APHUG Unit 1 - Expanded

Cartography

the science and art of drawing maps

Toponym

a place name

Global Grid System

a pattern formed on a map or globe, by lines of latitude (parallels) and lines of latitude (meridians)

Latitude / Parallels

distance north or south of the Equator, measured in degrees

Longitude / meridians

Distance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degrees

Equator

an imaginary line drawn around the earth equally distant from both poles, dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres and constituting the parallel of latitude 0°.

Prime Meridian

The meridian, designated at 0° longitude, which passes through the Royal Observatory at Greenwich, England.

International Date Line

the line of longitude that marks where each new day begins, centered on the 180th meridian

Reference map

maps that emphasizes the location of places (without data attached).

Examples of reference maps

Political map, Physical map, Road Map

Political map

a map that shows the names and borders of countries

physical map

a reference map that shows land and water features

Thematic maps

a map that displays not only locations but maps a topic or theme of information with the location

types of thematic maps

Isoline, Chloropleth, Dot Distribution, cartogram, graduated symbol

Chloropleth Map

A thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data as average values per unit area.

Isoline Map

A thematic map with lines that connect points of equal value.

Dot Distribution Map

A map where dots are used to demonstrate the frequency or intensity of a particular phenomena

Cartogram Map

A map in which the shape or size is distorted in order to demonstrate a variable such as travel, population or economic production

graduated symbol map

A map with symbols that change in size according to the value of the attribute they represent.

Projection

a method of taking a 3D object and putting in on a 2D plane

Mercator Projection

a map projection of the earth onto a cylinder. Distorts the land area at the poles

Gall-Peters Projection

equal area projection that distorts the shape of land masses (looks stretched out)

Robinson Projection

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

Scale

the relationship between the distance on the ground and the corresponding distance on a specific map

Absolute location

describing where something is using the exact site on an objective coordinate system

Relative location

describing the position of a place as compared to (or relative to!) another landmark

Absolute distance

describing how far a distance is quantitative units of distance (miles, kilometers, etc.)

Relative distance

describing the distance between locations using qualitative terms or non-traditional measurements of distance (one hour north of)

Sense of Place

Emotional connection to a place familiar to one due to recognizable features, sounds, smells etc

location, site, and situation

the three different aspects of a place

site

The physical character of a place, including its geographic characteristics. For example the site of Istanbul includes the fact that it is on a land bridge connecting Asia and Europe, and also a water bridge (strait) connecting the Black Sea and the Mediterranean

location

the specific position of a place on Earth's surface

situation

the location of a place relative to the places that are around it- example: the situation of New Jersey is that it is part of a highly populated and connected area on the East Coast of the US

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)

software that captures, manages, analyzes, and displays data that is collected geographically

GPS (Global Positioning System)

a system that measures distance from a series of satellites to determine location on the planet

Remote sensing

the science of making measurements of the earth using sensors on airplanes or satellites

Geospatial

relating to data that is specific to one location

Quantitative data

objective data that is fact based, usually measurable and usually expressed in numbers

Census

an official count of individuals in a population (in the USA, it happens every 10 years)

Qualitative data

subjective information that is opinion based, is usually descriptive, and often expressed as text

Distribution

density, concentration, and pattern

Density

the number of things divided by the measurement of area

Concentration

how closely packed together objects are

pattern

any regular geometric arrangement that a geographer can identify to how a characteristic is distributed

Cultural Landscape

the title of our textbook and more importantly, the visible changes that humans make to the enviroment including buildings, crops, and signs

Culture

the social heritage of a group or their way of life - major components are language, religion, ethnicity, food, and roles

Hearth

a source of culture (where a culture began). For example, the US is the hearth of fast food

Distance decay

the idea that the interaction between two places declines as the distance between them increases

Region

a place larger than a point and smaller than a planet that is grouped together because of a measurable or perceived common feature

Formal region

a region that is based entirely on something that can be identified and documented or measured - all government areas are this because they share a government

Functional region

a region based around a node or focal point - terrestrial radio broadcasts are an example of this

Vernacular/perceptual region

it's only a region because people believe it's a region based on some ascribed sense of place

Scale of analysis

how zoomed in or out you are when looking at geographic data

Spatial

it's not as complicated as it sounds - a fancy word for describing how things are organized in space

Spatial distribution

arrangement of a phenomenon across the Earth's surface

Spatial Interaction

the flow of goods, people, or information among places, in response to localized supply and demand

Sustainability

the goal of the human race reaching equilibrium with the environment; meeting the needs of the present without while also leaving resources for future generations

Time-space compression

the idea that the world feels smaller than it used to because of increased technology in transportation and communication

Environmental determinism

the belief that a physical environment is THE reason that some societies are strong while others are weaker

Environmental possibilism

the belief that a physical environment plays a role in the development of a society, but is NOT the ONLY factor at work