APHG Ch. 1 Vocab

cartography

science of mapmaking

projection

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

International Date Line

on 180 degrees longitude for the most part. going east across it, turn clock 24 hours back. Going west across it turn clock 24 hours forward

remote sensing

acquisition of data about Earth's surface from orbiting of satellites or other long distance methods

Global Positioning System

A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.

Geographic Information System

development and analysis of data about Earth acquired through satellite and other electronic information technology

toponym

name given to a place on Earth

formal region

an area within which everyone shares in common one or more distinctive characteristic

functional region

an area organized around a node or focal point

vernacular/perceptual region

an area that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity

culture

body of customary beliefs, material traits, and social forms that together constitute distinct tradition of a group of people

scale

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

globalization

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

space

physical gap or interval between two objects

distribution

the arrangement of a feature in space

density

the frequency with which something occurs in space

connection

relationships among people across the barrier of space

diffusion

the process by which a characteristic spreads across space over time

relocation diffusion

spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another

expansion diffusion

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

hierarchical diffusion

spread of an idea from persons or nodes of authority or power to other persons or places

contagious diffusion

rapid, widespread diffusion of a characteristic throughout the population

stimulus diffusion

spread of an underlying principle even though a characteristic itself apparently fails to diffuse

distance decay

phenomenon of contact diminishing with increasing of distance and eventually disappearing

space-time compression

reduction in time it takes for something to reach another place

cultural ecology

the geographic study of human-environment relationships

environmental determinism

belief that physical environment caused social development

possibilism

belief that the physical environment may limit some human actions, but people have the ability to adjust their environment

region

an area or division, especially part of a country or the world. Not always having fixed boundaries

Mercator Projection

is particularly useful for navigation because it maintains accurate direction. Mercator projections are famous for their distortion in area that makes landmasses at the poles appear oversized.

Robinson Projection

A projection that maintains overall shapes and relative positions without extreme distortion. Most classrooms use this projection.

absolute distance/location

measurement using a standard unit of length, actual measured distance to a location or place

connections/connectivity

relationships among people and objects across the barrier of space

friction of distance

a measure of how much absolute distance affects the interaction between two places

Geospatial Technologies

technology that provides geographic data that is used for personal (navigation), business (marketing), and governmental (environment planning) purposes

gravity model

a model which holds that the potential use of a service at a particular location is directly related to the number of people in a location and inversely related to the distance people must travel to reach the service

hearth

the region from which innovative ideas originate

landscape analysis

a process of studying and describing a landscape (portion of the earth's surface), generally with the goal of assessing the impact of humans on that space. This research is used to provide physical context to concepts of human-landscape interaction and help plan for future land or use restoration.

model

an abstract representation of reality created to simplify complex systems

relative distance/location

measurement of the social, cultural, and/or economic connectivity between places (how connected or disconnected).

space-time convergence

the reduction in the time it takes to diffuse something to a distant place, as a result of improved communications and transportation systems

spatial analysis

examines places and features on Earth's surface along with their characteristics, locations, and relationships with each other to explain human behavior patterns in geographic space

Tobler's First Law

all things are related, but near things are more related than far things