Mollweide projection

The Mollweide projection (also called Homalographic projection or the Babinet projection) is a world map projection that minimizes area distortion while sacrificing the accuracy of shape and angle. It is a representation of the world map on an ellipse with a 2:1 ratio. The projection was originated in 1805 by Karl B. Mollweide in Germany. Although it is not widely used today, the Molleweide projection has been influential in the development of other projections.

The Mollewiede projection is pseudocylindrical and equal-area. The central meridian is straight and the 90th meridians are circular arcs. Parallels are straight, but unequally spaced. Scale is true only along the standard parallels of 40:44 N and 40:44 S.

More Information

 * Pseudocylindrical Projections
 * World Sunlight Map in the Mollweide projection
 * The Nomenclature and Classification of Map Projections Empire Survey Review No. 51, Vol VII January 1944 Pages 190-200 ; L.P. Lee, Lands Survey Department, Wellington, N.Z.
 * Matching the Map Projection to the Need
 * List of ESRI-supported map projections
 * Weisstein, Eric W. Map Projections. From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource.
 * Map Projections''. Atlas of Canada.
 * Cartographical Map Projections'', Carlos A. Furuti website, www.progonos.com.
 * Elements of Map Projection. (26 MB download) U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, Special Publication 68 (1938).
 * Map Projections. USGS Publications. December 2000.
 * What are map projections? ArcGIS 10 Online Help
 * University of Colorado at Boulder - Map Projection Overview with Illustrations
 * Data Projections. GeoCommunity Web site.
 * Wiki.GIS.com - Types of Projections