Abstract
The increasing use of the three-dimensional terrain maps in both military and civilian systems raises a number of questions about the typical user's capabilities for encoding and comparing surfaces. Comparison between maps and these surfaces requires significant use of mental rotation about both azimuth and elevation axes. To determine whether: (1) this mental rotation can be quickly performed with high accuracy, (2) analog transformational or other strategies are used, and (3) the rotational process is similar between elevation and azimuth axes, 21 male geography students viewed computergenerated map surfaces in an experiment. A standard 3d map surface was initially presented, followed by a comparison surface which was either the same map, though rotated about azimuth and/or elevation axes, or was the mirror-image of the map. Each surface was generated using layered isolines to represent three peaks. Reaction times (RTs) were measured as subjects entered a 'same' or 'different' response. Implications for training potential map users and for system design limitations are suggested.
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