The First Ordnance Survey District Maps of England,Wales and Scotland 1857–1898

Abstract

The main goal of this research is to set a group of typographic criteria to suit a wide array of map users. A group of Bertin’s visual variables were applied individually and associatively for the same set of labels. Two kinds of maps (with point and areal objects) were presented to expert and non-expert map users and analysed accordingly. Additionally, the effect of gender variation was taken into account. The data were aggregated and studied for each graphical variable. For some combinations of Bertin’s variables, statistically significant differences were detected in the preferences of the different map users (e.g. male versus female and expert versus non-expert). Consequently, we identified which graphical variables (individually or combined) were more preferred by specific user groups in relation to their application on text objects.     

Investigating the Effectiveness of an Efficient Label Placement Method Using Eye Movement Data

Abstract

This paper focuses on improving the efficiency and effectiveness of dynamic and interactive maps in relation to the user. A label placement method with an improved algorithmic efficiency is presented. Since this algorithm has an influence on the actual placement of the name labels on the map, it is tested if this efficient algorithms also creates more effective maps: how well is the information processed by the user. We tested 30 participants while they were working on a dynamic and interactive map display. Their task was to locate geographical names on each of the presented maps. Their eye movements were registered together with the time at which a given label was found. The gathered data reveal no difference in the user’s response times, neither in the number and the duration of the fixations between both map designs. The results of this study show that the efficiency of label placement algorithms can be improved without disturbing the user’s cognitive map. Consequently, we created a more efficient map without affecting its effectiveness towards the user.     

Maps > Representation

Abstract

Colour is considered a key means of expression for use in cartographic works. This is because colours and the relations among them influence not only the aesthetic impression a map creates but also its overall utility. In addition to Newton’s spectral colour theory, today theories with origins in artistic technique are gaining ground in cartography. This article introduces J. Itten’s colour theory (first published in 1961 in The Art of Colour [Kunst der Farbe]) with special attention given to his concept of seven colour contrasts. The article also discusses the suitability and unsuitability of their application in practical cartography, and it contributes original examples employing thematic maps, a discipline with broad possibilities for the application of these inventive methods by today’s mapmakers.     

Evaluating the Efficiency of Typographic Design: Gender and Expertise Variation

Abstract

Although the efficiency of label placement algorithms has been studied extensively, few studies considered the influence of the label designs on the efficiency of map readers. Labels are one of the most important elements on the map as they can provide more information than other symbols can. The design of the labels does have to stress the theme, shape and functionality of the associated objects, which results in a more efficient interpretation of the map content by the user. How the label designs can enhance the map readers’ efficiency (and thus the quality of the maps themselves) is the main objective of this study. A user study was conducted in which the participants were asked to locate a target label on a map. Different label designs were implemented across the trials. The participants’ reactions times were registered to measure their efficiency and statistically analysed using a one-way ANOVA. Two different users’ characteristics were considered: gender and expertise. Related to the size, shape, orientation and texture of the labels, a number of significant differences (P<0·05) and trends were located. Differences in efficiency between males and females, on the one hand, and between novices and experts, on the other hand, were also described statistically. Consequently, recommendations can be formulated regarding the design of labels in order to obtain more efficient maps, keeping in mind the map users’ characteristics.     

Assessing the Effectiveness and Efficiency of Map Colour for Colour Impairments Using an Eye-tracking Approach

Colour impairments influences access to geographical information which is usually represented by colour maps. Three dimensions of colour: Hue, Saturation and Value (HSV), are intuitive and most critical visual variables in map design. In this paper, we specifically focus on colour deficiency of red-green colour impairments. A controlled experiment was designed and conducted to explore how three colour dimensions (HSV) affect the abilities of people with normal colour vision or with red-green colour impairments to distinguish colours in maps. An eye-tracking approach was applied to quantify the accuracy and response time by capturing user eye movements to analyse the effectiveness and efficiency. In this study, we used one section of the administrative map of Hebei Province to test participant responses to area features. Differences of effectiveness and efficiency across normal colour vision and red-green colour impairments were compared. Multiple comparisons among Hue, Saturation and Value were analysed. Results show that for both normal colour vision and red-green colour impairments, Hue is the most differentiable than Saturation and Value. Saturation and Value are at the same level to be differentiated and more difficult to be distinguished. Guidelines of designing maps for both normal colour vision and red-green colour impairments were derived. The results of this study can be helpful to improve the map designs for colour deficiency.     

Map Libraries

Colour distortion, which is caused by the unavoidable mismatch between a map’s gamut and a device’s gamut, negatively affects the semiotic quality of maps. Cartographic communication often suffers from undesirable colour inconsistency. This method models cartographic colour reproduction as a constrained transform problem, namely, adapting a map’s gamut to fit a device’s gamut while preserving the semiotic quality. First, the characteristics of the map’s gamut are investigated by considering cartographic principles, and the fundamental concerns of preserving semiotic quality are proposed. Then, the self-organizing map method is introduced to iteratively optimize the cartographic colour reproduction. We implement this method and evaluate it based on a series of thematic maps. The results indicate that the proposed algorithm offers better results than two alternatives in terms of facilitating cartographic colour reproduction.     

通用地图标绘系统的设计与实现

地图标绘指在地图背景上标绘各种具有空间特征的事、物的分布状态或行动部署,通用地图标绘系统指在计算机辅助下可实现在多种地图背景下标绘多种行业标号的信息系统。从分析用户需求入手,给出了该类系统的功能设置与界面风格、数据组织与关键算法等设计思想,详细阐述了具体的软件结构,软件实现方法与过程。     

基于规则库和网格算法的土地利用现状图自动数字注记

图形自动注记可极大地提高制图的工作效率。针对土地利用现状图数字注记的特点,本文从地图认知角度出发,建立注记自动配置的规则库,提出面状要素自动注记的一种新的算法——网格法。该算法最大的优点是容易实现、效率高,可方便地解决注记压盖冲突等问题。通过开发一个程序实例,对图斑要素进行了自动数字注记,实验表明95％以上的图形注记效果都较为理想。     

Study of the attentive behavior of novice and expert map users using eye tracking

The aim of this paper is to gain better understanding of the way map users read and interpret the visual stimuli presented to them and how this can be influenced. In particular, the difference between expert and novice map users is considered. In a user study, the participants studied four screen maps which had been manipulated to introduce deviations. The eye movements of 24 expert and novice participants were tracked, recorded, and analyzed (both visually and statistically) based on a grid of Areas of Interest. These visual analyses are essential for studying the spatial dimension of maps to identify problems in design. In this research, we used visualization of eye movement metrics (fixation count and duration) in a 2D and 3D grid and a statistical comparison of the grid cells. The results show that the users’ eye movements clearly reflect the main elements on the map. The users’ attentive behavior is influenced by deviating colors, as their attention is drawn to it. This could also influence the users’ interpretation process. Both user groups encountered difficulties when trying to interpret and store map objects that were mirrored. Insights into how different types of map users read and interpret map content are essential in this fast-evolving era of digital cartographic products.     

WebGIS中瓦片地图关键技术研究

针对WebGIS系统的特点,提出利用金字塔瓦片地图技术在服务器端预先生成不同级别的瓦片地图方法,提高地图的生成、发布、显示和浏览效率,减轻服务器负载和网络传输负担。文中简要介绍了瓦片地图技术的实现模型。并对瓦片地图金字塔模型的构建、瓦片地图金字塔数据的组织、瓦片地图索引机制建立等关键技术进行了阐述。     

城市街道注记离散化定位的自动推理方法

在线状要素注记配置规则的基础上，分析了城市街道注记自动配置规则，研究了从图面注记到空间目标名称属性的自动转换方法。结合Arc／Info平台的特点，给出了城市街道注记离散化定位的自动推理策略和计算方法，在Arc／Info平台上编程实现了该算法。     

Remapping Fictional Worlds: A Comparative Reconstruction of Fictional Maps

ABSTRACT

This article presents a quantitative analysis of fictional maps and their relation to historic maps from different periods. Fictional maps are maps of imaginary territories. This type of map is now common in fiction, but they arose relatively late, in the second half of the nineteenth century, and are considered an independent branch of cartography today. They stand out through the way they are published because they are component parts of books and not independent cartographic works, and therefore their creators are not cartographers but rather the authors of these books. Fictional maps are mostly subordinate to the story, but they serve to give a sense of historical authenticity and draw the reader into the story. Without networks of coordinates and with labels such as ‘the end of the world’, they are spatially indeterminate, but they establish a connection between the fictional landscape and its identity. This study deals with 89 fictional maps from recent children’s and young adult literature. First we present a historical overview of these works and fictional maps, and then a cartographic analysis of fictional maps. We examined seventy-seven books with fictional maps and evaluated the maps according to five groups of standard cartographic elements: natural elements, built elements, toponyms, mathematical elements, and explanatory elements. We discuss the differences between cartographic representation of fictional maps and historic maps, and build a cartographic model based on the frequency of cartographic elements to put fictional maps into historic and geographical contexts.     

Investigating Issues in Map Accuracy When Using an Object-Based Approach to Map Benthic Habitats

In a recent study, benthic habitat maps were created of the Texas Gulf Coast from digital aerial imagery. The images were classified using an object-based image analysis (OBIA) approach and a classification and regression tree (CART) technique. The map was manually edited, changing 26% of the polygons' labels. Accuracy assessments of the unedited map and the edited map revealed the two were not significantly different. The research in this paper evaluates why these maps may have similar accuracies. Our analyses indicate that the small segmentation scale parameter used over-segmented the imagery, reducing the effectiveness of the CART technique and editing.     

地图色彩的配合

提出了GIS组件与演绎数据库推理功能相结合的一种集成方法．阐述了二者结合的优势，提供了一种用Horn子句表达空间查询规则的方法并结合具体实例进行详细描述。     

Towards Better WMS Maps Through the Use of the Styled Layer Descriptor and Cartographic Conflict Resolution for Linear Features

Abstract

Mercator depicted Croatia on several general maps. In accordance with the level of geographical knowledge, map scales and technical possibilities of the time, Mercator provided a relatively detailed depiction of basic geographical features on these maps. His interest in mapping Croatia was probably motivated by the fact that the Venetian Republic, the Habsburg Monarchy and the Ottoman Empire had fought over this area in the sixteenth century, contributing to the fragmentation of the medieval Croatian State, while at the same time facilitating economic, religious, linguistic, artistic and scientific communication between Central, South East and Mediterranean Europe. Mercator paid special attention to toponyms that enabled geographical objects to be identified and the decoding of cartographic contents. Research into Mercator’s maps has shown that geographical names, among other things, clearly indicate the sources of spatial data that he used. Additionally, geographical names on Mercator’s maps are significant indicators of the linguistic and cultural contacts that were particularly prominent in border areas, for example, along the eastern Adriatic coast, or the courses of the Danube, Sava and Drava.     

Modelling the spatial evolution of map objects by map agents

To overcome the weakness of modelling the relationships between map objects that represent the same geographic entities or phenomena at different times and scales, an agent-based approach is presented to modelling of the spatial evolution of map objects for better understanding of the evolutional process of different maps. Map agents are used to establish and manage the many-to-many corresponding relationships between map objects, and they render map objects active rather than traditionally passive. The evolutions of map objects are modelled by map agents using association and generation relationships to model the connectivity between map objects. This effort reduces the workload of multi-scale map updating by avoiding update of the entire map; instead, it simply allows map agents to detect, perceive and choose suitable behaviours on which to operate and update a spatially evolving object. Experiments of specific examples are presented to demonstrate the feasibility and the effectiveness of our approach.     

Bertin’s forgotten typographic variables and new typographic visualization

ABSTRACT

Typographic variables were only briefly discussed by Bertin with no example applications. We review historic examples to extend Bertin’s framework with literal encoding, 10 typographic attributes, variations on scope including characters, words, phrases and paragraphs, and more layout types. We then apply the framework to Bertin’s population dataset to create 11 new typographic visualizations. The approach raises questions for new research such as readability, semantic association, interaction, and comprehension.     

国家经济地图集基础地理框架的建立

以新世纪版《中华人民共和国国家经济地图集》的编研为背景,探讨了新世纪地学研究和测绘地理信息技术条件下经济地图集基础地理框架建立的若干问题。针对地图集的多尺度、多分辨率、多时态及内容的多样性等特点,通过对比与需求分析,重点探讨了地图集的地图投影、比例尺与分幅、地图定向及地理底图的设计与应用,并最终确定了地图集基础地理框架方案。