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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Chart scale information on charts...
From: Russell Sher
Date: 2000 Apr 04, 7:52 AM
From: Russell Sher
Date: 2000 Apr 04, 7:52 AM
I have a small question about the chart scale as displayed on mercator charts: Normally the scale on the chart is displayed as that scale given according to a particular latitude for example 1: 750 000 (at 34 deg 00' S), thus implying that the scale is calculated for the length of latitude at the given value (in this case 34 deg 00'). My question is - Is the scale stated in this way due to the mercator distortion as one travels away from the equator (due to the nature of the projection), or is the scale stated in this way due to the (slight) change in the value of a minute of latitude due to the oblate shape of the earth? Regards Russell
