Raisz’s physiographic method of landform mapping

Abstract

Maps are powerful modes of communication between scientists and novices. Cartographer Erwin Raisz understood just how powerful maps could be for visualizing the broad landscape. His physiographic method of landscape representation merged pictorial representation with large-scale cartography to generate some of the most vivid images of the physical landscape in the early part of the 20th century. Today, despite our ability to represent the landscape with increasingly realistic representations, there is a fondness for those traditional style line drawings. Thus, it is important to take time and reflect on the impact of Raisz’s physiographic map on modern terrain representation. Here we look at Raisz’s own body of work and his influence on modern cartographers, and finally we look at non-photorealistic representation’s potential for replicating early line drawing methods like Raisz’s.