SOUTH AND EAST AFRICA AND THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GEODESY AND GEOPHYSICS

Abstract

THE resolutions and pious hopes (væux) passed by the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics at Edinburgh in September 1936 have just been circulated in a formidable document of 8 pages and XXIX commandments. Of these, two affect the Cape-to-Cairo line particularly and they seem to deserve special study. The first of these, Number III—on systems of Projections—applies the meridional strips of the Transverse Mercator Projection apparently to all maps, topographical as well as cadastral.     

STONEHENGE AND WOODHENGE

Abstract

Owing to the kindness of the editor, I have recently been able to see the article on Stonehenge and Woodhenge by Captain Learmont, together with the editor's notes in the Empire Survey Review for April 1936. I hope the editor will also allow me space to make a few comments.     

TRAVERSING WITH THEODOLITE AND CHAIN

Abstract

As Mr H. F. Rainsford (E.S.R., no. 37, vol. v, July 1940) says, the ordinary accurate survey traverse, through its “ordinariness,” has been neglected in the printed word. The technique—perfected by much practice—has been handed down by word of mouth only from father to son, from surveyor to pupil.     

SOME PROBLEMS OF RESECTION AND COUNTERSECTION-I

Abstract

“A Well-Defined mountain, though miles inland and never visited by the surveyors, will often prove the very keystone of a chart which cannot be regularly and theoretically triangulated” (“Hydrographic Surveying”, by Rear-Adm. Sir Wm J. L. Wharton, K.C.B., and Rear-Adm. Mostyn Field, F.R.S. 3rd Ed. 1909, p. 128). To many the reasons prohibiting the occupation of inland stations may be unknown; it may suffice to state that, in the past, British hydrographers have mapped many coastal waters where penetration of the land was at least inadvisable. Since the charts so made were in general sold to the world, seamen of all nations have benefited from the surveys.     

RELATIONS OF BEACON AND DEED-PLAN IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

MR. C. O. GILBERT'S article on “Beacon versus Deed-plan” (E.S.R., Jan. 1932, pp. 98–99) raises a question of very great importance in those countries which have a system of land registration. In addition to the legal and technical aspects of the question, it raises the very important question of preservation of beacons and replacement of lost beacons. As he mentions the South African practice, the experience of the Transvaal may be of interest to readers, the more so as the case, The African and Buropean Investment Co., Ltd. and Others versus John Warren and Others, which he quotes, concerned farms situated in the Transvaal. I also wish to refer specially to the Transvaal, because there the diagram or deed-plan is of great legal force when there is a conflict between the position of a beacon on the ground and the position accorded it by a confirmed diagram.     

FIGURES AND FANCIES

Abstract

I may say at once that this article has nothing to do with either the Gaiety chorus or the “Old Firm”: it is merely a statement of what seem to me the fancies in Dr. de Graaff Hunter's paper “Figures of Reference for the Earth”, E.S.R., No. 8,pp. 73–8. Many readers of the Review will share my gratitude to Dr. Hunter for his lucid presentation of the theory underlying the usual geodetic processes. I disagree with only one of his points, and its implications, but unfortunately that point is fundamental.     

GEOGRAPHICAL POSITIONS IN MALAYA AND SIAM

Abstract

Malaya.—The geographical positions of points in the “Primary Triangulation of Malaya”, published in 1917, depend upon latitude and azimuth determinations at Bukit Asa and on the longitude of Fort Cornwallis Flagstaff, Penang, the latter being supposed to be 100° 20′ 44″.4 E. This value was obtained by Commander (later Admiral) Mostyn Field in H.M.S. Egeria 1893, by the exchange of telegraphic signals with Mr Angus Sutherland at Singapore, Old Transit Circle. The longitude, 103° 51′ 15″.75 E., accepted for Singa- pore in order to arrive at this determination of Fort Cornwallis Flagstaff, was based upon that of an Observation Spot, 103° 51′ 15″.00 E., fixed in 1881 by Lieutenant Commander Green, United States Navy, by meridian distance from the transit circle ofMadras Observatory, the corresponding longitude of the latter being taken as 80° 14′ 51″.51 E.     

TRIGONOMETRIC HEIGHTS AND REFRACTION

Abstract

In the past there has been considerable discussion on the above subject in this Review. There is a bibliography at the end of this article in which the full titles of previous articles are given. For brevity, reference to them in the following text is made by number only. Recently, Gulatee summarized present knowledge and asked how other Survey Departments dealt with this matter. Consequently, it was considered that it would be helpful to set out in detail the procedure adopted by the Directorate of Colonial Surveys for obtaining trigonometric heights, with particular reference to primary and seoondary chains and nets.     

CADASTRAL SURVEY AND LAND RECORDS

Abstract

We regret that, owing to illness and the pressure of other demands on them in the same field, it has been necessary to interrupt the publication of the papers on cadastral subjects which Sir Ernest Dowson and Mr. Sheppard are contributing to the Review. We hope, however, to resume this valuable and interesting series in the January 1947 issue.— ED., E.S.R.     

DIRECTIONS AND ANGLES IN A SIMPLE CHAIN

Abstract

Mr. Rainsford's article on “Least Square Adjustments of Triangulation: Directions versus Angles” in the Empire Survey Review No. 78, Vol. x, October 1950, leads to many speculations and interesting results. I try to show here, how, by assuming artifices to simplify the results, weights may be assigned to angles derived from directions so that the results of adjustment by angles, with these weights, will be the same as the adjustment by directions, all of equal weight.     

THE REVIEW AND ITS FUTURE

Abstract

As a consequence of the death of the late editor, the responsibility for conducting this REVIEW now rests on other shoulders, and, in view of the high standard which Captain McCaw set at the beginning of the journal's existence and maintained, in spite of many difficulties, until the time of his death, his successor feels that a few words concerning the future of the REVIEW, and an appeal for continued co-operation on the part of readers, may not be out of place in this, the first number of a new volume.     

SARAWAK LANDS AND SURVEY DEPARTMENT

Abstract

Financial.—The revenue collection for the year was 479,591.75, consisting of Lands and Survey Revenue 356,087.52 and Mining Revenue 123,504.23.     

THE INTERNATIONAL UNION OF GEODESY AND GEOPHYSICS AT LISBON

Abstract

On the 17th September, 1933, the Fifth General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics was opened by General Carmono, President of the Republic of Portugal, in the hall normally occupied by the Portuguese Parliament at Lisbon. Great Britain sent to this meeting of the Union twenty-two delegates, of whom the majority travelled to Lisbon by the S.S. Arlanza.     

THE DEVELOPMENT AND INTRODUCTION OF AUTOMATION INTO CARTOGRAPHY

The author, in response to a critical review of his book on automation in cartography by K. A. Salishchev (see preceding article), defends his ideas on “raster digitizing” (proposed as only one of several approaches to cartographic automation) by documenting the need for a certain level of uniformity in the storage and presentation of information. In the process he continues a debate on the theoretical basis that should govern the development of automated cartography that occupied the entire “Cartography” section of the May 1986 issue of Geodeziya i kartografiya. In a preface to the section, the editorial board of the Soviet journal emphasized that there is no single, universally accepted position on standards for automating cartography or on the ultimate role automation should play in the discipline as a whole. Translated from: Geodeziya i kartografiya, 1986, No. 5, pp. 38–43.     

AN OLD FILE AND A NEW ARC

Abstract

In his article “Standards of Length in Question” published in the last number of this Review (Vol. i, pp. 277–-84) Captain G. T. McCawgave us most interesting and valuable history concerning the questionable past of the international metre. He has, it may be assumed, exhausted published evidence; but he states that he can find no reference to invitations from this country to France and Holland to send their fundamental standards for comparison with others at the Ordnance Survey in the eighteen sixties.     

ECOLOGICAL-GEOGRAPHIC MAPPING: CONCEPTS,METHODS, AND TECHNOLOGY

Another paper in a series of articles on ecological-geographic mapping (see for example, Mapping Sciences and Remote Sensing, Vol. 31, No. 3, July-September 1994, pp. 185-220) focuses on outlining a concise typology of such maps and providing a brief history of their emergence during the 1970s and 1980s. A subsequent section is devoted to methods and technology used in the compilation of ecological-geographic maps, particularly the multiple variants of data organization, processing, and cartographic representation that can be factored into research design. Translated by Edward Torrey, Alexandria, VA 22308 from: Geografiya i prirodnyye resursy, 1995, No. 4, pp. 10-18.     

CONVENTIONS AND GENERALIZED FORMULAE FOR THE ASTRONOMICAL TRIANGLE

Abstract

In the October 1953 issue of this Review (E.S.R. xii, 90, 174), Mr. J. G. Freislich has written of the difficulties of a southern hemisphere computer attempting to use astronomical formulae from a textbook prepared for use in the northern hemisphere. He proposes a solution in which different conventions are adopted in the two hemispheres, leading to different formulae for the two cases, a solution which the present writer does not favour.     

RELIABILITY OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC AND GEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF SPACE IMAGERY USING DIRECT AND INDIRECT INDICATORS

The author tries to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of remote sensing in geology. Separate procedures, stages and conditions of image processing are discussed. According to the author, by minimizing errors and interference, understanding the mechanism of generalization, improving identification techniques, and recognizing various direct and indirect indicators, this method can be made highly universal and promising for the earth sciences. Translated from: Kosmicheskiye issledovaniya prirodnykh kompleksov Sibiri i Dal'nego Vostoka, Novosibirsk, 1983, pp. 83-100.     

DECORATIVE-APPLIED ART AND CARTOGRAPHY

The need to accelerate the development of map reading and interpretation skills by increasing the exposure of school-age children to maps and other cartographic images is now widely recognized. Two Soviet authors advocate a broader approach; namely, the expansion of decorative-commercial applications of cartography. Maps, in aesthetic and simplified form, should be used more widely as motifs for toys and household goods, articles of clothing, and displays of events and places of popular interest. The most basic properties of the earth (shape, natural colors, etc.) should be retained whenever possible, even when the maps themselves are highly abstract. Translated from: Geodezlya i kartografiya, 1984, No. 12, pp. 26-27.