Mapping

• Hard and soft-copy maps

Section II • Importance for engineers: planning locations,
Applications of Measurements design facilities, and estimate quantities.
• Main types: topographic, cadastral, natural
resources, facilities, land use, and construction
• Cartography: the overall process of map
processing.
3. Mapping (Topographic) • Scale: large > 1in:100ft, small < 1in:1000ft
Surveys

Map Production
• Computer-aided drafting (CAD):
• Knowing point coordinates, using a software a map
could be drawn, plotted, and transmitted.
• Contour lines are automatically generated from TIN. If
desired, cross sections could be established and
volumes could be computed.
• Some CAD systems designed to export data from total
stations
• Manual drafting.
Map Drawing
• Planimetric details: compute the coordinates
of the points and draw them with respect to
the TIC marks.
• Contours: first interpolate between known
elevations, then connect the required
elevations. Interpolation is done by:
estimation, proportion, or other techniques.

Topographic Maps
• Topographic surveys, why?
• Planimetric vs hypsometric maps.
• A combination of Planimetric and hypsometric
maps is a topographic map.
• DEMs and three dimensional perspective models.

3-D Representation of a topographic mapping of a student

project
 Methods for Mapping (Topographic)
Surveys
• Small areas: ground surveys.
• Large areas:
• photogrammetry, automatic. With ground survey
for control, GPS?
• Terrain mapping using scanning airborne laser
radar (LIDAR): the aircraft is simply
transformed into the equivalent of an airborne
total station by combining laser range-finder
technology with GPS and inertia systems.
•Knowing the aircraft position (GPS) and
orientation, the distance to the ground point, and
the angular orientation of the laser beam, the
position of a point on the earth’s surface can be
found.
•Several footprints of laser are available to
perform various tasks. For example, large
footprints VS small footprints in forested and
bare-ground areas.
Control for Topographic Surveys
• Horizontal: traversing, triangulation, GPS,
extended with photogrammetry in large
areas.
• Vertical: leveling loops, GPS.
Contour Lines
• Lines connecting points of equal elevations, such as a
shoreline of a lake.
• Contour Interval: the vertical distance between level surfaces
forming the contours. 50 cm, 1 m
• Contour intervals depend on map scale and the diversity of relief in
the area.
Shaded relief DTM Produced by ArcInfo
 Characteristics of Contours
• Must close on themselves, on or off the map
• Perpendicular to the direction of max. Slope
• Slope between them is assumed uniform
• The distance between them indicates the steepness
of the slope, gentle or steep
• Irregular signify rough, smooth signify gradual
slopes
Characteristics of Contours
• Concentric closed contours: hills or depression
• They do not cross each other, only in special cases
• They do not cross buildings
• They cross horizontal man made surfaces in parallel
lines

Locating Contours Automated Contouring Systems

• Direct method: locate the points of certain elevation. Keep
a certain rod reading from horizontal line of site, trace and
locate points on contour line.
• DTM (DEM): digital elevation (terrain) models.
• Array of points with measured X, Y, and Z.
• Grid method: borrow pit, computer interpolation.
• Irregular method: indirect method, with additional
information to produce triangulated irregular network.
• Assuming the triangle sides are of constant slopes,
interpolate along the sides.

• Indirect method: measure the elevation and location of

“controlling points”. Interpolate to locate contours.
Interpolate at each side of controlling features separately.

Field Methods for Locating Topographic

Details
• Radiation by total station: measure angle and
distance to each feature. X, Y, Z of the surveyed
point can be displayed in real time.
• Grid method: suitable
for contours.
• GPS:
Must maintain satellite
Visibility. Will not
work efficiently
close to building or
Under trees.