APHUG U1

Reference Map

A map made for people to find general information about places.

Political Map

Shows and labels man-made boundaries and designations like countries, states, cities, and capitals.

Physical Map

Shows and labels natural features.

Thematic Map

Shows spatial aspects of information or a phenomenon.

Choropleth Map

Uses colors/shades or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data.

Dot Distribution Map

Shows the specific location of the distribution of something across a map using dots/symbols.

Graduated/Proportional Symbol Map

Uses different sized symbols to indicate an amount of something (Bigger = More, Smaller = Less).

Isoline Map

Uses lines to connect points of equal value.

Topographic Map

Represents elevation.

Cartogram Map

Distorts sizes of countries to show a statistic.

Scale

The ratio between things on a map compared to the real world.

Cartographic Scale

How a map communicates the ratio of its size to what it's representing.

Absolute Location

Uses longitude and latitude to determine precise location.

Latitude

Measures North and South.

Longitude

Measures East and West.

Relative Location

Describes a location in relation to things around it.

Absolute Distance

Exact measurement using feet, miles, etc.

Elevation

Distance above sea level.

Clustered Distribution

Concentrated area.

Linear Distribution

Along a line.

Dispersed Distribution

Spread over a large area.

Circular Distribution

Equally spaced from a central point.

Mercator Projection

Designed for navigation, accurate direction and shape but distorts size of land masses.

Landscape Analysis

The task of defining and describing landscapes.

Field Observation

The act of physically going to a location and recording.

Spatial Data

All information that can be tied to a specific location.

Remote Sensing

Using satellites to gather information via the Earth's atmosphere.

Aerial Photography

Images taken from planes within the atmosphere.

Geospatial Data

Quantitative or qualitative data gathered by an organization or individual.

Geo-Visualizations

Digital 2-D or 3-D interactive maps.

Time-Space Compression

The shrinking of 'time-distance' due to advances in technology.

Spatial Interaction

The contact, movement, and flow of things between locations.

Friction of Distance

When things are far apart, they are less connected.

Distance Decay

The inverse relationship between distance and connection.

Human-Environmental Interaction

The connection and exchange between humans and the natural world.

Natural Resource

Items that occur in the natural environment that people use.

Renewable Resource

Theoretically unlimited resources that will not deplete by human use.

Non-Renewable Resource

Limited resources that can be depleted by human use.

Sustainability

Using resources now in ways that allow their use in the future while minimizing negative impacts.

Cultural Landscape

Anything built by humans.

Environmental Determinism

The belief that landforms and climate shape human behavior and societal development.

Possibilism

The belief that acknowledges limits from the natural environment and focuses on the role of human culture.

Scale of Analysis

Level of generalization allowing geographers to look at local, regional, country, or global scales.

Formal Region

United by one or more unifying characteristics.

Functional Region

Organized around a focal point and defined by an activity that occurs across the region.

Vernacular Region

Boundaries that depend on an individual's sense of place.

Subregion

Smaller areas in regions with distinctive characteristics.

Spatial Association

Matching patterns of distribution indicating connections between phenomena.