Do you know how to read a map?

Time to remember our

Compass Rose

Legend

Scale

Longi tude

Latitude

Projecting a 3D object (Earth) on a flat page causes…

Distortion

Mercator the most common, but far from the most accurate. Distortion increases the farther

you get from the equator. Compare the size and shape of Greenland and Antarctica on this map to those landforms on a globe; the distortion will be obvious. The Mercator map works well for navigational purposes and is a commonly-used "generic" map that you'll see in magazines, history books, and many other places.

Robinson This projection was created to improve upon previously-existing projections

such as Mercator. It has minimal distortion of most of the Earth's land masses. Antarctica is still greatly distorted and the northernmost land masses are somewhat distorted, but this projection is commonly considered the best map representation of the size and shape of the Earth's landforms.

Physical

Political

Special Purpose (Thematic)

Show physical features such as mountains and rivers.

Relief Maps are physical maps that show elevation

Show political features such as boundaries.

Display specific data or information

Remote Sensing

Global Positioning System (GPS)

Geographical Information System (GIS)

Capturing images of the earth’s surface from airborne platforms, such as planes or satellites… the snapshots are a record of the earth at one point in time

Satellite network used with devices to give precise information about location, measured in longitude and latitude coordinates.

Uses: navigation systems in…

A software program that allows geographers to map, analyze, and model spatial data… a layering of information

Depends on computer technology to display and solve geographic problems using satellite images and data from other sources such as census, sensor arrays, etc.

Used by…

www.esri.com/software/arcgis/index.html