GEOG 1710 – Exam 1 review (DeWitt) copy.pdf

GEOG 1710 – Exam 1 review (DeWitt) Ch. 1. Intro to earth science/geography Geography is... give definition and understand multidisciplinarity. a. The study of spatial and temporal patterns on Earth and the processes that create Them. Among geographic sciences major themes is human-Earth relationshi...

GEOG 1710 – Exam 1 review (DeWitt) Ch. 1. Intro to earth science/geography Geography is... give definition and understand multidisciplinarity. a. The study of spatial and temporal patterns on Earth and the processes that create Them. Among geographic sciences major themes is human-Earth relationships Cosmic perspectives How old is the Earth? Expanding universe model Scientific method Procedure Implications for growing understanding -population growth and sustain- ability issues in your own words: population size, global distribution, the impact per person, and fu- ture projections. Systems thinking... give concept and examples - A system (p. 10) is any ordered set of interacting compo- nents and their attributes, as distinct from their surround- ing environment. Earth is an open system (p. 10) in terms of energy, receiving energy from the Sun, but it is essen- tially a closed system (p. 10) Feedback loops--- concepts, examples (e.g. energy flow, hydrologic cycle) -As a system operates, “information” is returned to various points in the operational process via path- ways of feedback loops If the feedback information discourages change in the system, it is negative feedback (p. 13). Such negative feedback causes self- regulation in a natural system, stabilizing the system. If feedback information encourages change in the system, it is positive feedback. Cartography/Geography Basics: Latitude, longitude, prime meridian, equator, poles, spin direction -Earth bulges slightly through the equa- tor and is oblate (flattened) at the poles, making its sur- face a misshapened spheroid, or geoid (p. 15). Absolute location on Earth is described with a specific refer- ence grid of parallels of latitude (measuring distances north and south of the equator), (p. 18), and meridians oflongitude (measuring distances east and west of a prime meridian), (p. 19). A historic breakthrough in naviga- tion occurred with the establishment of an international prime meridian (0° through Greenwich, England), (p. 19). Consequence of flat maps of round object.... Why does Greenland appear larger than South America on the Mercator Projection? - Round, flattened at poles, bulges in the middle Geospatial data on Earth How does remote sensing work and what is its value? -Orbital and aerial remote sensing (p. 27), obtains information about Earth systems from great distances without the need for physical contact. Satellites receive radiant-energy data that are then transmitted to Earth-based receivers and recorded in digital form. GPS/GIS What are these descriptively? What are the implications for information integration and analysis? - Latitude, longitude, and elevation are accurately measured using Global Positioning System (GPS) instrumentation (p. 26), that reads radio signals from satellites. Geospatial data may be analyzed using geo- graphic information system (GIS) technology (p. 29). Digi- tal elevation models are three-dimensional products of GIS technology. What are data ‘layers’?- example of layered spatial data used for geographic analyses. Understand applications such as public health analytic examples cited in class. Ch 2 Solar energy and seasons “A subtle chain of countless rings, the next unto the farthest brings...” Describe what celestial bodies revolve or rotate about others.-. The entire Galaxy rotates, with the rate depending on the distance from the galactic center. Our Sun and Solar System take about 200 million years to complete one full orbit around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. About the sun... (mass percent of solar system, material composition, solar ionic breeze, how it heats Earth, distance, angles of irradiance, etc.) - Energy released from the Sun is radi- ant energy, which travels in waves through space. As this energy passes through the outermost edge of Earth’s atmosphere, it is transformed into the various kinds of en- ergy that power Earth systems. Eventually, Earth radiates this energy back to space as heat energy. Aurora—where does this occur and how? - In addition, massive outbursts of charged material, referred to as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), contrib- ute to the flow of solar wind material from the Sun into space. CMEs that are aimed toward Earth often cause spectacular auroras in the upper atmosphere near the poles. These lighting effects, known as the aurora bo- realis (northern lights) and aurora australis (southern lights), occur 80–500 km (50–300 mi) above Earth’s sur- face through the interaction of the solar wind with the upper layers of Earth’s atmosphere. Auroras typically occur at latitudes higher than 65° N and S (Figure 2.6). However, in 2012, auroras were visible as far south as Colorado and Arkansas. What is the longest EM wavelengths can see with vision? What wavelength can you sense without vision? - Typically, the human eye can detect wavelengths from 380 to 700 nanometers. Wavelengths outside this range cannot be directly detected by the eye; i.e., we are 'blind to them'. Above the visible spectrum (