Map Projection
A projection which maps a sphere (or spheroid) onto a plane. Map projections are generally classified
into groups according to common properties (cylindrical vs. conical, conformal vs.
area-preserving, , etc.), although such schemes are generally not mutually exclusive.
Early compilers of classification schemes include Tissot (1881), Close (1913), and
Lee (1944). However, the categories given in Snyder (1987) remain the most commonly
used today, and Lee's terms authalic and aphylactic are not commonly encountered.
No projection can be simultaneously conformal
and area-preserving.
SEE ALSO: Azimuthal Equidistant Projection,
Azimuthal Projection,
Conic Equidistant Projection,
Conic
Projection,
Cylindrical Equal-Area
Projection,
Cylindrical Equidistant
Projection,
Cylindrical Projection,
Equirectangular Projection,
Four-Color
Theorem,
Guthrie's Problem,
Map
Coloring,
Polyconic Projection,
Pseudocylindrical
Projection,
Six-Color Theorem
REFERENCES:
Close, C. F. Text-Book of Topographical and Geographical Surveying, 2nd ed. London: H. M. Stationary
Office, 1913.
Craig, T. A Treatise on Projections. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office,
1882.
Dana, P. H. "Map Projections." http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/mapproj/mapproj_f.html.
Hinks, A. R. Map Projections, 2nd rev. ed. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press,
1921.
Lee, L. P. "The Nomenclature and Classification of Map Projections."
Empire Survey Review 7, 190-200, 1944.
Mulcahy, K. "The Map Projection Home Page." http://www.geography.hunter.cuny.edu/mp/.
Maling, D. H. Coordinate Systems and Map Projections, 2nd ed., rev. Woburn, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann,
1993.
Snyder, J. P. Map Projections--A Working Manual. U. S. Geological Survey Professional
Paper 1395. Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Office, 1987.
Snyder, J. P. Flattening the Earth: Two Thousand Years of Map Projections. Chicago, IL: University
of Chicago Press, 1993.
Tissot, A. Mémoir sur la représentation des surfaces et les projections
des cartes géographiques. Paris: Gauthier-Villars, 1881.
Weisstein, E. W. "Books about Cartography." http://www.ericweisstein.com/encyclopedias/books/Cartography.html.
Referenced on Wolfram|Alpha:
Map Projection
CITE THIS AS:
Weisstein, Eric W. "Map Projection." From
MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource. http://mathworld.wolfram.com/MapProjection.html
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