MAP PROJECTION

A map projection is a systematic transformation of the latitudes and longitudes of

locations from the surface of a sphere or an ellipsoid into locations on a plane. Maps
cannot be created without map projections. All map projections necessarily distort the
surface in some fashion. There is no limit to the number of possible map projections.

TYPES OF MAP PROJECTION

1. Cylindrical Map Projections

Cylindrical map projections are one way of portraying the Earth. This kind of map
projection has straight coordinate lines with horizontal parallels crossing meridians at
right angles. All meridians are equally spaced and the scale is consistent along each
parallel. Cylindrical map projections are rectangles, but are called cylindrical because
they can be rolled up and their edges mapped in a tube, or cylinder. The only factor that
distinguishes different cylindrical map projections from one another is the scale used
when spacing the parallel lines on the map.

The downsides of cylindrical map projections are that they are severely distorted at the
poles.
While the areas near the Equator are the most likely to be accurate compared to the
actual Earth, the parallels and meridians being straight lines don’t allow for the
curvature of the Earth to be taken into consideration. Cylindrical map projections are
great for comparing latitudes to each other and are useful for teaching and visualizing
the world as a whole, but really aren’t the most accurate way of visualizing how the
world really looks in its entire

Fig 1.0. Cylindrical Map Projections

2. Conic Map Projections

Conic map projections include the equidistant conic projection, the Lambert conformal
conic, and Albers conic. These maps are defined by the cone constant, which dictates
the angular distance between meridians. These meridians are equidistant and straight
lines which converge in locations along the projection regardless of if there’s a pole or
not. Like the cylindrical projection, conic map projections have parallels that cross the
meridians at right angles with a constant measure of distortion throughout. Conic map
projections are designed to be able to be wrapped around a cone on top of a sphere
(globe), but aren’t supposed to be geometrically accurate.

Conic map projections are best suited for use as regional or hemispheric maps, but
rarely for a complete world map. The distortion in a conic map makes it inappropriate for
use as a visual of the entire Earth but does make it great for use visualizing temperate
regions, weather maps, climate projections, and more.

Fig 2.0. Conic Map Projection

 3. Azimuthal Projection

The azimuthal map projection is angular- given

three points on a map (A, B, and C) the azimuth
from Point B to Point C dictates the angle
someone would have to look or travel in order to
get to A. These angular relationships are more
commonly known as great circle arcs or
geodesic arcs. The main features of azimuthal
map projections are straight meridian lines,
radiating out from a central point, parallels that
are circular around the central point, and
equidistant parallel spacing. Light paths in three
different categories (orthographic, stereographic,
and gnomonic) can also be used. Azimuthal
maps are beneficial for finding direction from any
point on the Earth using the central point as a
reference.
Fig 3.0 Azimuthal Projection

4. Pseudocylindrical Projection

Pseudocylindrical projections represent the central meridian as a straight line segment.

Other meridians are longer than the central meridian and bow outward, away from the
central meridian. Pseudocylindrical projections map parallels as straight lines. Along
parallels, each point from the surface is mapped at a distance from the central meridian
that is proportional to its difference in longitude from the central meridian. Therefore,
meridians are equally spaced along a given parallel. On a pseudocylindrical map, any
point further from the equator than some other point has a higher latitude than the other
point, preserving north-south relationships. This trait is useful when illustrating
phenomena that depend on latitude, such as climate. Examples of pseudocylindrical
projections include:
5. Hybrid

The HEALPix projection combines an equal-area cylindrical projection in equatorial

regions with the Collignon projection in polar areas. The Collignon projection is an
equal-area pseudocylindrical map projection first known to be published by Édouard
Collignon in 1865 and subsequently cited by A. Tissot in 1881.

6. Conformal

Conformal, or orthomorphic, map

projections preserve angles locally,
implying that they map infinitesimal circles
of constant size anywhere on the Earth to
infinitesimal circles of varying sizes on the
map. In contrast, mappings that are not
conformal distort most such small circles
into ellipses of distortion. An important
consequence of conformality is that
relative angles at each point of the map
are correct, and the local scale (although
varying throughout the map) in every
direction around any one point is constant.

List of conformal projections

 Mercator projection (Conformal cylindrical projection)
o Mercator projection of normal aspect (Any rhumb line is drawn as a straight line
on the map.)
o Transverse Mercator projection
 Gauss–Krüger coordinate system (This projection preserves lengths on the
central meridian on an ellipsoid)
o Oblique Mercator projection
  Space-oblique Mercator projection (A modified projection from Oblique
Mercator projection for satellite orbits with the earth rotation within near
conformality)
 Lambert conformal conic projection
o Oblique conformal conic projection (This projection is sometimes used for long-
shaped regions, like as continents of Americas or Japanese archipelago.)
 Stereographic projection (Conformal azimuthal projection. Any circle on the earth is
drawn as a circle or a straight line on the map.)
o Miller Oblated Stereographic Projection (Modified stereographic projection for
continents of Africa and Europe.) [1]
o GS50 projection (This projection are made from a stereographic projection with
an adjustment by a polynomial on complex numbers.)
 Littrow projection (Conformal retro-azimuthal projection)
 Lagrange projection (A polyconic projection, and a composition of a Lambert
conformal conic projection and a Möbius transformation.)
o August Epicycloidal projection (A composition of Lagrange projection of sphere
in circle and a polynomial of 3 degree on complex numbers.)
 Application of elliptic function
o Peirce quincuncial projection (This projects the earth into a square conformally
except 4 singular points.)
o Lee conformal projection of the world in a tetrahedron