Introduction to cartography

Cartography

• Cartography involves making and using maps.
• It relies on science, aesthetics, and technique.
• Cartography communicates spatial information by modeling reality.
• Cartography can be defined as the practice or study of map making.
• Cartography allows understanding the geographic landscape.
• Cartography is based on mathematical scale, graphical representation, and associated symbology.

Cartographer

• A cartographer draws or produces maps.
• Anaximander was the first ancient Greek to draw a map of the known world.

Brief History of Cartography

• From the 15th to 17th centuries, European cartographers copied and drew new maps based on new surveying techniques and observations.
• Inventions like the sextant, telescope, and magnetic compass improved map accuracy.
• Martin Behaim, a German cartographer, created the oldest extant globe on Earth in 1492.

Maps

• The word "map" comes from the medieval Latin Mappa mondi, where mappa means napkin or cloth and mundi means the world .
• "Map" is a shortened term meaning a two-dimensional representation of the world's surface.
• Maps are reduced, selective, and symbolized graphical representations of an environment.
• Maps are reduced because they should be smaller than the actual size in the ground.
• Maps are selective and may not show all information, depending on its purpose..
• Maps use visual variables like color, texture, size, and shape for symbolization.

Elements of a Map

• Title: indicates the subject of the map.
• Scale: represents the relationship between map distance and actual ground distance.
• Legend: explains the symbols and colors used on the map.
• Compass: shows the direction of north and other cardinal directions.
• Latitude and Longitude: provide a coordinate system for locating points on Earth.

Map Symbols

• Points: for buildings, dipping tanks, and trigonometrical beacons.
• Lines: for railways, roads, power lines, and telephone lines.
• Areas: for cultivation, orchards, and vineyards.

Color Usage in Maps

• Brown: represents land or earth features such as contour lines, eroded areas, rock outcrops, sand, and secondary roads.
• Blue: signifies water features like aqueducts, canals, coastlines, dams, lakes, rivers, and water towers.
• Green: indicates vegetation, including cultivated fields, golf courses, nature reserves, orchards, and woodland.
• Black: represents construction features like roads, tracks, railways, buildings, cemeteries, communication towers, and boundaries.
• Grey: construction features like built-up areas and cadastral information.
• Red: for national, arterial, and main roads, lighthouses, and marine lights.
• Pink: represent urban areas and large cities.

Classification of Maps

• Planimetric Maps: represent the earth's surface in two dimensions, showing horizontal positions of natural and man-made features.
• Topographic Maps: represent the earth's surface in three dimensions, indicating relief using contours.
• Thematic Maps: focus on a specific theme or subject against a skeletal topographic background.
• Computer-generated Maps: use electronic computers to store, process, and retrieve cartographic information in graphic form.
• Navigational Charts: specific chart type for navigation.

Advantages of Maps

• Fundamental for specific purposes.
• Degrees are available.
• Utilized for information examination.
• Paper maps provide master plan
• No confusion
• Substantial
• No web association with use.
• Modest
• The main choice in distant regions
• Ideal for use while traveling
• Clearer because of the restricted elements
• Comprehensive perspective on the area through their scales.

Disadvantages of Maps

• Tedious
• Great quality paper maps might be elusive
• Inaccuracies in Printing
• Can easily be ruined
• Restricted
• Old-fashioned
• Unfinished.
• One-sided
• Restricts highlights
• Convoluted to comprehend
• Just uses images
• Hard to show height