Map Projections

Questions Answered!
-The equator is close to 360 decimal degrees
-The northern and southern most graticule lines are also 360 degrees
        -They represent the north and south poles- they are just a point!




Conformal:
Mercator
Gall Stereographic

Equidistant:
Plate Carree
Sinusoidal

Equal Area:
Mollweide
Bonne

Using map projections is a necessary and dangerous game. Map makers can influence the way people think simply by choosing a different map projection. For example, in my "Equal Area" picture, Washington D.C. and Kabul look fairly close to each other in the Bonne map projection, while they look much further apart in the "GCS WGS 1984" projection.

It is also interesting to note that the distance between two points on a globe can change depending on the map projection you use. The distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul ranged from 6,700 miles to over 10,000 miles for my seven map projections. This can be extremely confusing, especially if you are using the maps to navigate.

Projections can be very helpful, though. No matter what you need a map for, there is most likely a projection that can help you display your data better. For example, if you want to map the temperature of the equator, you can use a Gall Stereographic map. This map gets skewed at the poles, but it does not matter for your purposes. If you want to map the temperature of the South Pole, there are specific polar projections you can use.

Different map projections can also liven up a map display. It can be more interesting to look at Bonne and Sinusoidal projections than many rectangular ones.