Plate Carree (Geographic) Projection
Classifications
Graticule
- Meridians: equally spaced straight parallel
lines half as long as the Equator
- Parallels: equally spaced straight parallel lines, perpendicular
to and having same spacing as meridians
- Poles: straight lines equal in length to the Equator
- Symmetry: about any meridian or the equator
Scale
- True along the Equator and along all meridians
- Increases with distance from the equator along
parallels
- Constant along any given parallel; same scale
at the parallel of opposite sign
Distortion
- Infinitesimally small circles of equal size on the globe
(indicatrices) are ellipses except along the equator, where they remain circles.
Areas of the ellipses also vary. Thus, there is distortion of both shape and
area
Other features
- Most simply constructed graticule of any projection
- Conceptually projected onto a cylinder wrapped around
the globe tangent to the Equator
- Not perspective
Usage
- Many maps during the 15th and 16th centuries
- Simple outline maps of regions or of the world or of
index maps
- Used only for the Earth taken as a sphere
Origin
- May have been originated by Eratosthenes (275?-195? BC)
- Marinus of Tyre also credited with its invention about
AD 100
Aspects
- Normal is described here
- Transverse aspect is the Cassini projection which is
also applied to the ellipsoid
- Oblique aspect is rarely used
Other Names
- Simple Cylindrical
- Equidistant Cylindrical (particular form)
Similar Projections
- If meridians are compressed relative to parallels, the
Equirectangular projection results