of a map(roads, mountains etc) as reference point for some other specific information -provides specific information about a particular location -provides general information about spatial patterns -used to compare patterns on two or more maps
What are the five main types of thematic maps?
Chloropleth map, proportional symbol, contour (isarithmic) maps, dot was, asymmetric maps
What are the characteristics of a chloropleth map?
- -statistical data aggregated over redefined regions, such as countries or states by coloring or shading these regions -assumes relatively even distribution across the defined regions
What are the charateristics of a proportional symbol map?
-uses symbols of different sizes to represent data associated with different areas or lations within the map
What are the characteristics of a dot map?
The dot symbol remains the same size, howevere the density and number of dots represents the level of activity for that phenomenon
What are the characteristics of a contour/isarithmic map?
- requires some continuous phenomena
- verysimilar to topographic maps in presentation and structure
- depicts some other phenomena than land forms
What are the characteristics of a dasymetric map?
- similar to chloropleth map in use of it’s color
- does not use predefined regions
- the phenomena determines how to color within the lines
What are the four main cardinal directions?
North South East West
What is another name for a key?
a legend
Latitude=____________
Fatitude
What is the line of latitude at 0?
The Equator
What is at the line or latitude at 90 degrees north?
The north pole
What are lines of latitude called?
parallels
What do lines of longitude measure?
Distance east and west
What are the two end points for lines of latitude?
the north and south poles
What is the line of longitude at 0 degrees?
the prime meridian
What are lines of longitude called?
meridians
What is te primary scale used by the US?
1:24,000in
=1:2,000ft
What are the five themes of geography?
location, interaction, region, place, movement
What is location?
the goegraphic situation of people and things, the distribution of various locations of a collection of people or objects
What is interaction?
Cultural ecology, relations between cultures and the environment
What is region?
an area on the earth’s surface marked by some degree of homgeneity of phenomenon
What is place?
the uniqueness or sameness of a location
What is movement?
The mobility of people goods and ideasacross the surface of the planet
What is absolute location?
latitude and logitude, exact mathmatical measurements,
What is relative location?
location of a place irelative to other places
What are two reasons that relative location is important?
- finding an unfamiliar place
- centrality, understanding an area’s importance
What is a cultural landscape?
all human induced changes that involve the surface and the biospere
What is cultural ecology?
the multiple interactions and relationships between a culture and it’s natural environment
What is environmental determinism?
human behavior, individualy and collectively is affected by the environment
What is possibilism?
the natural environment merely serves to limit the range of choices available to a culture
What is environmental modification?
positive and negative environmental alterations
What are the distinctive characteristics of a region?
- area-defined spatial extent
- location-where it lies on the earth’s surface
- boundaries-evident on chosen criteria
- cultural
- economic
- physical
What are the three types of regions?
- Formal
- Functional
- Perceptual
What is culture?
people’s lifestyles, values, beliefs, traits
What are the components of culture?
- cultural region-an area within which a particular culture system prevails
- culture trait- a single attribute of culture
- culture complex- a combination of culture traits
- culture system- grouping of certain complexes
- culture realm-assemblage of culture or geographic regions
What are physical processes?
environmental processes which explain the distribution of human activities
what is climate?
long term average weather condition at a particular location
What is vegetation?
plant life
What are cultural hearths?
sources of civilization from which an idea innovation or ideaology originates
What is cultural diffusion?
the spread of an innovation or ideaology from it’s source to another culture
What is expansion diffusion?
an innovationor ideology develops in a source area and remains strong while also spreading outward
What are the three types of expnasion diffusion?
- Contagious diffusion-almost al adjacent individuals are affected
- Hierarchical- the main channel of diffusion some segment of those who are susceptible to what is being diffused
- Stimulus- spread of an underlying principle
What is relocation diffusion?
spread of an innovation or ideaology through the physical movement of individuals
What are three types of relocation diffusion?
- Migrant diiffusion- when aninnovation originates somewhere and enjoys strong, but breif adoption and looses strength at the origin byt the time it spreads to another area
- acculturation-when a culture is substantially changed through interaction with another culture
- transculturation-near equal change between culture complexes
What are the four traditions of georaphy?
Spatial,area studies, man-land, earth-science
Describe Spatial.
Who are the main geographers?
- Mapping places and people
- geometric position and layout
- movement-mapping people
- Cladius Ptolemy-Greek AD 100-170
- Alfred Wegener Climatologist
Describe Area studies.
Who were the main geographers?
- aka chorographic tradition
- characterizes a space, either a neighborhood or region or nation
- Strabo 63 BC-AD 24
- Carl Sauer 1889-1975
Describe Man-Land Tradition.
Who were the main geographers?
- Studies the relationship between humans and their environment
- Hippocratic- Greek physician of the 5th century
- Alexander Von Humboldt
Describe Earth Science.
Who were the main geographers?
- reflects work in the natural or physical world
- Aristotle 384-322 bc
- Immanuel Kant1724-1804 german
What is a formal region?
common human characteristic or physical attribute
What is a functional region?
- product of interactions of the people and movement of various kinds
- has a center/node
- technology
What is a megalopolous?
- formal and functional
- metropolitan areas and urban development
What is a perceptual/vernacular region?
Based on peoples perceptions/feelings about an area.
What are the three levels or regional influence?
core, domain, sphere
What are five common cultural characteristics?
geographic proximity, prevailing livelihood, dominant crop, common history, common set of trading partners
What is large scale?
less area more detail
What is small scale?
more area less detail
What are the types of map projections?
cylindrical, conic azimuthal/planar
Cylindrical Equal Area (peters)
- -straight meridians and parallels
- -meridians equally spaced, parallels unequally spaced
- scale is true along the equator and two lines equidistant
- becomes more distorted after 90 degrees from the equator
What are the five types of distortions?
- direction
- distance
- scale
- area
- conformality- the scale of the map is the same in any direction
Cylindrical Mercator Projection
- straight meridians and parallels that intersect at right angles
- scale is true at the equator and two lines equidistant
- marine navigation, lines of constant direction
- distorts north=large
Cylindrical Mollweide Projection
- world maps
- central meridian is straight, 90 degree meridians are circular arcs
- parallels are straight but unequally spaced
Cylindrical Robinson
- national geographic
- based on tables of coordinates not formulas
- distorts, shape, area, scale, and distance balanced
Conic Albers Equal Area
- distorts scale and distance except along stand parallels
- east west extent US countries like that
Azimuthal Polar/Orthographic
- perspective views of hemispheres
- distortion increases away from the center
Goode’s Projection
-cut and paste
Dymaxion Map
- depicts earth’s continents as one island or nearly contiguous
- the arrangement interrupts that map in order to preserve shapes and sizes
