GEO Notes Exam prep 1 - Exam preparation PDF

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UNIT 1: Explain the following definitions:*Geography – Study of interactions of the physical and human phenomena. - Involves the exploration and description of the world we live in. - It’s also about the interactions among places that forms patterns and organize space. Physical Geography – the study...

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GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES UNIT 1: Explain the following definitions: *Geography – Study of interactions of the physical and human phenomena. - Involves the exploration and description of the world we live in. - It’s also about the interactions among places that forms patterns and organize space. * Physical Geography – the study of characteristics of a physical environment. - Such as climate, soil and vegetation *Human Geography – the study of human groups and their activities - study as language and buildings * Cultural Geography – the subfield of human geography - Focus on the role of human activities and cultures * Regional / Special Geography – analyze places in terms of local population, customs and political regions. Geographical Phenomenon: (What is a geographical Phenomenon)  Temporal component – the phenomena are not static and it changes over time.  Spatial component – can be linked to a specific location  Thematic component – measurable characteristics or properties like what is its name? How big is it? There are Geographical phenomena:  Such as a crime scene in a city over 5 years  Place exhibiting art Explain the distribution of a phenomenon:  Describing where individual element are located can be random or scattered. Contemporary geographers employ 3 analythical methods: 1. Area analysis – it intergaretes the geographic features of an area or place. - it shows that each place occupies a unique location - possesses a unique combination of human behaviour and environmental processes (Site, situation and region) 2. Spatial analysis – called location analysis - emphasizes the interactions among places - look for patterns in the distribution of human activites - Characteristics like distribution, density, pattern, movement , distance and diffusion. 3. Geographic systems – understanding of the physical and human systems and the interactions amongs them. (Atmosphere the hydrosphere, listhosphere and biosphere) Basic definitions of concepts: Absolute location – the location of a place as pinpointed in terms of the global geographic grid. Relative location – the location reference to another place - Describes the accessibility such as (nearer or further) - It is constantly changing - Also change if the trerritorial site of an activity’s organization change. - Affects the interaction between places and the accessibility of a specific place. - Example Cape Town is located 2km north of the CBD area. Situation - location of a place relative to other places - Knowledge of the place’s situation that helps us understand how it interacts with rest of the world. Space – refers to the distribution of features - 3 main properties of distribution across space namely density, concentration and pattern.

GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES Scale – a quantitative statement of the relative sizes of an object on a map and in reality. (Map scale, written scale and graphical scale. Can be expressed in one of 3 ways. Connectedness – connections between places results in spatial interaction - Places are connected through a network Characteristics of Map projections: Projections – second fundamental characteristic of maps - Governs the way we show information and shows locations on a flat map - Process of projecting the globe onto the map introduces distortion. Projections must distort either – size as distance or shape orientation or both. Conformal Maps – maps that distort size but preserve shape - Meractor projection showing the latitude and longitude Equal- area Maps – preserve size but distort shape. Geographic grid used to describe the absolute location. Done with reference where the Greenwich Meridian and the Equator intersect. Purpose of geographic grid 

The geographic grid is a system designed to pinpoint any location on Earth by laying a vertical and horizontal grid over the Earth's layout.

Different characteristics of latitude and longitude  

Latitude: run east-west, run parallel, numbered from equator (0 degrees) Longitude: runs north-south, not parallel, all lines meet at North and South pole, separted by distances

Concept of a region: Areas defined by 1 or more distinctive characteristics or a unique combination of features. Such as climate and soil type Language or economic activity Geographers define regions and describe as well as analyze the similarities and the differences. They also study the patterns and how people organize their societies. Criteria to define a region: Physical or cultural Types of regions: 1. Formal – also called uniform region or homogeneous region - an area within which everyone share in common one or more distinctive chatacteristics - shared future such as cultural values (common language) - Economic activity (production) -Environmental property (climate) Geographers identify formal regions – explain broad global or national patterns and variations or economic development. E.g. Chicago (government covers the legal cost and limits and collects the taxes) 2. Functional region – also called the nodal region - an area organized around a node or focal point. - defined by the interactions among places such as trade / communication.

GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES Geographers use this region to display info about economic areas. - Boundaries of the region marks the limit of the trading area. E.g reception areas of a tv station (broadcast to different places) 3. Venacular region – perceptual region - place that people believe exists as part of their cultural identity. - defined by the wide spread popular perception by people within or outside them - emerge from people’s formal sense -region does not have formal defined boundaries or agree upon boundaries - it’s in the minds of people E. g Karoo/ Bosveld Region is a concept an abstract idea Region is defined – cultural phenomena that merge or overlap. (People who live between 2 cities might listen to radio stations located in both.) Countries of the world are grouped into regions according to Wealthier vs Improverished geographically described as Global North vs Global South. Concept of distribution: -(Falls under spatial analysis/ distribution) - Of a phenomenon it means it’s * position * placement * arrangement throughout space - Also describe where individual elements of the phenomenon are located. Properties of distribution: 1. Density – the frequency of occurrence of a phenomenon in relation to geographic area. - feature being measured could be * people * houses *cars *volcanoes - expressed as a number per square km or square mile - large population does not lead to high density. - E.g Russia has larger population in relation to the Netherlands, but Netherlands has a much higher density because of the land area that is smaller. 2. Concentration – extent of a feature spread over space. - concentrated or clustered objects in an area are close together (Farmers in a village) - Dispersed if they are scattered or relatively far apart from each other (Farmers live on the farm North America) - Two areas must have the same number of objects and same size in area. 3. Pattern – geometrical arrangement of objects within an area. - some features are organized in a geometric pattern others are distributed irregularly - Modern cities street lights are arranged in rectangular grid patterns and older cities is irregular. Human Environmental interaction: a 2 way relationship between humans and the environment and it has been associated with innovation and disaster. -

It also shows how the environment enable and inhibits the activities of humans Geographic study of human- environment relationship is called cultural ecology. Human societies must adapt to local climate, vegetation and water resources Interaction between the environment and humankind is reciprocal The environment affects the human life and cultures.

Geographers are interested in 2 types of human- environment interactions:  

How people adjust to the environment How they modify it

GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES Environmental determinism – physical environment caused social development - Belief that human events can be explained entirely as the result of the effects of the physical environment. - Climate of produced better health conditions and lower death rated in Europe - To explain relationships between human activities and physical geographers reject the determinism in favour of possibilism. Possibilism – theory that the physical environment itself will neither suggest nor determine what people will attempt. - Might limit what people can achieve - People have the ability to adjust to their environment Spatial interaction: All places on earth are interconnected in some or other way Can be triggered when one place (region) has something on offer or in demand at another region Depending on the distance between 2 places and the value of commodity and supply the demand relationships can develop E.g Port of Durban and Johannesburg doing trading Distance decay – impact of any phenomenon may diminish away from its origin. Diffusion – process of an item or feature spreading through time. - Suggests how people and cultures interact and influence one another. - Occurs through cultural interaction involving persons, objects or ideas 1. Relocation diffusion – process by which a characteristic spreads across space from 1 place to another over time. - Place from which an innovation originated called hearth - spread of an idea through physical movement of people from one place to another. - when people move they carry with them their culture, language and religion - E.g Nomadic tribe that moves around to find a new environment similar to the one they had. 2. Contiguous/ contagious diffusion – occurs from one place to a neighboring place through direct contact. - is analogous to spread a disease such as influenza - culture and innovation can also spread by this diffusion as ideas are passed from 1 area to another without population relocation. E.g Iran and Saudi Arabia where Western music and films are enjoyed and now available on the Internet. 3. Hierarchical diffusion – spread of an idea from persons or node of authority or power to other persons or places. - may result from the spread of ideas from political leaders, social elite people or other important people to others in the community. - influence travel up and down a hierarchy E.g Fly from 1 city to another small city and then to a bigger city and then a smaller city that’s local. 4. Expansion diffusion – spread of feature from one place to another in an additive process. 5. Stimulus diffusion – spread of an underlying principle E.g innovative features of Apple’s iPhone operating systems have been adopted by competitors Path of diffusion reveals the world’s interconnectedness Spatial Variation – climate map of the world is not the same everywhere and varies from place to place - Varies in space and very cold places are indicated - Also how a phenomenon varies across space. - The landscape is not homogenous and varies in location to location as well - E.g like Universities have different names, student numbers, fees

GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES Spatial variation of Biomes – Focus on describing how biomes vary across the surface of the earth - Desert’s are hot and vegetation is spare - Well adapted to moisture stress. - Places like forests and so can have different times that they are open and presenting different animals Spatial Association – degree to which things are arranged in space - Spatial distribution of the world’s population is strongly related to major climates - Large concentrations of the world population tend to be arranged in close proximity to areas providing climatic conditions that are conductive to human habitat. Phenomenon distribution of biomes: - Biomes cover the entire earth - Focus on one sub-biome across the world - Distribution appears random but is not - Desert’s are hot but vegetation is sparse - Temperatures and rainfall is important factors Explaining Area analysis and concepts to site: Site – describe the exact location of a place (latitude or longitude) - Characteristics can be human/ physical - Reffering to language, customs, food or landscapes System – group of items that interact in a regular way to form a unified whole. Models of systems help geographers see how factors are interrelated Individual environment systems include: - climate processes that produce precipitation - Hydrologic processes that determine what happens to rain - Human activities influenced by environment conditions Why each location of Earth is unique: - Each place has distinct features of site and situation - Each location has different site chatacteristics - Locations can be interrelated (share the same atmoshphere or might be trading partners - Interaction also points to interrelatedness (connection) Earth’s physical system: the 4 spheres are interrelated and interact with each other. - Physical systems are classified as biotic / abiotic Biotic – system composed of living organisms Abiotic – system is composed of nonliving or inorganic matter The Atmosphere – thin layer of gases surrounding the Earth - Movement of air driven by solar radiation creating weather and climate - Variations in air pressure caused winds to blow and control precipitation patterns. The Hydrosphere – All of the water on and neat the Earth’s surface - Water can be as vapour, liquid or solid such as oceans (71% is oceans) The Lithosphere – Solid Earth composed by rocks and overlying sediments - Crust from mountain chains and shape crust to form continents and ocean basins - Crust influence climate conditions The Biosphere – All the living organisms on Earth - The atmosphere and all the others function together to create the environment of the biosphere. 

Plants and animals live on the surface of the Lithosphere. The Hydrosphere provides the water for humans and animals to drink and gives physical support for the aquatic life.

GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES  Life forms depend on inputs of solar energy  Humans also interact with the 4 spheres such as Air, food  Plants and animals interact through exchange of matter, energy and stimuli Technology used for gathering spatial data: - Remote sensing (Arial photography and satellite remote sensing) - Global positioning systems (GPS) - Geographic Information systems (GIS) - Population consus or counting number of vehicles Symbols used on Maps: - Point system represent the real world phenomena found in fixed locations (dots, circles and letters) - Line symbols used to represent real world with linear character (roads, rivers) - Area symbols represent 2 dimentional objects (dam or nature reserve) A topographic map – represent the physical characteristics of the Earth (Rivers, mountains, roads) A thematic map – focused on a geographic phenomenon (rainfall, population, density) Value of nature maps – Data vs Information Date – unprocessed facts and Information data that have been processed to add value Definitions: Maps – two dimentional representations of some portions of the Earth’s surface. Characteristics of geographical data:  Spatiality – location (absolute/ relative) and the distribution that varies across space.  Temporality – location of phenomena as well as their chatacteristics can very over time. Scale – extent to which reality has been reuced to fit on the map. - Larger area (entire world will show less detail) - Smaller area (property with a house on) more detail shown - Macro means large meso medium and micro means small Scale of measurement 1. Nominal the lowest scale measurement – they only want to know what type of phenomenon is represented E.g *S shows school on a map 2. Ordinal is possible to compare the relative sizes or level of importance of observations. N roads more important than R roads on maps 3. Interval is measures quantitative in nature and the interval is not fixed. 4. Ratio is the highest level of measurement Types of spatial distribution (Discrete vs Continuous) Discrete – not presented everywhere (sport fields and nature reserves) Continuous – presented everywhere (high above sea level, temperature, atmospheric pressure) Geographic phenomenon: that can relate to spatial characteristics such as location, distribution and variation. Geographic variable: Measurable characteristics of a geographic phenomenon (amount of rainfall) Geographic Information system (GIS): - Form of database software in which spatial information is important - Computer system that captures and stores and analyze the data that’s used to create maps - Spatial data and information place phenomena at their correct position on the Earth’s surface - GIS has layered structures and it contains data about different themes. - Data is generally referenced according to location - Interrelate the different data like the overly of human population of the world over a climatic map of the world.

GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES Types of GIS data: 1. Raster data – arranged in a regtangular grid of cell which are the same 2. Vector data – based on points X and Y coordinates that spcify location and store information such as regions and political units or lines. GIS – possible to combine two or more layers of information - Also contain attribute (thematic) information that tells us more about the nature and the place and region. - Makes is easier to find spatial associations and unravel irrelatedness Satellite Remote sensing: Process during which information is gathered about a geographic object over a distance without the object and measuring device in physical contact. - Observing from a distance Remote Sensing include: - The mapping of vegetation and other surface cover -Gathering data for large unpopulated areas -Measuring the extent of the winter ice covers over the oceans -Monitoring the changes such as weather patterns and deforestation Satellites – scan the Earth surface by detecting light in spots along a series of pixels. Map created by remote sensing is essentially a grid. Why is remote sensing critical: Monitor and evaluating impacts Erosion and how its associated with agriculture Estimating nutrient levels on farmlands and soil Can scan stream flows and gather info on other countries Why is satellite image grid like?  Remote sensing satellites scan the Earth surface much like a Tv camera.  Sensor is moved across the landscape in a line  It also scans other lines  The sensor is recording the amount of energy from only 1 place an area called a picture element/pixel  The map is then created by remote sensing and is essentially grid like Earth’s sun geometry: (Part of Energy flow through the Earth) - Intensity of solar radiation depends on the angle at which the sun’s rays hit the surface at a particular place. - Energy travel through space as “Radiation” - Amount of radiation/ solar energy intercepted by the Earth’s areas or isolation. Incoming Solar radiation has 2 factors: 1. Intensity of solar radiation/ amount 2. Number of hours during the day that radiation is striking. 1. Intensity – daily and seasonal differences in intensity were caused by variations in the angle of incidence - intensity of solar radiation at a given place and time depends on its latitude and season of the year. 2.Day length – results from the 23.5 degrees tilt of the Earth so higher latitudes the amount of daylight will vary with seasons. Insolation strikes the surface of the Earth at right angles and is most intense. Summer Solstice – Northen Hemisphere June 20/21 (Summer) - Noon the sun is directly overland along the parallel of 23.5 degrees N latitude - Southern Hemisphere Dec 21/22 (Winter) - Noon the sun is directly overland along parallel of S latitude March equinox – Faces the sun directly so no tilt towards the sun (12hr daylight and night life) September equinox – Faces sun directly no tilt

GGH1501 Semester 1 NOTES Energy exchange mechanisms – Occurs by radiation, conduction, convention and latent heat transfer. - Solar energy enters the atmosphere a variety of energy exchange processes then take place. - Redistributing the energy around the globe.   

Radiation is the most important process of heat transfer Radiation is energy that’s transmitted by electromagnetic waves Radient magnetic waves have different lengths

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