Unit 1 CED Breakdown

Geographic Data

Geographic Data

Geographers use maps and data to depict relationships of time, space, and scale. Types of maps include reference maps and thematic maps. Spatial patterns represented on maps include absolute and relative distance and direction, clustering, dispersal, and elevation. All maps are selective in information; map projections inevitably distort spatial relationships in shape, area, distance, and direction.

Geospatial Technologies

Data may be gathered in the field by organizations or individuals. Geospatial technologies include geographic information systems (GIS), satellite navigation systems, remote sensing, and online mapping and visualization. Spatial information can come from various sources like field observations, media reports, travel narratives, policy documents, personal interviews, landscape analysis, and photographic interpretation.

Power of Geographic Data

Geospatial and geographical data, including census data and satellite imagery, are used at all scales for personal, business, organizational, and governmental decision-making purposes.

Spatial Concepts

Geographers analyze relationships among and between places to reveal important spatial patterns. Major spatial concepts include absolute and relative location, space, place, flows, distance decay, time-space compression, and pattern.

Human-Environmental Interaction

Geographers analyze relationships among and between places to reveal important spatial patterns. Concepts of nature and society include sustainability, natural resources, and land use. Theories regarding the interaction of the natural environment with human societies have evolved from environmental determinism to possibilism.

Scales of Analysis

Scales of analysis used by geographers include global, regional, national, and local. Patterns and processes at different scales reveal variations in, and different interpretations of, data.

Regional Analysis

Regions are defined based on unifying characteristics or patterns of activity. Types of regions include formal, functional, and perceptual/vernacular. Regional boundaries are transitional and often contested and overlapping. Geographers apply regional analysis at local, national, and global scales.