Human Geography Ch2

Front 1

absolute distance

Back 1

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

Front 2

absolute location

Back 2

the exact position of an object or plane, 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 law of 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 as 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 avg 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. they can include knowledge of actual locations and relationships b/w locations as well as personal perceptions and preferences of particular places

Front 9

complementarity

Back 9

the actual or potential relationship b/w 2 places, usually referring to economic interactions

Front 10

connectivity

Back 10

the degree of economic, social, cultural, or political connection b/w 2 places

Front 11

contagious diffusion

Back 11

the spread of a disease, innovation, or cultural traits thru 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 interaction between 2 phenomena, places, or people as the distance b/w them increases

Front 14

dot maps

Back 14

thematic maps that use points to show the precise locations of specific observations or occurrences, 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 thru contact and exchange

Front 16

friction of distance

Back 16

a measure of how much absolute distance affects the interaction b/w 2 places

Front 17

fuller projection

Back 17

a type of map projection that maintains the accurate size and shape of landmasses but completely rearranges direction such that the 4 cardinal directions--north, south, east,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 then it is along the meridians, from north-south circumference

Front 19

gravity model

Back 19

a mathematical formula that describes the level of interaction b/w 2 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. they are usually avoided in spatial behavior

Front 21

hierarchical diffusion

Back 21

a type of diffusion in which something is transmitted b/w places b/c of something the 2 places have in common

Front 22

internat'l date line

Back 22

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

Front 23

intervening oppurtunities

Back 23

the idea that one places has a demand for some good or service and 2 places have a supply of equal price and quality, then the closer of the 2 suppliers to the buyer will represent an intervening opportunity, thereby blocking the third from being able to share its supply of goods or services. intervening opportunities are frequently utilized b/c transportation costs usually decrease with proximity

Front 24

isoline

Back 24

map line that connects points of equal or very similar values

Front 25

large-scale

Back 25

a relatively small ratio b/w map units and ground units. these maps usually have higher resolution and cover much smaller regions than small-scale maps

Front 26

latitude

Back 26

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

Front 27

law of retail gravitation

Back 27

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

Front 28

location charts

Back 28

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

Front 29

longitude

Back 29

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

Front 30

map projection

Back 30

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

Front 31

mercator projection

Back 31

a true conformal cylindrical map projection, the mercator projection is particularly useful for navigation b/c it maintains accurate direction. they are famous for their distortion in area that makes landmasses at the poles appear oversized

Front 32

meridian

Back 32

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

Front 33

parallel

Back 33

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

Front 34

preference map

Back 34

a map that displays individual preferences for certain places

Front 35

prime meridian

Back 35

an imaginary line passing thru the royal observatory in greenwich, england, which marks the 0 degrees line of longitude

Front 36

proportional symbols map

Back 36

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 geographic region

Front 37

reference map

Back 37

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

Front 38

relative distance

Back 38

a measure of distance that includes the costs of overcoming the friction of absolute distance separating 2 places. often relative distance describes the amt of social, cultural, or economic connectivity b/w 2 places

Front 39

relative location

Back 39

the position of a place relative to places around it

Front 40

relocation diffusion

Back 40

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

Front 41

resolution

Back 41

a map's smallest discernable unit. if, for example, an object has to be one km long in order to show up on a map, then that map's resolution is 1 km

Front 42

robinson projection

Back 42

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 43

scale

Back 43

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

Front 44

site

Back 44

the absolute location of a place, described by local relief, landforms, and other cultural or physical characteristics

Front 45

situation

Back 45

the relative location of a place in relation to the physical and cultural characteristics of the surrounding area and the connections and interdependencies within that system; a place's spatial context

Front 46

small-scale

Back 46

map scale ratio in which the ratio of units on the map to units on the earth is quite small. these maps usually depict large areas

Front 47

spatial diffusion

Back 47

refers to the ways in which phenomena, such as technological innovations, cultural trends, or even outbreaks of disease, travel over space

Front 48

thematic map

Back 48

a type of map that displays one or more variables--such as population, or income level--within a specific area

Front 49

time-space convergence

Back 49

the idea that distance b/w some places is actually shrinking as technology enables more rapid communication and increased interaction b/w those places

Front 50

topographic maps

Back 50

maps that use isolines to represent constant elevations. if you took one out into the field and walked exactly along the path of an isoline on your map, you would always stay at the same elevation

Front 51

topological space

Back 51

the amt of connectivity b/w 2 places regardless of the absolute distance separating them

Front 52

transferability

Back 52

the costs involved in moving goods from one place to another

Front 53

visualization

Back 53

use of sophisticated software to create dynamic computer maps, some of which are 3-dimensional or interactive