<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2 Final//EN"> <!--Converted with LaTeX2HTML 2002-2-1 (1.71) original version by: Nikos Drakos, CBLU, University of Leeds * revised and updated by: Marcus Hennecke, Ross Moore, Herb Swan * with significant contributions from: Jens Lippmann, Marek Rouchal, Martin Wilck and others --> <HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>6.3.1 Mercator projection (-Jm -JM)</TITLE> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="6.3.1 Mercator projection (-Jm -JM)"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="GMT_Docs"> <META NAME="resource-type" CONTENT="document"> <META NAME="distribution" CONTENT="global"> <META NAME="Generator" CONTENT="LaTeX2HTML v2002-2-1"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Style-Type" CONTENT="text/css"> <LINK REL="STYLESHEET" HREF="GMT_Docs.css"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node105.html"> <LINK REL="previous" HREF="node103.html"> <LINK REL="up" HREF="node103.html"> <LINK REL="next" HREF="node105.html"> </HEAD> <BODY bgcolor="#ffffff"> <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html4081" HREF="node105.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4075" HREF="node103.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4069" HREF="node103.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4077" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="contents.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4079" HREF="node256.html"> <IMG WIDTH="43" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="index" SRC="index.png"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html4082" HREF="node105.html">6.3.2 Transverse Mercator projection</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html4076" HREF="node103.html">6.3 Cylindrical projections</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html4070" HREF="node103.html">6.3 Cylindrical projections</A> <B> <A NAME="tex2html4078" HREF="node1.html">Contents</A></B> <B> <A NAME="tex2html4080" HREF="node256.html">Index</A></B> <BR> <BR> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <H2><A NAME="SECTION001431000000000000000"> 6.3.1 Mercator projection (<B>-Jm</B> <B>-JM</B>)</A> </H2> <A NAME="22484"></A> <A NAME="22485"></A> <A NAME="22486"></A> <P> Probably the most famous of the various map projections, the Mercator projection takes its name from the Flemish cartographer Gheert Cremer, better known as Gerardus Mercator, who presented it in 1569. The projection is a cylindrical and conformal, with no distortion along the equator. A major navigational feature of the projection is that a line of constant azimuth is straight. Such a line is called a rhumb line or <I>loxodrome</I><A NAME="21957"></A>. Thus, to sail from one point to another one only had to connect the points with a straight line, determine the azimuth of the line, and keep this constant course for the entire voyage<A NAME="tex2html1292" HREF="footnode.html#foot21958"><SUP>6.2</SUP></A><A NAME="21959"></A>. The Mercator projection has been used extensively for world maps in which the distortion towards the polar regions grows rather large, thus incorrectly giving the impression that, for example, Greenland is larger than South America. In reality, the latter is about eight times the size of Greenland. Also, the Former Soviet Union looks much bigger than Africa or South America. One may wonder whether this illusion has had any influence on U.S. foreign policy. <P> In the regular Mercator projection, the cylinder touches the globe along the equator. Other orientations like vertical and oblique give rise to the Transverse and Oblique Mercator projections, respectively. We will discuss these generalizations following the regular Mercator projection. <P> The regular Mercator projection requires a minimum of parameters. To use it in <A NAME="tex2html1294" HREF="http://gmt.soest.hawaii.edu"><B>GMT</B></A> programs you supply this information (the first two items are optional and have defaults): <P> <UL> <LI>Central meridian [Middle of your map]. </LI> <LI>Standard parallel for true scale [Equator]. When supplied, central meridian must be supplied as well. </LI> <LI>Scale along the equator in inch/degree or 1:xxxxx (<B>-Jm</B>), or map width (<B>-JM</B>). </LI> </UL> <P> Our example presents a world map at a scale of 0.012 inch pr degree which will give a map 4.32 inch wide. It was created with the command: <P> <BR CLEAR="ALL"> <HR> <BR> <PRE>gmtset BASEMAP_TYPE fancy pscoast -R0/360/-70/70 -Jm1.2e-2i -Ba60f30/a30f15 -Dc -A5000 -Gblack -P > GMT_mercator.ps </PRE> <BR CLEAR="ALL"> <HR> <P> <DIV ALIGN="CENTER"><A NAME="fig:GMT_mercator"></A><A NAME="22940"></A> <TABLE> <CAPTION ALIGN="BOTTOM"><STRONG>Figure 6.15:</STRONG> Simple Mercator map.</CAPTION> <TR><TD> <DIV ALIGN="CENTER"><IMG WIDTH="595" HEIGHT="332" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" SRC="img136.png" ALT="\includegraphics{scripts/GMT_mercator}"></DIV></TD></TR> </TABLE> </DIV> <P> While this example is centered on the Dateline, one can easily choose another configuration with the <B>-R</B> option. A map centered on Greenwich would specify the region with <B>-R</B>-180/180/-70/70. <P> <A NAME="22487"></A> <A NAME="22488"></A> <A NAME="22489"></A> <P> <HR> <!--Navigation Panel--> <A NAME="tex2html4081" HREF="node105.html"> <IMG WIDTH="37" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="next" SRC="next.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4075" HREF="node103.html"> <IMG WIDTH="26" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="up" SRC="up.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4069" HREF="node103.html"> <IMG WIDTH="63" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="previous" SRC="prev.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4077" HREF="node1.html"> <IMG WIDTH="65" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="contents" SRC="contents.png"></A> <A NAME="tex2html4079" HREF="node256.html"> <IMG WIDTH="43" HEIGHT="24" ALIGN="BOTTOM" BORDER="0" ALT="index" SRC="index.png"></A> <BR> <B> Next:</B> <A NAME="tex2html4082" HREF="node105.html">6.3.2 Transverse Mercator projection</A> <B> Up:</B> <A NAME="tex2html4076" HREF="node103.html">6.3 Cylindrical projections</A> <B> Previous:</B> <A NAME="tex2html4070" HREF="node103.html">6.3 Cylindrical projections</A> <B> <A NAME="tex2html4078" HREF="node1.html">Contents</A></B> <B> <A NAME="tex2html4080" HREF="node256.html">Index</A></B> <!--End of Navigation Panel--> <ADDRESS> Paul Wessel 2010-07-14 </ADDRESS> </BODY> </HTML>