Application of digital image processing method for measuring maps graphical density on the example of city maps

Dostępność dużej ilości danych skłania do przekazania za pomocą mapy możliwie bogatej informacji, co często skutkuje przeładowaniem opracowań kartograficznych. Tę sytuację dobrze ilustruje przykład planów miast, które należą do najbardziej złożonych prezentacji kartograficznych. Przedstawiają one bowiem obszary o największej koncentracji różnego rodzaju obiektów i form działalności człowieka. Wobec faktu, że plany miast należą do najczęściej wykorzystywanych opracowań kartograficznych problem efektywności przekazu informacji za ich pośrednictwem nabiera szczególnego znaczenia. Chociaż złożoność od wielu lat jest przedmiotem zainteresowania kartografów, jednak żadna z dotychczas stosowanych w kartografii miar złożoności nie pozwala na jej automatyczne określanie w przypadku tak graficznie skomplikowanych opracowań jak plany miast. Konieczne było więc zaproponowanie nowej metody, pozwalającej na wyznaczanie złożoności graficznej tych opracowań. W tym celu zastosowane zostały techniki cyfrowego przetwarzania obrazów. Zaproponowana metoda zapewnia porównywalność map obciążonych różnymi elementami (sygnaturami punktowymi, liniowymi, napisami etc.). Na podstawie analizy wybranych materiałów kartograficznych można stwierdzić, iż metoda ta pozwala na ilościową ocenę obciążenia graficznego planów miast przy pomocy sformalizowanego wskaźnika.During the centuries the main problem on mapping was to obtain the sufficient and reliable source data; presently, an appropriate selection of the desired information from the deluge of available data is a problem. An availability of large amount of data induces to transfer the possibly rich information by means of map. It often results in overloading the cartographic documents, that is why they become less communicative and difficult to read. This situation is well illustrated by the example of city maps which are the most commonly used and thus the most frequently published cartographic products. Many user groups with different needs as well as preparation to read maps use these high volume publications. Therefore, the maps communication effectiveness problem is of particular importance. The city maps are the most complex cartographic presentations, because the presented areas are the places with the greatest concentration of different kinds of objects and forms of human activity arising from the civilization development. Conveying these specific features on the city maps leads to the problem of selecting the most relevant elements of content in terms of user’s needs, since presenting all objects and their characteristics is impossible if the city map readability is to be kept. Although complexity has been the cartographers’ object of interest for many years, because it exerts an impact on readability and effectiveness of cartographic documents, none of the measures used so far may be applied for automatic determination of complexity of such graphically complicated objects as city maps. Therefore a novel approach was needed for these applications. For that purpose digital image processing techniques have been proposed and successfully applied by the authors. The analysis of the spatial distribution of the objects’ edges on the map surface, calculated using continuous wavelet transform, is the basis of the proposed measure. The method allows for comparison of complexity of city maps loaded by different type of graphical elements (point signatures, lines, text, etc.). Extended analyses of selected cartographic materials proved the usability of the method for quantitative estimation of city map complexity via formal index

Differentiation of the range of contents on European city maps

W artykule przedstawiono klasyfikację zakresu treści planów wybranych miast europejskich. Zakres treści planów poddano analizie metodą graficznego porządkowania danych Bertina, a następnie dokonano klasyfikacji uzyskanych wyników, otrzymując w rezultacie podział planów miast na pięć grup podobnych pod względem zakresu przedstawianej na nich treści.City maps are ones of the most often published and used cartographic publications. They are used by many groups of readers with various requirements and preparation to map reading. In the last two decades particularly significant changes in richness, variety, graphic level and detail took place in the maps of cities in East and Middle Europe. They followed the political transformation of the early 90-ties which abolished censorship and introduced market economy. In Western Europe situation was quite different because cartography developed continuously, without being distracted by external factors, such as censorship. In order to compare the range of contents of European city maps 50 plans of 20 cities had been chosen, mainly capitals, published by leading private cartographic publishers from the same country as the city itself. Bertin's method of graphic arrangement of data was used to compare the range of contents. Performed analyses showed 5 groups of city maps with common features as well as plans of 5 cities the contents of which did not belong to any of the groups. The analyses showed differences between the contents of city maps published in East and Middle Europe and those published in West Europe. The contents of maps published in East and Central Europe is usually much richer than in those from the West. This results from different conditions which influenced the development of city cartography in different parts of Europe. The analyses made it possible to determine the elements of contents which constitute a frame of European city maps, and appear on each map, irrespective of the presented area, place of publication, richness of contents or editorial level, as well as elements characteristic for particular publications

Comparison of the contents and graphic form of Polish topographic maps 1:50 000 for civil use

W artykule porównano zakres treści i formę graficzną trzech polskich cywilnych map topograficznych w skali 1:50 000: w układzie "1965", w układzie "1992" oraz w układzie "WGS-84".In Poland currently there are three topographic maps at the scale of 1:50 000 for civil use: -map in ,,1965" coordinate system published in 1977-1982 by the Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, covering the whole country, - map in ,,1992" coordinate system, exept first 48 sheets of Mazowsze region, which were edited in ,,1942" coordinate system), published in 1995-2002 by the Surveyor General of Poland, covering almost 60% of the country's area, - ,,WGS-84" map in UTM projection published in 2003-2006 by the Surveyor General of Poland with the Polish Military Gegraphic Service, covering 25% of the country's area. Comparison of the range of contents and graphic form of the three maps clearly shows the superiority of the map in ,,1992" system. Compared to the other two it employs a new way of presenting built-up areas. It contains significantly more information about the function and intensity of exploitation of built-up areas and offers provides a more complete picture of anthropogenic landscape than any other map in that scale, in Poland or abroad. In addition, the ,,1992" map has the most detailed presentation of streets and relief. Detailed depiction of plant cover and crop areas is achieved by lowering the area limits, below which a particular object is not shown with its outline. Similarly, lowering of the length limit of watercourses and area limit of water pools led to a more detailed presentation of water network. The contents of the ,,1992" map was also enriched by a much larger number of acronyms and descriptions of public buildings and industrial sites. The map in ,,1965" system was printed in four colors, ,,WGS-84" map in five, and the ,,1992" map - in six. The comparison of graphic form of the three maps gave lowest marks to the least readable "1965" map. The ,,1992" map is characterized by wider use of color, which adds to its readability and attractiveness. Substituting black color, traditionally used for buildings and road network with brown resulted in higher graphic capacity and better presentation of public buildings and industrial sites. Consistent use of green for green areas, blue for water and light brown for relief facilitates perception of particular categories of map contents. Application of color patterns for grass areas and orchards allowed for a clear and detailed presentation of their outline. The graphic level of the .WGS-84" map is higher than that of former military maps and the map in "1965" system, partly due to the application of several solutions from the ,,1992" map (e.g. consistent use of green for green areas, simplified presentation of built--up areas). Some elements of the ,,WSG-84" map, such as main roads or borders of natural reserves, are more readable than in the other two. The comparison of the three maps in 1:50 000 shows that the newly planned map in this scale, which is to be prepared using the topographic database should base on the map in ,,1992" coordinate system

Regional geoportals of selected european countries – a comparative study

Wzrost zapotrzebowania na informację przestrzenną i jej szybkie upowszechnienie, rozwój technologii informatycznych, jak również uwarunkowania prawne związane z wprowadzeniem dyrektywy INSPIRE przyczyniły się na przestrzeni ostatnich 5 lat do znacznej intensyfikacji prac koncepcyjnych i implementacyjnych w zakresie geoportali regionalnych na terenie krajów Unii Europejskiej i Europejskiego Obszaru Gospodarczego. Rozwój ten implikuje potrzebę prowadzenia stałych badań, dotyczących stanu zaawansowania prac w zakresie geoportali regionalnych, możliwości i ograniczeń ich rozwoju, jak również ich relacji z INSPIRE. Jak wynika z kwerendy przeprowadzonej w maju 2012 r. w krajach tych istniały 143 geoportale regionalnych jednostek podziału terytorialnego najwyższego szczebla. Ponadto zbiory danych przestrzennych były również udostępniane (w ograniczonym zakresie) za pośrednictwem 151 portali regionalnych administracji publicznej jednostek tego szczebla. Dwa sposoby udostępniania zbiorów danych przestrzennych były stosowane w przypadku 87,23 % jednostek podziału terytorialnego najwyższego szczebla (odpowiednio 42,43 % i 44,80 %) krajów UE i EOG. Przeprowadzone badanie 130 geoportali regionalnych działających w maju 2012 r. objęło analizę zakresu tematycznego udostępnianych zbiorów danych przestrzennych, jak również stosowanych metod prezentacji kartograficznej (i ich poprawności). Wykorzystanie bertinowskiej metody porządkowania danych pozwoliło na zaproponowanie typologii geoportali regionalnych w oparciu o kryterium podobieństwa zakresu tematycznego. Autorzy zaproponowali również typologię opartą o kryterium liczby grup tematycznych i dostępnych funkcji. Wyniki badań zostały wykorzystane do aktualizacji i rozbudowy usługi GEMS – Geoportals in Europe Metadata Service, utrzymywanej przez Instytut Geodezji i Kartografii.The growing need for spatial information, technical progress, as well as legal requirements of the INSPIRE Directive has resulted in a considerable intensification of the development of regional geoportals in European Union and the countries of the European Economic Area. This implies the need for monitoring the state of art of regional geoportals, taking into consideration the opportunities and limitations of their development and relations with INSPIRE. According to the survey of May 2012, in EU and EEA countries 143 geoportals of first – level public administration units existed. The spatial data were also distributed (in limited extent) by 151 public administration portals at this level. The research carried on 130 regional geoportals (working in May 2012) included analysis of the thematic scope of spatial data accessible with these geoportals, their functionalities, as well as employed methods of cartographic presentation (and its semiotic correctness). The application of Bertin’s method of data order allowed to propose a typology of thematic scope of spatial data accessible with geoportals. The authors also proposed a typology of geoportals, employing the criterion of thematic scope and functionalities. The results of the research carried out were used to update and to extend the GEMS – Geoportals in Europe Metadata Service, maintained by the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography