Chapter 2 - Maps, Scale, Space, And Place

Front 1

absolute distance

Back 1

the distance that can be measured with a standard unit of length, such as a mile or kilometer

Front 2

absolute location

Back 2

the exact position of an object or place, measured within the spatial coordinates of a grid system

Front 3

accessibility

Back 3

the relative ease with which a destination may be reached from some other place

Front 4

azimuthal projection

Back 4

a map projection in which the plane is the most developable surface

Front 5

breaking point

Back 5

the outer edge of a city's sphere of influence, used in the retail gravitation to describe the area of a city's hinterlands that depend on that city for its retail supply

Front 6

cartograms

Back 6

a type of thematic map that transforms space such that the political unit with the greatest value for some type of data is represented by the largest relative area

Front 7

choropleth map

Back 7

a thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data as average values per unit area

Front 8

cognitive map

Back 8

an image of a portion of the earth's surface that an individual creates in his or her mind. Cognitive maps can include knowledge of actual locations and relationships between locations as well as personal perceptions and preferences of particular places

Front 9

complementarity

Back 9

the actual or potential relationship between two places usually referring to economic interactions

Front 10

connectivity

Back 10

the degree of economic, social, cultural, or political connection between two places

Front 11

contagious diffusion

Back 11

the spread of a disease, innovation, or cultural traits through direct contact with another person or another place

Front 12

coordinate system

Back 12

a standard grid, composed of lines of latitude and longitude, used to determine the absolute location of any object, place, or feature on the earth's surface

Front 13

distance decay effect

Back 13

the decrease in the interaction between two phenomena, places, or people as the distance between them increases

Front 14

dot maps

Back 14

thematic maps that use points to show the precise locations of specific observations or occurences, such as crimes, car accidents, or births

Front 15

expansion diffusion

Back 15

the spread of ideas, innovations, fashion, or other phenomena to surrounding areas through contact and exchange

Front 16

friction of distance

Back 16

a measure of how much absolute distance affects the interaction between two places

Front 17

Fuller projection

Back 17

a type of map projection that maintains the accurate size and shape of landmasses but completely rearranges directions such that the four cardinal directions,north, south, east, and west, no longer have any meaning

Front 18

geoid

Back 18

the actual shape of the earth, which is rough and oblate, or slightly squashed; the earth's circumference is longer around the equator than it is along the meridians, from north-south circumference

Front 19

gravity model

Back 19

a mathematical formula that describes the level of interaction between two places, based on the size of their populations and their distance from each other

Front 20

hazards

Back 20

anything in the landscape, real or perceived, that is potentially threatening. Hazards are usually avoided in spatial behavior

Front 21

hierarchical diffusion

Back 21

a type of diffusion in which something is transmitted between places because of something the two places have in common

Front 22

international date line

Back 22

the line of longitude that marks where each new day begins, centered on the 180th meridian

Front 23

isoline

Back 23

map line that connects points of equal or very similar values

Front 24

large-scale

Back 24

A relatively small ratio between map units and gorund units. Large scale maps usually have higher resolution and cover much smaller regions than small-scale maps

Front 25

latitude

Back 25

the angular distance north and south of the equator, defined by lines of latitude, or parallels

Front 26

law of retail gravitation

Back 26

law that states that people will be drawn to larger cities to conduct their business because larger cities have a wider influence on the hinterlands that surround them

Front 27

location charts

Back 27

on a map, a chart or graph that gives specific statistical information of a particular political unit or jurisdiction

Front 28

longitude

Back 28

the angular distance east or west of the prime meridian, defined by lines of longitude, or meridians

Front 29

map projection

Back 29

A mathematical method that involves transferring the earth's sphere onto a flat surface. This term can also be used to describe the type of map that results from the process of projecting. All map projections have distortions in either area, direction, distance, or shape.

Front 30

Mercator projection

Back 30

A true conformal cylindrical map projection, the Mercator projection is particularly useful for navigation because it maintains accurate direction. Mercator projections are famous for their distortion in area that makes landmasses at the poles appear oversized.

Front 31

meridian

Back 31

a line of longitude that runs north-south; all lines of longitude are equal in length and intersect at the poles

Front 32

parallel

Back 32

an east-west line of latitude that runs parallel to the equator and that marks distance north or south of the equator

Front 33

preference map

Back 33

a map that displays individual preferences for certain places

Front 34

prime meridian

Back 34

an imaginary line passing through the Royal Observatory is Greenwich, England, which marks zero degree lineof longitude

Front 35

proportional symbols map

Back 35

a thematic map in which the size of a chosen symbol-such as a circle or triangle- indicates the relative magnitude of some statistical value for a given geographical region

Front 36

reference map

Back 36

a map type that shows reference information for a particular place, making it useful for finding landmarks and for navigating

Front 37

relative distance

Back 37

A measure of distance that includes the costs of overcoming the friction of absolute distance separating two places. Often relative distance describes the amount of social, cultural, or economic connectivity between two places

Front 38

relative location

Back 38

the position of a place relative to places around it

Front 39

relocation diffusion

Back 39

the diffusion of ideas, innovations, behaviors, and the like from one place to another through migration

Front 40

resolution

Back 40

A map's smallest discernable unit. If, for example, an object has to be one kilometer long in order to show up on a map, then that map's resolution is one kilometer

Front 41

Robinson projection

Back 41

Projection that attempts to balance several possible projection errors. It does not maintain completely accurate area, shape. distance, or direction, but it minimizes errors in each.

Front 42

scale

Back 42

the ratio between the size of an area on a map and the actual size of that same area on the earth's surface