thinking geographically aphug

Space

geometric surface of the Earth

Activity Space

an area wherein activity occurs on a daily basis

Place

area of bounded human space of some human importance (people dont have to live there)

Toponym

place-name (reveal the historical interrelatedness of locations)

Region

type of place + other categories (urban places, places of work, resource locations, and transportation nodes)

Sequent Occupancy

the succession of groups and cultural influences throughout a place's history

Scale

the relationship of an object or place to the earth as a whole

Map Scale

describes the ratio of distance on a map and distance in the real world in absolute terms

Relative Scale (scale of analysis)

describes the level of aggregation

Level of Aggregation

the level at which you group things together for examination

Formal Region (Uniform Region)

an area of bounded space that possesses some homogeneous characteristics or uniformity

Homogeneous Characteristic (uniformity)

across the region there is at least one thing that is the same everywhere within the regional boundary

Linguistic Region

everyone speaks the same language, but groups in that region can be very different culturally

Cultural Region

fuzzy borders (hard to tell where one begins and ends like north and south in the US)

Political Regions

finite and well-defined (some porous, some protected)

Environmental Region (boundaries)

transitional and measurable

Ecotone

the environmental transition zone between two bioregions or biomes

Functional Regions (nodal regions)

areas that have a central place or node that is a focus or point of origin that expresses some practical purpose (strongest closest to center)

Market Areas

a type of functional region

Area of Influence

outlet malls, shoppers travelling from longer distances but making a fewer number of trips

Intervening Opportunity

an attraction at a shorter distance that takes precedence over an attraction that is further away

Vernacular Regions

based upon the perception or collective mental map of the region's residents

Absolute Location

defines a point or place on the map using coordinates such as latitude and longitude

Relative Location

refers to the location of a place compared to a known place or geographic feature

based upon a place's relationship to other known geographic features or places

International Date Line

an arc that for the most part follows 180° longitude, although it deviates in several places to avoid dividing land areas. When you cross the International Date Line 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.

Site

physical characteristics of a place

Situation

refers to the place's interrelatedness with other places

Absolute Distance

the distance between two places as measured in linear units such as miles or kilometers

Distance Decay (gravity)

the farther away different places are from a place of origin, the less likely interaction will be with the original place

Relative Distance

approximate measurement of the physical space between two places. Expressed by the principle of Tobler's law (all places are interrelated, but closer places are more related than farther ones)

Friction of Distance

length of distance becomes a factor that inhibits the interaction between two points (combined time/cost of moving a product prevents it being sold in far-off locations)

Space-Time Compression

decreased time and distance between places and tech can reduce the relative distance between places.

Modes of Transportation

reduce travel time between two distant point and as a result, increase interaction. even internet

Human-Environmental Interaction

the effect that humans have on their environment Covers: environmental determinism, resource depletion, sustainability, conservation efforts, various economic forces, and globalization

Central Places

any node of human activity; most often the centers of economic exchange

Transportation Nodes

provide accessibility to and from central places

Central Place Theory

theory proposed by Walter Christaller that explains how and where central places in the urban hierarchy should be functionally and spatially distributed with respect to one another.

Core-Periphery Model

a model that describes how economic, political, and/or cultural power is spatially distributed between dominant core regions, and more marginal or dependent semi-peripheral and peripheral regions.

Cluster

when things are grouped together on the earth's surface

Agglomeration

when clustering occurs purposefully around a central point or an economic growth pole

Random Pattern

when there is no rhyme or reason to the distribution of a spatial phenomenon

Scattered

objects that are normally ordered but appear dispersed

Linear

straight line pattern

Sinuous

wavy pattern

Land Survey Patterns

have an effect on the property lines and political boundaries of states and provinces

Metes and Bounds

natural landscape features to divide land (uneven wavy lines)

Township and Range

rectilinear survey system based upon lines of latitude and longitude

produced the block-shaped property lines and more geometric shapes of many western states and provinces

Long-Lot Patterns

narrow frontage along a road or waterway with a very long lot shape behind

Arithmetic Density

the number of things per square unit of distance

Physiological Density

measures the number of people per square unit of arable land

Agricultural Density

refers to the number of farmers per square unit of arable land

Diffuse

spread across earth's surface

Hearth

point of origin or place of innovation

Diffusion Patterns

the multiple different ways and patterns in which human phenomena diffuse spatially or spread across the Earth's surface

Expansion Diffusion

originates in a central place and then expands outward in all directions to other locations (distance doesn't have to be equal in all directions)

Hierarchical Diffusion

originates in a first-order location and then moves down to second-order locations and from each of these to subordinate locations at increasingly local scales

Contagious Diffusion

begins at a point of origin and then moves outward to nearby locations, especially those on adjoining transportation lines

could be used to describe a disease or movement of other things, like news in rural regions

Stimulus Diffusion pattern

general concept diffuses and then is adapted to suit the cultural norms of its new location while still adhering to the underlying principles of the original

Relocation Diffusion

begins at a point of origin and then crosses a significant physical barrier (ocean, desert, mountain range, etc) then relocates on the other side. journey can influence and modify the items being diffused

Topographic Maps

show the contour lines of elevation, as well as the urban and vegetation surface with road, building, river, and other natural landscape features

highly accurate, used for engineering surveys and land navigation, especially in wilderness regions

Thematic Maps

each one expresses a particular subject and does NOT show land forms for other features

Contour Lines

lines that connect points of equal elevation

Choropleth Maps

express the geographic variability of a particular theme using color variations

Isoline Maps

calculate data values between points across a variable surface

Dot Density Maps

use dots to express the volume and density of a particular geographic feature (people, events, etc)

Graduated Symbol Maps

use dots or symbols of different sizes to represent ranges of data values

Flow-line Maps

use lines of varying thickness to show the direction and volume of a particular geographic movement pattern

Cartograms

use simplified geometries to represent real-world places

Mental Map

The cognitive image of landscape in the human mind

Projections

creates different levels of accuracy in terms of size and shape distortion for different parts of the earth. a map projections level of accuracy is based upon two concepts: area and shape preservation

Equal-area Projections

attempt to maintain the relative spatial science and the areas on the map, however these can distort the actual shape of polygons (such as the Lambert projections bending/squishing the northern Canadian islands to keep them at the same map scale as southern Canada on a flat sheet of paper)

Conformal Projections

attempt to maintain the shape of polygons on the map, the downside is that conformal projections can distort the relative area from one part of the map to the other, for instance, in the commonly used Mercator projection, the shape of Greenland is preserved, but it appears to be much larger in size than it actually is

Robinson Projection and Goode's Homolosine Projection

try to balance area and form, sacrificing a bit of both to create a more visually practical representation of the earths surface

Model

an abstract generalization of real-world geographies that share a common pattern

Spatial Models

attempt to show the commonalities in pattern among similar landscapes

Urban Models

try to show how different cities have similar spatial relationships and economic or social structures

Non-spatial Models

illustrate theories and concepts using words, graphs, or tables

Demographic Transition Model

uses population data to construct a general model of the dynamic growth in national scale populations without reference to space

Concentric Zone Model

can be modified to create a graph showing the cost to distance relationship in urban real estate prices

Bid-Rent Curve

explains why land prices are relatively low in suburban areas, but exponentially higher in the central business district

Gravity Model

a mathematical model that is used in a number of different types of spatial analysis, used to calculate transportation flow between two points, determine the area of influence of a city's businesses, and estimate the flow of migrants to a particular place

Geographic Information System (GIS)

a computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.

Data Layers

numerical, coded, or textual data that is attributed to specific geographic coordinates or areas

all data is geographically fixed to specific locations, data between layers can be analyzed spatially. each layer can show a dif type of geo feature

Global Positioning System (GPS)

utilizes a worldwide network of satellites, which emit a measurable radio signal

Aerial Photography and Satellite-Based Remote Sensing

make up a large amount of the geographic and GIS data used today. used for mapping