Spatial scale

For other uses, see Scale (disambiguation).

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.

File:A cosmic sense of scale.webm

This animation gives a sense of the awe-inspiring scale of some of the known objects in our universe.

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)