Exploring Different Map Projections by Kristina St. George

Mercator Projection Description

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:04:58 UTC

The Mercator projection was designed in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. This map projection is most commonly used for nautical navigation as it preserves directions when viewed in a small area. However, it distorts size and distance, especially near the poles, making landmasses like Greenland appear much larger than they actually are compared to landmasses near the equator.

Who Uses Mercator Projection?

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:00 UTC

Used primarily for maritime navigation due to its ability to show directions accurately, especially places near the Equator. This is the map projection used by Google Maps!

Goode’s Homolosine Projection Description

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:00 UTC

Known as an "interrupted" map, Goode’s Homolosine projection helps minimize distortion by snipping out parts of the oceans. It accurately portrays the size and shape of continents and is often used in thematic and educational maps to show spatial distribution. However, it interrupts the oceans, which might make it unsuitable for some uses, espeically those wanting to know the shape and size of the world's oceans.

Who Uses Goode's Homolosine Projection?

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:01 UTC

This map projection is ideal for thematic maps showing global distributions and characteristics, like climate patterns or population distribution since it shows the continents mostly accurately.

Lambert Polar Projection Description

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:01 UTC

The Lambert polar projection is an projection that is best for polar areas. It preserves accurate distances from the pole and directions within its hemisphere, but distorts shape and area more towards the equator. Most other map projections severely distort Antarctica and the Arctic Ocean; this one shows these polar areas most accurately.

Who Uses Lambert Polar Projection?

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:03 UTC

Frequently used for maps of polar regions and aviation charts because of its ability to accurately show direction and shapes over small areas close to the poles.

Robinson Projection Description

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:03 UTC

The Robinson projection is a compromise map projection developed to display a pleasing appearance. It distorts size and shape to some degree to minimize overall distortion. This makes it useful for general world maps, but not for purposes that require accurate measurements.

Who Uses Robinson Projection?

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:05 UTC

The Robinson is popular for world maps and atlases because it provides a balanced visual representation of the Earth, making it effective for educational purposes where a general view of the world is needed.

Winkel Tripel Projection Description

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:05 UTC

The Winkel Tripel projection, designed by German cartographer Oswald Winkle, aims to minimize three kinds (hence: tripel) of distortion: area, direction, and distance. It provides a compromise between all, distorting them to balance the projection and is commonly used by National Geographic.

Who Uses Winkel Tripel Projection?

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:05:06 UTC

Used by various educational and reference institutions, including National Geographic, for a balanced representation that renders the world view naturally with minimal distortion, especially favored for global mapping.

Intro to Map Projections

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:25:14 UTC

This slideshow will give you basic information about some of the most common map projections!

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:29:32 UTC

A globe represents Earth with true-to-scale geographical features, providing a realistic perspective. It's the only perfectly accurate map. ALL flat maps have one or more of these types of distortion: size, shape, distance, or direction.

What is a Map Projection?

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:33:25 UTC

A map projection is simply a way to show the 3 dimensional earth in 2 dimensions (flat). There are hundreds of different map projections, though none of them are perfect. Geographers choose the best map projection based on their needs.

Here are the five that you will commonly see in 8th grade World Geography:

stgeorgek — 2024-08-21 19:43:29 UTC

Now that you have discovered information about the main map projections, use the test yourself questions at the bottom to see if you can identify which map to use in each scenario.