Description. Mercator is a conformal cylindrical map projection that was originally created to
display accurate compass bearings for sea travel
. An additional feature of this projection is that all local shapes are accurate and correctly defined at infinitesimal scale. It was presented by Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
What is the Mercator projection simple definition?
Mercator projection, type of map projection introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. … This projection is
widely used for navigation charts
, because any straight line on a Mercator projection map is a line of constant true bearing that enables a navigator to plot a straight-line course.
What is the Mercator projection used for?
Description. Mercator is a conformal cylindrical map projection that was originally created to
display accurate compass bearings for sea travel
. An additional feature of this projection is that all local shapes are accurate and correctly defined at infinitesimal scale. It was presented by Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
What type of projection is Mercator?
The Mercator projection is
a cylindrical map projection
presented by the Flemish geographer and cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.
What is a Mercator projection How is it good or bad?
This 1912 map uses the Mercator projection, which inflates the size of land near the poles such that Greenland appears to be the same size as South America when in fact it is only one-eighth as big. Mercator maps
distort the shape and relative size of continents
, particularly near the poles.
What is wrong with the Robinson projection?
Distortion. The Robinson projection is neither conformal nor equal-area. It
generally distorts shapes, areas, distances, directions, and angles
. … Area distortion grows with latitude and does not change with longitude.
What are the 4 types of map projections?
| Rank Map Projection Name Examples | 1 Cylindrical Mercator, Cassini, Equirectangular | 2 Pseudocylindrical Mollweide, Sinusoidal, Robinson | 3 Conic Lambert conformal conic, Albers conic | 4 Pseudoconical Bonne, Bottomley, Werner, American polyconic |
|---|
Why is the Mercator projection popular?
One of the most famous map projections is the Mercator, created by a Flemish cartographer and geographer, Geradus Mercator in 1569. It became
the standard map projection for nautical purposes because of its ability to represent lines of constant true direction
. … Also, the lines of longitude are evenly spaced apart.
What is the major weakness of the Mercator projection?
Disadvantages: Mercator projection
distorts the size of objects as the latitude increases from the Equator to the poles, where the scale becomes infinite
. So, for example, Greenland and Antarctica appear much larger relative to land masses near the equator than they actually are.
What are the pros and cons of the Mercator projection?
Advantage: The Mercator map projection
shows the correct shapes of the continents and directions accurately
. Disadvantage: The Mercator map projection does not show true distances or sizes of continents, especially near the north and south poles.
What map projection is most accurate?
AuthaGraph
. This is hands-down the most accurate map projection in existence. In fact, AuthaGraph World Map is so proportionally perfect, it magically folds it into a three-dimensional globe. Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa invented this projection in 1999 by equally dividing a spherical surface into 96 triangles.
What is the difference between Mercator and Gnomonic projections?
On a mercator projection chart, lines of latitude are parallel as are lines of longitude. A rhumb line course of 040° crosses each meridian (lines of longitude) at the same angle. … On gnomonic projection charts,
meridians converge and lines of latitude are curved
.
What is the most famous cylindrical projection map?
Some preserve area, some shape, and some true distance along their meridians. The most famous of all map projections—
the Mercator
—is a cylindrical projection. Like the Central Cylindrical, the Mercator is also unable to project the poles and creates severe area distortion at latitudes near the poles.
What four distortions are there in the Robinson projection?
There are four main types of distortion that come from map projections:
distance, direction, shape and area
.
What are the 5 map projections?
- Mercator. This projection was developed by Gerardus Mercator back in 1569 for navigational purposes. …
- Robinson. This map is known as a ‘compromise’, it shows neither the shape or land mass of countries correct. …
- Dymaxion Map. …
- Gall-Peters. …
- Sinu-Mollweide. …
- Goode’s Homolosine. …
- AuthaGraph. …
- Hobo-Dyer.
Is Greenland bigger than us?
United States is
about 4.5 times bigger than Greenland
.
Greenland is approximately 2,166,086 sq km, while United States is approximately 9,833,517 sq km, making United States 354% larger than Greenland.
