aphg dump of vocab

geography

the study of where things are found on Earth's surface and the reasons for the locations

map

a two-dimensional (really, though?) or flat-scale model Earth's surface, or a portion of it

cartography

the science of mapmaking

purposes of maps

1. As a reference tool, to find the shortest route between two distances

2. As a communications tool, to depict the distribution of human activities or physical features as well as to think about the reasons underlying a distribution

Eratosthenes

(276?-194?, B.C.) the first person of record to use the word geography; he prepared one of the earliest maps of the known world

Ptolemy

(100?-170? A.D.) produced maps that were not improved upon for more than 1,000 years, based on information collected by merchants and soldiers who traveled through the Roman Empire

location

the geographical situation of people and things

space

how something is laid out, physical room on the Earth's surface

place

uniqueness of a location

scale of analysis

emotional connection a person has to a specific place

pattern

geometric or regular arrangement of something in a study area

regionalization

an organization of Earth's surface into areas that are viewed as different from other areas

globalization

the expansion of economic, political, and cultural activities to the point they reach and have impact on many areas of the world

Pei Xiu

the father of Chinese cartography; produced an elaborate map of China in AD 267

Muhammad al Idrisi

(1100-1165?), a Muslim geographer, prepared a world map and geography text in 1154

cartographer

a person who draws or produces maps

Martin Waldseemuller

(1470?-1520) produced the first map with the label "America"; he wrote on the map (translated from Latin) "from Amerigo the discoverer… as if it were the land of Americus, thus 'America.'"

Abraham Ortelius

(1527-1598) a Flemish cartographer who created the first modern atlas

Bernhardus Varenius

(1622-1650) produced Geographia Generalis, which stood for more than a century as the standard treatise (a book that explains the essential information regarding a topic) on systematic geography

Human geographers now make use of maps primarily as tools of .

communication

A cartographer's first decision is .

how much of the Earth's surface to depict on the map

map scale

the level of detail and the amount of area covered on a map depend on this, which is the relationship of a feature's size on a map to its actual size on Earth

three depictions of map scale

1. ratio or fraction: shows the numerical ratio between distances on the map and Earth's surface; the 1 on the left side of the ratio always refers to a unit of distance on the map, and the number on the right always refers to the same unit of distance on Earth's surface

distortion

the scientific method of transferring locations on Earth's surface to a flat map

four types of distortion

1. The SHAPE of an area can be distorted, so that it appears more elongated or squat than in reality

2. The DISTANCE between two points may become increased or decreased.

3. The RELATIVE SIZE of different areas may be altered, so that one area may appear larger than another on a map but is in reality smaller.

4. The DIRECTION from one place to another can be distorted.

equal projection areas

In this type of projection, the relative size of the landmasses on the map are the same as in reality. This type of projection minimizes distortion in the shapes of most landmasses. Areas toward the North and South poles are most distorted, but they are sparsely populated, so accuracy is not as important

interruption

when the Eastern and Western hemispheres are separated into two pieces to preserve accuracy in a projection

The Robinson projection

is useful for displaying information across the oceans. Its major disadvantage is that by allocating space to the oceans, the land areas are much smaller than on interrupted maps of the same size.

The Mercator projection

…has several advantages: Shape is distorted very little, direction is consistent, and the map is rectangular. Its greatest disadvantage is that relative size is grossly distorted toward the poles, making high-latitude places look much larger than they actually are.

meridian

an arc drawn between the North and South poles. The location of each of these is identified on Earth's surface according to a numbering system known as longitude.

prime meridian

the meridian that passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England, is 0 degrees longitude; it is opposite from the meridian that is 180 degrees longitude

parallel

A circle drawn around the globe parallel to the equator and at right angles to the meridians. The numbering system to indicate the location of a parallel is called latitude.

latitude

the numbering system indicate the location of a parallel

longitude

…is a human creation that that divides the Earth via vertical lines. Any meridian could have been selected as 0 degrees _ because all meridians have the same length and all run between poles. The 0 degree runs through Greenwich because England was the world's most powerful country when __ was first accurately measured and the international agreement was made. is measured in 360 degrees of longitude.

The Longitude Act

1714 act in which the British Parliament enacted the Longitude Act; it offered a prize equivalent to several million in today's dollars to the person who could first measure longitude accurately. John Harrison won the prize by inventing the first portable clock that could keep accurate time on a ship because it did not have a pendulum.

Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Universal Time (UT)

the time at the prime meridian (0 degrees longitude), is the master reference time for all points on Earth

International Date Line

An arc that for the most part follows 180 degree longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross it heading east (toward America), the clock moves back 24 hours, or one entire day. When you go west (toward Asia), the calendar moves ahead one day.

Exceptions to the International Date Line

• several islands in the Pacific Ocean belonging to the countries of Kirbati and Samoa

• New Zealand's Tokelau territory

-MOVED SEVERAL THOUSAND KILOMETERS TO THE EAST

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geographic information science (GIScience)

a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data; can be used to produce maps that are more accurate and attractive than those drawn by hand

remote sensing

the acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting Earth or from other long-distance methods

Global Positioning System (GPS)

the system that accurately determines the precise position of something on Earth

three elements of GPS in the United States

• satellites placed in predetermined orbits by the U.S. military (24 in operation and 3 in reserve)

• tracking stations to monitor and control the satellites

• a receiver that can locate at least 4 satellites, figure out the distance to each, and use this information to pinpoint its own location

application programming interface (API)

the language that links a database such as an address list with software such as mapping; API for mapping software enables a computer programmer to create a mashup that places data on a map

abiotic system

composed of nonliving or inorganic matter

atmosphere

a thin layer of gases surrounding Earth

hydrosphere

all of the water on and near Earth's surface

lithosphere

Earth's crust and a portion of upper mantle directly below the crust

biosphere

all living organisms on Earth, including plants and animals, as well as microorganisms

climate

the long-term average weather condition at a particular location

Koppen system

a climate classification system that divides the world into five climate regions that are identified by the letters A through E

5 levels of the Koppen system

A. Tropical Climates

B. Dry Climates

C. Warm Mid-Latitude Climates

D. Cold Mid-Latitude Climates

E. Polar Climates

monsoon

a seasonal prevailing wind in the region of South and Southeast Asia, blowing from the southwest between May and September and bringing rain (the wet _ ), or from the northeast between October and April (the dry _).

ecosystem

a group of living organisms and the abiotic spheres with which they interact

ecology

the scientific study of ecosystems

erosion

occurs when the soil washes away in the rain or blows away in the wind

depletion of nutrients

this occurs when plants withdraw more nutrients than natural processes can replace

environmental determinism

the belief that the physical environment CAUSES social development

cultural ecology

the geographic study of human-environment relationships

Alexander von Humboldt and Carl Ritter

Lived in the late 1700s to the mid 1800s and developed the idea of environmental determinism

Friedrich Ratzel (teacher) and Ellen Churchill Semple (student)

Lived from mid 1800s to early 1900s; claimed that geography was the study of the influences of the natural environment on people

Ellsworth Huntington

(1876-1947) argued that climate was a major determinant of civilization

possibilism

the belief that the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust to their environment, and people can choose a course of action from many alternatives in the physical environment

polder

a piece of land that is created by draining water from an area

dike

a wall that holds back the sea

scale

the relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a whole

space

the physical gap or interval between two objects

connection

relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space

globalization

a force or process that involves the entire world and results in making something worldwide in scope

housing bubble

a rapid increase in the value of houses followed by a sharp decline in their value

transnational corporation

conducts research, operates factories, and sells products in many countries, not just where its headquarters and principal shareholders are located

distribution

the arrangement of a feature in space

density

the frequency with which something occurs in space

concentration

the extent of a feature's spread over its space

pattern

the geometric arrangement of objects in space

behavioral geography

a branch of human geography that emphasizes the importance of understanding the psychological basis for individual human actions

humanistic geography

a branch of human geography that emphasizes the different ways that individuals perceive their surrounding environment

poststructuralist geography

emphasizes the need to understand multiple perspectives regarding space; AKA: different people from different socio-economic, racial, and gender perspectives will have different geographic experiences and may create different geographic patterns

hearth

a place from which an innovation originates

diffusion

the process by which a characteristic spreads across space from one place to another over time

expansion diffusion

the spread of a feature from one place to another in an additive process

three process of expansion diffusion

1. hierarchical diffusion

2. contagious diffusion

3. stimulus diffusion

hierarchical diffusion

the spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places; it may result from the spread of ideas from political leaders, socially elite people, or other important persons to others in the community

contagious diffusion

the rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population; this is analogous to the spread of a contagious disease, such as influenza. It spreads like a wave among fans in a stadium, without regard for hierarchy and without requiring permanent relocation of people