Chapter Three - Nature and Aims of Geomorphological Mapping

Abstract

This chapter deals with types, purposes, contents and perspectives of geomorphological mapping, from the widely applied, ‘traditional’ symbol-based maps to the modern geographical information system (GIS)-based, object-oriented geomorphological mapping models, capable of providing reliable multiscale cartographic support to environmental analysis and land planning projects. In the last decades, the availability of new tools such as satellite imagery, global positioning systems, digital elevation models and GIS has induced a new, more effective approach in the acquisition, storage and display of geomorphological features. By this approach, geomorphologists can produce geomorphological models, consisting of land surface ‘objects’, organised into hierarchically arranged classes with spatially and temporally variable properties and geometric relationships. Unlike ‘traditional’ maps, object-oriented models can provide a full geometric description of landforms and near-surface deposits. Moreover, generalisation/decomposition procedures allow the translation of geomorphological objects from larger to smaller scales and vice versa. A case study of a GIS-based, object-oriented geomorphological model, in which ‘traditional’ symbol-oriented mapping is associated with grid-based/object-based analysis, is provided by the Salerno University (Italy) GeoMorphological Information System (GmIS). Some significant examples of traditional geomorphological maps and multiscale object-oriented mapping models produced at the Salerno University are presented in the annexes.