Map Reading and Navigation Flashcards
7 cards from real State Trooper practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Map Reading and Navigation flashcards as text
A trooper must approach a scene from the east to avoid a flooded road. The map shows the scene is in the center of a block. Which type of map notation helps identify rear access roads or alleys?
Answer: Fine dashed lines within a block indicating alleys or service roads
Alleys and service roads are typically represented by fine dashed lines inside block boundaries on detailed street maps.
You are reading a map and notice the scale bar shows 1 inch = 2 miles. The route you plan is 4.5 inches on the map. What is the actual distance?
Answer: 9 miles
Multiplying 4.5 map inches by 2 miles per inch equals 9 actual miles.
A trooper navigating by map notices that contour lines on a hillside are very close together. What does this indicate about the terrain?
Answer: A steep slope
Closely spaced contour lines indicate rapid elevation change over a short horizontal distance, meaning the terrain is steep.
Which map symbol typically denotes a bridge on a standard highway map?
Answer: A road line crossing a blue water feature with small perpendicular tick marks
Bridges are conventionally shown as a road continuing across a water feature, often with small perpendicular lines indicating the bridge deck.
A trooper receives a BOLO for a vehicle last seen heading eastbound. The map shows the road ends at a T-intersection 2 miles ahead. What should the trooper anticipate?
Answer: The vehicle must have turned north or south at the T-intersection
A T-intersection with no through road forces drivers to turn either left or right, limiting the suspect's possible routes to north or south.
What does it mean when a road on a map is shown with a brown or tan shading rather than white?
Answer: The road is unpaved or a gravel/dirt surface
Many map conventions use brown, tan, or yellow fill to distinguish unpaved roads from paved roads shown in white or grey.
A trooper is told a crime occurred 'at the intersection of the north-south baseline road and the first road east of the county's principal meridian.' Using PLSS map notation, which section corner does this describe?
Answer: Township 1 North, Range 1 East, at the northeast corner of the baseline-meridian origin
In the Public Land Survey System, the baseline runs east-west and the principal meridian runs north-south; their intersection is the origin, with Range 1 East being the first tier east.