![]() Then look for Sheboygan, which is marked M12. If you want to look up Sheboygan in the National Geographic atlas, flip to the Wisconsin entry in the index, which tells you to look at pages 118-119. In DeLorme state atlases, it looks like 74 A-6, which means page 74, grid location A-6. The Rand McNally and National Geographic national atlases divide locations by state, with a page range for each state and then grid coordinates for each location. If you refer to the index in the back, it’ll give you page numbers and grid coordinates for locations. A state atlas has multiple views of the state as well as larger city maps. IndexĪtlases show state-level views with call-outs for large cities. Note: DeLorme state atlases simply mark exit numbers with black text and don’t explain that in the legend. Make sure to note how exits and other numbers are presented. It explains what symbols, lines, and numbers mean, and there may be other usage instructions and tips nearby. The first thing you should find in your atlas is the legend, which should be at the very front of the book. ![]() Road atlases are somewhat self explanatory, and usually have instructions inside, but here are some tips. That’s much easier to calculate in the field when you’re sweaty and stressed than trying to remember that three miles is 15,480 feet. If you’re looking at a 1,000 meter grid, you know that ¼ of the grid is 250 meters. Metric is better to use in the field because the conversions are easy: 100 centimeters is a meter, 1,000 meters is a kilometer, and 100,000 meters is 100 kilometers. You may have seen a military movie where a soldier talks about traveling so many “klicks,” which is military lingo for kilometers. The third line represents feet.Īmerican road maps tend to be in miles, while topographic maps are in meters. On the second line, the measurement from 0 to 1 represents one mile on the map. On the top line, a measurement from 0 to 1 represents a kilometer or 1,000 meters on the map. This is the most important scale feature for navigation. A bar scale, which is a visual representation of the scale. ![]() An RF scale, which is a ratio of units, like 1:24,000, which means that one inch equals 24,000 inches.The scale also defines how large of an area the map covers and in how much detail. Scale defines how many map measurement units equal how many real world units. Topographic map colors: Forested areas are green, water is blue, man-made structures are black, etc.Close contour lines indicate steep terrain and wide contour lines indicate gentle slopes. Contour lines on a topographic map indicate elevation.Never round UTM, MGRS, and USNG coordinates. If less accuracy is required, you can cut off the last digits of the easting and northing coordinates: 856113.If you and another party know the general area, you could abbreviate the above coordinate to WL8563111326 or even 8563111326. You can drop some of the coordinate numbers when less accuracy is required.USNG coordinates are composed of a three-character zone designation, a two-letter code designating a 100,000-meter area, easting coordinates, followed by northing coordinates, like so: 18TWL8563111326.You always read those grids by going right (easterly), then up (northerly). UTM, MGRS, and USNG use eastings and northings in meters for coordinates.MGRS and USNG are roughly equivalent for most purposes and both are based on UTM.Important standard coordinate systems to know: Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM), Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), and the MGRS civilian equivalent, the US National Grid (USNG).Map coordinates help you identify and communicate locations.Other important atlas features: the index, which gives page numbers for all major locations and tables that help estimate travel times.The first thing you should look at in a road atlas is the legend, which explains what lines and symbols mean.Scale is how zoomed in or out a map is, such as one inch equaling one mile.
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