ISARITHMIC MAPS

- Shows continuous surfaces

- A set of isolines
- Selection of isarithmic intervals:
1. Constant intervals
2. Avoid overcrowding
3. Compromise between areas of rapid change and little change in
vertical dimension (contour lines closer together = steep slope)

Isarithmic forms
1. Isometric map: Generated from data occurring at points (Eg. Temperature, elevation)
2. Isoplethic map: Generated from data occurring over geographic areas called unit or enumeration
areas (eg. Population density, crop yield per acre)

Design considerations: Line, labels and legends

Labels
- Lines should be labeled to facilitate
interpretation
- Need to be readable
- Should not be upside down, always
facing upward

Legend
- A verbal statement of isoline interval and
units
- Sometimes areas between isolines are
colored (hypsometric shading)
Types of contour lines
1. Index contour lines: Noticeably thicker than other intermediate contours,
labeled for ease of reading and following, labels facing upward and follow the
flow of the line
2. Intermediate contours: Regular contours in between index contours, a
thinner solid color line
3. Supplementary contours: Appropriate in areas of flat terrain which lacks
contour, drawn in dashed or dotted lines
4. Depression contours: Area that lies a lower elevation than all other
surrounding terrain will form a depression