Lab2_Coordinate_System-1

Name : Eric Chung Lab N o : 2_______ Partner(s) _________________ Date : 2/11/2023 COORDINATE SYSTEMS: LOCATING YOURSELF ON A SPHERE Below are directions from DC to the Pegasus Farm Campground in West Virginia: Take I-66 West for about 75 miles. Find I-81 South exit 1A towards Roanoke and Strasburgh. You will only go a few miles when you come to Strasburg. Look for the 2nd Strasburg Exit. Keep a lookout for Rt 55. Take 55W all the way to Elkins and wind your way towards the High Land Jam. Coming into Elkins, you will turn left at the first traffic light you come to. You will turn left on the “Beverly 5-lane”. (Rt 250 South). Go a couple of miles south on the “5-lane”, go through a red light and pass Wal-Mart on your left. At the next red light, look for a universal State Camping sign. You will be turning right towards the Airport. The road winds around about .7 of a mile. You will see the Airport runway on your right. The next road to the right is the Airport entrance. Go to the next right. You are now on Arnold Hill Road. Go 1/2 mile and look for the sign on the right. (hint: the first house you see on the left is where you turn right on a gravel road) 1- Do you have a “feel” for where the Pegasus Farm Campground is from this description? No, it’s too long for me I would get lost. 2- Can you think of a clearer, more succinct way to describe the location of this Campground, or for that matter, any other place on earth? Yes, a better way to describe a location would be coordinates. Activity 1: Locating Yourself On Earth Here on earth, we use a coordinate grid system called Longitude and Latitude to give locations precise, unique, numerical coordinates that do not change. This is a much superior way to pinpoint a location on earth rather than a verbal description. (The Pegasus Farm Campground is at Latitude 38° 53′ 6.1″ North and Longitude: 79° 51’51.0″ West.) 1

1- Explain what the lines running east-west direction and north-south direction represent. Please see the map below. Planetary bodies like the Earth and Moon are spherical, we need to employ a grid system on a curved surface. As you may recall, the system currently in use defines the north and south poles as reference points. These points represent the imaginary positions where the rotation axis of the Earth emerges. The current system employs grid lines referred to as longitude and latitude . Latitude The equator is an east-west line that encircles the globe exactly midway between the north and south poles. lt is designated 0° (zero degrees). Additional lines parallel to the equator are marked off, to the north and south. These lines are referred to as lines of latitude or parallels. Northern latitude values are marked N or with a plus(+) sign. Southern latitudes are marked with an S or minus (-) sign. The north pole is designated as 90°N or +90° while the south pole is 90°S or -90°. See the illustration below. Your latitude is how many degrees north or south you are from the equator. Longitude A series of north-south lines that converge at either pole are called meridians or lines of longitude. They divide the 360° globe into east-west sections. On any planetary body, a prime meridian with a value of 0° must be defined so that values can be assigned to the other lines of longitude. On Earth, the prime meridian passes through Greenwich, England (red line on the map). Earth longitude is measured from 0 to 180° to the west and O to 180° to the east. Your longitude is the number of degrees your site is east or west of the prime meridian. You should note that values from 0 to 180° W are also sometimes designated as negative values (-85° equals 85°W). On other planets, such 2

So, using latitude and longitude, you can locate a position on any planet or moon. In this activity you will explore site location on Earth. a- What place on the earth is defined as zero degree latitude? Equator b- Give the latitude of the features on the earth that are the furthest away from the equator. 90N, 90S c- In which hemisphere (north or south) is: North America: North Hemisphere Australia: South Hemisphere d- What is the maximum number of degrees of longitude that are possible on Earth? 180 W or E e- In which hemisphere (west or east) is: North America: West Hemisphere Australia: East Hemisphere 4

2- Find the Great Lakes on the map. What are their approximate latitudes, provide one average value (remember not just to record the number, but also whether it’s North or South)? 45 N 3- What are the approximate longitudes of the great lakes, provide one average value (Remember to include not just the number of degrees, but whether it’s East or West of the Prime Meridian)? 85 W Now that we have BOTH the longitude and the latitude (approximately) of the Great Lakes, we can describe their position with numbers, rather than with a wordy description! 4- Using both maps of the Earth at the end of this activity, determine the longitude and latitude of the following sites: Point Place Latitude Longitude A Big island of Hawaii 17N 160W B Iceland 65N 20W C Center of New Zealand 43S 175E D Sri Lanka 7N 80E 5- Now check your answers, by going to Earth.google.com. Click on “Launch Earth,” and click on the magnifying glass icon in the left-hand column. Type each location in one-by-one; you’ll see the latitude in the lower right-hand corner. Were your estimates close? Big Island of Hawaii: 19N 155W Iceland: 64N 19W Center of New Zealand: 40S 174E Sri Lanka: 7N 80E 6- Greenland total area: 836,300 mi 2 United States total area: 3.797 million mi 2 7- So, we seem to have a contradiction. The USA is MUCH larger than Greenland, but they appear to be about the same size on the map. Can you think of a reason for this? Projection of a sphere on a 2D map. 5

10- Why is Alaska distorted in the projection and why is it OK for us to distort it? It is distorted because a Mercator projection, to get a flat earth, stretches the size of objects at the poles while preserving the general overall shape. The shape is increased relative to the rest of the land masses. It’s ok for us distort it because people know that a world map, or any map for that matter, is a projection. It is impossible to completely preserve the real size, shape, and distances, when turning a curved surface into a flat surface or 2D map. 11-What is shown below is a Robinson projection. It was created so that it doesn’t completely preserve angles, shapes, or size but it is a good approximation to a globe. Robinson projection. How is the Robinson projection (Figure 3) different from the Mercator projection? The Robinson projection and the Mercator projection are two different ways of representing the surface of the earth on a flat map. The main difference between the two projections lies in how they handle distortion. The Mercator projection, first developed in the 16th century, is a cylindrical map projection that preserves the direction of true north and south and distorts the size of land masses near the poles. As a result, areas near the poles are significantly exaggerated in size compared to the equator, making Greenland appear to be the same size as South America, when it is much smaller. This projection is commonly used for navigation and nautical charts, as it allows for straight lines on the map to correspond to the shortest route on the earth's surface. The Robinson projection, on the other hand, is a type of interrupted pseudo 7

cylindrical map projection that seeks to balance the preservation of relative size with the preservation of overall shapes. It was developed in the 20th century as an alternative to the Mercator projection and seeks to correct some of its distortions by distorting the shape of land masses rather than their size. The Robinson projection has been praised for its more aesthetically pleasing and natural appearance, as well as its ability to better preserve the relative size of land masses. In conclusion, while both the Robinson and Mercator projections have their uses and limitations, the main difference between them lies in their approach to handling the distortion inherent in representing the three- dimensional surface of the earth on a flat map. The Mercator projection is better for navigation. Robinson projection minimizes distortion and shows more land masses 12-There are approximately 140 known impact structures on the Earth made by space debris. Label the following crater locations on the Earth map Point Place Latitude Longitude E Meteor Crater, AZ 35 °N 111 °W F Sudbury, Canada 47 °N 81 °W G Ust-Kara, Russia 69 °N 65 °E H Teague, Australia 26 °S 121 °E I Monturaqui, Chile 24 °S 68 °W 8

13-What is the difference between the earth map and mars map in terms of longitude and latitude? Both are split by an equator. Earth is labeled as S or N, and Mars is + or -. The map for Mars doesn’t differentiate between east or west, and the longitude lines go up to 360. 14- Estimate the latitude and longitude of several of our Mars landers: Site # Mission Latitude Longitude 1 Viking 1 31 ° 320 ° 2 Viking 2 50 ° 130 ° 3 Spirit -5 ° 170 ° 4 Curiosity 5 ° 140 ° 5 Opportunity 0 ° 0 ° 6 Sojurner 30 ° 340 ° Activity 3: Locating Yourself On The Moon Please have a look at the map of the moon below. 10

15-What is the difference between the earth map and moon map in terms of longitude and latitude? Both are split by an equator. Earth is labeled as S or N, and the moon is + or -. The moon doesn’t differentiate between east or west, and the longitude lines go up to 360. 16-Determine the latitude and longitude of the sites listed in the table below. Places Latitude Longitude Himeros 25 ° 270 ° Lolita -40 ° 195 ° Jahan 75 ° 285 ° Gamba -20 ° 55 ° 11