Spatial scale

Spatial scale is a specific application of the term scale for describing or categorizing (e.g. into orders of magnitude) the size of a space (hence spatial), or the extent of it at which a phenomenon or process occurs.

For instance, in physics an object or phenomenon can be called microscopic if too small to be visible. In climatology, a micro-climate is a climate which might occur in a mountain, valley or near a lake shore. In statistics, a megatrend is a political, social, economical, environmental or technological trend which involves the whole planet or is supposed to last a very large amount of time. The concept is also used in geography, astronomy, and meteorology.

These divisions are somewhat arbitrary; where, on this table, mega- is assigned global scope, it may only apply continentally or even regionally in other contexts. The interpretations of meso- and macro- must then be adjusted accordingly.

thumb|left|This animation gives a sense of the scale of some of the known objects in our universe.

{| class="wikitable floatright nowrap"

|+ Examples of scales in geography and metereology

|-

! Scale !! Length !! Area !! Description

|-

| Micro || 1 m – 1 km || 1 m² – 1 km² || local

|-

| Meso || 1 km - 100 km || 1 km² - 10,000 km² || regional

|-

| Macro || 100 km - 10,000 km || 10,000 km² - 100,000,000 km² || continental

|-

| Mega || 10,000 km - 1,000,000 km || 100,000,000 - 10,000,000,000 km² || global

|-

| Giga || >1,000,000 km || >10,000,000,000 km² || superglobal

|}

See also

• Astronomical units of length
• Cosmic distance ladder
• List of examples of lengths
• Location of Earth
• Meteorological subdivisions:
• Microscale meteorology
• Misoscale meteorology
• Mesoscale meteorology
• Synoptic scale meteorology
• Orders of magnitude (length)
• Scale (analytical tool)
• Scale (geography)
• Scale (map)
• Scale (ratio)

References