Lecture 3:

Cartography and Map

Projections in GIS
GE 118: INTRODUCTION TO GIS
Engr. Meriam M. Santillan
Caraga State University
Maps -- Definition
 Fundamental language of geography, and therefore
automated/digital geography
 Model of spatial phenomena
 An abstraction of reality  real world is simplified
and reduced in size
 Most efficient shorthand to show locations of objects
with attributes and their spatial distributions
 Graphical representation of the spatial structure of
the physical and cultural environments
The Paper Map

 Has long been a powerful and effective

means of communicating geographic
information
 An analog and scaled representation of the
real world
Types of Maps

 General-purpose or Reference maps

 Special purpose or Thematic maps
Reference maps

 Not designed for any specific application

 Focus on locations and physical and cultural
features
 Supply the locational information of the
spatial database for GIS
 Example: topographic maps
Reference Map
Thematic map

 Designed to depict a particular type of feature

or measurement
 Depict geographic phenomena and
processes for GIS
 Examples: population distribution maps,
rainfall maps, soil maps, land cover maps
Thematic Map
Map Scale

 Amount of reduction
 Ratio of distance on the map to the corresponding
distance on the Earth’s surface
 One of the principal factors that govern the design,
production and use of maps
 Scale is determined by the purpose of the map
 May be expressed in the following forms:
 Representative fraction (RF)
 Statement scale
 Bar scale or graphical scale
Importance of Maps in GIS

 A map can be both a source of data for

geographic databases and an analog product
from a GIS
 Many of the ideas associated with GIS are
inherited from paper maps
 Example: The concept of scale
Analog vs. Digital

 Digital representations can include

information that would be very difficult to
show on analog maps
 Example: curved surfaces, topography/3-D,
changes in land cover
 Maps are static whereas digital
representation in GIS can represent changes
over time
 Easier to edit digitally
Map Projections

 A systematic projection of all or part of the surface of

a round body, especially Earth, on a plane (Snyder,
1987)
 Function is to define how positions on the Earth’s
curved surface are transformed into a flat map
surface
 Geographic coordinates (Φ,λ) to Cartesian coordinates
(x,y).
 Required because of the need to produce a map of
the Earth on a flat, 2-dimensional surface
Properties of Map Projections
 Conformal/Orthomorphic – shapes of small features on the Earth
are preserved; scale and direction of Earth and map are equal for
small areas
 Useful for navigation and topographic mapping

 Equal Area/Equivalent/Authalic – areas on the map are always

proportional to areas on the Earth’s surface
 Useful for area computation applications
 Equidistant – preserves distances between points; constant scale
 Azimuthal – true directions are preserved; direction
measurements on the map are the same as those made on the
ground
 Useful for air and sea navigation

Note: Any map projection can only satisfy some of these properties
Classification of map projections

1. Cylindrical – features/positions on the Earth

are projected to a cylinder
2. Conic -- features/positions on the Earth are
projected to a cone
3. Planar or Azimuthal – features/positions on
the Earth are projected to a plane
Classification of Map Projections
Variants of map projections
 Aspect – the orientation of the projection surface;
may be normal, transverse, or oblique
 Viewpoint – projection (light source location) may be
from the center (Gnomonic projection), from infinity
(Orthographic projection), or from the opposite side
(Stereographic projection)
 Intersection with the Earth – location or locations
that a projection surface touches or cuts through the
globe; may be tangent or secant
Aspect
Viewpoint
Intersection
Intersection
Intersection
Some commonly used map
projections in GIS
Plate Carrée or Cylindrical Equidistant Projection
(“Unprojected Projection”)
 Simplest projection
 Just maps longitude as x and latitude as y
 Heavily distorted image
 Non-conformal and not equal area
 Correct distance between every point and the equator
 Problematic when used in GIS for analysis such as
distance and area related analyses
 Commonly used to map the entire Earth
Cylindrical Equidistant Projection
Some commonly used map
projections in GIS
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
 Based on the Mercator projection but the cylinder is
transverse rather than normal
 A secant projection
 Scale at each zone’s central meridian is 0.99996 and at
most 1.0004 at the edge of the zone
 Parallels and meridians are curved, except for the central
meridians and equator
 Map is divided into 60 zones, each 6° wide
 Problematic for areas at high latitudes and places that are
located in two zones
 Commonly used for military applications and for mapping at
a global or national coverage
Universal Transverse Mercator
Some commonly used map
projections in GIS
State Plane Coordinates and other local systems
 Although distortions in the UTM system are small, they are
still significant for accurate surveying
 Problems regarding zone boundaries also arise in the UTM
since the zones are not tailored according to jurisdictions
(states or countries)
 Therefore, states in the US adopted a projection and
coordinate system of their own (known as the State Plane
Coordinate Systems)
 Many countries have adopted projections and coordinate
systems of their own, specifically customized for their
country
Philippine Transverse Mercator
Importance of Map Projections
in GIS
 Necessary for combining data with different
projections into a single GIS by means of
transformations
 Consideration of the effect of the Earth’s
curvature is necessary for GIS projects at a
global or regional scale
 Transforming features on a curved surface to
a plane is necessary for displaying data
Coordinate Systems

 Constructed on the basis of map projections

 Superimposed on the surface, resulting from
the map projection, to provide the referencing
framework by which positions are measured
and computed
Coordinate Systems

Coordinates
 Set of numbers that determines the location of a
point in a space of a given dimension
 Simplifies and standardizes the computational
methods, making the use of computers possible
 Facilitates the transformation of geographic space
to conform to other frameworks of entities and
relationships, which is often required in mapping
and GIS operations
Types of Coordinate Reference
Systems
1. Plane Rectangular Coordinate System
2. Plane Polar Coordinate System
Plane Rectangular Coordinate
System
 Cartesian Coordinate System
 Simplest coordinate system
 Position of a point is fixed by two distances measured
perpendicularly from the point to the axes

Axes of the coordinate system – two straight lines intersecting at

right angles
– used to define the geographic space
Origin – intersection of the axes
X-axis (Easting) – horizontal axis
Y-axis (Northing) – vertical axis
Quadrants – partitioning of the coordinate system; four quadrants in
a coordinate system
Plane Rectangular Coordinate
System
Y-axis
P (x,y)

Quadrant II y Quadrant I

X-axis

x
Quadrant III Quadrant IV
Plane Polar Coordinate System

 Position of a point is fixed using an angular

measurement and a linear measurement
 Position of a point is determined by its direct
distance from the pole and the angle it forms with
respect to the polar axis

Pole – origin
Polar axis – single line passing through the pole
Plane Polar Coordinate System

P (r,θ)

θ
Geographic Coordinate System

 Three-dimensional spherical coordinate

system of the Earth
 Takes into account the shape of the Earth
 Uses a network of latitudes and longitude
(called graticules) to fix the position of a point
on the Earth
Geographic Coordinate System
North and South Geographic Poles – primary
reference points on the Earth
– points of intersection of the axis of rotation and the
Earth
Equator – an imaginary line halfway between the
poles; great circle perpendicular to the axis of
rotation
Meridian – great circle which contains the poles
Latitude (Φ) – vertical angle measured from the
equatorial plane to the point
Longitude (λ) – horizontal distance from the prime
meridian (zero meridian) to the point
Geographic Coordinate System
Spatial Reference Framework
of the Philippines
Components of a Reference
Framework
 Projection
 There is not a 'best projection,' the one most
commonly used in the Philippines, is the
Transverse Mercator because the country
stretches primarily in N-S direction
 Model representing the shape of the Earth
 Earth is not a perfect sphere due to rotational
forces created which causes flattening at the north
and south poles and bulging along the equator.
Components of a Reference
Framework
 Model representing the shape of the Earth
(cont'n)
 Points of elevation are identified through a vertical
network based upon another sphere known as
geoid
 Datum
 Using the ellipsoid the horizontal datum is
developed
 In the Philippines, there are two basic datums
Datums used in the Philippines
 WGS 84
 commonly used worldwide datum from satellite
measurements of the earth.
 The origin is the center of the earth
 Luzon 1911
 Most commly used datum for the Philippines
 Uses Clark 1866 ellipsoid and its origin is located just
south of Luzon at Balanacan.
 PRS 92
 Created by NAMRIA,not a new datum but an adjustment of the Luzon datum

 Luzon Datum
 Not a a separate datum, it is the Luzon Datum with different WGS 84
transformation parameters
Components of a Reference
Framework
 Coordinate Systems and Projections
 Geographic Coordinate System
 Also known as latitude and longitude
 Comprised of angular measurements
 Projected Coordinate System
 UTM
 PTM
Thank you!