Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chapter 1
Discovering the Earth’s Dimensions
Visualizing Physical Geography
by Timothy Foresman & Alan Strahler
© Brenda Kean/Alamy
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chapter Overview
The World of Geography
The Shape of the Earth
Global Location
Global Time
Mapping the Earth
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
What is
happening in
this photo?
Courtesy of NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Physical geography plays a valuable role in:
• Understanding the planet
• Addressing issues of sustainability
• Population increase
• 6.9 billion today
• Estimated 10 billion
people in 40 years
• Integrating the human and
physical world
Courtesy of NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
The Science of Geography
• Geographers study Earth.
• Geographers consider:
• Spatial considerations (related to physical space)
• Temporal considerations (related to changes of time)
1973 2006
USGS, courtesy NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
What are some of the spatial and temporal
changes between these two photos?
1973 2006
USGS, courtesy NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
The five essential themes of geography:
• Location
• Home address
• GPS = Global Positioning System
• Place
• Region
• Human-Earth relationships
• Movement
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
The Science of Geography:
• Physical Geography
• Study of the Earth’s living and nonliving systems
• Study of landscapes, and natural processes such as
weather, climate, and geology
• Human Geography
• Study of spatial interactions and patterns related to
human activity such as social, cultural, and economic
topics
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
The Science of Geography:
• Technology, Tools, and Quantitative Methods
• Cartography
• GIS = Geographical Information Systems
• Remote Sensing
• Statistics
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
The World of Systems
• Constant Interactions of
energy and material between
the Earth’s four major
systems:
• Atmosphere
• Hydrosphere
• Lithosphere
• Biosphere
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Methods and Tools for Geography
•Eratosthenes
• No shadow on summer solstice in Aswan
• Earth’s size
•Today’s technology
• Remote sensing
• GIS
• GPS
• Internet
• Web-based mapping tools
•Methods
• Scientific method
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Methods and Tools for Geography
• Scientific method = the formal process that a scientist uses
to solve a problem, which involves first observing and
formulating a hypothesis and then testing and evaluating
results
Hypothesis = logical explanation for a process or
phenomenon that allows prediction and testing by
experiment
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Methods and Tools for Geography
• Steps of the Scientific Method
1. Generate critical inquiry from investigations and field
observation.
2. Formalize questions into a testable hypothesis to
explain observations.
3. Select method(s) of analysis and control for variables
and conditions for experiment.
4. Collect data for controlled experiment.
5. Conduct experiments to test hypothesis.
6. Reject or accept the hypothesis.
7. Document results, provide new scientific facts, and
apply them to support theory or greater understanding.
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Step 1: Observe a spatial pattern of vegetative growth that is
different on the west side of each of the Hawaiian Islands than
on the east side.
Step 2: Formalize a hypothesis:
• Hypothesis 1 = Vegetation patterns are explained by rock
type.
• Hypothesis 2 = Vegetation patterns are explained by
temperatures.
• Hypothesis 3 = Vegetation patterns are explained by
rainfall.
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Step 3: Select method of analysis. Use the big island of Hawaii
to map the specific 16 × 16 km (10 × 10 mi) square test
areas on the west and east sides of the island.
Step 4: Collect data:
• Vegetation maps from NASA satellites
• Geologic maps from USGS
• Temperature data from NOAA
• Collect rainfall data from NOAA services
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Step 5: Conduct experiments to test hypothesis:
• Overlay rock type on the vegetation map to look for
patterns.
• Look for correlation between rock type and vegetation
within grids.
• If hypothesis rejected, return to this step to test next
hypothesis.
Step 6: Reject or accept hypothesis:
• No correlation between rock type and temperature with
vegetation.
• Positive correlation between rainfall and vegetation.
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Step 7: Document results and apply to theory:
• Documentation allows others to review for verification.
• If sufficient more tests conducted on other islands, the
hypothesis may be elevated to a theory.
• Theory = a hypothesis that has been tested and is
strongly supported by experimentation, observation, and
scientific evidence.
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The World of Physical Geography
Geographic Use of the Scientific Method
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Is the Earth round?
The Shape of the Earth
Courtesy NG Image Collection
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
The Earth is not a perfect
sphere:
• Equatorial diameter slightly
greater than polar diameter
• Poles = the two points on
the Earth’s surface where
the axis of rotation emerges
• Axis = an imaginary straight
line through the center of the
Earth around which the
Earth rotates
The Shape of the Earth
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Location
Geographic Grid
• Network of parallels and meridians used to fix location on
the Earth
Meridian = north-south line
on the Earth’s surface,
connecting the poles
Parallels = east-west circle
on the Earth’s surface, lying
on a plane parallel to the
equator
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Location
Geographic Grid
Equator is parallel of
latitude lying midway
between the Earth’s poles;
it is designated latitude 0º.
Intersection of meridians
and parallels makes up the
geographic grid.
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Location
Geographic Grid
Latitude
• An angular distance for a
point north or south of the
equator, as measured from
the Earth’s center
• Like “laddersâ€
• Equator (0o) divides northern
and southern hemisphere
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Location
Geographic Grid
Longitude
• The angular distance for a
point east or west of the
prime meridian.
(Greenwich), as measured
from the Earth’s center.
• Prime meridian is 0o.
• Longitude measured
eastward or westward from
the prime meridian from 0o
to 180o. © John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Location
Longitude
• Prime meridian runs through Greenwich, England.
If we are facing north,
which side is to the east?
What is the latitude and
longitude of Point P?
© Dennis di Cicco/Corbis © John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Time
Earth’s geographic grid and
the rotation of the Earth
help define global time.
Solar Time
• Based on Earth’s rotation
• Makes one full turn in a day
(24 hours)
• Sun rises in the east and
sets in the west
• Solar noon = reaches its
highest angle
• Solar timekeeping
© Frank Zullo/Photo Researchers, Inc.
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Time
Solar Time
• Sun only shines on half of Earth at one time.
• Shines on eastern sides first.
• Local time is determined primarily by longitude.
When it is noon in Chicago,
is it earlier or later in:
a. Portland?
b. New York?
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Standard Time
• Designated 24 standard meridians around the globe, at
equal intervals from the prime meridian.
Global Time
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Time
Time Zones of the World
• Coordinated universal time (UTC)
• Bottom figure labels = number of hours of difference
between that zone and Greenwich mean time
• A negative 7 = seven hours behind Greenwich time
• A positive 3 = three hours ahead of Greenwich time
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Time
Time Zones of the World
© US Navy Oceanographic Office
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Time
Time Zones of the
Conterminous United
States
• Eastern, Central,
Mountain, and Pacific
• Daylight saving time
= clocks set ahead
(spring forward)
If it is 3:00 PM in New York City, what time is it in:
a. Atlanta?
b. Dallas?
c. Los Angeles?
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Time
The International Dateline (IDL)
• Follows 180th meridian except through the Aleutian Islands,
Alaska and island nation of Kiribati
• Move east across IDL, subtract a day
If you flew from Los Angeles to Beijing, would you add
or subtract a day?
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Global Time
Time Zones of the World
If it is 7 AM Sunday, in New York, NY, what day and time
is it in Tokyo, Japan?
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Map = a graphic, scaled
representative view of the
Earth, or any portion of the
Earth, as viewed from above,
depicting various features of
interest.
Cartography
• Subfield of geography
• Representing Earth
through maps
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Map scale = the relationship between
distance on a map and distance on the
ground, given as a fraction or a ratio.
Three types of map scale:
• Verbal scale, such as 1 cm = 1 km
• Representative fraction
• 1:50,000 means that 1 unit of map
distance equals 50,000 units on the
Earth
• 1 cm on the map equals 50,000 cm or
500 m or 0.5 km on the ground
• Graphic scale
• Shows scale on a bar
• Stays accurate if map size changes © John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Map Scale
© John Wiley & Sons
Map Projection
• A system of parallels and meridians represents the Earth’s
curved surface drawn on a flat surface.
• Curved surface cannot be projected onto a flat sheet
without distortion.
• Four main types
of projections:
• Cylindrical
• Conic
• Plane
• Elliptical (oval)
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Cylindrical Projection
• Wraps a cylinder around the globe so that the paper
touches the globe at the equator.
• Parallels increases at higher latitude so that the spacing at
60°is double that at the equator, which distorts
landmasses, as seen with Greenland.
• Example: Mercator project
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Plane Projection
• Produced by projecting a map from a center lit globe onto
a piece of paper touching the globe at any point.
• Can choose any center point, from which directions and
distances are true, but in outer areas, shapes and sizes
are distorted.
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Conic Projection
• Cone sits atop the globe like
a cap, with the point of the
cone typically situated over
one of the poles.
• Accuracy is greatest along
the circle it touches—the
standard parallel.
• Good format for mapping
mid-latitude regions that are
larger east to west than
north to south.
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Elliptical (Oval)
Projection
• Central meridian and all
parallels are straight
lines, with relative sizes
represented accurately,
but shapes are distorted
at the edges.
• Often used for thematic
or political maps.
• Example: Mollweide
equal area map
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Distortions in Map
Projections
• All maps are distorted.
• Mapmaker decides
whether to preserve
shape, size, or a
compromise.
• Conformity
• True shape map preserves shape but distorts size.
• Example: Mercator projection
• Great Circle Route is the shortest distance between
two points.
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Distortions in Map Projections
• Equivalence: Equal-area projection
• Preserves size but distorts shape.
• Example: Goode’s projection
© University of Chicago Press
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Mapping the Earth
Distortions in Map Projections
• Compromises
• Sacrifice equivalency and conformity for the sake of
portraying a general balance between the two
• Example: Winkel Tripel projection
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Remote-Sensing Tools
• Use of technology to record observations from a distance
(e.g., aerial images)
• Handheld, aircraft, and satellites capture radio waves,
microwaves, infrared energy, and visible wavelengths.
• Used for a variety of environmental and land-use issues
Population and
land use change
in Las Vegas
between 1973
and 2006.
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Remote-Sensing Tools
• Spatial resolution = size of
the smallest area, or pixel
• Spectral resolution = range of
wavelengths captured by the
sensors
• Important Earth Observing
System (EOS) satellites:
• Landsat
• Weather satellites for
ozone, temperature,
clouds
• Terra
Courtesy of NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Geographical
Information Systems
(GIS)
• A combination of
software, data, and
operational organization
• Provides the capacity to
capture and
communicate spatial
relationships among
geographic features,
values, and objects in
digital databases
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Geographical Information Systems
(GIS)
• A useful analysis tool
• Designed to answer questions with spatial
information:
• What is the best route to deliver
packages?
• Which wells will be polluted by
underground aquifer contamination?
• What property values will suffer from
loan defaults in one neighborhood as
compared to another?
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Geographical Information Systems
(GIS)
• Geocoding: These questions are
answered by merging conventional data
with their geographic locations.
• GIS maps are common feature in public
hearings.
© John Wiley & Sons
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
• Accurately determines geographic location
• Consists of 24+ satellites that orbit Earth
• Receivers work by measuring and triangulating time delay
of signals from a minimum of three (usually four or more)
GPS satellites.
• Handheld devices and phones automatically enable GPS
data to be recorded.
• openstreetmap.org
• Represents a creative approach to citizen-led data
collection for mapping world’s streets
• Available for free
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Geobrowsers and 3-D Mapping
• Internet mapping
• Uses:
• Reporting on humanitarian issues
• Tracking eco-disasters
1. What does a geographer see?
2. If the resolution of Blue Marble
is 1 square kilometer, how can
geographers keep track of 8.5
million points to discern changes
in land use?
Courtesy NASA
Visualizing Physical Geography
Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Frontiers in Mapping Technologies
Geobrowsers and 3-D Mapping
• Computer programs that access and query geographic
data draped over a computer-generated globe
• Google Earth
1. Explain how spaceage technologies have
affected the field
of geography.
2. What do you think
we can expect from
these technologies in
the future?
Courtesy NASA
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