Maps, Map Projection and

Coordinate systems

Prof Phill
By the end of this lecture you are expected to
know:
• Different types of Maps
• Geographic coordinate system
• Projected coordinate system
• Map projections

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 Reference maps
• Reference maps give us a broad understanding of the
environment around us.
• Atlases and globes are typical reference maps, which
show a lot of geographical objects at the same time.
• Reference maps are more generalised maps.

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 Thematic maps
• These are maps showing a particular field of interest.
• Thematic maps are used to visualize specific features.
• These could be anything of interest, e.g. political
borders, population, vegetation, and sanitation.
• These maps are often visualized in a local or regional
scale.
• The thematic maps are the most common map type
that we are working with in the field of GIS.

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 Special maps

• These are maps covering a special field of cartography

• Special maps are commonly used for navigation, for
example, nautical charts, aerial charts
• As can be seen, these maps are often quite specialized.

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 Projections and Coordinate systems

• Projections and coordinate systems are a complicated

topic in GIS, but they form the basis for how a GIS can
store, analyze, and display spatial data

• Understanding projections and coordinate systems is

important especially if you deal with many different sets
of data that come from different sources.

• The magic of GIS is that it can bring together spatial data

from diverse sources and infer relationships

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 Importance of coordinate and projection
systems in GIS
• You have noticed that GIS allows us to view a
number of datasets together as overlays in the
same spatial domain.

• This spatial alignment is not automatic but is due

to coordinate and projection systems that define
the location of datasets.

• If objects are not in the same projection and

coordinate system, they will not overlay even if
they represent the same area.
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 Coordinate systems
• A coordinate system is a method of representing
position of features in a space given dimensions
measured from an origin(s)

• Generally we have two main types of coordinate

systems
• Geographic coordinate system
• Projected coordinate system

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 Geographic coordinates
• Geographic coordinates simply refers to the system of
latitude and longitude
• This coordinate system is formed by creating a grid of
latitude and longitude around the earth
• The equator is 0 degrees latitude
• Subsequent lines of latitude north and south of the
equator are parallel to equator.
• 90 degrees North gives the North pole
• 90 degrees South gives the South pole
• The meridians of longitude run from east to west and are
perpendicular to the parallels of latitude.
• The prime meridian passes through Greenwich in
England
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• The reference line for latitude is the equator and each
hemisphere is divided into ninety sections, each
representing one degree of latitude.

• In the northern hemisphere, degrees of latitude are

measured from zero at the equator to ninety at the north
pole.

• In the southern hemisphere, degrees of latitude are

measured from zero at the equator to ninety degrees at
the south pole.

• To simplify the digitisation of maps, degrees of latitude

in the southern hemisphere are often assigned negative
values (0 to -90◦). See Figure below for a pictorial view.
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 Geographic coordinate system

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• Lines of longitude run perpendicular to the equator and
converge at the poles.

• The reference line for longitude (the prime meridian)

runs from the North pole to the South pole through
Greenwich, England.

• Subsequent lines of longitude are measured from zero to

180 degrees East or West of the prime meridian.

• Note that values West of the prime meridian are

assigned negative values for use in digital mapping
applications.

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• At the equator, and only at the equator, the distance
represented by one degree of longitude is equal to the
distance represented by one degree of latitude.
•
• As you move towards the poles, the distance between
lines of longitude becomes progressively less, until, at
the exact location of the pole, all 360◦ of longitude are
represented by a single point.

• Degrees are divided into minutes (’) and seconds (").

There are sixty minutes in a degree, and sixty seconds in
a minute, 3600 seconds in a degree.

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 • The latitude of P
measures the angle 
between P and the
Equator along the
meridians
• The longitude measure
the angle , between the
meridian through P and
the Central meridian
(through Greenwich
England) in the plane of
the equator

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 Projected coordinate system
• A map projection is a system in which locations
on the curved surface of the earth are displayed
on a flat sheet or surface according to some set
of rules

• Map projections are rather complicated to

understand in depth, but here we will just look at
the principles, describe it briefly and try to keep
it as simple as possible

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 Basic types of Map projections
• Azimuthal / planar projections Based on
• Cylindrical projections developable
surfaces
• Conical projections

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 HOW DO WE CREATE A MAP?

• In order to create a flat map, the first thing is to decide on what it

is we are going to flatten.
• Unfortunately the Earth is not an ideal sphere, but has an
uneven surface caused by the physical constitution of its
inner material.
• This uneven surface is called the geoid, and is depicted as
the first image in the slide above.
• The geoid is a too complex shape to handle when we are
making maps, so the first thing we have to do is to decide on an
Earth model.
• We have two options; a sphere or an ellipsoid.

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• Next we have to decide on a coordinate system on the
Earth model.
• This coordinate system has, of course, to be three-
dimensional.
• Here we also have two options, either we choose a
three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system (X, Y
and Z) or latitude and longitude.

• Now we come to the process of flattening the Earth

model, with its three-dimensional coordinate system,
into a two-dimensional flat map surface

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 Map projections
• A map is a flat representation of a
globe
• To represent the curved part of the
earth on a flat piece of paper or a
computer screen we have to project
the earth’s surface in to a flat surface
• Mapping on a 2D surface means
assigning plane coordinates (x,y) to
each point on a reference surface of
geographic coordinates (,)
• It is possible for a GIS to manipulate
all spatial data in geographic
coordinates (latitude and longitude),
• However, all spatial data are
ultimately visualized on paper on a
monitor using planar coordinates.
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 Map projections

• A method to make the Earth model flat.

• All map projections implies distortions
• Choose a map projection that suits an
application as good as possible.
• Unavoidable distortions should be manageable
for the applications.
 Properties of map projections
• Equal area property
• Conformal – (Local) angle preserving
• Equidistant along certain lines
 Final Thoughts
• Map projections are critical for transferring 3D
globe onto 2D flat surface
• Many types of projections used for different
purposes
• Need to understand map projections to work
with multiple layer files in GIS to make each
layer ‘fit’ with the other.

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 The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate
system
• One of the most popular projected coordinate system is the UTM
system established in 1936 at the International Union of Geodesy and
Geophysics
• UTM coordinate system uses a 2-dimensional Cartesian coordinate
system to give locations on the surface of the Earth.
• The system divides the Earth into sixty zones, each a 6-degree band of
longitude, and uses a secant transverse Mercator projection in each
zone.
• The UTM is a global map projection. This means, it is generally used all
over the world.
• The UTM is excellent for maps of a scale of 1: 250 000 and larger. At
smaller scales there are distortions

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 Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinate System (UTM)

• The origin of each zone is the intersection of the central

meridian at the Equator. Displacements in the x and y
directions are called UTM eastings and UTM northings
respectively

• The UTM spatial referencing system requires three sets

of numbers, the easting, the northing, and either the
Zone number or the central meridian

• There is no relationship between coordinates of one

zone with another. If there is need for comparison, then
the coordinates have to be converted back to geographic

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 Introduction to GIS

UTM
• UTM divides the earth into 60 zones, each of
which covers 6 degrees of longitude

World UTM zones

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 The Universal Transverse Mercator zones. For
Zimbabwe UTM zones 35S, and 36S are used

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 Example

• Map showing map projections (from top left) a) not projected, b) Canada Albers
Equal Area, c) Lambert Conformal Conic, d) Mercator, e) UTM, f) Orthographic