Glossary and General Information Flashcards
What is is the main purpose of a map?
To visually depict the spatial relationship of particular information
Bearing
The angle of a direction from North
Relief
The height and shape of land (eg. steep or gentle)
Gradient
The rate at which elevation changes on a given distance, expressed as either a fraction or a percentage
Distance
The amount of space between two points
Scale
The ratio of distance on a map compared with actual distance
What are the two forms of scales?
A linear scale or a representative fraction
What are the three ways to calculate height on a map?
- Spot height - uses a black triangle or a dot with a number indicating the height at a point
- Contour lines - uses brown/orange lines to indicate areas of equal height
- Colour shading - uses shades to indicate areas of equal height
What is a cross section?
A side-on representation of the change in height and gradients
What is vertical exaggeration?
When the scale of the y-axis is changed to emphasise changes in gradient. This is usually worked out by dividing horizontal scale (1:x) by vertical scale (1:y) - vertical exaggeration being (x/y).
How do you calculate irregular area?
Draw a grid over the area with each square being a single unit (eg. km squared). Work out how much of each square is filled by the area and then add these up.
What are coordinates?
The use of numbers to denote location on a map
What are Eastings?
Coordinates along the x-axis (the vertical lines)
What are Northings?
Coordinates along the y-axis (the horizontal lines)
What are ordinal points?
The four main points on a compass
