If you’re looking for a comprehensive visual guide to the various types of map projections, you’re in the right place! We’ve put together an extensive resource covering the top 50 global map projections that cartographers use today. From the Aitoff to the Winkel Tripel, these projections help shape the way we visualize our world. Whether you’re a student, researcher, or mapping enthusiast, this guide will serve as your go-to reference for creating accurate and visually compelling maps. Dive into the fascinating world of cartography and discover how different projections influence the way we see the Earth.
Gerardus Mercator, a Flemish mapmaker and geographer, introduced the Mercator projection (/mərˈkeɪtər/), a conformal cylindrical map projection, in 1569. Its ability to depict rhumb lines as straight lines made it the primary map projection for navigation in the 18th century. The Mercator projection, when used on globe maps, makes regions appear larger the farther they are from the equator. Consequently, compared to landmasses close to the equator, landmasses like Greenland and Antarctica appear much larger than they actually are. These days, the Mercator projection is commonly utilized since it works well for online maps in addition to sea navigation.
If you are interested in GIS and geography you have to some types of Coordinate and Projection ….. lets dive i to it.
1) Mercator
Gerardus Mercator was a Flemish cartographer and geographer who first used the Mercator projection, a cylindrical map projection, in 1569. It was the first frequently used map projection. Properties
Characteriezed by
- At a constant scale, the equator is a straight line.
- Rhumb lines are straight lines that have a consistent direction.
- The distance from the equator makes landmasses appear larger than they actually are.
used for …
- Navigation: The Mercator projection was the standard map projection for navigation in the 18th century
- Web mapping: The Mercator projection is well suited for internet web maps
2) Cylindrical : A technique for depicting the Earth’s surface on a flat map involves encircling the globe at the equator with a cylinder and then unfolding it. Any of the several map projections of the terrestrial sphere on the surface of a cylinder that is then unrolled as a plane is known as a cylindrical projection in cartography. The Earth’s latitudes and meridians were first drawn on the flat surface using a methodical process to create this and other map projections. The Mercator projection, which was the sole map utilized for navigation for centuries, is undoubtedly the best example of how a rectangular map may be useful or even required in some situations.
Additionally, it appears that a lot of individuals like rectangular maps: If you look for a wallpaper globe map, you’ll see that many of the ones available for purchase employ a projection that is rectangular in shape.
Unfortunately, this leads to the Mercator projection appearing on widely used globe maps for which it was not intended. (And that again resulted in the terrible Peters forecast, but I won’t go into that right now.)
Usage…
a) Political Map: When used for a political map, the Patterson project performs admirably.
Naturally, the drawback is that Europe is located in a highly exaggerated region of the map, thus employing it could lead to accusations of eurocentrism.
Geographical characteristics and boundaries associated with political divisions, such as national borders, state or provincial borders, county lines, city limits, and other administrative regions, are the main focus of political maps. They serve as a representation of how political entities are organized, assisting individuals in comprehending the political framework of a certain region.
It is important to remember that political and physical maps are extremely different, but they are both fairly prevalent. For background, the maps you are viewing are physical maps, not political ones, if they show the natural landscape visually (such as landforms, water features, elevation, flora, etc.). Using different colors, symbols, or labels to differentiate between different political jurisdictions is one of the unique features of political maps.
b) Topographic Map :
Topographic maps are the one type of map that truly doesn’t function with cylindric projections. I’m not even sure why I believe that. I just think it’s wrong.
However, compared to the other cylindric projections mentioned above, the Patterson projection is at least superior for topographic maps. The use of elevation contour lines to depict the Earth’s surface shape is what makes a topographic map unique. Imaginary lines that connect points on the land surface that are at the same elevation above or below a reference surface—typically mean sea level—are known as elevation contours. The height and form of mountains, the depths of the ocean floor, and the steepness of slopes can all be seen thanks to contours.
Roads, railroads, rivers, streams, lakes, borders, place or feature names, mountains, and many other types of geographic features are also included on USGS topographic maps. Additional elements like cities, buildings, trails, mountain altitudes, and survey control points are depicted on older maps (issued prior to 2006). Those will be included in additional current maps over time.
c) Climatic Map:
A region’s climate can be described as the predominant weather pattern that occurs there over an extended period of time. It is determined by evaluating factors including wind, temperature, precipitation, humidity, and atmospheric pressure. Weather is a short-term measure of the aforementioned elements, whereas climate is a longer-term measure. Climate zones, sometimes referred to as the Koppen climate classification, are used to categorize regions of the world. A climate map can show the different zones on a piece of paper or a level surface.
3) Azimuthal Equidistant:
An azimuthal map projection is the azimuthal equidistant projection. Its helpful characteristics include the fact that every point on the map is at the proper azimuth (direction) from the central point and at proportionately accurate distances from it. A polar projection, which displays all meridians (lines of longitude) as straight and accurately depicts distances from the pole, is a practical usage for this kind of projection.
One illustration of a polar azimuthal equidistant projection can be found on the United Nations flag.Gerardus Mercator employed the projection for an inset of the north polar areas in sheet 13 and legend 6 of his famous map from 1569, and it can be found in numerous maps from the Renaissance. This projection is known as the “Postel projection” in France and Russia, after Guillaume Postel, who employed it on a map in 1581. The polar azimuthal equidistant projection is used in many contemporary star chart planispheres.
4) Natural Earth:
A compromise pseudocylindrical map projection for globe maps is the Natural Earth projection. The projection’s rounded corners at the intersection of the pole lines and lateral meridians give the impression that the Earth is circular. In 2007, Tom Patterson expressly created it to display physical data. A compromise pseudocylindrical map projection for globe maps is the Natural Earth projection. The projection’s rounded corners at the intersection of the pole lines and lateral meridians give the impression that the Earth is circular.
In 2007, Tom Patterson expressly created it to display physical data. The calculations for the projection were published in 2011 by Bojan Šavrič, Tom Patterson, and Bernhard Jenny. It is compatible with ArcGIS Desktop 10.4 and later, as well as ArcGIS Pro 1.2 and later.
5) Polyconic:
The polyconic projection is not recommended for regional maps. Because there is no distortion along the central meridian, the projection is appropriate for regions of predominant north-south extent. It was used for topographic USGS quad sheets from 1886 until approximately 1957.American polyconic or ordinary polyconic projection are other names for the polyconic projection. The term, which means “many cones,” refers to the arrangement of an endless number of cones along the center meridian. The meridians’ shape is impacted by this. The meridians are curved instead of straight, in contrast to other conic projections. The projection is neither equal-area nor conformal. It works well in areas that are primarily north-south in extent.
Ferdinand R. Hassler created the projection in 1820. It is compatible with ArcGIS Desktop 8.0 and later, as well as ArcGIS Pro 1.0 and later.
Graticule
This projection is polyconic. Two straight lines that are perpendicular to each other are projected to represent the equator and the central meridian. The remaining meridians are all intricate curves that are concave toward the central meridian and equally spaced throughout the equator and each latitude parallel. Equally spaced along the center meridian, each parallel is a nonconcentric circular arc. Points are used to represent the poles. Between the central meridian and the equator, the graticule is symmetrical.
Deformation
Neither conformal nor equal-area describes the polyconic projection. In general, it warps angles, directions, lengths, regions, and shapes. There is no distortion in the central meridian. The scale is correct along the projection’s central meridian and along each parallel. The farther one gets from the center meridian, the more distortion there is. The distortion from east to west is larger than.
For regional maps, the polyconic projection is not advised. The projection is suitable for areas that are primarily north-south in extent since there is no distortion along the central meridian. Topographic USGS quad sheets were produced using it from 1886 until around 1957.
