Soviet City Plans and OpenStreetMap: a comparative analysis

The rapid growth of urban populations presents challenges to the sustainable management of cities and requires accurate geospatial data. Historical maps offer a largely untapped resource for enhancing OpenStreetMap (OSM) and Soviet military mapping presents a potentially rich geospatial resource for this purpose. This paper compares these global mapping initiatives through an analysis of the symbology used in Soviet 1:10,000 city plans of La Paz, Bolivia (1977), Port-au-Prince, Haiti (1983) and Frankfurt am Main, West Germany (1983), and in modern OSM coverage of the same cities. The results indicate that Soviet and OSM symbologies are similarly comprehensive regarding their inclusion of some topographic features, notably road infrastructure, but that they exhibit key differences in their coverage of physical and urban environments. This highlights some areas in which the symbology, coverage and content of OSM may be enhanced by Soviet mapping and developed to serve its wide range of user groups. The paper also indicates how the harmonisation of Soviet and OSM symbologies could form an accessible and comprehensive global geospatial resource for applications that require detailed knowledge of amenities and terrain, such as disaster relief and environmental management, particularly in locations where other geospatial resources are scarce

The Author: Kent Davis

Kent Davis is a Montana based author of “A Riddle in Ruby” and the soon to be released sequel, “The Changer’s Key”

Making the Cut: Receivers of the National Football League

In this paper the prospects of the National Football League, or NFL, are studied in order to determine the relationships between past college statistics, other “measurables,” and how they translate to successful careers in the league. When referring to measurables, this consists of all of the numerical data from each player that should, in theory, help teams get an idea of the players strengths or weaknesses. The data being used comes from an annual scouting combine for NFL teams that is held prior to each season. Information about the player’s college statistics and pre-draft measurables are being compared to several individual player statistics that are commonly indicative of successful careers. The goal is not only to benefit teams in identifying productive players, but also for the young men with dreams of competing at the highest level. It is often difficult to get a concrete idea of what teams are looking for, because many teams having differing opinions about which players will provide the most value. This investigation deals specifically with receivers and analyzing data collected from their past in order to make predictions on future careers. Multiple regression models are necessary due to several important independent variables (measurables) for each dependent variable (player statistics). Analyzing these relationships leads to the construction of several mathematical models which aim to predict the success of future prospective NFL receivers

The Soviet mapping of Poland – a brief overview

The Soviet military mapping project was the most comprehensive cartographic endeavour of the twentieth century. The resulting maps have been commercially available to the West since at least 1993, when a Latvian business first offered Soviet plans of Western cities for sale at the 16th International Cartographic Conference in Cologne, Germany. Covering the globe at a range of scales, Soviet military maps provide a fascinating – if disconcerting – view of familiar territory with a striking aesthetic. But they also provide a substantial untapped geospatial resource, often with an unparalleled level of topographic detail. This paper gives an overview of the Soviet global military mapping programme and its coverage of Poland, including the 1:25,000-scale city plan of Warsaw (printed in 1981). By illustrating the extensive topographic symbology employed at various scales of mapping, it suggests how these maps may offer scope for regional studies and how their cartographic language can provide some solutions for addressing the ongoing challenges of mapping the globe

Putting the UN SDGs on the map: The role of cartography in sustainability education

Editorial

Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) for Preventive Maintenance: SR 65 Analysis

The INDOT and HNTB field inspection and management team for the I-65 Northwest Indiana Design-Build-Best Value project in Lake County, Indiana, will discuss differences in the implementation and reporting requirements for field personnel via this project delivery method versus a traditional design-bidbuild INDOT project

Full-Depth Reclamation (FDR) for Preventive Maintenance: SR 65 Analysis

The INDOT and HNTB field inspection and management team for the I-65 Northwest Indiana Design-Build-Best Value project in Lake County, Indiana, will discuss differences in the implementation and reporting requirements for field personnel via this project delivery method versus a traditional design-bidbuild INDOT project