Cylindrical Projection Construction

Normal Cylindrical Projection
Construction
How to construct a normal,
conformal cylindrical projection
Normal Cylindrical Projection
Globe
We will use a spherical earth for simplicity. The Authalic Sphere

with a radius of 6 371 007m is a sphere with the same surface
area as the WGS84 ellipsoid. The radius is just slightly longer than
the average of the semi-major and semi-minor axes.
Construction of the
Meridians
Radius of the Earth: R = 6371007 metres
We will first construct a map on a 1:1 scale. We want to draw the graticule for
1° east from the Central Meridian (CM) on the equator on the map.
Globe Map
X-coordinates
Meridians
CM 0º 1º East 0 111 195mE
Equator
1° 111 195m
Meridian
Distance of 1° on the earth along the equator = (R x 1° x π/180) m.= 111 195 m.
Construction of the
Parallels
Radius of a parallel
Look at a section of the
N Radius of a
earth along a meridian,
Parallel r = R.cosФ
parallel at latitude
Ф Ф:
R
r = R cosФ
Meridian
Equator Ф R
S
Construction of the
Parallels
Radius of a parallel at latitude Ф:
r = R cosФ
Distance of 1° at the equator = 1° x R x π / 180°
Distance of 1° at latitude Ф = 1° x r x π / 180° = 1° x R cosФ x π / 180°

Ratio of distance between meridians at latitude Ф to 1° x R cosФ x π / 180°
= 1° x R x π / 180°
distance between meridians at the equator
= cosФ
In words that means that the distance between longitudes shrink

by a factor of cosФ as we move north or south of the equator.
Construction of the
Parallels for a
Conformal Projection
For any normal cylindrical projection the longitudes are parallel lines running
North-South, but on the globe they converge as the cosine of the latitude.
That means that we actually stretch the distances along the parallels as we move
towards the poles in a cylindrical projection.
Globe distance
Mathematically we can say: Map distance = cosФ
Conformal projections maintain shape, therefore we have to stretch the distances

along the meridians an equal amount to maintain the shape.
The problem is that we cannot stretch the distances along the meridians globally,
we have to do the stretching point by point on each meridian and add all the
differences together to get the distance from the equator to the latitude Ф.
Construction of the
Parallels for a Conformal
Projection
Using infinitely small increments of latitude we must do the following:
s+ds1
s+ds2
s+ds3
· ·
· ·
· · Total stretched distance = (s + ds1 ) + (s + ds2 )+ (s +
· ·
ds3 )+ ….+ (s + dsn)
s+dsn Where each ds =(s/cosФ) dФ
The solution to this lies in integrating the last formula to give the distance to
each latitude from the equator as s(from equator to φ)= R ln tan(45° + φ°/2),
where ln(x) = loge(x)
Note: There is an error in Bolstad p. 118 Fig 3-48 in the last equation.
Problem
Calculate the graticule for a normal, conformal, cylindrical
projection, between 20° East and 25° East, 23° South and 28°
South, with 1° intervals between the latitudes and longitudes.
Assume that 20º East is the standard meridian or longitude and

the equator is the standard parallel or latitude.
Construction of a
Conformal Projection in
practise
First calculate the X-coordinates of the meridians on the equator:
20º East: Central Meridian or Origin = 0mE
21º East: 6 371 007m x 1º x /180 = 111 195.05mE
22º East: 6 371 007m x 2º x /180 = 222 390.10mE
23º East: 6 371 007m x 3º x /180 = 333 585.15mE
24º East: 6 371 007m x 4º x /180 = 444 780.20mE
25º East: 6 371 007m x 5º x /180 = 555 975.24mE
Now the coordinates of the parallels along the Central Meridian
23º South: 6 371 007m x ln tan(45º + 23º/2) = -2 629 076.35mN (Note the “-” South)
24º South: 6 371 007m x ln tan(45º + 24º/2) = -2 750 330.13mN
The next slide shows the relationship between the graticule and the grid.
The next three slides shows the distortion on
normal cylindrical conformal, equivalent and
equidistant projections and the last slide shows
how to account for this distortion when
measuring on a map.
Scale Factor and Tissot’s Indicatrix
Conformal (Mercator)
Globe distance
Map Distance along Parallels = cosФ S.F. = 1/cosφ
Globe distance
Map Distance along Meridians = cosФ S.F. = 1/cosφ
Shape on Globe Shape on Map
1
1
Equal Area (Equivalent)
Globe distance
Map Distance along Meridians = Globe distance x cosφ S.F. = cosφ
1
1
Plate Carrée
Globe distance
Map Distance along Meridians = Globe distance S.F. = 1
1 1
1
Scale Factor and Measurements
Map Distance to Ground Distance
Map Distance x Scale
Ground distance = S.F.
Ground Distance to Map Distance

Ground Distance x S.F.
Map Distance = Scale
Remember the Scale Factor changes from point to point.

In general it is only valid for small areas and in the
equivalent and Plate Carrée projections it changes with
direction.

Cylindrical Projection Construction

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Normal Cylindrical Projection

We will use a spherical earth for simplicity. The Authalic Sphere

Distance of 1° at latitude Ф = 1° x r x π / 180° = 1° x R cosФ x π / 180°

In words that means that the distance between longitudes shrink

Conformal projections maintain shape, therefore we have to stretch the distances

s+dsn Where each ds =(s/cosФ) dФ

Assume that 20º East is the standard meridian or longitude and

Shape on Globe Shape on Map

Map Distance along Meridians = Globe distance x cosφ S.F. = cosφ

Shape on Globe Shape on Map

Map Distance along Meridians = Globe distance S.F. = 1

Shape on Globe Shape on Map

Ground Distance to Map Distance

Remember the Scale Factor changes from point to point.

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