Lab 5: Map Projection in ArcGIS

Equal Area Maps

1) Cylindrical Equal Area projection; distance: 10,011 mi

2) Berhmann projection; distance: 8683 mi

 

Equidistant Maps

(1) Equidistant conic projection; distance:7017 mi

2) Equidistant cylindrical projection; distance: 5066 mi

Conformal Maps

1) Mercator projection; distance: 9912 mi

2) Stereographic projection; distance: 10,068 mi

The significance of map projections can clearly be seen with the wide variety of options shown above. While trying to convey several aspects of maps that are conformal, equidistant and equal area, their projections are often very different from each other. They are significant because they can distort distance, shape, and size of land masses and oceans on the globe. For instance, if one uses a conformal projection such as the Mercator, land masses will not be true to their size. However, the projection might be useful for navigational purposes and to accurately depict shapes. Also, one might use an equal-area map to preserve area and the size of countries, in order for countries not to look like they are bigger than they really are. Others might use a conic equi-distant projection to preserve distance, which shows that these projections are the most true to distance between Kabul and Washington D.C.

                The perils of map projections are that instead of having one true map projection, in which size, shape and distance are preserved; they all have one of those elements missing. If one chose to use a Mercator projection, then the shapes of continents would be correct but the sizes of continents and distances between them would be very different. I would definitely not use this projection if I wanted to know the exact distance between two places. It might be easier for people to read maps if there was one common map projection, and not a variety to choose from.

I think the future of map projections will be crucial to serve different functions, occupations and uses. For instance, the conic equidistant map can display the spherical space of an area and zoom in on it.  An example would be showing Antarctica bigger than the rest of the globe. With the help of GIS, it can possibly display what we want know; such as how the ozone has depleted and thickened throughout several years with restrictions on CFC emissions. Different projections could help accurately preserve shape, size, or distance so people could discover things about earth and our climate. I think that map projections have the potential to grow and expand to different fields not just geography.

Just by conducting six different map projections, I was able to tell how different the world could look in other lenses. The properties of the projections, what they lack, and what elements they preserve can tell us a lot about how different disciplinaries use this to their advantage. These projections are used to showcase the element they want to be more precise and are able to in a variety of ways.