GEOG-120 Lecture Notes - Lecture 24: International Date Line, Global Positioning System, Decimal Degrees
24 Sep 2020
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Document Summary
Longitude: measured in degrees east or west of the prime meridian, extend up to 180 degrees (east or west, the prime meridian is 0 degrees, greenwich, england, the international date line is 180 degrees. Latitude and longitude: degrees can be sub-divided into minutes and seconds or as decimal degrees, edmonton is, 53 degrees 33" n 113 degrees 28" w, 53. 550 degrees n 113. 467 degrees w. Global positioning system: used to accurately determine the latitude and longitude of any point on the earth. Polar projections: meridians as straight lines that radiate from pole, parallels as concentric circles, distortion increases outward. Mercator projections: uses straight lines for both the meridians and parallels, lines cross at right angles, lines of longitude must be cut off around 80 degrees because distortion approaches infinity at the poles, preserves direction. Goode projection: parallels are straight lines, meridians are curved, distorts the shapes of the continents seriously, but maintains their area- equal area projection.
