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Novikontas Jūras koledžas Padomes sēdē

ar 14.07.2015. prot. Nr. 3-1-1/2015/14

NOVIKONTAS MARITIME COLLEGE

Subject name: Terrestrial and Coastal Navigation

Exercise number: 1B 105 Classification of Nautical Charts -

Projections

Teacher: A. Reprinstev
Student: Deniss Gorins
Date: 16/05/2023
Task № 1
In this exercise, you should answer questions.

1. Give classification of chart projections taking into consideration:

a. The nature of images and character of deformations.

b. Variant of building chart’s cartographic grid.

2. Give brief general description, advantage and disadvantage of each projection (including Mercator projection)

using enclosed form. Show projections in pictures.

Projection: Mercator Projection

General description: cylindrical map Picture of projection:

projection that was developed by Gerardus
Mercator in 1569. It is one of the most widely
used map projections, particularly for world
maps. The projection's main characteristic is
that it preserves angles and straight lines,
which makes it useful for navigation and
plotting courses on a map.

The Mercator projection works by projecting

the Earth's surface onto a cylinder that
surrounds it. The cylinder is then unrolled to
create a flat map.

Advantage Disadvantage:

Conformal: The Mercator projection Distortion of area: The Mercator projection significantly
preserves angles, which means that shapes of distorts the sizes of land masses, particularly near the poles.
small areas are accurately represented. This
property makes it useful for navigation since
angles and directions can be measured
accurately

Straight meridians and parallels: The

projection maintains straight lines for
meridians (longitude lines) and parallels
(latitude lines). Meridians are evenly spaced
vertical lines, and parallels are horizontal lines
that are equally spaced, forming a grid-like
pattern.

Projection: Transverse Mercator Projection

General description: Cylindrical map Picture:

projection that is specifically designed for
mapping smaller regions or strips of the
Earth's surface along a specific line of
longitude. Unlike the regular Mercator
projection, which has the cylinder aligned
with the Earth's equator, the Transverse
Mercator projection has the cylinder aligned
with a chosen meridian.

Advantage: Disadvantage:

Projection preserves angles locally, meaning
that shapes of small areas are accurately
represented. This property is particularly
useful for navigation and surveying purposes.
Distortion of area: Similar to the regular Mercator
projection, the Transverse Mercator projection introduces
distortion in the areas farther away from the central
meridian. The distortion increases as one moves away from
the central meridian, resulting in an exaggerated size of land
masses in those areas.

Narrow strip coverage: The Transverse

Mercator projection is most suitable for
mapping relatively narrow strips of the Earth's
surface. By choosing the appropriate central
meridian, a specific region or corridor can be
accurately represented, while minimizing
distortion.

Projection: Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Grid

General description: Military grid
superimposed upon a transverse Mercator
graticule, or the representation of these grid
lines upon any graticule. This grid system and
these projections are often used for large-scale
(harbor) nautical charts and military charts.

Picture:

Advantage: Disadvantage:

Accurate local measurements: The UTM Distortion at zone boundaries: The UTM grid uses a series
grid provides a convenient and accurate means of rectangular zones, and distortion increases as one moves
of representing and measuring locations away from the central meridian of each zone.
within a specific zone. It is particularly useful
for surveying, mapping, and navigation in
smaller regions.

Angles and shapes are preserved locally, Limited coverage near the poles: The UTM grid is not
making it suitable for tasks that require designed for accurate representation of areas near the polar
accurate representation of angles, such as regions.
navigation and engineering.

Projection: Oblique Mercator Projections

General description: Oblique Mercator

projections are a type of map projection that
combines elements of both the Mercator and
transverse Mercator projections. They are
specifically designed to accurately represent
areas along a particular oblique line or great
circle path on the Earth's surface.

Picture:

Advantage: Disadvantage:

Oblique Mercator projections are aligned with Distortion patterns: The distortion in Oblique Mercator
a chosen oblique line or great circle path. This projections varies depending on the chosen oblique line.
orientation allows for accurate
representation of a specific region or route.

Preserving angles and shapes locally. This Narrow strip coverage: Oblique Mercator projections are
property is beneficial for applications that typically used to represent relatively narrow regions along
require accurate representation of angles, such the oblique line or great circle path.
as navigation and surveying.

Specific parameterization: To create an Oblique Mercator

projection, specific parameters such as the central point,
azimuth, or rotation angle of the oblique line need to be
defined.

Projection: Rectangular Projection

General description: A cylindrical projection Picture:

similar to the Mercator, but with uniform
spacing of the parallels, is called a rectangular
projection. It is convenient for graphically
depicting information where distortion is not
important. The principal navigational use of
this projection is for the star chart of the Air
Almanac, where positions of stars are plotted
by rectangular coordinates representing
declination (ordinate) and sidereal hour angle
(abscissa). Since the meridians are parallel,
the parallels of latitude (including the equator
and the poles) are all represented by lines of
equal length.

Advantage: Disadvantage:

Easy to use. Distortion at high latitudes: Rectangular projections

introduce significant distortion at high latitudes, particularly
towards the poles.

Preserves latitudes and longitudes: Distortion of angles: Rectangular projections do not

Rectangular projections accurately represent preserve angles. As latitude lines converge towards the
latitudes and longitudes poles, the angles between lines on the map do not match the
corresponding angles on the curved Earth's surface.

Seamless world coverage: Rectangular Less suitable for navigation: The lack of angle preservation
projections provide seamless coverage of the and area distortion make rectangular projections less suitable
entire globe without any visible boundary or for navigation or tasks requiring precise measurement of
distortion at the edges. distances and angles.

Projection: Conic Projection

General description: A conic projection is
produced by transferring points from the
surface of the earth to a cone or series of
cones. This cone is then cut along an element
and spread out flat to form the chart. When the
axis of the cone coincides with the axis of the
earth, then the parallels appear as arcs of
circles, and the meridians appear as either
straight or curved lines converging toward the
nearer pole.
Picture:

Advantage: Disadvantage:

Preserves shape: Conic projections are Distortion away from the standard parallels: Conic
generally good at preserving the shape of land projections introduce distortion away from the standard
masses within the specific cone. parallels, which are the two parallels where the cone
intersects the Earth's surface.

Balanced distortion: Conic projections Unsuitable for polar regions: Conic projections are not
typically have a balanced distribution of suitable for mapping the polar regions.
distortion, which can make them visually
appealing.

Navigation-friendly: Due to the preservation
of shape and scale along the parallels, conic
projections can be useful for navigation
purposes in regions where the projection is
appropriately applied.
Challenging to transition between regions: When working
with conic projections that cover different regions,
transitioning between different cones or adjusting the
projection parameters can introduce complexity and
potential distortions at the boundaries between the regions.

Projection: Polyconic Projection

General description: The Polyconic projection

is a type of map projection that is neither
conformal nor equal-area but instead offers
accurate representation of small areas along
specific lines of latitude. It is commonly used
for mapping regions with an east-west
orientation, such as coastal areas or elongated
countries.

Picture:

Advantage: Disadvantage:
Accurate representation of small areas Distortion increases away from the standard parallel.

Limited coverage: The Polyconic projection is typically used

for mapping smaller regions or areas with an east-west
orientation.

Projections: Azimuthal Projections

Azimuthal projections are a class of map

projections that project the Earth's surface
onto a plane tangential to the Earth at a
specific point or along a specific line. They
are commonly used to represent polar regions
or to create maps with a centered focus.

Picture:

Advantages: Disadvantages:

Radial symmetry: Azimuthal projections Distortion increases away from the center: Like most map
exhibit radial symmetry, with equal distances projections, azimuthal projections introduce distortion as one
from the central point or line being accurately moves farther away from the central point or line.
represented.

Directional accuracy: Azimuthal projections
preserve direction from the central point or
line, making them particularly useful for
navigation and flight planning in polar
regions.
Limited coverage: Azimuthal projections are most suitable
for mapping polar regions or small regions centered around a
specific point or line.

Projection: Gnomonic Projection

General description: The gnomonic projection

is a map projection that projects the Earth's
surface onto a tangent plane from a single
point, typically the center of the Earth. It is
also known as the "central projection" or
"rectilinear projection." The gnomonic
projection is characterized by its property of
preserving great circles as straight lines.
Picture:
Advantage: Disadvantage:

Preserves great circles: The gnomonic Limited coverage.

projection accurately represents great circles
as straight lines. This makes it useful for
navigational purposes, as the shortest distance
between two points on the Earth's surface
follows a great circle.

Distortion at poles:

Conformal but not equal-area: The

gnomonic projection is conformal, meaning
that it preserves angles locally, making it
suitable for preserving shapes.

Projection: Stereographic Projection

General projection: Map projection that

projects the Earth's surface onto a plane from
a single point on the opposite side of the
Earth.

Picture:

Advantage: Disadvantage:

Conformal projection: The stereographic Limited coverage: The stereographic projection is not
projection is conformal, meaning that it suitable for mapping the entire globe.
preserves angles locally.

Useful for polar and hemispheric mapping: Distortion increases away from the pole.
The stereographic projection is particularly
useful for mapping polar regions or
hemispheric areas.

Projection: Orthographic Projection

The orthographic projection, also known as
the azimuthal orthographic projection or the
planar projection, is a map projection that
portrays the Earth's surface onto a plane
tangential to the Earth from a specific point or
direction. It provides a perspective view of the
Earth as seen from infinitely far away.

Picture:

Advantage Disadvantage:

Useful for visualizations and celestial Distortion increases away from the center.
mapping: The orthographic projection is
commonly used for visualizations, creating
globes, or depicting the Earth as seen from
space. It is also used in celestial mapping to
represent the celestial sphere and celestial
bodies as viewed from a specific vantage
point.

Preserves circles as circles: The orthographic Limited coverage.

projection accurately represents circles on the
Earth's surface as circles on the map.