MAP PROJECTIONS Putting a round Earth on a flat paper

MAPS Maps are a visual representation of the Earth’s surface, drawn to scale and made for a specific purpose. Each unique map projection serves a particular purpose.

HOW DO YOU PROJECT A ROUND GLOBE ON A FLAT SURFACE? Options Stretch out some areas Cut out some areas Shrink some areas

EARTH TO GLOBE TO MAP Map Scale: Map Projection:

PROJECTING OUR GLOBE ONTO A FLAT SURFACE Globes are the most accurate way to represent the surface of the Earth. However, because it is not practical to carry a globe into the field, map makers must figure out how to represent a round map on a flat piece of paper.

TYPES OF PROJECTIONS Conic (Albers Equal Area, Lambert Conformal Conic) - good for East-West land areas Cylindrical (Transverse Mercator) - good for North-South land areas Azimuthal (Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area) - good for global views

CONIC PROJECTIONS (ALBERS, LAMBERT)

CONIC PROJECTION MAP A conic projection map is created by placing a cone shaped screen on a globe. More accurate than the cylindrical projection map. The further we travel down the map, the more distorted and less accurate the map becomes.

CYLINDRICAL PROJECTIONS (MERCATOR) Transverse Oblique

CYLINDRICAL PROJECTION MAP A cylindrical projection map is the most common type of map that we see. Areas close to the equator have very little distortion. The closer to the poles that one travels, the more distorted the map becomes. Greenland appears to be many times larger than it really is.

AZIMUTHAL – PLANE PROJECTION (LAMBERT)

PLANE PROJECTION A plane projection is created by placing an imaginary screen directly above or below a globe. This type of map projection is not commonly used.

INTERRUPTED PROJECTION MAP These types of maps try to depict the continents as accurately as possible by leaving blank space in the less important areas of the map, such as in the oceans.

BUT THE MOST CORRECT