About the Near-Sided Perspective Projection
This projection is known by a number of names, including Perspective; Vertical Near-Side Perspective; Vertical Perspective; and General Perspective.
The Near-Sided Perspective projection is a perspective projection that gives a 'real-world view' at height h above the Earth's surface. The illustration to the right was with h=7000km. Compare this to the Orthographic projection which is an infinite-distance perspective.
The Near-Sided Perspective Projection is widely used in a number of online mapping applications that attempt to show the Earth from space, such as Google Earth and NASA World Wind.
See our interactive Near-Sided Perspective Projection Northern Hemisphere map.