14 Projections for 2021 (Part 5)

Mon May 03, 2021 14 Projections for 2021 (Part 5)

If you wonder what this is about at all, you probably didn’t read the intro.

May: Canters W09

Canters W09
Creator	Frank Canters (2002)
Group	Lenticular
Property	Compromise
Other Names	Wagner IX, Canters Optimization Optimised version of Aitoff-Wagner
Remarks	Low Error Optimization of Wagner IX. Please regard Naming Canters’ Projections. Also see my blogpost about the Canters projections, part 1 (W01 - W14) and part 2 (W15 - W34).

Canters W09 is, like last month’s Frančula XIII, an optimization of the Wagner IX. Both authors claim to have minimized the distortions – so why do they (the projections, not the authors 😉) look different?
Because the Canters and Frančula used different metrics in their optimization: While Canters optimized according to the mean finite scale factor, regarding only the continental areas excluding Antarctica; Frančula utilized the Airy-Kavrayskiy criterion, taking the full map between 85° North and South into account.

Still, I think there’s a certain “family resemblance” – that’s why I mentioned a cousin last month (although mathematically they’re more like brothers):
Canters W09 vs. Frančula XIII
Aesthetically, I prefer Canters W09, while regarding the distribution of distortions I like the Frančula XIII a little better. Summa summarum I can say that I like them equally well.

So by now we’ve had seven projections (including the two shown on the calendar frontispiece) that are quite conventional, i.e. they look very much like a standard world map. It’s about time for an unusual one: We’ll see that next month.