conformal map

From Glossary of Meteorology
(Redirected from Orthomorphic map)
(Also called isogonal map, orthomorphic map.) A map that preserves angles; that is, a map such that if two curves intersect at a given angle, the images of the two curves on the map also intersect at the same angle.

On such a map, at each point, the scale is the same in every direction. Shapes of small regions are preserved, but areas are only approximately preserved (the property of area conservation is peculiar to the equal-area map). The most commonly used conformal map is probably the Lambert conic projection, with standard latitudes at 30°and 60°N. On the standard latitudes, the scale is exact; between them, it is decreased by not more than about 1%; outside them, distortion increases rapidly. The Mercator and stereographic projections are also conformal maps.
Saucier, W. J. 1955. Principles of Meteorological Analysis. 24–38.


Copyright 2024 American Meteorological Society (AMS). For permission to reuse any portion of this work, please contact [email protected]. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 U.S. Code § 107) or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S.Copyright Act (17 USC § 108) does not require AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form, such as on a website or in a searchable database, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, require written permission or a license from AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy statement.