THE wind rose it is an ancient instrument used to help with relative location, that is, how one point positions itself in relation to another. It also serves as a reference for absolute location on maps and charts. It is composed of what we call the Cardinal points, which are the different orientations towards which the different directions point.
The directions of the winds, term that originated the compass rose, have been known since Ancient Greece. They had two courses, which increased to eight times later.During the Middle Ages, these routes took on names related to locations close to the Mediterranean:Tramontana (north), Greco (northeast), Levante (east), Siroco (southeast), Ostro (south), Libeccio (southwest), Ponente (west) and Maestro (northeast).
The most complete wind roses, with 32 points, were already present in portolan maps in the 14th century, which were maps used by the great European navigators. Initially, it had other shapes, and its current rose-shaped composition is credited to the Portuguese colonizers.
The compass rose and its directions
The Compass Rose is composed of cardinal, collateral and subcollateral points.
Cardinal points: North (N), South (S), East (E) and West (W)
Collateral Points: Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE), Northwest (NW) and Southwest (SW).
Subcollateral Points: north-northeast (NNE), north-northwest (NNW), south-southeast (SSE), south-southwest (SSW), east-northeast (ENE), east-southeast (ESE), west-southeast (WSE) and west -southwest (WSW).
By Rodolfo Alves Pena
Graduated in Geography
