Understand Geospatial Data

Because the Earth isn’t flat but is considered an ellipsoid, the duration of a trip between two locations is also affected by the difference in altitude. In addition, obstacles, such as mountains, lakes, seas, rivers, etc., affect the distance as well. We’ll tackle these challenges step by step. First of all, what is a map?

Projection on map

In geography, a map is a simplified pictorial representation of a region. There are two types of maps: topographic maps and thematic maps. Topographic maps show the visible phenomena of the Earth’s surface, i.e., they practically represent the visible surface in a simplified and reduced form.

Thematic maps, on the other hand, depict any subject about a spatial area. They show details like streets and railroad tracks. However, since these specifics are not crucial to solving the TSP, we won’t delve further into them in this course.

With the help of a map, we can explore areas ...