ATLAS for GEOGRAPHY of the UNIVERSITY of UTAH
A project of GEOG3600-Geography of Utah
Genevieve Atwood
CHAPTER 1 -- LOCATION – LOCATION – LOCATION of the University of Utah.
The University
of Utah is located:
- In
our universe
- In
the Milky Way Galaxy
- In
our Sun’s solar system
- On
Earth
- On
the North American Continent
- In
the United States of
America
- In
the State of Utah
- In Salt Lake County
- In Salt Lake City.
Location is one of the five themes of geography, meaning
that geographers consider understanding location as important to understanding
a country or a playground as understanding it as a place; its environmental interconnections;
its transportation and migration patterns; and its regional setting.
Said differently, the five themes of geography are:
1.Location
2. Place
3. Interconnections
4. Migration,
and
5. Regions.
The following files are maps that show the location of the
University of Utah
. These files range from global to local. They were made using Google Earth. The scale of
some images is so coarse that the State of
Utah
cannot be distinguished; let alone the University of Utah
campus. Other images are sufficiently local to show buildings, for example, Room 111 in Orson Spencer Hall (OSH111) where UofU Geog3600-Geography of
Utah is held.
UofU-A01b2-LocationOnEarth LINK. (Source
Google Earth). This view of Earth shows how our Earth is the blue planet, the
water planet. The
University
of Utah is at the extreme
eastern horizon of the globe.
UofU-A01c-LocationOnNorthAmerica
LINK. (Source: Google Earth). This view of the location of North America shows
the
Great Salt Lake in vibrant blue, in the
middle of the western interior of the continent. The University
of Utah
’s continental location far from the
Pacific Ocean
is important because it influences …
UofU-A01c2-LocationOnNorthAmerica-GeogGrids
LINK. (Source: Google Earth). This map shows the geographic grid, meaning
parallels of latitude and meridians, great circles of longitude. The
University of Utah is located not quite half the
distance from the equator to the North Pole. This mid-latitude location explains
…
.
UofU-A01d-LocationInConterminousUSA
LINK. (Source: Google Earth).
Utah is in the
center of the western half of the conterminous
USA. This makes it easy to find on maps and also in part explains why Salt Lake City's airport not only is an international airport but a hub for at least one major airline carrier.
.
UofU-A01d2-LocationInTheWesternUS
LINK Location is considered relative or absolute. Relative refers to other
places. Absolute refers to a theoretical grid.
Utah
is west of Colorado and east of Nevada
. Those are
examples of relational location. This is important to Utah because... . It is important to the University of Utah because the UofU collaborates with neighboring states to offer degrees, for example in veterinary medice. Salt Lake City's motto, Crossroads of the West, celebrates its central-to-the-West location and has economic and social impacts.
Bright colors can show relative location well,
for example, LINK to UofU-A01d5-Location-USGS-NtlAtlas-StateBrightlyCol.jpg . It matters to the University of Utah that it is located in Utah for a variety of social and political reasons, including that Utah's is a relatively large state (5 degrees of latitiude and 5 degrees of longitude) with a relativley small population.
UofU-A01e1-Location-GoogleEarth-InSLCo
LINK This image shows the terrain in and around
Salt Lake County. The University
of Utah is located toward the eastern side
of Salt Lake County
. The elevation of the University of Utah (4600 - 5200 ft above sea level) is about 800 ft above Great Salt Lake and gives it an imposing campus that looks out across the Satl Lake Valley..
UofU-A01e2-Location-GoogleEarth-InSLCity
LINK The absolute location of OSH111 shown on this image is: latitude 40
degrees 45 minutes 48 seconds north (of the equator); longitude 111 degrees, 50
minutes , 33 seconds west of the prime meridian, the
Greenwich
meridian; and 4730 ft above sea
level. At latitude 40 degrees north of the equator, the University of Utah experiences all four seasons. Winter nights are more than 6 hours longer than summer nights with many consequences. Snow attracts some students to the Greatest Snow on Earth. Cold weather is only one reason of several that cause atmospheric inversions and associated dreadful air quality.
UofU-A01f1-CampusStreets-GoogleMaps
LINK
This image shows the general location of the
University
of
Utah
with city streets and simplified terrain. This map would be useful for driving to the University if you had never been there before... and if you knew how to read a map. It's easy to get lost heading to the UofU for the first time but it helps to think about where the city's and state's early leaders would have wanted their institution of higher learning: in an area of open space; accessible to neighborhoods; outside the business district; with a handsome view; sheltered by mountains; and inviting to faculty and students. That's where to find the UofU.
