Chapter 1: geo ‘Earth’, graphein ‘to write’: Science that studies the relationships among natural systems, geographic areas, society, cultural activities, and the interdependence of all of these over space.

Physical Geography
Spatial analysis of all the physical elements and processes that make up the environment:
energy, air, water, weather, climate, landforms, soils, animals, plants, microorganisms, and the Earth itself

System (a useful general definition for our purpose): any ordered, interrelated set of things and their attributes linked by flows of energy and matter, as distinct from the surrounding environment outside the system.

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Model: simplified, idealized representation of part of the real world.
EX: Cartoon, equation, model

Models of the Earth’s interrelated systems atmosphere hydrosphere lithosphere biosphere

Latitude: angular distance north or south of the equator.
Parallel: conceptual line connecting all points of same latitude.
Measured in degrees, minutes, seconds (DMS) or decimal degrees (DD)

Longitude: angular distance east or west of a point on Earth’s surface Meridian: conceptual line connecting all points of the same longitude that intersect at the poles
Arbitrary Prime Meridian: Greenwich, England
= 0° longitude
International Date Line = 180° east or west of Prime Meridian

Global Positioning System: • Created by US DOD • 24-32 medium earth orbit satellites transmit long wavelength signals • time delays between transmission and reception of GPS signals give the distance to each satellite • microwaves carry location data for satellite locations • 2-dimensional position requires triangulation using 3 signals

Clock time:
 • One Earth day is a o 360° revolution that today takes 24 hours
 o 360°/24 = 15° per hour
 o ‘time zone’ of 1 hour spans 15° longitude o lines are distorted by political boundaries

Map: a generalized view of an area, usually some portion of the Earth’s surface as seen from above and greatly reduced in size. Thus, it is a spatial model and a fundamental tool in earth science and geography.
Cartography: mapmaking
Scale: unitless ratio of the image on a map to the real world
- Relates a unit on the map to the same unit on the ground
A globe is the only model that retains true:
• distance • direction • area
• shape• proximity

Map projections
Different projections can preserve different spatial qualities
Distance: equidistant projections accurately show distance
Direction: azimuthal projections preserve direction (angle from a point to another point)
Area: equal area projections preserve the same proportional relationship to the real areas they represent
Shape: conformal projections have a map scale is the same in any direction (meridians and parallels intersect at right angles)
Proximity: proximal projections preserve the relationship between a distance on a map and the same distance on the Earth.
Mercator (cylindrical conformal): Shapes are preserved
but high latitude regions are very distorted
Albers Equal Area (conic): Areas are accurate
but shapes are distorted

REMOTE SENSING: Satellite, aircraft, ground-based sensors that monitor Earth Systems
Two Main Types
Passive Remote Sensing: records the character of radiated energy from the earth's surface.
Active Remote Sensing: directs a beam of energy (e.g. long radar waves) at the earth and analyze the energy reflected back (backscatter).

GRACE = Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS and SCIENCE (GIS)
Data processing tool for the storage, manipulation, analysis, and displaying of spatially-explicit data.

Chapter 2
Fusion: abundant H atoms (74% by mass) fuse to form He (24%) and huge amounts of energy at the expense of solar mass.
Sunspots: caused by magnetic storms (intense magnetic activity) that give rise to strong heating