TOPIC TWO: MAPWORK.

Direction and Bearing.

- Map work is the ability to study and extract information from maps.
- Direction is a line along which something or an object is facing, moving or pointing e.g.
N

Eldoret
W E

W E

Kitale

S
 Direction of Kitale from Eldoret is South West.
 Direction of Eldoret from Kitale is North East.

- Bearing is the direction of a place given in form of an angle/ degrees e.g.

N

Eldoret
W E

W E

Kitale

S
 Bearing of Kitale from Eldoret is 090⁰ + 090⁰ + 045⁰ = 225⁰
 Bearing of Eldoret from Kitale is 045⁰
Traditional methods of showing Direction.
 i. Use of landmarks
- Landmarks are familiar features on the surface of the earth that can guide the traveller in
finding the way from one place to another.
- Examples are rivers, hills, roads, trees and buildings.8

ii. The use of heavenly bodies.

- Travellers used heavenly bodies like moon, stars and sun to find their direction in deserts
and in large water bodies.
- Stars make patterns or groups called Constellations e.g.
 The North Star (pole star) shows northern direction using a group of stars called
plough.

* *
* *
* *
Great bear of the plough
*

*pole star (north pole)

 The Southern Cross (South Pole) shows southern direction using bright stars.

Southern pole *

Modern methods of showing Direction.

a) Use of landforms.
- It involve the use of conspicuous features like hills, roads, trees and buildings to show
direction.

b) The use of the compass

- A magnetic compass is a scientific instrument whose needle always points to the north
while at rest.
- A compass has a total of 32 points but only 16 points are commonly used.
- North, East, South and West are the four main points commonly known as cardinal
points.

N
NNW NNE

NW NE

WNW ENE

W E

WSW ESE

SW SE

SSW SSE
S

c) Use of Compass Bearing.

- It involves giving the direction of the place in terms of an angle which is expressed in
degrees.
- The bearing is read in a clockwise direction from the North line.
One degree (1⁰) = 60 minutes (60’)
One minute (1’) = 60 seconds (60’’)

360⁰ N 000⁰
(337⁰ 30’) NNW NNE (022⁰ 30’)
 (315⁰) NW NE (045⁰)

(292⁰ 30’)WNW ENE (067⁰ 30’)

(270⁰) W E (090⁰)

(247⁰ 30’)WSW ESE (112⁰ 30’)

(225⁰) SW SE (135⁰)

SSW SSE (157⁰ 30’)

(202⁰ 30’) S (180⁰)

Types of North
 True or Geographical North.
 Magnetic North.
 Grid North.

a) True or Geographic North.

- This is the position of the North Pole as shown on the globe (the point where longitudes
meet).
- The bearing calculated from True North is called True Bearing.

b) Magnetic North
- This is the earth’s Magnetic North Pole as determined by the earth’s magnetic field.
- It is the direction to which the needle of a compass points when it comes to rest.
- The bearing calculated from magnetic north is called Magnetic Bearing.
- The angular difference between true north and magnetic north is known as magnetic
variation or magnetic declination.

c) Grid North
- It is the point where Eastings (north- south map grid lines) meet at the North Pole.
- The angular difference between true north and grid north is known as Grid declination.

Magnetic north True north

*
 Grid north

Magnetic
declination Grid declination
QUIZ: Magnetic declination of Taita Hills map is 0⁰ 30’ as at 1991. What is the
magnetic declination as at 1995?

Solution
Year difference = 1995 – 1991 = 4 years
1 year = 5’
4 years = 4 x 5’ = 20’
Magnetic declination as at 1995 = 0⁰ 30’ + 20’ = 0⁰ 50’

ASSIGNMENT
N
B

A
N

Find the direction and bearing of each of the following;

 A from B
 B from A
 A from C
 C from A

Trend and Bearing.

- It is possible to find the direction and bearing of features like coastline, rivers or roads on
maps.
- STEPS:
 Draw a straight line on the trend or general direction of the river/ road.
 Draw a compass points about the centre of the line.
 Measure two angles the lines makes with the north south line.

Example
Find the trend of the river below;
The river flows from North West to South East and the trend of the river is 110⁰/ 300⁰ or 110⁰ -
300⁰

Locating places on a map

- The position of a place on a map or on the earth’s surface can be expressed in any of the
following ways:
 By use of direction, bearing and distance.
 By use of a place name.
 By use of latitudes and longitudes.
 By use of grid reference system.

1. Use of Direction, Bearing and Distance.

- Direction is given in terms of compass points e.g. Busia town is South of Bungoma.
- Bearing is given in terms of angles/ degrees e.g. Kisumu is 290⁰ of Narok.
- Distance is obtained by measuring the actual length e.g. Mombasa is 40km from Malindi.
2. Use of place names.
- The name of a place is unique in such that no other place is known by that name on a map
e.g. Nakuru, Mt. Kenya and Isiolo.

3. Use of latitudes and longitudes.

- Latitudes are imaginary lines drawn on a map showing how far north or south a place is
from the equator.
- All latitudes are parallel to each other.
- Latitudes are measured from the centre of the earth towards north and south to a point of
90⁰
- The distance between two lines of latitude 1⁰ apart is approximately 111 km.
- Longitudes are imaginary lines drawn on a map showing how far east or west a place is
from the Prime Meridian.
- All longitudes to the East or West of the Prime Meridian are numbered from 0⁰ up to
180⁰
- The distance between one longitude and the next one 1⁰ apart at the equator is 111km.
NOTE: To give the position of a place on a map using latitudes and longitudes, the
following steps are used:
 Identify the place whose location you want to give.
 Identify the nearest numbered latitude and longitude.
  Estimate the latitude and longitude to the nearest 1⁰.
: They are marked at the map margins. Latitude is stated first (N or S) and then longitude
(E or W).
: Longitudinal extent is given East or West of the map e.g. 38⁰ 4’E to 38⁰ 20’E
: Latitudinal extent is given North or South of the map e.g. 28⁰ 11’S to 28⁰ 26’S
Example.
Nairobi is about 1⁰ S and 37⁰ E.
1⁰ = 60min and 1min = 60 seconds
Therefore, exact position of Nairobi is;
1⁰ 15’ S and 36⁰ 49’ E

4. Grid reference system 62

- A grid is a network of imaginary horizontal and vertical lines drawn on a map forming
equal squares.
- The vertical lines are called Eastings because they are numbered eastwards while the
horizontal lines are called Northings because they are numbered northwards.
- All readings on a map start from the South Western corner called grid origin.
- Eastings (vertical grid lines) are read first then followed by Northings (horizontal grid
lines).
- The distances either to the East or North of the point of origin are called Co-ordinates.
- Grid reference is given in Four figures or Six figures.
- In four figures, the nearest grid line is stated while the six figure is estimated in fractions
by dividing the space between grid lines into 10 equal parts.
Example.

Points Four G.R Six G.R

A 1990 195905
B 2094 202948
C 2192 218922
 D 2393 236938
E 2492 244920
F 2690 268908
G 2590 252908

Method of Representing Relief on Topographical Maps.

- The term relief means the actual appearance of the earth's surface.
- Relief is the nature of the landscape.
- Relief features include valleys, gullies, rolling or undulating plains, dissected landscape,
plateaus, hills and mountains.
- Relief features may be represented by the use of the following ways:

a. Contours/ Isohypes.
- They are lines drawn on maps to join all points with the same height above the sea-level.
- Contours are drawn at fixed interval known as the vertical Interval (V.I). The vertical
interval is always kept constant.
- Where contours come too close this suggest that the land is steep and where the contours
are far apart, it suggest that the land has a gentle slope.

1260
1240
1200

1220

V.I = 20m

Advantages of contours.
 They are easy to understand.
 They show actual heights.
 They can be used to identify landforms.

b. Formlines.
- These are lines drawn on a map to estimate where actual contours would pass.
- They are not accurately surveyed and they are indicated by broken lines.
- They are useful where contours are widely spaced or the vertical intervals are large.
 c. Pictorial Representation.
- It shows relief by drawing landforms at approximate positions where they are found e.g.
mountains, hills and valleys.
- Advantages:
 Gives a clear impression of the landscape
 Easy to locate and interpret.
- Disadvantages:
 They obscure details behind them.
 Don’t give height above sea level.
 Limited variety of landforms can be accommodated.

d. Hill shading
- It show relief accurately by shading areas which would be in shadow when light is
shining from a given direction.
- The steeper the slope, the darker the shade will be on the map. Plateaus, valley-bottoms
and plains are light shaded.

- Advantages: Effective when used with other methods like contours, hachures and spot
heights.
- Disadvantages:
 Does not give the heights of places unless spot heights are used.
 Does not distinguish uphill from downhill or spurs from valleys or plateaus
from plains.
71
e. Colouring/Layer Tinting
- It uses different colours to show different aspects of relief. The colour gets darker with
increasing altitude.

- Advantage: Useful in representing landscapes of varied relief.

- Disadvantages:
 Dark colours tend to obscure details.
 The monotone of colours may not give a good visual impression of plains or
plateaus.

f. Cliff and Rock Drawing

- It involves use of special pictorial symbols to show relief on maps.
- On topographical maps, areas with steep cliffs and rock faces are shown by the use of
wedge - shaped black lines. The thin ends of these black lines point downslope.

g. Hachures
- It is used to represent relief on mountains or hilly areas.
- It involves the drawing of lines down slope in the direction of the steepest gradient.
- The length and thickness of the hachures indicate the length and steepness of the slope.
- On steep slope, hachures are thick and close together.
- On gentle slopes, hachures are thin and wide apart.

- Advantages:
 Effective in representing relief in mountainous or hilly areas.
 Gives a good visual impression of the hilly landscape by showing ridges and
valleys clearly.

- Disadvantages:
 Difficult to draw.
 Do not show the exact height of the land scape.
 Cannot be used to show flat ground on maps.

h. Use of Spot heights.

- They are points on map whose positions and heights have been determined by surveyors.
- On topographical maps, a spot height is shown as a dot with its height indicated next to it.
2250m

- The dot indicates the exact height of a particular point on the map.
- Advantages:
 Easy to locate on maps.
 Show actual heights.

- Disadvantages:
 Can’t be used to identify landforms.
 Give little or no visual impression.

i. Trigonometrical stations
 - A trigonometrical station/a triangulation point is a survey point represented on a map
by the use of a triangle with a dot at the centre or a circle with a dot at the centre.

- Advantages: Easy to locate on maps.

: Show height above sea level of the top of mountains.

- Disadvantages: Give little or no visual impression.

NOTE: The most commonly used methods of representing relief on topographical maps
are;
I. Use of contours.
II. Spot heights.
III. Trigonometrical stations.
IV. Cliff and Rock Drawing.

“END OF TOPIC TWO”