WEEK 4 LAB: PROJECTIONS OF FLORIDA

This week's assignment introduced us to different map projections or coordinate systems. We used a map of Florida to compare three different coordinate systems: Albers, State Plane and UTM.

The area for Escambia county differed the least between projections while that for Miami-Dade differed the most. Escambia is the most northerly county and Miami-Dade the most southerly. This difference probably occurred because we used State Plane Florida North and UTM 16 N. Escambia county falls within these zones, whereas the other two counties fall within UTM 17 N and one of the other State Plane zones. We would therefore expect more distortion of areas in counties within these zones. The Albers projection should show the correct area of each county as it is an equal area projection.