Mapping the Geographical Diffusion of a Finnish Smallpox Epidemic from Historical Population Records

Smallpox mortality from an early 19th century epidemic in Finland is mapped at the parish village level. First, geographically referenced historical materials are used to construct a map showing the spread of smallpox mortality among villages. Next, the diffusion of smallpox morbidity is simulated by computer for the same set of villages. These two maps are then compared. Results indicate that at this scale maps of mortality diffusion can show general trends but have no direct spatial correspondence to the underlying pattern of morbidity diffusion. Mortality maps cannot be used as a surrogate measure of infectious contact behavior at micro scales of analysis.     

A proposed base for a geographical information system for India

Abstract

Attempts have been made by different organizations in India to organize data in order to develop a suitable information system. These attempts were oriented towards specific uses, such as natural resources, data management, thematic mapping and the like. In some attempts software has been developed for some specific purpose. It is not an easy task to develop an information system for a country such as India. Its extent in latitude and longitude is well above average. There are federal and state agencies for the collection of data and the preparation of maps. The geographical information concerning India is available from the following sources: the administrative areas of states, union territories, districts, sub-districts and villages; survey sheets; remote sensing images; aerial photographs; and thematic base maps of the National Atlas and Thematic Mapping Organisation. There are other map series available which have been used for socio-economic mapping. By the end of 1987 the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite will be launched and then remotely-sensed data will be readily available. Considering the geographical bases available in the country, five levels can be identified for developing an information system for India. Some of the thematic maps at 1:1000 000 scale can be used for initiating such a geographical information system.     

Cartographic Methods for Determining the Qibla

Abstract

Islam is an important topic in human and regional geography instruction, and major textbooks include maps showing Islam's core and rapid expansion diffusion, along with the number of pilgrims to Mecca from different countries. Determining the qibla, the sacred direction for daily prayer, and the distance to Mecca are additional topics that link human geography, Islamic mathematical geography, and modern geographic information science. Recently discovered Persian instruments used a retro-azimuthal map projection devised by medieval Muslim mathematicians to compute the qibla and distance to Mecca from anywhere within the seventeenth century realm of Islam. Modern global maps that allow the qibla and distance to Mecca to be determined from all populated areas on earth are added to the Persian instruments.     

Early Instruction in Geography: An Exploration in the Ecology of Kindergarten and First-Grade Geography Education

Abstract

Student drawn maps have been relatively neglected as an evaluation tool, despite their potential utility for assessing geographic knowledge. Comparison of students' sketch maps at the beginning and end of the year can inform the teacher about how students' representations of the world change over the course of instruction. Used as a pretest, they can be used to diagnose areas of strength and weakness within a class; as a posttest they can be used to assess students' achievement and the effectiveness of instruction. In this paper we provide an easy method for sorting and summarizing sketch map data, which is illustrated using maps collected from two sixth grade classes. We also outline a framework to guide teachers in generating questions to ask about their own students' maps.     

A Review of “The Future Control of Food: A Guide to International Negotiations and Rules on Intellectual Property,Biodiversity and Food Security”

Abstract

Surface soil texture controls many important ecological, hydrological, and geomorphic processes in arid regions and is therefore important from a land-management perspective. Soil survey efforts have traditionally fulfilled this need, but they are constrained by the size, remoteness, and inaccessibility of many arid regions, which renders simple field measurements prohibitively expensive. This article compares several different predictive soil-mapping techniques with a sparse data set in order to develop surficial soil texture maps. Our results suggest that data collected at the landscape scale can be used as input to predictive soil-mapping techniques to create maps of soil texture at higher fidelity and a fraction of the cost than would be required using traditional methods.     

伊洛河流域森林景观变化驱动因素

1 Introduction Landscapes are the outcome of the interaction between socio-economic and natural forces (Wrbka et al., 2004). During the evolution of cultural landscapes throughout the world, human activities have become dominant factors shaping most lands…     

Automatic extraction of road intersection points from USGS historical map series using deep convolutional neural networks

ABSTRACT

Road intersection data have been used across a range of geospatial analyses. However, many datasets dating from before the advent of GIS are only available as historical printed maps. To be analyzed by GIS software, they need to be scanned and transformed into a usable (vector-based) format. Because the number of scanned historical maps is voluminous, automated methods of digitization and transformation are needed. Frequently, these processes are based on computer vision algorithms. However, the key challenges to this are (1) the low conversion accuracy for low quality and visually complex maps, and (2) the selection of optimal parameters. In this paper, we used a region-based deep convolutional neural network-based framework (RCNN) for object detection, in order to automatically identify road intersections in historical maps of several cities in the United States of America. We found that the RCNN approach is more accurate than traditional computer vision algorithms for double-line cartographic representation of the roads, though its accuracy does not surpass all traditional methods used for single-line symbols. The results suggest that the number of errors in the outputs is sensitive to complexity and blurriness of the maps, and to the number of distinct red-green-blue (RGB) combinations within them.     

Going beyond location: Thematic maps in the early elementary grades

Abstract

Cartographic research has long suggested that preschool and early elementary children possess advanced mapping behaviors in terms of interpreting, making, and using locational and wayfinding maps. To improve instruction in geographic concepts, it is necessary to see if these advanced mapping behaviors apply to thematic or special purpose maps as well, as an understanding of these types of maps is integral to the five fundamental themes of geography. An experiment was conducted to evaluate the thematic mapping abilities of second-grade students. Students viewed maps at the neighborhood, city, and national scales displaying different types of symbolization and presented in a random order. Results indicated that the map tasks were appropriate for this age level, and a statistical test of reaction times did not identify a best symbol type or scale, as all were appropriate for this age level. Responses to discussion questions indicated the students also have the ability to describe spatial patterns. The interpretation of quantitative information on maps is within the ability level of second grade students, and materials currently used in second grade should be revised to include these maps.     

Comparisons of Conventional “Subdued” to Vivid “Highly Contrasting” Color Schemes for Elementary School Maps: Report of An Experiment

Abstract

The appropriateness of color schemes commonly used on maps for middle grade children has been inadequately researched. Most contemporary designs seem based more on adult conventions than on investigations to determine the factors that make maps interesting and readable to children. Based on four specially-prepared maps and 384 interview sessions with subjects enrolled in fourth, fifth, and sixth grades of a public school system, the findings of this study provide some clear implications for those who either design or purchase maps for classroom use.     

Generation of multi-resolution maps from run-length-encoded data

Abstract

One motivation for the need of maps to be organized hierarchically in different resolutions is the fact that in most applications low-resolution maps require less heavy computations than maps represented at higher resolutions. Spatial data structures that permit generation of lower levels or resolution in a hierarchical fashion already exist, e.g., quad-trees and resolution pyramids. Many other spatial data structures that are non-hierarchical, and therefore do not permit the generation of resolution hierarchies, also exist. One such structure is the run-length-code (RLC), which has many powerful advantages that make the structure feasible in geographical information systems. In this article an approach to the problem of generating a resolution hierarchy from RLC is described and discussed.     

SCALING TECHNIQUES IN THE ANALYSIS OF ENVIRONMENTAL COGNITION DATA∗

The utility of nonmetric, multidimensional-scaling techniques is demonstrated for the analysis and collection of environmental-cognition data. By comparing the multidimensional-scaling solutions of a real-setting map to scaling solutions for sketch maps and two psychophysical, distance-scaling procedures, we demonstrate that magnitude estimation of actual interpoint distances is comparable in accuracy to sketch maps when produced without constraints, or when subjects are given a specified list of landmarks to include on their maps. Triadic comparisons of actual interpoint distances were less accurate than the three other techniques.     

INVOLUNTARY POPULATION MOVEMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

The box-and-whisker diagram, described here, is a simple but effective device for portraying frequency distributions clearly, accurately, and fully. It is a useful means for providing legends and category divisions for choropleth maps, being capable of handling skewed distributions without suppressing the skewness. Maps are used to illustrate the utility of the method for examining different types of distributions and for making map comparisons to discover relationships among variables.     

Minneapolis and Its Environs

Abstract

University students participated in a research project on communities and conservation on Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Students contributed by gathering data with various methods that will be compiled in a GIS. Living in three villages at different elevations on the mountain, students facilitated GPS mapping, a random survey of over 90 households, and recording of observations and interviews with the people of these villages. While the inclusion of students in the research project brought greater logistical demands, their participation allowed quick collection of data on a broad scale, more intimate knowledge of the three villages and the communities in them, and provided a valuable learning experience for the students with opportunities to develop and carry-out a research project in an international setting.     

Ethnic Settlements on Topographic Maps

Abstract

The large scale topographic map can be a valuable medium for the pedagogic study of cultural geography, as a documentary source for research, or as a supplement to field work. Ethnic settlements, by way of illustration, are distinct cultural features on the landscape and can be located on topographic maps through the compilation of settlement form interpretation keys or place-name indexes, and the study of ethnic history. With this information as a base, it is possible to develop an interpretation logic that will allow the location and identification of ethnic groups on topographic maps.     

Use of the weighted Kappa coefficient in classification error assessment of thematic maps

Abstract

The weighted Kappa coefficient is applied to the comparison of thematic maps. Weighted Kappa is a useful measure of accuracy when the map classes are ordered, or when the relative seriousness of the different possible errors may vary. The calculation and interpretation of weighted Kappa are demonstrated by two examples from forest surveys. First, the accuracy of thematic site quality maps classified according to an ordinal scale is assessed. Error matrices are derived from map overlays, and two different sets of agreement weights are used for the calculation. Weighted Kappa ranges from 0.34 to 0.55, but it does not differ significantly between two separate areas. Secondly, weighted Kappa is calculated for a tree species cover classified according to a nominal scale. Weights reflecting the economic loss for the forest owner due to erroneous data are used for the computation. The value of weighted Kappa is 0.56.     

Organization of Feature-, Time-, and Location-Based Mental Models

This study considers how mental models are encoded into memory by viewing visual displays like maps. A mental model is an internal representation of a situation that links objects or concepts to other objects or concepts. Previous studies indicated location-based mental models are encoded when a series of propositional statements such as the object is in the location are read from a text. Evidence that locations were being used as the basic container for an organization of mental models is provided by a significant fan effect. A fan effect shows an increase in reaction time with the number of models considered when making a decision. Features, times, and locations were considered as possible containers in the mental models. Subjects created location-based mental models, but also encoded feature-based mental models. A reverse fan effect for time, found for a map animation, suggested the order of the presentation of maps could greatly affect the structure of learned information.     

Illustrating the Concepts of the Contour Symbol,Interval, and Spacing VIA 3-D Maps

Abstract

Although topographic maps are commonly used, few readers seem to understand them adequately. In this paper we attempt to develop a teaching strategy to remedy this deficiency. The teaching strategy is founded upon a group of integrated illustrations which take the reader from data-gathering through to the final map. We believe that these illustrations are simple enough to be understood by grade school children, yet sophisticated enough to satisfy adults.     

Spatio-temporal regression kriging for modelling urban NO2 concentrations

ABSTRACT

Recently developed urban air quality sensor networks are used to monitor air pollutant concentrations at a fine spatial and temporal resolution. The measurements are however limited to point support. To obtain areal coverage in space and time, interpolation is required. A spatio-temporal regression kriging approach was applied to predict nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations at unobserved space-time locations in the city of Eindhoven, the Netherlands. Prediction maps were created at 25 m spatial resolution and hourly temporal resolution. In regression kriging, the trend is separately modelled from autocorrelation in the residuals. The trend part of the model, consisting of a set of spatial and temporal covariates, was able to explain 49.2% of the spatio-temporal variability in NO₂ concentrations in Eindhoven in November 2016. Spatio-temporal autocorrelation in the residuals was modelled by fitting a sum-metric spatio-temporal variogram model, adding smoothness to the prediction maps. The accuracy of the predictions was assessed using leave-one-out cross-validation, resulting in a Root Mean Square Error of 9.91 μg m^?3, a Mean Error of ?0.03 μg m^?3 and a Mean Absolute Error of 7.29 μg m^?3. The method allows for easy prediction and visualization of air pollutant concentrations and can be extended to a near real-time procedure.     

The Educational Value of Geographical Exhibitions

Abstract

All maps lie, but some do so in especially interesting ways. Examples of errors or distortions can be found on maps appearing in magazines, newspapers, telephone directories, brochures, and even in geography textbooks. Special biases are often revealed in hand-drawn maps, or on written directions (virtual maps). Students can develop a critical eye by looking for, and collecting, maps that clearly, or cleverly, tell lies.     

Land form Analysis from Topographic MAPS

Abstract

The paper suggests and illustrates several techniques useful for analysis of land form characteristics from topographic maps. Five maps representing distinctly-different types of terrain are analyzed numerically, and the results are presented in map form. The analysis is based on indices derived from values of contour lines, and the indices are selected according to the salient characteristics of the terrain in a given area. Stream eroded, glacial, aeolian and structurally controlled types of terrain are analyzed to illustrate the variety of approaches necessary for analysis of land form from topographic maps.