Recent Literature - Bookcase

Abstract

Why should a specialist sport require a map of its own? Trout fishing is not dependent on map use, but a carefully researched and presented map is a useful addition to the angler's tackle bag. The sport does not require the absolute planimetric accuracy of, say, an orienteering map, but careful research and selection of features is just as important. What information is essential to the angler and what is helpful? What is background information; and what, if anything, should be left off?     

THE CADASTRAL MAP

Abstract

In the Empire Survey Review for April 1934 (No. 12, pp. 382–4), the Editor has raised the question of the function of the cadastral map. As he remarks, the question is not simple, but it is easier to say what the function of the map is than to decide of what the map should consist in order that it may fulfil its function. Broadly speaking we may state that the function of the map is to record the boundaries of landed property in such a manner as not only to afford a pictorial representation but also to supply data for the identification of these boundaries on the ground when occasion requires. Apart from this the map should show the areas of properties, as this information may be required for taxation purposes.     

Mastering the Niger. James MacQueen’s African Geography and the Struggle Over Atlantic Slavery

Abstract

Since the publication of the first waterway map in 1990, the Inland Waterways of Britain series has expanded to a total of twenty three individual maps, a national route planning map, the first ring atlas and a directory of the inland waterways which explores aspects of preservation, restoration and heritage. Many of the titles have featured in walking guides, directories, promotional literature and web sites. This paper outlines the development of the series from the first map, describing the maps themselves, tracking the evolution of production methodologies, defining marketing and sales strategies and discussing the decision-making processes behind the publication and introduction of new titles.     

SURVEY OF PALESTINE: THE FIRST TWENTY YEARS

Abstract

I suppose most of you look at a map nearly every day and I expect you know a good deal more about them after following the blitzkriege of armies in Europe—and Africa. My advice is, go on learning, for a map has become the means of picturing allsorts of things closely connected with our lives ; modern methods of reproduction have made maps so picturesque and useful that they should be companions to all those who take the trouble to understand them.     

The National Archives Map Catalogue Retrospective Conversion Project

Abstract

Only a small proportion of the huge number of maps, plans, charts and architectural drawings held in The National Archives have previously been individually described in a way which enables the user to identify items of relevance to his or her research. This article outlines the current project to automate and integrate the existing multiple map finding-aids into the on-line catalogue. In the process of doing this it also explains The National Archives map extract references.     

Wāhi,a discrete global grid gazetteer built using linked open data

ABSTRACT

Discrete global grid systems have become an important component of Digital Earth systems. However, previously there has not existed an easy way to map between named places (toponyms) and the cells of a discrete global grid system. The lack of such a tool has limited the opportunities to synthesize social place-based data with the more standard Earth and environmental science data currently being analyzed in Digital Earth applications. This paper introduces Wāhi, the first gazetteer to map entities from the GeoNames database to multiple discrete global grid systems. A gazetteer service is presented that exposes the grid system and the associated gazetteer data as Linked Data. A set of use cases for the discrete global grid gazetteer is discussed.     

Cartographic Design and Production in the Internet Era: The Example of Tourist Web Maps

Abstract

Some, but not all, branches of the tourist industry make heavy use of maps. The industry has discovered the marketing potential of the Internet but in many cases has not yet fully exploited the extra potential of web maps compared to the traditional paper maps. Web maps can up-to-date tourist information very well but they have to be carefully designed to take account of the limitations of the medium. To be most effective, web maps should be basically simple and convey sufficient information interactively, on request. The map and symbol design should convey intuitively where and how this interaction can take place. This paper summarizes the typical faults found in tourist web map design and provides suggestions on good design practice.     

'Be Map Aware: Cutting-edge…Not Close to the Edge'

Abstract

An assessment is made of the accuracy of the map and written survey, which is essentially a list of land-holders and the areas held by each, and of their mutual consistency. The geometry of the map is compared quantitatively with that of the first edition (1852) Ordnance Survey 6-inch (1 : 10 560) map. The Saxton map is found to have a scale of 1 : 5140, leading to the conclusion that the perch used in the scale bar represents 7¹/₉ yards or thereabouts. The areas quoted in the written survey are consistent with acres based on this value. The positional accuracy of points on the map is found to be ～20 m, and areas of typical plots determined from the map are uncertain by between about 4 and 12%. The relationship between these two facts can be understood through a detailed study of the statistics of the errors in separations of points on the map. The written survey is found to omit a substantial number of plots of land from its listings. The map thus appears to be more reliable overall than the written survey.     

Continuity markers as an aid for children in finding the peripheral continuity of world maps

ABSTRACT

Many map readers, including both children and adults, find it difficult to determine where they would be located along the edge of a world map after crossing that edge. Different types of markers have long been drawn close to the map’s edge – for example, in an atlas – to help map readers identify the map upon which they will find themselves if that edge is passed. In this study, a method similar to that used to show the continuity between maps in an atlas has been tested to determine whether continuity markers can also be used to help map readers find a world map’s actual peripheral continuity. The study involved children between the ages of 10 and 13 years and showed that continuity markers do help children determine the map’s actual peripheral continuity, in combination with a lesson that describes how to find the actual peripheral continuity of a world map. This article, therefore, concludes that continuity markers for world maps can be a useful part of map design that clarifies how the edges of a world map fit together for children who have learned to use this tool.     

THE NOMENCLATURE OF MAP PROJECTIONS

Abstract

Map Projections.—A matter that should have been mentioned in the original article under this title (E.S.R., vii, 51, 190) is the definition of a map projection. In the list of carefully worded “Definitions of Terms used in Surveying and Mapping” prepared by the American Society of Photogrammetry (Photogrammetrie Engineering, vol. 8,1942, pp. 247–283), a map projection is defined as “a systematic drawing of lines on a plane surface to represent the parallels of latitude and the meridians of longitude of the earth or a section of the earth”, and most other published works in which a definition appears employ a somewhat similar wording. This, however, is an unnecessary limitation of the term. Many projections are (and all projections can be) plotted from rectangular grid co-ordinates, and meridians and parallels need not be drawn at all; but a map is still on a projection even when a graticule is not shown. Objection could be raised also to the limitation to “plane surface”, since we may speak of the projection of the spheroid upon a sphere, or of the sphere upon a hemisphere. Hence, it is suggested that “any systematic method of representing the whole or a part of the curved surface of the Earth upon another (usually plane) surface” is an adequate definition of a map projection.     

Visual Abstraction and Stylisation of Maps

Abstract

We explore visual map abstraction for the generation of stylized renderings of 2D map data. We employ techniques that are centred around the concept of shape simplification and graph layout and that allow iterative abstraction of 2D maps. We use data from publicly available sources and show how we can iteratively generate aesthetic renditions of these maps. These renditions do not have the goal to allow for navigation tasks, but instead show the map data in a distorted manner. The techniques used to create these images apply simplification, abstraction/generalisation, and displacement operations to the map elements in varying orders and add stylistic shading to produce aesthetic renditions for print or electronic displays. The degree of abstraction/generalisation can be individually chosen and determines the characteristics of the distorted map: whether components retain their shape, degenerate, or are processed in a manner that the abstraction becomes the focus of the image rather than the underlying map data. The renditions can be further personalized by choosing shading and colours for this shading. Together, the presented techniques allow for playful and creative exploration of aesthetic renditions of 2D map data.     

Recent Maps and Atlases — Map Cabinet

Abstract

There is currently a high demand for spatial data usage within web applications. From a technical viewpoint, web services and geoportals aim to fulfil user requirements; however, the current cartographic methods do not satisfy the needs of the end users. The problem is more challenging when the final map contains data from various sources that have various cartographic characteristics; therefore, the vital information might be located under the base map layer. In this paper, we propose the concept of layer priorities as foreground, middle ground or background, and we propose the two following methods to enhance the symbolisation: polygon overlay and colour saturation methods. The results from two case studies show that these methods can satisfy the requirements of the end users.     

Developments in digital map production and data integration within the British Geological Survey

Abstract

Digital techniques for cartographic data capture and high quality map production have been developed and applied over some 18 years to the mapping of the geoscientific datasets of the British Geological Survey, in particular to the geochemical dataset. Over this period, technological advances and developments in both vector and raster data processing techniques have facilitated high quality map production and the integration and display of multiple datasets. This paper reviews the developments in high quality map production and interpretation of survey information, with particular regard to the Regional Geochemical Atlas Series, through the application of image processing techniques on the display and analysis of multiple datasets.     

Problems of mapping a nature reserve: Aberlady Bay LNR and SSSI

Abstract

A new five-colour map of Aberlady Bay Local Nature Reserve and Site of Special Scientific Interest at 1:7,500 scale is published as a loose insert with the June 1993 issue of The Cartographic Journal. This accompanying paper describes the problems of producing the map at minimal cost, considers some of the cartographic issues particular to the site, and provides specification details of the compilation.

Such individual map sheets, which are used for environmental planning, research and teaching, have in the past been produced mainly by universities with the support of conservancy and countryside agencies. Future production costs at universities will inevitably rise although some economies may be possible by the use of digital database methods of cartography.     

A bevy of area-preserving transforms for map projection designers

ABSTRACT

Sometimes map projection designers need to create equal-area projections to best fill the projections’ purposes. However, unlike for conformal projections, few transformations have been described that can be applied to equal-area projections to develop new equal-area projections. Here, I survey area-preserving transformations, giving examples of their applications and proposing an efficient way of deploying an equal-area system for raster-based Web mapping. Together, these transformations provide a toolbox for the map projection designer working in the area-preserving domain.     

AIR SURVEY AND THE PHOTOGRAPH

Abstract

As air-photographs are being more and more used for survey purposes, Empire surveyors who have not yet made a thorough study of aerial survey may be interested in a little elementary photographic geometry and its application to map-making. A map may be described as an orthogonal proj ection of the ground upon a horizontal plane, reduced to some convenient scale, and a photograph as a conical projection of the ground upon the focal plane of the camera. If the focal plane is horizontal at the instant of exposure and the ground being photographed is perfectly level, the two projections are exactly similar and the photograph is indeed a map. Unfortunately these conditions which are illustrated in fig. 1 are extremely rarely encountered, and photographs usually need correcting for various distortions.     

Recent Literature - Bookcase

Abstract

A map has long been considered to be a legitimate communication medium, made by the cartographer for different map users. Valuable contributions to the scientific fundamentals of cartography should be expected from the critical investigation of communication aspects of the map, particularly map signs. This article first attempts to analyse the signs used in cartographic communication from the point of view of semiotics - especially semantics - then redefines the map, our communication tool, under its ascertained characteristics.     

Mapping for history: the influence of the 7th Field Survey Company’s 1917 operation maps on the historiography of the 3rd Battle of Gaza

ABSTRACT

During Palestine Campaign of World War I, the British Army’s Egyptian Expeditionary Force produced a series of operation maps to track and control the progress of their offensive into Palestine. These maps demonstrated innovation in both their form and function, and they have been referenced and reproduced by both map scholars and military historians ever since. Leaning on J.B. Harley and Matthew Edney’s ideas about critical map history, this essay provides a critical examination of these operation maps to illuminate the sociocultural context of their creation and examines the maps’ influence over the broader historiography of the Palestine Campaign. In doing so it highlights the interdisciplinary value of critical map histories.     

Measuring the influence of map label density on perceived complexity: a user study using eye tracking

ABSTRACT

We combine eye tracking and a questionnaire-based approach to explore the influence of label density on the perceived visual complexity of maps. We design two experiments in which participants are asked to search for the names of point features on maps and to rate the map complexity and legibility for different label densities. Specifically, we conduct a highly controlled experiment in which all the map variables except the label density are held constant (the controlled experiment). Then, we conduct a second experiment following the same protocol but using real maps as visual stimuli (the real-map experiment) to verify if the results of the controlled experiment were applicable to real maps. The results of both experiments indicate a significantly positive correlation between perceived visual complexity and label density and between the response time in visual search tasks and label density. Surprisingly, we observe a significant inverse correlation between the label density and two eye movement parameters (fixation duration and fixation frequency) between the two experiments. We discuss how the variables of real maps might have affected these eye movement parameters and why the results of the two experiments are inconsistent. Our findings suggest that eye tracking parameters are not reliable indicators of map complexity. These empirical results can be helpful to future map design and map complexity investigation.     

Register Control in Map Reproduction

Abstract

The control of register in map production is a problem of common interest to cartographers. New materials and new techniques have facilitated advances towards improved register control. This article recounts the experience of the 13th Field Survey Squadron, R.E., and the techniques developed for their particular requirements.