Physical Geography Test 1
What quantity is sacrificed and which quantity remains accurate?
"looks right" Good for navigating Maintains the correct shape of features but distorts their relative sizes
Mercator
"looks right" good for navigating (good with direction) Maintains correct shape of features but distorts their relative sizes
Remote Sensing
'New' approach to spatial analysis Involves measuring properties of the environment without direct contact
Compare and contrast the various components of the Earth's geographic grid
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Know the concepts of map projection and map scale
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Which of the following is not considered a subdiscipline of physical geography? a) historical geography b) environmental geography c) geomorphyology d) marine geography
A
Map
A generalized view of an area, as seen frim above and reduced in size
Equivalent (conical)
Accurately portrays size features Good for size, bad for shape Lat and long are not curved
What is Latitude
Angle measured from equator. Horizontal lines across earths surface
What is Longitude
Angle measured from prime meridian. Vertical lines on Earth
Triangulation
Artificial constellation of satellites as locational references Signals from up to four satellites overlap to pinpoints location
Define the four Earth spheres
Atmosphere, Hydrosphere, Lithosphere, Biosphere
Which of the Following is one of Earth's four spheres where water flows and is stored? a) atmosphere b) lithosphere c) hydrosphere d) biosphere
C
What type of map is a Mercator projection?
Conformal
Isobars
Connect points of equal air temperature
Isohyets
Connect points of equal amount of precipitation
Ispach
Connect points of equal sedimentary thickness
Contours
Connects points of equal elevation
Global positioning systems (GPS)
Fleet of satellites allows a receiver unit to determine its position on the geographic grid
Geographic Information System (GIS)
GIS software lets us visualize, question, analyze, interpret, and understand data to reveal relationships, patterns, and trends of SPATIAL data
Projection
Process of transforming spherical Earth to flat map
Scale
Ratio of map units to ground units
How GPS works
Satellites are positioned in 6 orbital planes, with 4 satellites . Array provides complete coverage of Earth.
Conformal projections maintain _____ but distort _____
Shape; size
Equivalent projections maintain ____ but distort _____
Size; shape
What are the two types of map projections
conformal, equivalent
The most visually accurate and complete way to illustrate the Earth is with a ______
Globe
Compare large-scale maps to small-scale maps
Large scale maps have larger ratio and scale has a smaller ratio
Isolines
Lines that connect points of equal value
What latitudinal zone are we in?
Midlatitude
An explorer walked one mile south, one mile east, one mile north, and came back to the original point. Where did this happen?
North Pole
What is Physical geography?
The study of the spatial patterns of weather and climate, soils, vegetation, animals, water in all its forms, and landforms and the interrelation of these phenomena to human activities.
What are the 3 different scale depictions
Written (verbal) Scale Representative Fraction Graphic Scale or Bar Scale
Can we use latitude and longitude to describe a location on Mars?
You could but you would need a prime meridian
The reference point for longitude is called the _______
prime meridian