Distribution Maps: Principles and Applications

This book reviews the fundamental aspects of the concept of distribution maps and their distinctive role in the natural, human, descriptive, and applied fields of various sciences. Geographic distribution maps are used to record, analyze, and interpret any phenomenon on the Earth’s surface, whether natural, such as winds, soil types, vegetation, and sea currents, or human, such as population and some economic aspects. It includes a classification of map types, their branches, the symbols used for each type, and their importance, as well as the method of distribution using isolines and isopleths, the steps for drawing isolines, their types, benefits, and applications. This helps those interested in knowing the types of isolines, the method of representing the Earth’s surface using GPS, data logging using modern methods, and applying the coordinate grid to draw contour maps to identify any points on the Earth’s surface, ultimately producing maps of non-quantitative distributions in addition to their symbols, such as point location symbols, geometric symbols, pictorial symbols, and various line symbols. These symbols aid in showing the distribution of different types of geographical phenomena, using multiple contrasting lines and colours through modern computer software.