Distances(crowflies/straightlinedistance)arecomputedwithamapbarscale.

Distancesonstatehighwaysareprimarilycomputedwithdistancesbetweenjunctions&
towns(blacknumbers).U.S.(FederalHighways)withredpointers.InterstateHighwayswithsubtractingexitnumbers.
Mapinsetamapthatappearsinthecornerofanothermapandshowsanenhancedviewofpartofanareacoveredbythelargermap
Statecapitalsarelocatedgenerallyinthecentralpartofthestate.
Severalhighwayssharethesameroadwayifmultipleroutemarkersappearonthesameroadsymbol.
Roadsareclassifiedonahighwaymapbydesignation(akainterstate,US,state,county)orcapacity(multilinedivided,principalthrough,twolane,etc.)
Citymaps (notstatemaps)canshowmajorroadswithinthegivenarea,freewayinterchangedetail,pointsofinterest,landmarkstructures/buildings,bridgenames,
airportrunwaypatterns,parks,municipalityboundaries,golfcourses,colleges/universities,etc.
2digitevennumberedinterstatehighwaysruneastwest.2digitoddnumberedinterstatehighwaysrunnorthsouth.
Countyseatacitycontainingacountygovernment.
Statecapitalacitycontainingastategovernment.
Beltway,bypass,outerbelt,orcircumferentialhighwaythreedigitnumberedinterstateswithanevenfirstdigitthatgenerallydivertthroughtrafficaroundmajorcities
Businessloopieinterstateandfederalhighwaysgoingarounddenselypopulatedsmalltowns,provideaccesstothemain/central/corebusinessdistrict(restaurants,
hotels,shops,etc.)ofatownthatwouldnormallybebypassedbytheroad
Planimetric[map]containsnoelevationdata(contours,spots,benchmarks)
Hachuresonacontourindicateadownhillsideofadepressioncontour.
Calculationandexpressionofastreamgradientvs.calculationandexpressionofaslopegradienttheyarecalculatedthesameway,butexpresseddifferently
[Contour]Uturns[contour]turnbackswhichpointupstream(uphill)
Benchmarkindicatesapointwhoseelevationhasbeenpreciselydetermined
Cliff/bluff/escarpmentsymbolwhichindicatescontoursthatcoalesce(pileup)
Profileplotscutawayvieworcrosssectionview,variationinelevationalongaspecifiedlinearmap:canbederivedfromacontourmap
Freshwaterlakevs.Saltwaterlake(contourplot)afreshwaterlakehasstreamsflowingbothintoandoutofit,whereasasaltwaterlakehasstreamsflowingonly
intoit(nooutlet);streamflowdirectioncanbedeterminedbycontourturnbacks,orbyelevationdifference
Contourpatternsindicatehills,saddles,depressions/basins,cliffs,ridges,quarries,stripmines,sinkholes(karsttopography),streamvalleys,waterfalls
Contoursindicateelevationwithrespecttomeansealevel(commonandfixedreferencewhichdoesnotvarygreatly).
Latitudeismeasurednorthorsouthoftheequator.LongitudeismeasuredeastorwestofthePrimeMeridian(GreenwichMeridian).
Contourvaluesareintegralorwholenumbermultiplesofthecontourinterval.
Contoursonoppositesidesofastreamhavethesamevaluesincecontoursarepairedacrossdrains(lastcontourcrosseddescendingonesideofstreamvalleyisfirstone
crossedascendingotherside).
ContourscantintersectinshapeslikeT,X,Y,andf8;theyareshortenedatcliffsymbol.
TheUSGS1:24,000scaletopomapisalsoknownasthequadranglemap(7.5seriesmap)andissplitinto9parts,orsectors.
Spiralacourseofconstantazimuth/bearingontheEarth;isastraightlineonastandardMercatorMap
Projectiontheprocessbywhicha2Dmapisderivedfroma3Dsurface;containsproblemofdistortionofshape,direction,andscale(size/distance)
PolescantbeshownonastandardMercatormapbecausethedistortionissuchthatandinfinitelytallmapwouldberequired;solvedwithpolarprojection
Mercatorprojection=cylindricalprojection
conformalscaleisthesameineverydirectionfromanypoint
equalareaareasonmapareproportionaltocorrespondingareasonEarth
equidistantdistancesaretrueonlyfromcenterofprojectionoralongaspecialsetoflines
rhumblinelinecuttingallmeridiansatthesameangle;lineofconstantdirection(notnecessarilytheshortestdistancebetweentwopoints)
MagneticdeclinationthedeviationofthisreadingfromtrueNorth(geographicNorth)
Anairlinepilotcoulduseanazimuthtocalculatetheflightazimuth(geographic/magnetic)fromNorthreferencebetweenhisoriginanddestinationpoints.
Sectorpartswithdimensions2.5by2.5
ThePublicLandSurveySystemisusedtodescribeaccuratelythelocationofaparcelofland,andtoeaseinventoryandtransferofland.InthePLSS,atownshipits6
*6miles=36squaremiles.Asectionis1*1mile=1squaremile.APLSSsectioncontains640acres.Asectionis*mile=squaremileor160acres.
MapColorsThereare6majorcolorsonatopographicmap:black,blue,brown,green,red,andpurple.Eachmeansadifferentthing.blackcandenotefeatureslike
roadsandbuildings,blueidentifieswaterfeatures,brown,contours,green,vegetation,red,importantroads,andpurple,revisions.
MapSymbolsItisveryimportantthatyouhaveatleastonesymbolssheetwithyouduringanevent.Manyquestionswillaskaboutcertainsymbols,andhavinga
symbolssheetispracticallyanunwrittenlawforthebuildamapportionofthetest.Anexampleofatoposheetisontheright.
SurveyControlMarksThesearespecificpointsonaquadthatgivetheexactelevationofaplacethatisnotfoundonacountourline.Youneedtoknowcontrolstation
marks,spotelevations,andbenchmarks.Thesymbolsforeachofthesecanbefoundinthetopographicmapsymbolsbooklet.
AzimuthAzimuthisthedegreesfromoneobjecttoanother.Thisisfoundusingafullcircle(360)protactor.Anazimuthcanbeupto359degrees.Itlookslikethis:25.
Youshouldlineuptheprotractorsothat0isfacingnorth.Then,usearulerorstringtofindtheexactdegreesbetweenthetwoplaces.
BearingBearingisfoundbyusingafullcircleprotractor.ThedirectionNorSisaddedinfrontofthedegrees,andEorWisaddedafterward.Itlookslikethis:N25
E.Likeanazimuth,youshouldusearulerorstingtofindtheexactdegrees.0degreesisalwaysfacingnorthorsouth,and90degreesisalwaysfacingwestoreast.You
canonlymeasurebearingfrom0to90degrees.InaBearing,themaximumanglemeasurementyoucanhaveis90degrees,asyouarealwaysmeasuringfromthe180
degreeline.Forexample,ifyourangleis91degrees(inthesenseofanazimuth),thanyourbearingmeasurementwouldbeS49degreesE.
MeasuringDistancesTomeasuredistancesonaquadrangle,you'llneedapieceofscrappaper.Lineupthepieceofpaperbetweenthetwoobjectsplacingasmalldash
whereeachofthemare.Then,bringthepieceofpaperdowntothemapscaleinthebottommargin.Lineupthepieceofpaperwithwhicheverdistanceyouwantto
measurein.Ifthespacebetweenthetwodashesislargerthanthemeasurementline,makeanotherdashwheretheendofthelineis.Then,measuretoasexactadistance
aspossible.
StreamGradientStreamgradientisfoundinfeetperthousandfeet,orft/1000ft.Tofindstreamgradient,firstmeasurethesectionofthestreamyouwishtousewitha
string.Then,figureoutthechangeinelevationbetweenthebeginningandendingpointsoftheportionofthestream.Inputtheseamountsintotheformula"changein
elevationoverdistancex1000"(C.I.E/Distancex1000)tofindtheanswer.Youwillneedtousestingforthistoaccuratelyfindthedistancealongthestream/river.
SlopeGradientSimilartostreamgradient,usetheformula"changeinelevationoverdistancex100"tofindtheanswer.
StreamFlowDirectionThecontourlineslocatedonthestreamwillalwayspointupstream.Forexample,ifthecountourlineispointingNW,thestreamwillbeflowing
totheS