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Physical Geography

Physical Geography

Study of spacial characteristics of various elements of the physical environment, including landforms, bodies of water, climate, ecosystems, and erosion.

Human Geography

study of spatial characteristics of humans and human activities; learn about politics, populations, area, and economics

Spatial Models

looks like stylized maps, and shows theories about spatial distribution, developed for agriculture and urban land use

Non-spatial Models

show theories using words, graphs, or tables; shows changes over time rather than across space with more accuracy

Time-Distance Decay

further away two phenomena, the less amount of interactions there are between the two

Spatial Patterns

arrangement of phenomena occurring over space

Quantitative Data

information that can be recorded using numbers

Geospatial Data

quantitative data with spatial aspect, including countries, cities, zip codes, etc.

Reference Maps

designed for people to refer to for info

Political Maps

maps that show/label human credated boundaries and designations, including countries, states, cities, etc.

Physical Maps

maps that show/label natural features, like mountains, rivers, and deserts.

Road Maps

maps that show/label highways streets and alleys

Plat Maps

maps that show/label property lines and details of land ownership

Thematic Maps

maps that show spatial aspects of information or a phenomenon

Choropleth Maps

use various colors, shades of one color, or patterns to show the location and distribution of spatial data

Dot-Distribution Map

maps show the specific location/distribution of something across a map

Graduated Symbol Map

symbols of different sizes indicate different amounts (largers = more)

Isoline Map

maps using lines that connect points of equal value to depict data across space

Topographic map

map that shows different levels of elevation

Cartogram

map where sizes of areas represents a specific statistic

Small-scale maps

maps that show larger amount of area (less detail)

Large-scale maps

maps that show smaller amount of area (more detail)

Scale

a ratio of size

Absolute Location

precise location of something based of a system

Absolute Distance

distance measured in units (ex. feet, meters, miles, etc.)

Relative Location

location in relation to something else, like Salt Lake City south of the Salt Lake

Relative Distance

distance in terms of connectability (roads) or accessibility (interaction)

Elevation

distance above sea level

Clustered Distribution

phenomena spread over a concentrated area

Dispersed Distribution

phenomena spread over a large area

Linear Distribution

arranged in a straight line, like houses on a road

Map Projection

Earth (or a portion of Earth) projected on a flat surface

Distortion

weaknesses within map projections

Landscape Analysis

defining and describing land

Field Observation

physically visiting a location, place, or region to get firsthand information

Aerial Photography

professional pictures captured from planes within atmosphere

Media Reports

portrayal of information to a large audience

Travel Narratives

log of a traveler's experience of a location

Policy Documents

formal document that regulates company's use of info

Photographic Interpretation

examining of photos in order to gather information

GPS

uses information from satellites to find and record exact location

GIS

computer system with info from geospatial data sets or digital maps

Remote Sensing

use of cameras on an aircraft to collect images/video of Earth's surface

Census Data

Data from a US government survey given every year

Space

the area between two or more phenomena

Place

refers to human/physical characteristics of a location

Site

characteristics at an immediate location

Situation

the location relative to its connection to other places

Sense of Place

human's perception of place based on personal beliefs

Toponyms

names for places (general provides insight about a place)

Time-Space Compression

shrinking of time-distance due to increasing methods of transportation

Flow

patterns and movement of ideas, people, products, and other phenomena

Pattern

repetition of a phenomena, general arrangement of something

Human-Environment Interaction

exchange between people and the natural world

Natural Resources

items that are found in nature/the natural world

Sustainability

use of resources in a way that allows it to be used in the future

Land Use

how land is modified and organized

Environmental Determinism

Landforms/climate are the most powerful for shaping human behavior and societal development

Possibilism

acknowledges environmental effects but focuses more on cultural impacts

Scale of Analysis

helps geographers look at different scales to learn more on different levels

Global

scale of analysis for the whole world

Regional

Portion of a country

National

Scale of a country

Local

scale of a province, state, city, or county

Aggregation

geographers organizing data into different scales

Formal Region

regions that are united by trait(s)

Functional Regions

regions organized around of a focal point

Perceptual Region

informal sense of place perceived by people

Subregion

shares characteristics with a larger region but distinctive in some ways