Albers projection

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Albers projection (Al'-bers). An equal-area projection of the conical type, on which the meridians are straight lines that meet in a common point beyond the limits of the map and the parallels are concentric circles whose center is at the point of intersection of the meridians. Meridians and parallels intersect at right angles and the arcs of longitude along any given parallel are of equal length. The parallels are spaced to retain the condition of equal area. Along two selected parallels, called standard parallels, the scale is held exact; along the other parallels the scale varies with latitude, but is constant along any given parallel. Between the standard parallels the meridional scale is too large; beyond them, too small. When used for the map of the U.S., the projection normally has a maximum scale error of 1.25 percent along the northern and southern borders (Snyder, 1987, p.27). Named after Heinrich C. Albers (1773-1833), German cartographer, who devised the projection in 1805. Syn: Albers equal-area conic projection.

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