In cartography, a map projection is any of a broad set of transformations employed to represent the curved two-dimensional surface of a globe on a plane. In a map projection, coordinates, often expressed as latitude See more

The creation of a map projection involves two steps:
1. Selection of a model for the shape of the Earth or planetary body (usually choosing between a sphere or ellipsoid). Because the Earth's actual shape is irregular, information is lost … See more

The three developable surfaces (plane, cylinder, cone) provide useful models for understanding, describing, and developing map projections. However, these models are limited in two … See more

The mathematics of projection do not permit any particular map projection to be best for everything. Something will always be distorted. Thus, … See more

Many properties can be measured on the Earth's surface independently of its geography:
• Area
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One way to classify map projections is based on the type of surface onto which the globe is projected. In this scheme, the projection process is described as placing a hypothetical projection surface the size of the desired study area in contact with part of the Earth, … See more

Conformal
Conformal, or orthomorphic, map projections preserve angles locally, implying that they … See more