Latitude and Longitude

1. Latitude and Longitude How the world is measured and plotted

2. Learning Objective Latitude and Longitude Coordinates (TEKS (B)(21)(c)(e), (22)(a)(b)(c)(d), (23)(c)(d)) The student is expected to pose and answer questions about geographic distributions and patterns shown on maps A simplified online version of this presentation can be found here.

3. 90° N 60° N 30° N EQUATOR0º 30° S 60° S 90° S Latitude • Measurement of distance in degrees north or south of the equator • Parallels are the imaginary lines of latitude that run east and west around the globe N parallels

4. 90° N 60° N 30° N EQUATOR0º 30° S 60° S 90° S Equator Goes around the middle of the earth like a belt Divides the Northern and 0° Latitude Southern Hemispheres

5. Measuring with latitude Latitude is measured in degrees north and south from the equator.  At 90° north latitude is the North Pole and at 90° south latitude is the South Pole. These lines of latitude are numbered every 10° north and south from the equator. As the latitude reading Gets larger, the climate tends to get cooler.

6. Important lines of latitude The red lines represent the approximate boundaries of the low, middle, and high latitudes at 30°, 60°, and 90° 66

7. Longitude • Measurement of distance in degrees east or west of the prime meridian • Meridians are imaginary lines of longitude that run from the North Pole to the South Pole

8. Prime Meridian • Passes through the north and south pole • Passes through • Greenwich, England • 0° longitude • Divides the Western • and Eastern • Hemispheres

9. Measuring with longitude • The starting point for longitude is the Prime Meridian.  This line is longitude zero (0°). • Longitude measures east and west from this line. Longitude is measured in degrees. • There are 180° of longitude east and 180° of longitude west.

10. Meridians determine time Each 15° of longitude determines one hour of time passage, therefore 24 time zones around the world.

11. Fill in the blank with the help of the word bankNorthern Hemisphere, latitude, equator, longitude, absolute location, prime meridian 1. 0° longitude is called the __________. 2. Measurement of distance east or west of the prime meridian is _____________. 3. Measurement of distance north or south of the equator is __________. 4. 0° latitude is called the ___________. 5. Area north of the equator is called the __________. 6. The exact spot where something is located on earth is called ____________.

12. International Dateline The International Date Line runs down the middle of the time zone on the other side of the world from the prime meridian, and so it corresponds to 180 degrees longitude, east and west. Like the other zones, the time zone of the International Date Line spans fifteen degrees and is one hour different from the adjacent zones.

13. International Dateline • 180° longitude • Traveling east across the line, takes the traveler back one day; traveling west, takes the traveler forward one day.

14. Northern HemisphereSouthern Hemisphereall area north of the equator Northern Hemisphere Southern Hemisphere all area south of the equator

15. Western Hemisphere Area west of the Prime Meridian Western Hemisphere Measured as Longitude 0-180° W.

16. Eastern Hemisphere Area east of the Prime Meridian Eastern Hemisphere Measured as Longitude 0-180° E.

17. Seatle, WA Gulf of Mexico Houston, TX Absolute Location • The exact spot where something appears on earth.

18. Plotting absolute location Your street name and house number furnish your absolute location.   Latitude and longitude provide absolute location for a place on the globe. Using the Navstar GPS, satellite, your position can be accurately determined for finding street directions for a map in some cars.

19. Navstar GPS

20. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) This system uses a series of 24 satellites called the Navstars to beam information to earth about an object and its location of the earth’s surface.

21. GPS Navigation

22. Mercator Projection The property of the Mercator projection map that made it useful to navigators is that it preserves angles. Lines of constant compass heading (called rhumb lines by sailors) are straight lines on this map.

23. Plotting a course To go from Vancouver, Canada to Honolulu, Hawaii with just a compass, just draw a straight line on the map between starting point and destination, then measure the angle.

24. Relative Location • Described by landmarks, time, direction or distance from one place to another As an example, the worldatlas.com U.S. office is on Galveston Island, located in southeastern Texas in the Gulf of Mexico, about 48 miles southeast of Houston. That's its relative location.

25. Comparing absolute, relative location Which is the most used type of location? Why?" Which is the important factor in the illustrations below ? Downtown Charlotte, N.C. Note the steep rent gradient implied by the height of buildings. 

26. Links • http://www.uwm.edu/Course/416-120/Chapter01/fg01_14b.jpg • http://www.samoanet.com/maps/world%20-%20large.jpg • http://www.math.ubc.ca/~israel/m103/mercator/mercator.html • http://www.uncc.edu/hscampbe/landuse/b-models/C-bidrent.html • http://members.shaw.ca/vict/earth_latlong.jpg • http://worldatlas.com/aatlas/imageg.htm