Topographic Content Research Articles

Accessing spatial knowledge networks with maps

ABSTRACT Currently, knowledge networks develop to establish common data spaces. A common data-space offers mutual exchange and reusability for data sources and their derived information and provides access to structured knowledge and even creates wisdom. The geospatial domain becomes included in those knowledge networks and, therefore, creates spatial knowledge networks. ‘Geospatial’ is moving from a special expert domain to a ‘normal’ common data source that is processed for specific data science use cases. Maps with their different levels of abstraction according to its transmission task may offer (1) strategies to enhance processing performance, due to its abstraction, (2) persistent references of map features throughout different scales (abstractions) and (3) improvement of the transmission of spatial information, which includes the transmission interfaces as well as geo-communication. This paper tries to identify new functions for maps in new developing application areas. For example, a ‘universal semantic structure of topographic content’ could help to establish relations/links across domains that only have their own feature keys. We try to set the scene of cartography in a common data-space and highlight some requirements in the world of spatial knowledge networks, which are needed for automatization, machine learning and AI. According to Gordon and de Souza location matters: ‘Mapping is not simply a mode of visualisation, but a “central organizational device for networked communications”, an adaptive interface through which users can access, alter and deploy an expansive database of information, and a platform to socialize spatial information through collective editing, annotations, discussion, etc.’ [Gordon, E., & de Souza e Silva, A. (2011). Net locality: Why location matters in a networked world. John Wiley & Sons, p. 28].

Depiction of Line Features on Folded Maps on Example of Old Maps of the Vltava River

Abstract. Under an ongoing research project being concerned with the Vltava river in Czech Republic, it is being dealt with various aspects of the riverine landscape, considering the significant changes that have taken place in its history and also the fact that the Vltava represents the most important and longest Czech river. This paper aims to introduce a narrow part of the ongoing research – selected old multi-sheet map works connected with the river and outline the process of utilizing similar cartographic works within greater projects processing geospatial data. These maps represent predecessors of general (‘military’) surveys of the whole Czech Lands and pose a great representative of hand-written large-scale maps created without any known geometric network and may be appropriately compared with the First Military Survey maps also lacking geometric network but bringing a great amount of topographic content.

Method of topographic inventarization and GPS technology in geospatial modeling

By the use of digital cartographic visualization, a wide range of relevant data can be systematically integrated, presented and analyzed. In particular, this refers to the connection between thematic and topographic maps and their application in the study of the environment. The specific purpose of the map implies that in certain situations there is no clear difference between the thematic and topographic maps, that is, there is no clear boundary between the thematic and the topographic content of the representation. The paper points to the importance of modeling geoenvironmental data (topographic and thematic) for different scientific and practical research needs. Bearing in mind the global size of orienteering, the heterogeneity of the geoenvironment in which competitions and ways of orientation are organized, it is necessary to standardize this topic at the international level. The conducted experiment of cartographic modeling in the orienteering function has examined the possibilities of application of topographic inventory methods of geoenvironment for this purpose, the importance of using GPS devices for collecting geoenvironmental data and CAD software for cartographic visualization of the issues in question.

Tourist maps – definition, types and contents

Abstract Tourist maps are one of the most common groups of cartographic documents. Their variety in terms of content, subject matter and publication titles is a result of growing popularity of diverse forms of tourism activity. The aim of the authors of this article is to demonstrate issues related to tourist maps, including their variety in relation to contemporary forms of tourism. As tourist maps are constantly developing, the authors decided to propose a classification of tourist maps which is adequate from the point of view of the types of maps we currently distinguish. Taking into consideration the aim and type of tourism, the maps were divided into the following sub-groups: maps for sightseeing tourism, qualified tourism, and other tourism, as well as tourist city maps, and maps prepared for promotion and advertising of tourism. The first there categories were further divided into more detailed sub-categories and each of them was described briefly in terms of its content. The classification of maps based on their scales and form of content presentation was also included. The authors attempted also to define the concept of “tourist map” itself. The authors defined it as a geographic representation of an area presented on a plane, in accordance with specific mathematical rules, which should include topographic contents, information about tourist attractions of a given area, its tourist and complementary infrastructure, presented with the help of conventional signs, in a matter appropriate for the scale of the map and its intended use. Contributing to the discussion on the place of tourist map in the general classification of maps, the article distinguishes not only general-geographic maps and thematic maps, but also orientation and navigation maps. This terms covered tourist maps, road maps, and navigation maps: sailing, sea, aerial and city maps. They consist a group of maps in which the functions they play determine their informational content and their form of cartographic presentation. However, unlike on thematic maps, where the general geographic content is merely a background for presentation of the theme-related phenomena, the geographic content is essential in case of tourist maps. It is precisely the general geographic content which is primarily responsible for communicating information which is meant to be used for orientation and navigation purposes.

Prototypes of Orthoimage Maps as Tools for Geophysical Application

Orthoimage maps have become very popular and frequently produced cartographical outputs in geosciences during recent years. However, the unambiguous terminology, definitions, content and appearance specifications have not been widely researched. This paper deals with the new definition of the orthoimage map, its component delineation, and basic classification. The authors present aspects of topographic and thematic orthoimage maps. The main theoretical achievement of the authors’ research is the determining of the image component and the symbol component of orthoimage map content. The presented orthoimage map concept is applicable in geophysics practise which is demonstrated by three presented topographic and thematic orthoimage maps. They differ according to the relationship between topographic background and thematic content, and between image and symbol component. The image component can be a carrier of thematic geophysical information, or it can be used as topographic background for geophysics-oriented symbol component. All prototypes give examples of how to design, complete and use image-based cartographical products. Those variants might be used as guidelines for future orthoimage map production, especially for the geophysics community.

Italian Mapmakers in the Spanish Civil War (1937–1939)

ABSTRACT During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the Italian government gave firm cartographic support to the forces of General Francisco Franco. In the first phase, they undertook to engrave and print in Italy a significant collection of military maps urgently needed by the Francoist army. Later, from May 1937, the Italian High Command sent to Spain a cartographic unit, the Sezione Topocartografica, that eventually printed more than half a million maps at several different scales. The Italians effectively redesigned the Mapa topográfico de España at the 1:50 000 scale and selectively edited its topographical content to obtain the road map at the 1:200 000 scale.

A method for parameterising roughness and topographic sub-grid scale effects in hydraulic modelling from LiDAR data

Abstract. High resolution airborne laser data provide new ways to explore the role of topographic complexity in hydraulic modelling parameterisation, taking into account the scale-dependency between roughness and topography. In this paper, a complex topography from LiDAR is processed using a spatially and temporally distributed method at a fine resolution. The surface topographic parameterisation considers the sub-grid LiDAR data points above and below a reference DEM, hereafter named as topographic content. A method for roughness parameterisation is developed based on the topographic content included in the topographic DEM. Five subscale parameterisation schemes are generated (topographic contents at 0, ±5, ±10, ±25 and ±50 cm) and roughness values are calculated using an equation based on the mixing layer theory (Katul et al., 2002), resulting in a co-varied relationship between roughness height and topographic content. Variations in simulated flow across spatial subscales show that the sub grid-scale behaviour of the 2-D model is not well-reflected in the topographic content of the DEM and that subscale parameterisation must be modelled through a spatially distributed roughness parameterisation. Variations in flow predictions are related to variations in the roughness parameter. Flow depth-derived results do not change systematically with variation in roughness height or topographic content but they respond to their interaction. Finally, subscale parameterisation modifies primarily the spatial structure (level of organisation) of simulated 2-D flow linearly with the additional complexity of subscale parameterisation.

Modeling processes on topographic maps

The paper deals the procedures and processes in the modeling of topographic data. There are some fazes and procedures of modeling of topographic data in digital form. It deals in capturing, modeling, distributing and archiving of data. Sometimes many procedures are need for convertion and transformation from one format to other, from one system to other. The procedure of modeling data is a very important way and with computer-aided along with a certain degree of automatizaton that is useful for using and updating of topographic contents. .

Vingboons, Trasmonte and Boot: European Cartography of Mexican Cities in the Early Seventeenth Century

Johannes Vingboons's much‐copied watercolours (c.1650s) of Mexico City, Acapulco and Veracruz, based on drawings by Juan Gómez de Trasmonte and Adrián (Adriaan) Boot made in New Spain before 1628, are considered accurate depictions of these cities in the early seventeenth century. No one has found the originals, however, nor has the route by which they reached the Netherlands at a time when the Spanish and the Dutch were at war been satisfactorily explained. We re‐examine these early European representations of New World cities and consider their sources, purpose and historical context. Our arguments are based on a fresh analysis of the topographical content of the watercolours themselves and of the secondary sources, and we take into consideration new historical evidence about Trasmonte, Boot and Vingboons as well as the cities depicted. We also describe a hitherto unknown set of the Vingboons manuscripts depicting the three Mexican cities.

Contrast mechanisms in illumination-mode SNOM

We study theoretically and numerically the contrast mechanism in illumination-mode SNOM. We present a model, based on the Born approximation, which shows how the topographic and dielectric content of the sample is encoded in the measured signal. Under certain conditions, the image formation mechanism may be described by an impulse response that we define. Our model is in perfect agreement with numerical simulations of a two-dimensional model SNOM, under s-polarised illumination.

Spaceborne radar imagery — its acquisition, processing and cartographic applications

To date the main cartographic use of spaceborne remote sensing techniques has been through the application of passively sensed data from instruments such as cameras and scanners. In the next few years considerable actively sensed satellite radar coverage of Australia is planned. These satellite systems are to be flexible in terms of varying look angle, differing emitted frequencies and multipolarization. This flexibility should allow acquisition of pseudo multispectral data and improve the information content for cartographic applications. The maximizing of potential benefits from this expected wealth of remotely sensed data will require users to apply the specialized techniques necessary for handling actively sensed imagery. This paper is not a definitive work on radar. Rather, it seeks to stimulate awareness of radar remote sensing by providing an overview of radar systems and the process of data acquisition and imagery formation. The interpretation of radar imagery is also discussed and the variability of the topographic content of radar data is demonstrated.

Dependence of image grey values on topography in SIR-B images

This paper focuses on the use of a high resolution digital elevation model (DEM) to aid in rectifying and enhancing synthetic aperture radar images. Using a synthetic backscatter image, the SIR-B images are manually rectified and resampled to remove geometric distortions caused by topography. In a second step, an improved reflectance function of incidence angle is derived from the DEM and the rectified image and this function is used to reduce radiometric effects of topography yielding an albedo image which clearly shows the thematic, as opposed to topographic content of the image. The procedure is tested on four SIR-B images of a scene in Argentina (crossover point) that is imaged under different azimuth and incidence angles. The similarity of the resulting images indicates that the procedure effectively reduces artefacts from the images that are dependent on topography.

Primary Fluvial Oolites

ABSTRACT An unusual occurrence of oolitic calcarenite is exposed in South Central Texas just south of the Balcones Fault Zone. Topographic location and fossil content suggest a late Pleistocene age. Thin section examination reveals a wide variety of oolites including normal, superficial, compound and disrupted types. There is convincing evidence that the oolites were deposited, and for the most part, actually formed in a fluvial environment. The oolite formation occurs in an irregularly shaped area which roughly parallels three contemporary streams for several miles. Strata composed essentially of oolites are cross-bedded, lenticular and irregularly intercalated with poorly sorted, pisolitic calcareous conglomerate, nonoolitic calcarenite and calcareous claystone. Cut-and-fill structures and ripple marks are distinct. Whole and fragmented shells of Goniobasis sp. and Polygyra sp., freshwater and terrestrial gastropods are common. X-ray analyses show that the oolites are composed entirely of calcite. The calcium carbonate from which the oolites were formed was probably dissolved from the Cretaceous Edwards fm., which underlies the area at a depth of 210 m, and then brought to the surface by artesian springs. The contemporary streams along which the oolite formation outcrops are still spring-fed from the Edwards artesian system and are supersaturated with respect to calcite. Oxygen and carbon isotope analyses corroborate the hypothesis of a freshwater depositional environment. Many fragments associated with the oolites, as well as may oolite nuclei consist of the calcareous remains of charophytes and blue green algae. It appears that both physico-chemical and biological processes were responsible for the formation of the oolites, not only in the immediate vicinity of the srpings but downstream as well.

Le Stryge de Notre-Dame: Some Aspects of Meryon's Symbolism

Among the copious products of the Gothic Revival in the graphic arts, Charles Meryon's major work, the Eaux-fortes sur Paris (1852–54), enjoys a special distinction in its unity of imaginative and topographical content. Beyond his native country, Meryon's imagery had perhaps its closest parallel in the painting of Caspar David Friedrich in the symbolic prominence it gives to Gothic forms; in France, certainly, Meryon was without near rivals in his line. Of the etchings in which he sought to preserve the likeness of the mediaeval remains of Paris, the image that most completely epitomizes the subject and sense of his oeuvre is Le Stryge (Fig. 1). That it has become the most memorable emblem of the Gothic era as rediscovered by the nineteenth century is attested, to cite only recent examples, by photographs of the original of Meryon's subject on the covers of such diverse publications as Sitwell's Gothic Europe (1969) and the April, 1970 issue of Boys' Life, and among examples of French Gothic sculpture in Roos' Illustrated Handbook of Art History,1 while the etching itself is reproduced on the title-page of the 1969 edition of Bridaham's Gargoyles, Chimères and the Grotesque in French Gothic Sculpture.

The value of radiology in teaching anatomy to medical students.

SummaryMedical education discussions are currently very popular, and one aspect being closely scrutinized is the teaching of anatomy. The role that radiology has to play has been stressed by the Faculty of Radiologists and others.Over the last three years radiological anatomy has been taught in the second and third years at Melbourne University, closing the gap between medical physics in first year and radiology in the clinical years of the medical course. Wherever possible, the radiographs are chosen not only for the topographical content, but to include examples of applied anatomy. The students are encouraged to think, make deductions from their observations, and to anticipate the clinical situation. The experience has been encouraging, and one looks forward to future developments in teaching the undergraduate through radiology with enthusiasm. The physical facilities for accomplishing this at Melbourne University will be tremendously improved when the Anatomy School moves into a new building early next year.