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<span id="openzim-page-title" class="mw-page-title-main"><span class="mw-page-title-main">Spatial scale</span></span>
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</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">For other uses, see <a href="Scale_(disambiguation)" class="mw-redirect mw-disambig" title="Scale (disambiguation)">Scale (disambiguation)</a>.</div><p><b>Spatial scale</b> is a specific application of the term <a href="Scale_(disambiguation)" class="mw-redirect mw-disambig" title="Scale (disambiguation)">scale</a> for describing or categorizing (e.g. into <a href="Orders_of_magnitude" class="mw-redirect" title="Orders of magnitude">orders of magnitude</a>) the <a href="Size" title="Size">size</a> of a <a href="Space" title="Space">space</a> (hence <i>spatial</i>), or the extent of it at which a phenomenon or process occurs.<sup id="cite_ref-PennU_1-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-PennU-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>For instance, in <a href="Physics" title="Physics">physics</a> an object or phenomenon can be called microscopic if too small to be visible. In <a href="Climatology" title="Climatology">climatology</a>, a <a href="Micro-climate" class="mw-redirect" title="Micro-climate">micro-climate</a> is a <a href="Climate" title="Climate">climate</a> which might occur in a <a href="Mountain" title="Mountain">mountain</a>, <a href="Valley" title="Valley">valley</a> or near a lake shore. In <a href="Statistics" title="Statistics">statistics</a>, a <a href="Megatrend" title="Megatrend">megatrend</a> is a political, social, economical, environmental or technological <a href="Trend_(statistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Trend (statistics)">trend</a> which involves the whole <a href="Planet" title="Planet">planet</a> or is supposed to last a very large amount of time. The concept is also used in <a href="Geography" title="Geography">geography</a>, <a href="Astronomy" title="Astronomy">astronomy</a>, and <a href="Meteorology" title="Meteorology">meteorology</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</p><p>These divisions are somewhat arbitrary; where, on this table, <i>mega-</i> is assigned global scope, it may only apply continentally or even regionally in other contexts. The interpretations of <i>meso-</i> and <i>macro-</i> must then be adjusted accordingly.
</p>
<table class="wikitable floatright nowrap">
<caption>Examples of scales in <a href="Geography" title="Geography">geography</a> and <a href="Metereology" class="mw-redirect" title="Metereology">metereology</a><sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup>
</caption>
<tbody><tr>
<th>Scale</th>
<th>Length</th>
<th>Area</th>
<th>Description
</th></tr>
<tr>
<td>Micro</td>
<td><a href="Metre" title="Metre">1 m – 1 km</a></td>
<td><a href="Square_metre" title="Square metre">1 m<sup>2</sup> – 1 km<sup>2</sup></a></td>
<td>local
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Meso</td>
<td>1 km - 100 km</td>
<td>1 km<sup>2</sup> - 10,000 km<sup>2</sup></td>
<td>regional
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Macro</td>
<td>100 km - 10,000 km</td>
<td>10,000 km<sup>2</sup> - 100,000,000 km<sup>2</sup></td>
<td>continental
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Mega</td>
<td>10,000 km - 1,000,000 km</td>
<td>100,000,000 - 10,000,000,000 km<sup>2</sup></td>
<td>global
</td></tr>
<tr>
<td>Giga</td>
<td>>1,000,000 km</td>
<td>>10,000,000,000 km<sup>2</sup></td>
<td>superglobal
</td></tr></tbody></table>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2></div>
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<ul><li><a href="Astronomical_units_of_length" class="mw-redirect" title="Astronomical units of length">Astronomical units of length</a></li>
<li><a href="Cosmic_distance_ladder" title="Cosmic distance ladder">Cosmic distance ladder</a></li>
<li><a href="List_of_examples_of_lengths" class="mw-redirect" title="List of examples of lengths">List of examples of lengths</a></li>
<li><a href="Location_of_Earth" title="Location of Earth">Location of Earth</a></li>
<li>Meteorological subdivisions:
<ul><li><a href="Microscale_meteorology" title="Microscale meteorology">Microscale meteorology</a></li>
<li><a href="Misoscale_meteorology" title="Misoscale meteorology">Misoscale meteorology</a></li>
<li><a href="Mesoscale_meteorology" title="Mesoscale meteorology">Mesoscale meteorology</a></li>
<li><a href="Synoptic_scale_meteorology" title="Synoptic scale meteorology">Synoptic scale meteorology</a></li></ul></li>
<li><a href="Orders_of_magnitude_(length)" title="Orders of magnitude (length)">Orders of magnitude (length)</a></li>
<li><a href="Scale_(analytical_tool)" title="Scale (analytical tool)">Scale (analytical tool)</a></li>
<li><a href="Scale_(geography)" title="Scale (geography)">Scale (geography)</a></li>
<li><a href="Scale_(map)" title="Scale (map)">Scale (map)</a></li>
<li><a href="Scale_(ratio)" title="Scale (ratio)">Scale (ratio)</a></li></ul>
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<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>
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<li id="cite_note-PennU-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-PennU_1-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">
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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.e-education.psu.edu/geog30/node/317">"Scale"</a>. The Pennsylvania State University. 2020<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">21 December</span> 2020</span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/mathematics/spatial-scale">"Spatial Scale - an overview | ScienceDirect Topics"</a>. <i>www.sciencedirect.com</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2024-02-08</span></span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.unescwa.org/spatial-scale">"spatial scale"</a>. <i>United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia</i>. 2015-10-06<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2024-02-08</span></span>.</cite></span>
</li>
<li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/science-art-meteorology">"The Science and Art of Meteorology"</a>. <i>education.nationalgeographic.org</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2024-02-08</span></span>.</cite></span>
</li>
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