APHUG Unit 1 Notes PDF - Maps and Geographic Data

Unit 1.1: Maps * Mercator Projection - focus on longitude & latitude - accurate direction - distorts country size & location * All maps have distortion - impacts direction, shape, area, distance * Goode Homolosine projection - interrupted map - removes distortion by removing parts of the glob...

Unit 1.1: Maps * Mercator Projection - focus on longitude & latitude - accurate direction - distorts country size & location * All maps have distortion - impacts direction, shape, area, distance * Goode Homolosine projection - interrupted map - removes distortion by removing parts of the globe - shows true size and shape but distorts distance and direction * Fuller map projection - accurate size and shape - hard to read b/c no use of cardinal directions * Robinson projection - distortion at poles - shows true size and shape of land masses * Winkle Tripel Projection - similar to Robinson but rounder and larger - most distortion at poles * Gall Peters Projection - good at showing true size of land mass - distorts direction and land shape * Reference Maps - informational map that shows boundaries, names of places, and geographic features of an area - ex: disney map, public transportation - Topographic map: Contour lines used to display terrain and elevation * Absolute direction: Exact direction you are heading * Absolute distance: Exact distance between 2 places - typically miles/kilometers * Absolute location: Exact spot something is located - GPS coordinates * Relative direction: Depends on surrounding area * Relative distance: approx. measurement between 2 places - typically in time or direction * Relative location: description of a location using surrounding geographic features * Thematic Maps: Display spatial patterns of places and uses quantitative data to display specific topics * Choropleth Maps: display data using color - uses generalizations to display data * Small-scale Maps: Shows a large portion of Earth's surface but has less detail in displayed data * Large-scale Maps: Shows less of Earth's surface but has more detail in displayed data * Dot density map: Show data with points where the data is occurring - Shows spatial distribution but can become confusing when data is clustered * Isoline Map: Use lines to connect areas w/ similar or equal amounts of info - often weather maps * Cartogram maps: data represented by size of area * Flowline Maps: show movement of goods, animals, people, or ideas between places Unit 1.2: Geographic Data * Remote Sensing: Process of collecting info about Earth's surface from satellites orbiting Earth - Often used in Geographic Information System (GIS): A computer system that can collect, analyze, and display geographic data * Global Positioning System (GPS): A network of satellites that determine location of something on Earth * Field Observations: Information gathered first hand - Good for gathering accurate, feasible info * Travel Narratives: Show geographers what people think of a place - Show a very unfiltered perspective * Gov. Documents: Show geographers how land is being used * Landscape Analysis: Shows impact of people on a landscape * Photo Analysis: Shows culture, demographic, population density, and what's happening in a place * Qualitative Data: Information presented in word form and is often up for interpretation - Ex. presidential approval rating * Quantitative Data: Info that can be counted and presented in number form - Ex. population numbers Unit 1.3: The Power of Geographic Data * Local Governments: Use data to determine where to build schools, figure out land zoning * Regional Governments: Use data to determine voting districts, allocate funding * National Governments: Use data to determine what laws to pass, change tax policies, allocate federal funding * Local Scale: Businesses can use zoning to figure out store locations and census data to find information about people in a city * Regional Scale: Businesses can compare sales of different store locations, look at different tax rates * National Scale: Businesses look at countrys tax rates, environmental standards, employment and labor laws, and other factors that affect production cost Unit 1.4: Spatial Concepts * Distance Decay: The effect of distance on cultural or spatial interactions (More distance = less interaction) * Supply Chain: A network of people, resources, and activities that work together to create and sell products - Countries w/ raw resources at bottom * Time-space Compression: The reduction of time it takes for something to get from one place to another (counters distance decay) - Gives illusion places are closer together Unit 1.5: Human-Environmental Interaction * Spatial Association: The relationship between different objects in an area (how they are arranged, connected, and possibly isolated in a place) * Spatial Distribution: The density, concentrations, and patterns present in a place * Physical Characteristics: Rivers, mountains, vegetation, climate; Earth-made characteristics * Human Characteristics: Religion, language, population, demographic data; human-controlled characteristics * Sense of Place: A strong feeling or perception people have of a place * Placelessness: A place that does not induce a strong response from individuals due to a lack of unique characteristics * Site Factors: Characteristics that are at a certain location * Situation Factors: Locations surrounding a place (connections between one place and another) Unit 1.6: Human-Environmental Interaction (cont.) * Desalination: The process of removing salt from sea water * Environmental Possibilism: The idea that the environment puts limits on society, but people have the ability to adjust/modify the environment to overcome those limits * Environmental Determinism: The environment sets the possibilities for humans and society * Human-Environment Interaction: How people shape the environment and how the environment shapes people * Land Use: How land has been changed/modified to be used for a specific purpose/task - Agricultural land use: Used for the production of agricultural products for human or animal consumption - Industrial land use: Land used to produce and manufacture different products - Commercial land use: Used to sell different final goods and services - Residential land use: Used for people to build homes and live on - Recreational land use: Used for people to relax on (parks, sports fields, campsites) - Transportational land use: Roads, railroads, airports * Sustainability: The use of Earth's resources in a way that ensures those resources will still be available in the future Unit 1.7: Regional Analysis * Region: A geographic area w/ common characteristics * Formal Region: a region w/ common attributes defined by economic, social, political, or environmental characteristics - Typically clearly visible and easy to identify * Functional Region: a region organized around a node or center point, often based around economic activities, travel, or communication * Perceptual/Vernacular Region: A region w/ no perfect definition; only exists due to beliefs, feelings, and attitudes - Ex: Middle East, America, North/South