Asked by: Sergii Leorekh
science geography

What are the advantages and disadvantages of the Mercator projection?

30
Disadvantages: Mercator projection distorts the size of objects as the latitude increases from the Equator to the poles, where the scale becomes infinite. So, for example, Greenland and Antarctica appear much larger relative to land masses near the equator than they actually are.


Likewise, people ask, what is the main disadvantage of the Mercator projection?

One disadvantage of using the Mercator projection is that it distorts size of areas, particularly as you get closer to the North and South Poles. This makes the distortion close to the poles very severe but does eventually decline to moderate levels.

Beside above, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the globe? The advantage of the globe is that it promotes visual accuracy. Students need to use a globe frequently if they are to form accurate mental maps. The advantage of the world map is that you can see the entire world at one time. The disadvantage is that world maps distort shape, size, distance, and direction.

Additionally, what are the advantages and disadvantages of the Robinson projection?

Researchers use Equal-Area maps to compare land sizes of the world. Advantage: The Robinson map projection shows most distances, sizes and shapes accurately. Disadvantage: The Robinson map does have some distortion around the poles and edges.

What is the main difference between a Mercator and a Robinson projection?

This is a cylindrical projection, with the Equator as its Standard Parallel. The difference with this projection is that the latitude and longitude lines intersect to form regularly sized squares. By way of comparison, in the Mercator and Robinson projections they form irregularly sized rectangles.

Related Question Answers

Orencia Kortabarria

Professional

What are the disadvantages of a Mercator map?

Disadvantages: Mercator projection distorts the size of objects as the latitude increases from the Equator to the poles, where the scale becomes infinite. So, for example, Greenland and Antarctica appear much larger relative to land masses near the equator than they actually are.

Eliot Brasoveanu

Professional

Which map projection looks like an orange peel?

Common in the 1960s, the Goode homolosine projection is often called an "orange-peel map" because of its resemblance to the flattened rind of a hand-peeled orange.

Texenery Bohle

Professional

What map projection is most accurate?

AuthaGraph. This is hands-down the most accurate map projection in existence. In fact, AuthaGraph World Map is so proportionally perfect, it magically folds it into a three-dimensional globe. Japanese architect Hajime Narukawa invented this projection in 1999 by equally dividing a spherical surface into 96 triangles.

Leodegario Basco

Explainer

What are the main features of a Mercator projection?

So, in summary, the Mercator projection
  • Is a cylindrical projection.
  • Has the equator or two symmetrical latitudes serve as lines of contact.
  • Is conformal and represents small shapes well due to angular relationships.
  • Preserves direction and lines represent accurate compass bearings.

Grzegorz Quandt

Explainer

What is the most popular map projection?

The Most Popular Map Of The World Is Highly Misleading. Because the Earth is roughly spherical, every flat map distorts our planet one way or another. The most popular version is the Mercator projection, created by Flemish cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569.

Trang Diame

Explainer

What are the weaknesses of the Robinson projection?

Strengths and weaknesses
The Robinson projection is neither equal-area nor conformal, abandoning both for a compromise. The creator felt that this produced a better overall view than could be achieved by adhering to either.

Gaetano Hauge

Pundit

What are the 4 common map projections?

This group of map projections can be classified into three types: Gnomonic projection, Stereographic projection and Orthographic projection.

Haimei Neeff

Pundit

What is the most famous example of cylindrical projection?

The most famous example of a cylindrical projection is the mercator. The mercator is famed for having a standardised projection, although still faces the same problems as other cylindrical projections in that there is a distortion of the map near the poles.

Afonso Everhard

Pundit

Why is Mercator projection bad?

So while it's great for neatly laying out routes on perfectly straight latitude and longitude lines, its distortions make things closer to the poles appear much larger and shift countries to the wrong regions on the map. Related Gerardus Mercator revolutionized mapmaking.

Soulaimane Rhonhof

Pundit

What are the disadvantages of a Robinson map?

Robinson projections are not equivalent; they do suffer from compression. However, the amount of area distortion is generally low within about 45° of the equator. Conformality: The Robinson projection is not conformal; shapes are distorted more than they would be in a truly conformal projection.

Bassam Heartilly

Pundit

Which projection does National Geographic use now?

In 1998, the Winkel tripel projection replaced the Robinson projection as the standard projection for world maps made by the National Geographic Society. Many educational institutes and textbooks followed National Geographic's example in adopting the projection, and most of those still use it.

Gentza Yvanoff

Teacher

Why do we still use the Mercator map?

Mercator projection, type of map projection introduced in 1569 by Gerardus Mercator. This projection is widely used for navigation charts, because any straight line on a Mercator projection map is a line of constant true bearing that enables a navigator to plot a straight-line course.

Diallo Yatzkovsky

Supporter

What is the use of globe?

A globe is a spherical model of Earth, of some other celestial body, or of the celestial sphere. Globes serve purposes similar to some maps, but unlike maps, do not distort the surface that they portray except to scale it down.

Donald Coffey

Supporter

What does cartography mean in geography?

Alternative Titles: mapmaking, mapping. Cartography, the art and science of graphically representing a geographical area, usually on a flat surface such as a map or chart. It may involve the superimposition of political, cultural, or other nongeographical divisions onto the representation of a geographical area.

Quiterio Lugea

Supporter

Which map projection has no distortion?

The only 'projection' which has all features with no distortion is a globe. 1° x 1° latitude and longitude is almost a square, while the same 'block' near the poles is almost a triangle.

Margaretta Burualde

Beginner

Which projection is used in the United States?

Albers), is a conic, equal area map projection that uses two standard parallels. Although scale and shape are not preserved, distortion is minimal between the standard parallels. The Albers projection is used by the United States Geological Survey and the United States Census Bureau.

Abelina Poggenhans

Beginner

What map do we use today?

Road maps are perhaps the most widely used maps today, and form a subset of navigational maps, which also include aeronautical and nautical charts, railroad network maps, and hiking and bicycling maps.

Komal Konken

Beginner

Is UTM equal area?

Area distortion is minimized when the maps are produced with equal-area projection. The area distortion is more in conformal maps (TM, UTM) compared to equal-area maps. Therefore, the transformation to equal-area projection is performed in applications in which area data is important [3-5].