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In this next section, we discuss how the choice of a developable surface-among other factors-influences a map projection's characteristics.Īuthor: Cary Anderson, Lecturer, MGIS program, The Pennsylvania State University. Typically, either a cone, a plane (flat surface), or a cylinder is used. In simpler terms, a developable surface is any surface that can be “unrolled” flat (and thus, create a 2D map). This projected map is thus modeled from an imaginary scaled-down version of Earth.Ī developable surface is a mathematically-definable surface onto which landmasses and the graticule (lines of latitude and longitude) are projected (Slocum et. To create a map, cartographers transfer a model of the earth as it appears on a reference globe to a developable surface.Ī reference globe is a model of Earth (including landmasses, oceans, and the graticule) at some chosen scale, which is the final scale of the map to be created (Slocum et. Though manual map projection is uncommon today, terms from this era of map production are still in use and are helpful for conceptualizing how the process of map projection works. Fortunately, GIS software such as ArcGIS is now able to perform this task of projection for us mathematically. In the past, cartographers were tasked with projecting maps by hand.

Flat earth map projection