GEO 125

Physical Geography

Geography as a Spatial Science

Operational definition of geography: GEOGRAPHY IS THE STUDY OF THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF GEOGRAPHICAL FACTS AND HOW THESE FACTS ARE SPATIALLY INTERELATED AND AERIALLY ASSOCIATED AT DIFFERENT SCALES OF REFERENCE.

Characteristics of geographical facts.

• Location
• Magnitude
• Change in magnitude over time

Types of spatial distributions.

• Discrete (also called point distributions)
• Linear
• Continuous

Characteristics of spatial distributions.

• Density
• Pattern
• Dispersion

Scales of geographic reference.

• global
• macro
• meso
• micro

An example of the variations in the characteristics of a discrete distribution: septic tanks and water wells.

Types of spatial relationships.

• positive
• negative
• no relationship
• spurious

An example of areal associations: Minnesota/Wisconsin Water Connection

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