Earth’s Positions

Coordinate System

• There are many different ways that can be used to figure out positions on the earth

• A coordinate system uses a grid of imaginary lines and two points to determine the position

Latitude Longitude Coordinate System

• This is the most commonly used system

• This is based on observations of the sun and stars

• The axes and lines are called parallels and meridians

Parallels

• The parallels are better know as Latitude – They are lines going across the Earth from

East to west • The North and South poles are 90 degrees and the

equator is 0 degrees

Meridians

• Better know as Longitude lines These are the lines running between the North and South poles going from West to East – The Prime Meridian is the cline in the center =

0 degrees

Positions Characteristics

Fields

• Fields is a place of space that contains a measurable quantity at every point – Temp – Air pressure – Magnetism – Gravity – Humidity

Models

• There are many different types of models to show the fild qual;ity of something – A model is simplified representation of

objects, structures or systems – They are used to analyze data, explain

something , etc…

Isoline Models

• Isolines connect points that have the same field value – Uses 2 dimension

visuals – They are three main

isoline Models • Contour lines • Isotherms • Isobars

Contour lines

• This model shows elevation, shape and steepness of the land – This way we can

visualize what it looks like at one shot

Isobars

• Isobars measure the air pressure in different places – Which have the same

air pressure and which have a drastic change

Isotherms

• These Isolines connect places with the same temperature

Iso-surfaces

• Isolines can only show you quantities in 2 dimensional

• These can also be looked at in three dimensional. – This map is called Iso-

surfaces