UNIT ONE

CARTOGRAPHY AND MAP READING

Main Contents

1.1. Definition and concepts of Cartography

1.2. History of Cartography

1.3. Scope of Cartography

1.4. Cartographic Communication system and process

1.1. Definition and concepts of Cartography

 Cartography is the science, and art of making and using maps.

 Map-making is the study and practice of skill representations of the

Earth upon a flat surface.

 Cartography is the art and science of representing three dimensional

earth on a two dimensional plane.

 One who makes maps is called a cartographer.

 Cartography is a system for bringing a sections or all of the earths

surface into view.
 Cont’d…
 Cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in
the ways that communicate spatial information effectively.
 It is an art involving design and also a science due to representation
of the earth (or another planet) visual and non-visual attributes.
 it is the study & practice of map making.
 Previously, only it was believed as the art of map making but this
understanding changed & get attention in the mid 20 th c.
 1.2 History of Cartography
 The earliest known map is a matter of some debate, because the definition of
the map is not sharp.

 The oldest surviving world maps are the "Babylonian" world maps from the
9th c BC for the purpose of collecting tax revenue.

 Ancient Greeks and Romans, Arab scholars contributed a lot for the current
status of cartographic outputs as of the 6th c BC.

 In the age of investigation, (15thc-17th c AD European cartographers drawn

their own map based on explorers observations and new surveying techniques.
 Cont’d…
 The oldest maps were made on clay plates and found in Babylon.

 Early maps have also been produced on papyrus and rice paper.

 18" & 19 modern age: scientific principles applied on map making.

 20th C:Aerial map, satellite image, remote sensing and GIS were developed.

 The invention of magnetic compass and telescope enabled Increasing

accuracy in Cartography.

The first known cartographer was Ptolemaios, a Greek who lived in

Alexandria, Egypt.
 Cont’d…

• He died about AD 165 and he knew that the Earth was round.

• He was a scientist in astronomy, geography, and mathematics.

• his most important work was the Geographia, a manual that showed what
the Romans knew about the world in his time, combined with a guide
how to produce world and regional maps.

• The invention of magnetic compass and telescope enabled Increasing

accuracy.
 Cont’d

 For a long time ordinary paper has been one of the most common map
media. But now, the screens on computers and mobiles are the most
common ones and the web is the most popular platform for
communicating information in map form.

 “The translation into Latin & dissemination of Geography in Europe,

in the beginning of 15th marked the rebirth of scientific Cartography”.

 Previously, it was believed as the art of map making but this

understanding changed & get attention in the mid 20 th c.
 The Fundamental Problems of Traditional Cartography
 Setting the map’s agenda & selecting the traits(character) of the object to be
mapped. This is the concern of map editing (traits may be physical: road or
land masses or it may be abstract: political boundaries).

 Representing the terrain of the mapped object on a flat media. This is the
concern of map projection.

 Eliminate the characteristics of the mapped object that are not relevant to the
map’s purpose. (the concern of map generalization). However,

 Modern cartography is largely integrated with geographic information

science and constitutes many theoretical & practical foundations of GIS.
1.3. SCOPE OF CARTOGRAPHY: POSSIBILITY TO FOCUS

Map maker

Data Map
(collection, map designing)

Map user
 PROCESSES IN CARTOGRAPHY
 Map making involves three stages or processes:

1. Collection, Organization and manipulation of data.

 Data collection from existing maps, aerial photographs or digital imagery,

documents e.g. legal descriptions of property boundaries, historical documents,
etc., field work or questionnaire surveys.

 Data organized to understand the phenomena being represented.

 Data manipulation in a form suitable for map making i.e. aggregating data to
some specified set of spatial units, percentages, densities or other summary
measures.
 2. Design and Preparation of Maps

 Many decisions go into the design of an effective map.

 These include geographic features and thematic attributes.

 The choices depend upon purpose of the map, the intended audience and
the cartographer’s understanding of the phenomena being represented.

 Maps of large areas it is a must to choose an appropriate map projection.

 Small scale maps are less detailed but covers a larger area.
 3. Map Reproduction
§ Map reproduction methods acts as a constraint on the map design
process.

§ If only few copies of maps are required then black and white and color
laser printing and Xeroxing technology is ideal.

§ If large number of copies then offset printing is the only practical

alternative.

§ Digital formats on tapes, disks or CD-ROM is replacing or reducing

the need for printed maps.
 Principles of Cartographic design
 Cartographers apply many design principles.

⁕ Legibility: The ability to be seen and understood.

⁕ visual contrast: Making different map symbols visually distinguishable.

⁕ Figure-ground organization: the spontaneous separation of the figure in

the foreground.

⁕ Hierarchical organization: separate meaningful characteristics to portray

likenesses, differences, and interrelationships.

⁕ Balance: the organization of the map and other elements on the page.
 1.4. Cartographic Communication system and process
Cartographic communication system is a process of sending and transmitting
information, idea & message to a receiver at specific time and space).

Geographical Recognised Map

Environment Geographical MAP
Image
Information

Transform 1 T2 T3
 Emphasis on Cartographic Representation
 The principal task of cartography is to communicate environmental
information.

 The emphasis on cartographic representation is map effectiveness in thought

and communication.

 This is best achieved by treating the making and using of maps equally.
 Elements of Simple Communication system

 Source(Real world) encoder(map symbols) channel(map)

receiver(decoder) or map user.

Sources of cartographic data:

Primary data sources(from field, Remote sensed data).

Secondary data sources (population data, historical archives).

 UNIT TWO
COORDINATE SYSTEM OF THE EARTH

2.1. Types of Coordinate System

2.2. Shape of the earth and coordinate system
 2. COORDINATE SYSTEM OF THE EARTH
 Geospatial data should be geographically referenced which mean geo-
referenced or geo-coded in a common coordinate system.

 The reference points are called ground control points.

 A coordinate system is a reference system used to represent the locations of

geographic features, imagery, and observations such as GPS locations within a
common geographic framework.

 Geo-referencing involves two stages:

1. Geographic Coordinate System

2. Projected Coordinate System
 1. Geographic Coordinate System

 It is most commonly used coordinate system.

 Geographic coordinate system is a three-dimensional reference system

that locates points on the Earth's surface. A point has two coordinate
values: latitude and longitude.

 Latitude and longitude are defined as: degrees, minutes, seconds.

 Latitude and Longitude are defined using an ellipsoid and Elevation is

defined using a geoid.

 Earth datum's define standard values of the ellipsoid and geoid.

 Cont’d…

 Spheroid is a three-dimensional shape created from a two­dimensional ellipse.

 The ellipse is an oval, with a major axis (the longer axis), and a minor axis (the shorter
axis). If you rotate the ellipse, the shape of the rotated figure is the spheroid.
 For the earth, the semi major axis is the radius from the center of the earth to the equator,
while the semi minor axis is the radius from the center of the earth to the pole.
 Geoid is defined as the surface of the earth's gravity field, which is approximately the
same as mean sea level. It is perpendicular to the direction of gravity pull.
 Geoid and Ellipsoid
 The Earth is shaped like a flattened sphere. This shape is called an ellipsoid.
 Datum
 A datum is a model of the earth that is used in mapping.

 The datum consists of a series of numbers that define the shape and size of the
ellipsoid and it's orientation in space.

 A datum is chosen to give the best possible fit to the true shape of the Earth.

 There are a large number of datum's in use. Many of them are optimized for
use in one particular part of the world.

 An example is the Geodetic 1949 datum that has been used in New Zealand.
 Cont’d…
 Another example, is the WGS-84 datum. WGS-84 is a datum that is used
globally.

 Latitude and Longitude are commonly used to refer to a specific location on

the surface of the Earth.

 A datum typically defines the surface and the position of the surface relative to
the center of the earth.

 The datum is a integral part of the projection, as projected coordinate system is

based on geographic coordinate, which are in turn referenced to a datum.
 Cont’d…

 Datum is a reference system or an approximation of the Earth's surface

against which positional measurements are made for computing locations.

Datum- is a reference for position on the surface of the Earth. There are two
principal types of Datum's: vertical and horizontal.

1.Vertical datum is a level surface to which heights are referred.

2.Horizontal datum is used as a reference for position.

 A grid is a network of evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines used to

identify locations on a map.
 Cont’d…
• Graticules can be used to show location in geographic coordinates.
Ellipsoid semi major and Semi minor axis
 2. Projected Coordinate System

The development of GIS starts with an available map on paper

(analogue map). This map therefore represents a projection of 3D
in 2D form.
A two-dimensional coordinate reference system is commonly
defined by (X,Y) axis. But, Every point that is expressed in
spherical coordinates can be expressed as an X Y Z coordinate.
Projection is a mathematical transformation used to project the real
3D spherical surface of the earth in 2D on a plane sheet of paper.
 Globe concept
 Representative/model of earth's shape/conformal/ Motivation :
 a Would you please discuss and present the characteristics of globe?
 What natures does longitudes and latitudes have on the globe?
 List limitation of the globe?