Why map projections
10th October 2013
ES 221-2
Lecturer :N Takalimane
Reasons for choosing map projections
If you need to make accurate measurements form your map & be sure that
different types of spatial analysis work correctly, lat/long are not good or
consistent units for measuring shape, area, distance & direction, lat/long is
only good for storing data
We use projections in order to preserve:
Shape
Angles
Area
Distance
Direction
. Using this notation, the coordinates at the origin are x = 0 and y = 0.
A map projection is a system in which locations on the curved surface
of the earth are displayed on a flat sheet or surface according to some
set of rules.
a projected coordinate system has constant lengths, angles, and areas
across the two dimensions. A projected coordinate system is always
based on a geographic coordinate system that is based on a sphere or
spheroid.
In a projected coordinate system, locations are identified by x, y
coordinates on a grid, with the origin at the center of the grid. Each
position has two values that reference it to that central location.
One specifies its horizontal position and the other its vertical position.
The two values are called the x-coordinate and y-coordinate
Cont, why map projections
Maps are a common source of input data for a GIS, often input maps will be in
different projections, requiring transformation of one or all maps to make
coordinates compatible
Often GIS are used for projects of global or regional scales so consideration of the
effect of the earth's curvature is necessary
Monitor screens are analogous to a flat sheet of paper thus, a need to provide
transformations from the curved surface to the plane for displaying data
Normally, angles, areas, directions, shapes and distances become distorted when
transformed from a curved surface to a plane, all these properties cannot be kept
undistorted in a single projection usually the distortion in one property will be kept
to a minimum while other properties become very distorted
Different types of projections
Equal area - preserves area (shape, direction, distance are not preserved), they
cannot be conformal, angles & shapes are strongly distorted e.g. Lambert Equal
Area projection
Conformal - preserves angles or shape. Shape for small area is preserved, but
for large areas it is significantly distorted – parallels and meridians cross each
other at 90°. They cannot have equal area properties, areas near margins have
large scale than areas near the centre
Equidistant – Preserves distances thought not form all points to all, instead
distances are true from one point to all other points along the meridians and
parallels
Azimuthal – Preserves direction from one point to all other points ( this
quality can be combined with equal area, conformal or equidistant)
Things to consider when choosing a
projection
Which spatial properties do I want to preserve?
Where is the area that I am mapping? Is it in the polar
or equatorial regions?
What shape is the area that I am mapping? Is it
square, wider longer etc
How big is the area that I want to map? Remember on
small scale maps distortion is greatest
