Key Concepts:

• Space is the geometric surface of the Earth

  • Objects on the Earth’s spatial surface are defined by their location and are separated by some degree of distance from other things

  • Activity space is referred to as the area wherein activity occurs on a daily basis

• The place is an area of bounded space of some human importance

  • A place name, or more technically a toponym is assigned to a location when human importance is recognized

  • Regions are a type of place, and there are other categories of places, such as urban places, places of work, resource locations, and transportation nodes

  • Attributes of a place change over time

    • The concept of sequent occupancy is considered over a long term: in other words, the succession of groups and cultural influences throughout a place’s history

    • There are several different historical layers that contribute to a place-specific culture, society, local politics, and economy

• Scale is the relationship of an object or place to the Earth as a whole

  • Map scale describes the ratio of distance on a map to distance in the real world in absolute terms

  • Relative scale, or scale of analysis refers to the level of aggregation, or in other words, the level at which you group things together for examination.

    • Scales can range from local to city and state, from regional to national to continental, or to the international and global scales

• Regions are categorized into three groups: formal, functional, and vernacular

• Formal regions are areas of bounded space that possess some homogeneous characteristic or uniformity

• A homogeneous characteristic can be a common language

• Regional boundaries differ based on the type of region.

  • Culture regions tend to have fuzzy borders

  • Political regions boundaries are finite and well-defined

  • Environmental region boundaries are transitional and measurable

• Functional regions or nodal regions, are areas that have a central place, or node, that is a focus or point of origin that expresses some practical purpose

  • Market areas are a type of functional region

  • Since outlet malls are often placed far apart, there will also be a larger area of influence for the mall that will have shoppers traveling from longer distances

• Vernacular regions are based upon the perception or collective mental map of the region’s residents

  • The overall concept can vary within the region due to personal or group variations

• Location is considered in both absolute and relative terms

  • Absolute location defines a point or place on the map using coordinates such as latitude and longitude.

    • The Prime Meridian is 0° longitude and runs through Great Britain because the means to accurately calculate longitude at sea was developed by the British Royal Navy.

    • The equator is 0° latitude. The North and South Poles are 90° latitude.

• Relative location, by contrast, refers to the location of a place compared to a known place or geographic feature.

• Site and Situation are locational concepts that work together

  • Site refers to the physical characteristics of a place

  • Situation refers to the place’s interrelatedness with other places

• Distance is considered in absolute and relative terms

  • Linear absolute distance is the distance between two places as measured in linear units such as miles or kilometers

  • The concept of distance decay and Tobler’s Law is used to explain relative distance.

    • Distance decay (gravity) means that the farther away different places are from a place of origin, the less likely interaction will be with the original place

    • Tobler’s law states that all places are interrelated, but closer places are more related than farther ones.

    • Friction of distance is the length of distance that becomes a factor that inhibits the interaction between two points.

• Space-Time Compression is decreased time and relative distance between places

  • Technology like modes of transportation or the Internet can reduce the relative distance between places

• Human-Environmental Transportation is the effect that humans have on their environment, and vice versa

Spatial Interactions

• Central Places are any node of human activity and are most often the centers of economic exchange.

  • Central place theory was developed in the 1930s by the German geographer Walter Christaller

    • city location and the level of urban economic exchange could be analyzed using central places within hexagonal market areas, which overlapped at different scales

Pattern

• A cluster is when things are grouped together on the Earth’s surface

• Agglomeration is when clustering occurs purposefully around a central point or a economic growth pole

• A random pattern is when there is no rhyme or reason to the distribution of a spatial phenomenon

• Objects that are normally ordered but appear dispersed are scattered

• If it is a straight line, the pattern is linear

• If it is a wavy line, the pattern is sinous

• Land survey patterns have an effect on the property lines and political boundaries of states and provinces.

  • Until the 1830s, land surveys used natural landscape features to divide land on a system of metes and bounds

  • A rectilinear township and range survey system based upon lines of latitude and longitude

  • Long-lot patterns have a narrow frontage along a road or waterway with a very long lot shape behind.

Density

• Arithmetic density is most often calculated as the number of things per square unit of distance.

• Physiologic density measures the number of people per square unit of arable land, meaning land that either is actively farmed or has the potential to be

• Agricultural density refers only to the number of farmers per square unit of arable land

Geographic Tools

• Scientific maps are the results of spatial analysis—the mathematical analysis of one or more quantitative geographic patterns

Types of Maps

• Topographic maps show the contour lines of elevation, as well as the urban and vegetation surface with road, building, river, and other natural landscape features

• Thematic maps express a particular subject and does not show land forms for other features.

  • Choropleth maps are thematic maps that express the geographic variability of a particular theme using color variations.

  • Isoline maps calculate data values between points across a variable surface.

  • Dot density maps use dots to express the volume and density of a particular geographic feature.

  • Flow-line maps use lines of varying thickness to show the direction and volume of a particular geographic movement pattern.

  • Cartograms use simplified geometries to represent real-world places.

• Mental map: the cognitive image of landscape in the human mind

• Map scale is the “absolute” form of the scale concept.

  • Linear map scale expresses distance on the map surface.

  • The ratio scale of the map shows the mathematical relationship between the distance on the map compared to the real distance on the Earth’s surface.

  • A large-scale map is one with a ratio that is a comparatively large real number

  • A small-scale map is one with a ratio that is a comparatively very small real number

Projections

• Each given projection creates different levels of accuracy in terms of size and shape distortion for different parts of the Earth.

  • accuracy is based upon two concepts: area preservation and shape preservation

  • Equal-area projections attempt to maintain the relative spatial science and the areas on the map.

    • distortion of the actual shape of polygons

  • Conformal projections attempt to maintain the shape of polygons on the map.

    • distortion of the relative area from one part of the map to the other

• Robinson projection and the Goode’s homolosine projection balance area and form, sacrificing a bit of both to create a more visually practical representation of the Earth’s surface.

Geographic Technology

• Geographic Information Systems (GIS) became practical with the onset of the desktop computer in the 1970s.

  • incorporate one or more data layers in a computer program capable of spatial analysis and mapping.

• The Global Positioning System (GPS) utilizes a worldwide network of satellites, which emit a measurable radio signal

• Aerial photography and satellite-based remote sensing make up a large amount of the geographic and GIS data used today

  • Aerial photographs are images of the Earth from an aircraft, printed on film, but digital camera usage is on the increase

  • Remote-sensing satellites use a computerized scanner to record data from the Earth’s surface