Map Projections The Challenge of Map Projections Imagine
- Slides: 13
Map Projections
The Challenge of Map Projections ► Imagine this: § Peel an orange, keeping the peel as one piece § Now, imagine that you have to explain to someone who has never seen an orange before, the detailed characteristics of an orange, only using simply this flat peel § How accurate a representation of the whole orange is that flat peel?
The Challenge of Map Projections ► The inherent challenge with any map projection is that it is a flat, 2 dimensional representation of a 3 dimensional sphere ► There is no map projection that does not become distorted in some way ► That being said, here are some common map projections you will see throughout you life
Positives: -It is easy to enlarge the maps (Google Maps) -It is easy to read and understand -Precise towards the equator -Good to use for navigation purposes Negatives: -Very distorted. For example: Greenland looks to be as large as Africa, when in reality Africa is about 13 times larger. -Poles aren’t precise
How? - It is difficult to make something round into something flat…note the distortions Example of it’s use: Google Maps
Positive: The continents are more precise (to scale) Negatives: A lot of distortion north and south of the equator, and east and west at the poles Ex: Africa looks to be 2 times longer than it does wide. In reality, it is about the same.
Positives: Negatives: -Good for making smaller maps (less distortion) -forms and angles aren’t precise
Positive: Negatives: -Nice to look at (very clear and looks precise) -Severe distortion at the poles - Very little distortion
-All the parallels are straight lines -Prime Meridian is a Straight line -All others are curved which makes it nice to look at and seems precise.
Mercator and Peters used mathematical equations to make their maps, Robinson simply just made maps that were easy and nice to look at….
Positive: -Good representation of the size of continents Negatives: -Hard to use (Zoom? ) -Hard to use for navigation (distance? )
Why Not?
