Some Achievements and Problems in Soviet Cartography

Novel map projections can be derived by solving one of the two primary problems in mathematical cartography: direct and inverse. The combination of the equations of existing projections is a method that belongs to the direct problem category in mathematical cartography. As projections of different types, different classes, and different aspects can be combined, a considerable number of projections can be obtained by using this method. This paper aims to develop a novel projection by combining two conformal cylindrical projections with different aspects, namely normal and transverse, to reduce the distortions in map projection. It is observed that the resulting projection exhibits less distortion than those in normal and transverse cylindrical projections. Furthermore, the developed projection preserves conformality.

The complexity of compiling all-purpose geomorphic maps and the continuing controversy over the construction of optimal legends for such maps suggest the need for a more specialized approach to geomorphic mapping. Separate compilation of general geomorphic, structural-geomorphic and predictive-geomorphic maps is proposed. The content of analytical and synthetic structural maps is discussed. Predictive maps are viewed as a synthesis of the general and structural maps and would take the form of transparent overlays suitable for use with either of the two other maps. The content of a predictive map is discussed with particular reference to prospecting for mineral placer deposits.

Accessibility to tactile maps is limited due to their expensive and time-consuming development. Acceleration of their production requires standardized design guidelines that consider symbol design and production methods. In this paper, based on a review of research and best practice, we summarize knowledge on how to design tactile maps properly and provide a selection of highly legible, recommended symbols for the compilation of tactile maps. We also examine generalization constraints and other design parameters that are necessary for the standardization of tactile mapping. Finally, we explore differences in tactile map design depending upon the selected production method. Over the years, many useful guidelines have been developed although they remain unknown to the wider audience. There is still a long way to go in creating a global standard for the design of tactile maps.

Various techniques have been developed that employ projections of the world as seen from a particular viewpoint. Blinn and Newell introduced reflection mapping for simulating mirror reflections on curved surfaces. Miller and Hoffman have presented a general illumination model based on environment mapping. World projections have also been used to model distant objects and to produce pictures with the fish-eye distortion required for Omnimax frames. This article proposes a uniform framework for representing and using world projections and argues that the best general-purpose representation is the is projection onto a cube. Surface shading and texture filtering are discussed in the context of environment mapping, and methods are presented for obtaining diffuse and specular surface illumination from prefiltered environment maps. Comparisons are made with ray tracing, noting that two problems with ray tracing?obtaining diffuse reflection and antialiasing specular reflection?can be handled effectively by environment mapping.

The cartographic preparation and printing of four maps for the Utah GAP Project presented a wide range of challenges in cartographic design and production. In meeting these challenges, the map designers had to balance the purpose of the maps together with their legibility and utility against both the researchers' desire to show as much detail as possible and the technical limitations inherent in the printing process. This article describes seven design and production issues in order to illustrate the challenges of making maps from a merger of satellite data and GIS databases, and to point toward future investigation and development.

Principles and objectives governing Soviet thematic mapping of nearby planets are outlined, types of information sources for such mapping categorized, and the suitability of different types of information sources for thematic mapping are evaluated. This is followed by a classification of thematic planetary maps according to type. The need for a standardized, systems approach to the determination of map scales, compilation and generalization, symbolization, and map design is emphasized as an essential prerequisite for the development of complex atlases of individual planets, atlases of “comparative planetology,” and the establishment of “planetary information systems.” Translated by Jay Mitchell; PlanEcon, Inc.; Washington, DC 20005 from: Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta, geografiya, 1987, No. 6, pp. 60-67.

We present our contribution to the European Marine Observation and Data Network (EMODnet) and the first comprehensive marine geological seafloor map compilation for Icelandic waters across an area of 764,000 km2. Our study is based on a variety of datasets, such as multi-beam and high-resolution bathymetry, sub-bottom profile and 2D seismic reflection, seafloor samples, and core data. This forms the basis for this map compilation, as well as previously published research. Mapping the seafloor geology of Icelandic waters is highly variable and challenging including volcanic, tectonic, sedimentary, and glacial features. These include e.g., present-day active and dormant volcanic systems, eruptive fissures and craters, seamounts and ridges, faults and lineaments, submarine lava borders, landslides, hydrothermal vents, terminal moraines, the extent of the last glacial maximum, glacial streamlines, drumlins, and gravity channels elements. Iceland´s onshore volcanic systems are well characterized based on their distribution of volcanic and tectonic fissures and rock compositions, which continue across the Icelandic insular shelf and the country´s marine domain. On the Icelandic insular shelf and shelf slopes, 17 active volcanic systems have been defined. Seamounts and Seamount ridges were mapped as isolated topographic features rising from the ocean floor that are typically volcanic and/or tectonic in origin. More than 600 craters and 250 eruptive fissures have been mapped and are common within active spreading zones or along extinct ridges. Subaerial and submarine lava flows, primarily seen as pillow lava sheets, have been mapped along the Reykjanes- and Kolbeinsey Ridges, craters, and eruptive fissures. Distinct submarine pillow lava flows can be seen deeper than 400 m depth with flow lengths up to 8-9 km from the crater of origin, and an aerial extent of 45-50 km2. Tectonic elements, fault zones, or fissures are prominent along the active spreading zones, and common across the insular shelf all around Iceland. They follow the primary structural grain of the mid-oceanic ridges north and southwest of Iceland and are predominantly active normal fault systems that are accompanied by earthquakes. Near the rift axes, these faults can form 20 km long and up to 400 m high continuous fault escarpments. Submarine landslides around Iceland are found in the fjords of east and west Iceland, but some are located on the insular slopes and on the Iceland-Faroe Ridge. The ages of these landslides are inferred to be of prehistoric age (>1200 years B.C.) as coastal areas became unstable after the last glaciation. Glacial landforms and erosional marks have been mapped along the entire insular shelf. This includes moraine ridges and glacial streamlines that hold information about past glacial movements and behaviour. This marine geological map compilation for Icelandic waters provides vital data input and starting point for future research and mapping projects that require maps such as seabed substrate, seafloor geology, coastal behaviour, geological events and probabilities, minerals, and submerged landscape map coverages.

柳州市数字山地图的设计与编制

Analysis of multi-temporal satellite images from 1980 to 2019, complemented by geomorphic mapping and field study, indicate that “loose sand” extraction of Sakarya River deposits from the Adapazarı Plain of NW Turkey significantly intensified during the last decade, and mining operations have caused complete and irreversible alteration of floodplain habitat in a total area amounting to ~970 hectares. Our reconstructions estimate the total amount of mined material over a 40-year period since 1980 as ~50 million m3, amounting to ~80 million tonnes of fluvial sand. These sand mine operations, like most around the world, are highly disruptive and destructive but remain unregulated, and neither extractions or environmental impacts are reported or monitored. Our independent study is first to directly assess sand extraction in altering the natural geomorphic setting of the Sakarya River and describe economic, environmental, and social impacts of mining operations. The high demand for loose sand used in cement and concrete infrastructure correlates with changes in Turkey’s political economy, which increasingly focused on construction during the last quarter of the 20th century. Extractive sand mining in this region has caused substantial land loss, soil erosion and water table alterations, which have made agricultural land unsuitable for cultivation, and even destroyed most of the farmland supporting the villages, eliminating the traditional farming practiced for millennia. Continuous mining operations cause constant noise, heavy vehicle traffic and pollution. Furthermore, sand removal from the Sakarya river environment has significantly diminished sediment transport offshore to its delta in the Black Sea; the lower sediment yield diminishes coastal beach nourishment and is accelerating coastal land erosion regionally. The Sakarya case study we describe illustrates the need for (1) improved oversight of human agency that destroys riverine settings; and (2) regulations regarding long term environmental and social impacts of sand mining.

In this paper, we discuss the development of electronic atlas in China, with focus on the issues of visualization. We particularly categorise this development into four periods, and then analyse the characters in each period and discuss the visualization issues. The four periods are highlighted: 1) Infant period ( 2001) characterized as web mapping and adaptive map design with products of Internet maps and atlas as well as adaptive maps. It is obvious that the development follows the logical way from static to dynamic, and even real time visualization, from single user to multiple users, from presentation to exploration for effective communication and knowledge construction. Current research and development projects are focused on customisation of atlas information systems for real-time tasks, Internet operability, small displays and mobile environments. The major challenges involved in each of such customisation processes are identified and commented in relation to the further development of visualization.

Based on a paper presented to the 47th ANZAAS conference, this article reviews the coordination of geologists and cartographers in sharing the responsibility for selecting appropriate symbolic languages in the deSign of geological maps. The most important criterion is the user's ability to analyse the map, but few users in fact have much background in either geology or cartography. The authors point to the need for map makers to take a hard look at the actual needs of map users and the psychology of symbol and colour perception, at the methods for organizing geological information and the limits to its storage and availability in maps, at possible substitutes for maps including computer products, and at attitudes of management and authors towards map production and the consumer.

Tactile maps and diagrams need to be carefully designed in order to be readable by the visually impaired user. In the Tactile Inkjet Mapping Project, we attempt to provide a new orientation for tactile map design through a rigorous programme of experimental research on design issues ( cognitive tactualization approach). In this article we discuss three of our studies. The first study evaluates the use of different background materials for tactile graphics. The second study looks at the minimal perceptible distance between two lines. The third study investigates the optimal elevation (height off the paper) at which graphics are produced. We argue that experimental studies like these represent a necessary basis for the design of tactile maps.

Abstract. Participatory GIS (PGIS) has been prescribed by scholars who sought to find a means to enable more equitable access to GIS data, diversifying the types of knowledge captured by a GIS and re-engineering GIS software. The popularity of PGIS is evident in the various studies and contexts in which it has been utilised. These include studies in risk assessment, land administration, resource management, crime mapping and urban design to mention but a few. Despite the popularity of PGIS as a body of research, little has been done in the analysis of the quality of PGIS information. The study investigated the use of data quality criteria commonly used in traditional GIS systems and shows that it is possible to apply the criteria used in traditional GIS to PGIS. It provides a starting point for PGIS studies to assess the quality of the product. Notably, this a reflective exercise on one case study, but the methodologies used in this study have been replicated in many others undertaken by Community Based Organisations as well as Non-Governmental Organisations. Therefore the findings are relevant to such projects.

Three characteristics of hardcopy maps, scale, interrelatedness of symbols, and standardized symbology, are reviewed. Their implications for future map-related research and design are discussed. Research on types of coding used in visual displays is discussed in terms of its applicability to hardcopy maps. Specific suggestions for hardcopy map design are based on the literature comparing different kinds of map products.

The real-time ionospheric data streams are continuously being provided by a number of International GNSS service analysis centers such as Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC), and Wuhan University, however, the performance evaluation of these Real-Time Global Ionosphere Map (RT-GIM) products is essential. We assess the quality and consistency of these RT-GIM products from the declining phase of solar cycle 24 (year 2017) to the maximum of solar cycle 25 (year 2024) by comparing with Final GIMs provided by Center for Orbit Determination in Europe (CODE) and Jason-3 altimetry satellite. The results suggest that during the low solar activity periods (2017–2022), all the RT-GIMs perform almost similar. However, the performance of the CNES and CAS RT-GIMs strongly deteriorates as the solar cycle proceeds towards the maximum (2022–2024) with annual RMS values remains between 9 and 7.5 TECU. The external validation vs Jason-3 during this maximum period suggested that the accuracy of the UPC RTGIMs is nearly identical to the final CODE GIMs at typically 4–10 TECU in standard deviation over oceans, while performance degradations are recorded for rest of the RTGIMs exhibiting high standard deviations. Results suggest that the high RMS errors in GIMs from CNES and CAS might be related to the geomagnetic inclination misalignments followed by the map projections as both maps form single peak along geomagnetic equator during high solar activities. In addition, under the presence of a severe G4-class geomagnetic storm, CNES RT-GIMs undergoes severe accuracy degradation across all continents recording a − 20 to − 40 TECU bias offset. Meanwhile, UPC RT-GIM remain the most consistent and stable performer (both, globally and over oceans) that provides accurate global ionospheric information which is promising for their applications in real-time precise GNSS positioning.