Week 6

Distance From Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan:

Two Point Equidistant: 6,648.755 miles

Azimuthal Equidistant: 8,341.118 miles

Distance From Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan:

Hotile: 7,923.891 miles

Stereographic: 9,776.980 miles

Distance From Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan:

Bonne: 6,730.705 miles

Sinusoidal: 8,098.076

*Definitions taken from http://nationalatlas.gov/articles/mapping/a_projections.html      

      Map projections are very important because each one distorts a different part of the Earth. It is very necessary to have so many different types of projections because each one gives an accurate reading of a certain part of the Earth. For example, if someone needs an accurate reading of North America, then the projection that would most benefit them would probably distort another part of the world such as Antarctica. It is also very important to research which projection would be most beneficial if trying to find the distance or actual size of a certain area because it can be very easy to not realize where there is some distortion on the map.

      When looking at the distance from Washington D.C. to Kabul, Afghanistan in all of the projections the distance is different even though it is the same measurement, which makes you wonder which one is accurate. The distance between these two cities on the mercator map, which is very commonly used, is 6,934.478 miles apart, and when compared to the projections displayed above, the closest distance to this one is the Bonne map projection with only about 200 mile difference between the two. By comparing these two projections it can give a more accurate distance between the two cities.

     There are many physical differences in every projection, and each one has a different part that is distorted, whether it be land, sea, or both. In the equidistant projections, the first obvious difference is the difference in the size of Antarctica; it is much larger in the first one compared to the second. Along with that is distortions in Australia and the way the continents are shaped. In the conformal projections, you can really see the distortion in both land and sea in the Hotile projection compared to the Stereographic projection. The whole map is a different shape. The most distortion in the Hotile projection is in the Northern Hemisphere, making North America HUGE, and making Europe and Asia tiny. Compared to the Hotile, the Stereographic projection looks pretty proportionate minus Australia, which has turned into the size of both Asia and Europe. In both of the Equal Area Projections, everything seems more proportional to each other. I think that the Bonne is a good projection, obviously distorting the ocean, but to me the Sinusoidal projection seems like it is the best representation of the whole Earth even though it changes the whole shape of the Earth.

      All of these maps have characteristics that would be beneficial in different scenarios. For example, if you are finding the size of Australia, you aren't going to use the stereographic projection but you might use the sinusoidal one instead. Each different projection provides something to specific needs, which makes projections very important because it makes information more accurate. Having more points of view of the Earth help to build a better overall picture of the Earth.