Lab #5: Map Projections

This exercise was somewhat difficult at first. Although I read through the Wikipedia page about map projections, it was hard to figure out which options to choose in the ArcMap to make a map that represented the various map projections. Therefore, it took a little more research in order to figure it all out. However, overall, this exercise was fun, because it was interesting to see how one can manipulate a single map into various shapes that would preserve different aspects of it.

Significance: It is important to know the different types of map projections, because each changes the map so that different elements are changed or stay the same. For example, equidistant map projections, like the Equidistant Conic World Map that I created, distance was preserved from some standard point or line. This is different from an equal-area map projection, like the Sinusoidal World Map that I created, because equal-area projections preserve area. Furthermore, the maps are significant because it is important to know why one type would be used over another. While researching map projections, I found out that Mercator projections are most popular because it preserves angles and because of it is a rectangular map.

Perils: Obviously one of the biggest perils of map projections is the fact that each type preserves certain elements while distorting others. For example, the Stereographic World Map that I created preserves angels but does not preserve distance or the area of figures. Sometimes these kinds of distortions are acceptable, but other times they are not. Therefore, because there are various map projection types, one must be careful as to which one they choose.

Potential: Working with map projections was somewhat fun. As mentioned, it was interesting to see how a single map can be manipulated to represent the same thing (in this case, the world) in several different ways. Therefore, one of the major potentials of map projections is that they allow us to represent the Earth or parts of its surface in a wide variety of scales.