Chapter 1

human geography
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Terms in this set (57)
human geography
The study of where and why human activities are located where they are
Four-Level Analysis
Systematic way to study geographic phenomena looking at comprehension, identification, explanation, and prediction.
spatial models
look like stylized maps, and they illustrate theories about spatial distributions
nonspatial models
a form of geographic model that illustrates theories and concepts using words, graphs, or tables and depicts changes over time rather than across space
time-distance decay
The declining degree of acceptance of an idea or innovation with increasing time and distance from its point of origin or source.
spatial patterns
ways in which people, places, and characteristics are organized on the Earth's surface
quantitative data
Data associated with mathematical models and statistical techniques used to analyze spatial location and association.
geospatial data
data that describe both the locations and characteristics of spatial features on the Earth's surface
qualitative sources
Not usually represented by numbers. This data is collected as interviews, photographs, remote satellite images, descriptions, or cartoons
scales of analysis
the study of a phenomena globally, regionally, or locally
reference mapsMaps that show the absolute location of places and geographic features determined by a frame of reference, typically latitude and longitudepolitical mapsshow and label human-created boundaries and designations, such as countries, states, cities, and capitalsphysical mapsmap of natural characteristics of Earth's surface, such as landforms and bodies of waterroad mapsdisplay highways, roads, airports, railroad tracks, cities and other topics of interest in a regionplat mapsmaps that show and label property lines and details of land ownershipthematic mapsMaps that tell stories, typically showing the degree of some attribute or the movement of a geographic phenomenonchoropleth mapsA thematic map that uses tones or colors to represent spatial data as average values per unit area.dot distribution mapsThematic map in which one dot represents a certain number of phenomena (e.g., population).graduated symbol mapsmaps that use symbols of different sizes to indicate different amounts of somethingisoline mapsA thematic map with lines that connect points of equal value.topographic mapsshow elevation of land with shape and spacing of contour lines; closer lines mean steeper slopes; flat places have widely spaced lines; series of increasingly smaller closed loops indicates hill or mountaincartogramA special kind of map that distorts the shapes and sizes of countries or other political regions to present economic or other kinds of data for comparison.scalethe relationship between the portion of Earth being studied and Earth as a wholecartographic scaleAlso called map scale, refers to the ratio between distance on a map and the actual distance on the earth's surface.small-scale mapsshow a larger amount of area with less detaillarge-scale mapsMaps that show small areas with great detail.absolute locationExact location of a place on the earth described by global coordinateslatitudedistance north or south of the Equator, measured in degreesequator0 degrees latitudelongitudeDistance east or west of the prime meridian, measured in degreesprime meridian0 degrees longitudeInternational Date Linethe line of longitude that marks where each new day begins, centered on the 180th meridianrelative locationThe position of a place in relation to another placeconnectivityThe degree of economic, social, cultural, or political connection between two placesaccessibilitydirectiona course along which someone or something moves.patternsgeneral arrangements of things being studiedabsolute distanceThe distance that can be measured with a standard unit length, such as a mile or kilometer.relative distanceDistance measured in terms such as cost or time which are more meaningful for the space relationship in questionelevationThe height of land above sea leveldistributionThe arrangement of something across Earth's surface.clustered (agglomerated)Clustered concentration is when objects in an area are close together. An example of clustered concentration is when house are built very close together and the houses have smaller lots.distributionThe arrangement of something across Earth's surface.linear distributionA pattern of distribution where objects are arranged in a straight linedispersed distributionA pattern of distribution where objects are spread over an area with low density and low concentrationcircular distributionphenomena are equally spaced from a central point, forming a circlerandom distributiondistribution in which the location of members in a population is totally random, location of each individual is determined by chancelandscape analysisusing field observation, spatial data, and aerial photography to gather data to define and describe landscapesfield observationsA method where you observe people in 'real' locations and situations, such as workplaces, homes, etc.spatial dataIdentifies the geographic location of features and boundaries on Earth, such as natural or constructed features, oceans, and moreremote sensingThe acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.aerial photographyThe acquisition of imagery of the ground taken from an airborne platform.geovisualizationthe creation and use of visual representations to facilitate thinking, understanding, and knowledge construction about human and physical environment.Global Positioning Systems (GPS)A system that determines the precise position of something on Earth through a series of satellites, tracking stations, and receivers.remote sensingThe acquisition of data about Earth's surface from a satellite orbiting the planet or other long-distance methods.Geographic Information System (GIS)A computer system that stores, organizes, analyzes, and displays geographic data.community-based solutions