INTRODUCTION TO CARTOGRAPHY

Objectives:
At the end of the lecture, students should be able to:
⚫ Know the basic principles and goals of Cartography
⚫ Understand map features and elements
⚫ Enumerate different types of maps
⚫ Identify the importance of maps in GIS
BASIC CARTOGRAPHY
CARTOGRAPHY
⚫ Science and art of making
maps and charts
⚫ Derived from the Greek
words ‘chartes’(sheet of
papyrus) and ‘graphy’
(writing).
⚫ Deals with the construction,
use, and principles behind
maps
MAP
⚫ Adepiction of all or part of the Earth or other geographic
phenomenon as a set of symbols and at a scale whose
representative fraction is less than one to one
⚫ Model of spatial phenomena
⚫ An abstraction of reality → real world is simplified and reduced
in size
⚫ Most efficient shorthand to show locations of objects with
attributes and their spatial distributions
⚫ Graphical representation of the spatial structure of the physical
and cultural environments
MAP
⚫Man, perhaps even since
pre-historic times, have
used maps of one form or
another.
⚫These maps were
engraved in wood, stone,
baked clay and animal
skin.
DEVELOPMENT OF CARTOGRAPHY
ClayTablets
• Mesopotamian’s estates
• Egyptian taxation maps

Early Papyrus (Paper) Maps

• Maps for travel and war (Romans)
• Erathosthenes (Greeks), Ptolemy (Egyptians)
• Characterized by mythical places, beasts, and
dangers
Invention of Printing and Engraving
• Balanced composition, expressive symbolism, and good
lettering (Dutch)
• Reference maps w/coastlines, rivers, cities, and crude
indication of mountains

Accuracy and Scientific Method

• Maps were less decorative and more accurate
• Lithography and color-printing; Metric System
• Improved measurement of Earth distances using triangulation

Automation and ComputerApplication

• Invention of photography and airplanes
• Rapidly increasing population, growth of urban centers
• Advancement in the technology
MAP FEATURES

POINTS:
- Usually represented by a special symbol or label.

LINES:
- Represent linear features such as roads, streams,
pipelines, cable lines, etc.

POLYGON:
- Represent features such as lakes, parks and reserves, forestry, county
boundaries, etc.
MAP ELEMENTS

⚫ Map Scale
⚫ Direction
⚫ Legend
⚫ Other Map Parts
MAP SCALE
⚫ Amount of reduction that takes place in going from real
world to map plane
⚫ Basedon the representative fraction, the ratio of a
distance on the map to the same distance on the ground
⚫ AGIS is scaleless because maps can be enlarged and
reduced and plotted at many scales other than that of the
original data
MAP SCALE
Scale of a Basketball Earth

1:54000000

Basketball circumference Earth circumference

= 750 mm ~ 40000000 m
DIRECTION
⚫True north or magnetic north?
⚫Many maps display both
LEGEND
⚫ Also known as an
explanation
⚫ The legend lists the
symbols used on a
map and what they
depict
OTHER MAP PARTS
Map Sheet Number & Scale:

3132-II, 1:50,000

Title
OTHER MAP PARTS
OTHER MAP PARTS
TYPES OF MAPS

1. General Purpose or Reference Maps

2. Special Purpose orThematic Maps
REFERENCE MAPS

⚫ Not designed for any specific application

⚫ Focus on locations and physical and cultural features
⚫ Supply the locational information of the spatial database for
GIS
⚫ Example:Topographic Maps
Topographic
Map
THEMATIC MAPS
⚫ Designed to depict a particular type of feature or
measurement
⚫ Depict geographic phenomena and processes for GIS
⚫ Examples: population distribution maps, rainfall maps, soil
maps, land cover maps, flood maps
Flood Map
IMPORTANCE OF MAPS IN GIS

⚫ Amap can be both a source of data for geographic

database and an analog product from a GIS
⚫ Many of the ideas associated with GIS are inherited
from paper maps
⚫Example:The concept of scale
ANALOG VS. DIGITAL MAPS
⚫ Digital representations can include information that
would be very difficult to show on analog maps
⚫ Example: curved surfaces, topography/3D, changes in land
cover
⚫ Analog maps are static whereas digital representation in
GIScan represent changes over time
⚫ Digital maps are easier to edit digitally
MAP SCALE AND PLANNING
SUGGESTED SCALES TO BE USED IN THE VARIOUS
LEVELS AND NATURE OF PLANNING
National Planning 1:1,500,000
Regional Planning 1: 1,250,000
Provincial Planning 1: 50,000
Metropolitan Planning 1: 25,000
1:10,000
Municipality/City Planning 1:25,000
1:50,000
1:2,000
Land Use Map/Plan 1:4,000
1:5,000

Source: Inter-Agency Task Force on Geographic Information (IATFGI)

End.