Topological Coordinates: Numerically Encoding the Underlying Topological Structure of Plane Graphs

A new methodology is presented for the concise numerical encoding of a map's topological structure based on several surprising and beautifully intertwined graph decomposition results due to Walter Schnyder. Not only are Schnyder's methods used to determine new positions for a graph's vertices, a map's topological connectivity information is also simultaneously implicitly stored and recovered by folding information about the edge structure of its embedded line-segment graph into numerical topology-based barycentric coordinates chosen for the graph's vertices. Properties of the alternative geometric realization are explored and shown to permit cartogram construction by systematically altering the topological coordinates to modify the regions' relative areas.     

AREAS BY EQUIDISTANT OFFSETS

Abstract

In chain and traverse surveys areas are frequently required between chain lines and crooked fences. Commonly these areas are computed from offsets measured at equal intervals, which are so much the shorter according as the sinuosity is the greater. Most frequently Simson's Rules are employed for this computation; for (2m+1) offset ordinates, Simson's First Rule may be used; for (3m+1) ordinates, Simson's Second Rule. The First Rule assumes that the fence is made up of arcs of ordinary parabolae; the Second Rule, of arcs of cubic parabolae.     

An Assessment of Deforestation Models for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD)

With the increasing concerns in developing methodologies for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) projects, there is a need to understand the characteristics of existing Land‐Use/Cover Change (LUCC) modules. This research presents a modular framework for assessing predictive accuracy of business‐as‐usual deforestation in the future by comparing two existing approaches: GEOMOD Modeling (GM) and Land Change Modeler (LCM). The comparison uses data from a case study in Chiquitanía, Bolivia. Data from 1986 and 1994 are used to simulate land‐cover of 2000; the resulting maps are compared with an observed land‐cover map of 2000. GM and LCM simulate business‐as‐usual deforestations at the pixel level. The model structures of GM's linear extrapolation and LCM's Markov Chain are compared to review quantity of LUCC; and the model structures of GM's empirical frequency, LCM's logistic regression, and LCM's multilayer perceptron are compared to review (spatial) allocation of LUCC. Relative operating characteristics, figure of merit, and multiple resolution analysis are employed to assess predictive accuracy of multiple transition modeling. By design, GM lacks the potential to model multiple transitions, and the LCM's multilayer perceptron may produce different results for each simulation due to its stochastic element. Based on the model structure and predictive accuracy comparisons, the LCM seems more suitable than the GM for a REDD application. When a project is to employ a predictive method for its spatially explicit baseline setting, then it is highly recommended to use the proposed framework to assess accuracy of the baseline as part of a project design document.     

A NOTE ON THE TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY OF SOUTHERN RHODESIA

Abstract

After the completion of Simms's Geodetic Chain in 1901 and the publication of the results in 1905—Volume iii of the Geodetic Survey of South Africa—nothing further of a geodetic nature was done until 1928 when a short chain was run westwards from Simms's chain, at about latitude 17° 10′, to fix the Copper Queen mining area. The Eastern Circuit was commenced shortly after this; it runs from Salisbury eastwards to the Portuguese Boundary, southwards through Umtali to about latitude 20° and then westwards, joining Simms's chain again to the east of Bulawayo. Another chain running north from Simms's work has been commenced near Bulawayo. The several series are exhibited on the outline map attached.     

Evaluation of CHAMP satellite orbit with SLR measurements

The technique of Evaluating CHAMP satellite orbit with SLR measurements is presented. As an independent evaluation of the orbit solution, SLR data observed from January 1 to 16, 2002 are processed to compute the residuals after fixing the GFZ's post science orbits solutions. The SLR residuals are computed as the differences of the SLR measurements minus the corresponding distances between the SLR station and the GPS-derived orbit positions. On the basis of the SLR residuals analysis, it is found that the accuracy of GFZ' s spost science orbits is better than 10 cm and that there is no systematic error in GFZ's post science orbits.     

Analysis of spectral characteristics among different sensors by use of simulated RS images

This research, by use of RS image-simulating method, simulated apparent reflectance images at sensor level and ground-reflectance images of SPOT-HRV, CBERS-CCD Landsat-TM and NOAA14-AVHRR's corresponding bands. These images were used to analyze sensor's differences caused by spectral sensitivity and atmospheric impacts. The differences were analyzed on Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI). The results showed that the differences of sensors' spectral characteristics cause changes of their NDVI and reflectance. When multiple sensors' data are applied to digital analysis, the error should be taken into account. Atmospheric effect makes NDVI smaller, and atmospheric correction has the tendency of increasing NDVI values. The reflectance and their NDVIs of different sensors can be used to analyze the differences among sensor's features. The spectral analysis method based on RS simulated images can provide a new way to design the spectral characteristics of new sensors.     

Virtual Coast Guard: An Open and Crowdsourced GIS Portal for Stewardship of India's Coast

India's coastline is under tremendous pressure. The current processes of development are becoming a threat to the ecology and livelihoods housed on the coast. If left unchecked, there will not be much of a coast left for our future generations. GIS provides tremendous opportunities to map spatial information for better decision‐making. Government agencies generate maps, but they are localized and inaccessible, preventing an actual assessment of the damage that is already happening to our coast. The Coastal Area Mapping Project (CAMP) envisions creating a collaborative GIS platform using open source technologies. CAMP's vision is to use Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) for collaboration and cocreation and collective problem solving. CAMP foresees a vision for India's coastline where power is equalized among all constituencies (Government, corporations, media, communities, civil societies, etc.), by capturing the big picture and patterns, thus enabling the creation of strategies for stewardship of India's coastline for human wellbeing, coastal protection and sustainable coastal development.     

Geoid undulation computations at laser tracking stations

This paper studies the use of two new methods for gravimetric geoid undulation computations: The Molodenskii's and Sjöberg's methods that both modify the original Stokes'function so that certainrms errors are minimized. These new methods were checked against the traditional methods of Stokes' and Meissl's modification with the criterion of the globalrms undulation error that each method implies. Sjöberg's method gave consistently the smallest globalrms undulation error of all the other methods for capsizes 0° to 10°. However with the exception of Stokes' method, for capsizes between 0° to 5°, all the methods gave approximately (within±5cm) the same globalrms undulation error. Actual gravity data within a cap of 2° and potential coefficient information were then combined to compute the undulation of 39 laser stations distributed around the world. Therms discrepancy between the gravimetric undulations using all the four methods and the undulations computed as the ellipsoidal minus the orthometric height of 28 at the above stations was±1.70,±1.65,±1.66,±1.65m for the Stokes', Meissl's, Molodenskii's and Sjöberg's method respectively. For five oceanic laser stations where no terrestrial gravity data was available, theGEOS-3/SEASAT altimeter sea surface heights were used to compute the undulations of these stations in a collocation method. Therms discrepancy between the altimeter derived undulation and the ellipsoidal mirus orthometric value of the undulation was ±1.30m for the above five laser stations.     

地球自转参数的LS+AR超短期预报方法

地球自转参数（ERP）是卫星精密定轨中联系天球坐标系与地球坐标系的必要参数,是国际GNSS服务组织（IGS）和国际GNSS监测评估系统（iGMAS）分析中心的重要产品。为了提高中国测绘科学研究院分析中心（CGS）的线性模型预报精度,本文研究了最小二乘（LS）和自回归模型（AR）组合的超短期预报最优方法;通过不同周期数据确定最佳预报时长,利用LS+AR模型进行超短期预报,并通过IGS和iGMAS与线性模型产品对比。结果表明：利用8 d（时段）数据进行超短期预报最优;LS+AR模型预报精度明显优于LS模型;LS+AR的超短期预报方法优于分析中心的线性预报方法;EOP的PMX和PMY分量利用时段数据预报、LOD利用天数据预报精度更高。本文超短期预报方法能够提高ERP预报精度,为IGS或iGMAS分析中心的ERP预报提供了一定的参考意义。     

三维激光扫描技术在米仓山特长隧道施工中的可行性应用研究

巴陕高速米仓山特长隧道为我国目前在建最长公路隧道,全长约13.8km。利用三维激光扫描技术高速率、高精度获取对象表面三维坐标的优势,对米仓山隧道LJ2标段右线施工过程中的超欠挖、二衬厚度、掘进面爆破效果进行了检测,并对开挖断面围岩周边收敛和拱顶下沉进行了变形监测。结果表明,检测段隧道超挖区域比例占到81%,其中超挖0～20cm的占62%,欠挖0～10cm的为14%;二衬厚度选取不同里程、相同位置121个位置进行分析,最大厚度0.662m,最小0.456m,平均厚度0.564m;掘进面爆破深度约为3.048m,爆破方量为254.065m³;K54+030断面围岩周边收敛6d最大收敛变形量为9.5mm,拱顶下沉监测点6d最大变形量为5mm。     

NOTES ON THE GEODETIC SURVEY OF SOUTHERN RHODESIA

Abstract

Triangulation.—Apart from Simms' Geodetic Chain, Gordon's Chain, the Copper Queen Limb, and a section of the Victoria and Umtali Series, all the primary triangulation shown on the accompanying map has been executed since 1933. The work of Simms and Gordon has been remodelled, however, being greatly strengthened, and these chains are now called Simms' and Gordon's Series. For an explanation and plan of the above Series, see “A Note on the Trigonometrical Survey of S. Rhodesia”, in the Empire Survey Review, no. 27, vol. iv.     

THE RELATION OF CARTOGRAPHY TO THE LAWS AND CLASSIFICATION OF SCIENCE

The chairman of Moscow University's Cartography Department addresses questions about cartography's place in the system of scientific knowledge, qualifications as a science, subject matter, and methods of analysis. Critiques of recent theoretical works both within and outside the USSR lay the groundwork for the author's view of cartography: a multifaceted, interdisciplinary field of knowledge using maps for the presentation and investigation of natural and socioeconomic phenomena. Although few if any strictly cartographic laws exist at present, map use methods are applied widely for the discovery and analysis of laws in other disciplines. Translated from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1984, No. 6, pp. 3-10.     

Simulation of Photometric Conditions by Aerial and Space Photography of the Earth's Surface

A mathematical procedure is presented for simulating the results of aerial and space photography of the Earth's surface as a function of photometric survey conditions. The optical densities of the photographic film are computed with stipulated coefficients of reflection by the Earth's surface, atmospheric optical parameters, illumination conditions, and camera parameters. The described procedure makes it possible to draw conclusions concerning the choice of survey camera for given optical characteristics of the landscape and atmosphere.     

Relief and Colour

Abstract

Most maps which depict the earth's relief do not convey information about the colour or texture of the earth's surface. Ways of embodying these additional elements into hill-shaded maps are proposed by the Senior Lecturer in Geodesy, Israel Institute of Technology (Technion).     

Morphostructure of the krishna and the godavari delta region

Morphostructure is a form of the earth’s relief, developed due to tectonic movements. Structures which have undergone movement in the Quaternary time are commonly recognised in areas of low relief and recent deposition. A number of morphpstructures are delineated through geomorphologlcal studies in the Krishna and the Godavari delta region of the coastal Andhra Pradesh which are likely to entrap oil and gas. The morphostructural trends are in confirmation with the known regional trends.     

Chikyû Bankoku Sankai Yochi Zenzu Setsu: The First Japanese World Map with Latitudes and Longitudes and with an Extensive Japanese Explanatory Note

In the early 1780s, Nagakubo Sekisui, the first Japanese scientific geographer, published a world map containing latitudes and longitudes, based on Matteo Ricci's map of 1602. The map and its extensive explanatory text had a considerable impact on the educated classes of the late Edo Period (1603–1868) toward their new vision of the world. We are providing here an analysis of the map and the first complete English translation of Nagakubo Sekisui's most interesting, long explanatory text.     

'Drawing the Coral Heads': Mental Mapping and its Physical Representation in a Polynesian Community

Abstract

Indigenous people throughout the world developed their own mapping skills and systems of knowledge. While Westerners are prone to overlook these communities' geographical knowledge and imagine their mapping activities to be primitive or non-existent, their mental maps are often impressive in sophistication and detailed even if based on cosmologies that are quite foreign to Western thinking. This article depicts a mental map of the ocean floor shared by Polynesians of Anuta, a remote community in the Solomon Islands. It situates Anuta's reef map in relation to academic discussions of indigenous cartography and describes the process that resulted in the map's physical representation.     

THE NAMING OF THE STARS

Abstract

The order of the constellations in the following catalogue is that of the list in Ptolemy's “Almagest, except that the modern groups in the northern hemisphere are inserted after Ptolemy's northern and before his zodiacal constellations, while the modern groups in the southern hemisphere follow the last of his list. The constellation-name in italic capitals is the Latin form in general use. It is followed by the English translation where necessary and by the French and German versions. The Greek and Arabic names, with their authorities, are then given and translated where they differ in meaning from the Latin.     

Implications of Weighting Metrics for Line Generalization with Visvalingam's Algorithm

Visvalingam's algorithm was designed for caricatural line generalization. A distinction must be made between the algorithm and its operational definition, which includes the metric used to drive it. When the algorithm was first introduced, it was demonstrated using the concept of the effective area of triangles. It was noted that alternative metrics could be used and that the metrics could be weighted, for example to take account of shape.

Ordnance Survey (Great Britain) and others are using Visvalingam's algorithm for generalizing coastlines and other natural features, with complex parameter-driven functions to weight the original metric. This paper shows how free software and data were used to scrutinize the implications of one of Matthew Bloch's simple and transparent weighting functions. The results look promising, when compared with manually produced mid and small-scale maps; and encourage further research focussed on weighting functions and related topics, such as self-intersection of lines and model-based generalization. The paper discusses why weights were used in some projects. It comments on their range of applicability and reiterates the original guidance provided for the use of weights. It also demonstrates how weights can undermine the algorithm's capacity to draw caricatures with very few points. The paper provides sufficient background and links to the authors’ test data and to open source software for the benefit of others wishing to undertake research in line generalization using Visvalingam's algorithm.