A map is a visual representation of an area—a symbolic depiction highlighting relationships between elements of that space such as objects Object is a technical term used in epistemology, a branch of philosophy concerning itself with the study of knowing. Aristotle had said, "All men by nature desire to know." René Descartes expanded this knowing into the grounds of certainty with cogito ergo sum, typically translated as "I think therefore I am." The thinker, regions Region is most commonly a geographical term that is used in various ways among the different branches of geography. In general, a region may be seen as a collection of smaller units or as one part of a larger whole (as in "the New England region of the United States"). Regions can be defined by physical characteristics, human, and themes In linguistics, the topic is informally what is being talked about, and the comment (rheme or focus) is what is being said about the topic. Although this general nature of topic-comment dichotomy is generally accepted, anything beyond that is a matter of great controversy.

Many maps are static Statics is the branch of mechanics concerned with the analysis of loads on physical systems in static equilibrium, that is, in a state where the relative positions of subsystems do not vary over time, or where components and structures are at a constant velocity. When in static equilibrium, the system is either at rest, or its center of mass moves two-dimensional, geometrically accurate (or approximately accurate) representations A 2D geometric model is a geometric model of an object as two-dimensional figure, usually on the Euclidean or Cartesian plane of three-dimensional space Three-dimensional space is a geometric model of the physical universe in which we live. The three dimensions are commonly called length, width, and depth , although any three mutually perpendicular directions can serve as the three dimensions, while others are dynamic or interactive, even three-dimensional. Although most commonly used to depict geography, maps may represent any space Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of the boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. In mathematics one examines ', real or imagined, without regard to context Verbal context refers to surrounding text or talk of an expression . The idea is that verbal context influences the way we understand the expression. Hence the norm not to cite people 'out of context'. Since much contemporary linguistics takes texts, discourses or conversations as its object of analysis, the modern study of 'verbal context' takes or scale The scale of a map is defined as the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground. If the region of the map is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, then the scale may be taken as a constant ratio over the whole map. . For maps covering larger areas, or the whole Earth, it is essential to use a; e.g. Brain mapping Brain mapping is a set of neuroscience techniques predicated on the mapping of quantities or properties onto spatial representations of the (human or non-human) brain resulting in maps, DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid ( /diːˌɒksɨˌraɪbɵ.nuːˈkleɪ.ɪk ˈæsɪd/ (help·info)) (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses. The main role of DNA molecules is the long-term storage of information. DNA is often compared to a set of mapping, and extraterrestrial mapping.

Contents

Geographic maps

A celestial map from the 17th century, by the Dutch cartographer Frederik de Wit In 1648, during the height of the Dutch Golden Age, De Wit opened a printing office in Amsterdam under the name "De Witte Pascaert" which was also the name of his house on the Kalverstraat.

Cartography Cartography is the study and practice of making maps (also can be called mapping). Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively, or map-making is the study, and often practice of crafting representations of the Earth upon a flat surface (see History of cartography Cartography , or mapmaking, has been an integral part of the human story for a long time, possibly up to 8,000 years. From cave paintings to ancient maps of Babylon, Greece, and Asia, through the Age of Exploration, and on into the twenty-first century, people have created and used maps as the essential tools to help them define, explain, and), and one who makes maps is called a cartographer Cartography is the study and practice of making maps (also can be called mapping). Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.

Road maps are perhaps the most widely used maps today, and form a subset of navigational maps, which also include aeronautical and nautical charts A nautical chart is a graphic representation of a maritime area and adjacent coastal regions. Depending on the scale of the chart, it may show depths of water and heights of land , natural features of the seabed, details of the coastline, navigational hazards, locations of natural and man-made aids to navigation, information on tides and currents,, railroad network maps, and hiking and bicycling maps. In terms of quantity, the largest number of drawn map sheets is probably made up by local surveys, carried out by municipalities A municipality is an administrative entity composed of a clearly defined territory and its population and commonly denotes a city, town, or village, or a small grouping of them. A municipality is typically governed by a mayor and a city council or municipal council, utilities, tax assessors, emergency services providers, and other local agencies. Many national surveying projects have been carried out by the military, such as the British The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey is an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. It is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, and one of the world's largest producers of maps. The name reflects the original military purpose of the organisation in mapping Britain during the Napoleonic Wars when there was a threat of invasion from France, and its (now a civilian government agency internationally renowned for its comprehensively detailed work).

In addition to location information maps may also be used to portray contour lines (isolines) indicating constant values of elevation, temperature Historically, two equivalent concepts of temperature have developed, the thermodynamic description and a microscopic explanation based on statistical physics. Since thermodynamics deals entirely with macroscopic measurements, the thermodynamic definition of temperature, first stated by Lord Kelvin, is stated entirely in empirical, measurable, rainfall Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface. On Earth, it is the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into drops of water heavy etc.

Orientation of maps

The Hereford Mappa Mundi The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a mappa mundi, of a form deriving from the T and O pattern, dating to ca. 1300. It is currently on display in Hereford Cathedral in Hereford, England, about 1300, Hereford Cathedral The current Hereford Cathedral, located at Hereford in England, dates from 1079. Its most famous treasure is Mappa Mundi, a mediæval map of the world dating from the 13th century. The cathedral is a Grade I listed building, England. A classic "T-O" map with Jerusalem at centre, east toward the top, Europe the bottom left and Africa on the right.

The orientation of a map is the relationship between the directions on the map and the corresponding compass directions Boxing the compass is the action of naming all thirty-two principal points of the compass in clockwise order. Such names, formed by the initials of the cardinal directions and their intermediate ordinal directions, are accepted internationally, even though they have their origin in the English language, and are very handy to refer to a heading in in reality. The word "orient The Orient is a term which means "the East". It is a traditional designation for anything belonging to the Eastern world or the Far East, in relation to Europe. In English it is a metonym describing Eastern Asia. It was also used to indicate the eastern direction in historical astronomy as the adjective Oriental" is derived from Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native, fluent speakers, Latin continues to be taught in schools and has been, and currently is, used in the process of new word production in modern languages from many oriens, meaning East. In the Middle Ages many maps, including the T and O maps, were drawn with East at the top (meaning that the direction "up" on the map corresponds to East on the compass). Today, the most common – but far from universal – cartographic convention is that North is at the top of a map. Several kinds of maps are often traditionally not oriented with North at the top:

Scale and accuracy

A 'global view map' of Europe, Arabia and Africa‎.

Many, but not all, maps are drawn to a scale The scale of a map is defined as the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground. If the region of the map is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, then the scale may be taken as a constant ratio over the whole map. . For maps covering larger areas, or the whole Earth, it is essential to use a, expressed as a ratio In mathematics, a ratio expresses the magnitude of quantities relative to each other. Specifically, the ratio of two quantities indicates how many times the first quantity is contained in the second and may be expressed algebraically as their quotient. Example: For every Spoon of sugar, you need 2 spoons of flour such as 1:10,000, meaning that 1 of any unit of measurement In science, measurement is the process of estimating or determining the magnitude of a quantity, such as length or mass, relative to a unit of measurement, such as a metre or a kilogram. The term measurement can also be used to refer to a specific result obtained from the measurement process on the map corresponds exactly, or approximately, to 10,000 of that same unit on the ground. The scale statement may be taken as exact when the region mapped is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, for example in a town planner's city map. Over larger regions where the curvature cannot be ignored we must use map projections from the curved surface of the Earth (sphere or ellipsoid) to the plane. The impossibility of flattening the sphere to the plane implies that no map projection can have constant scale: on most projections the best we can achieve is accurate scale on one or two lines (not necessarily straight) on the projection. Thus for map projections we must introduce the concept of point scale The scale of a map is defined as the ratio of a distance on the map to the corresponding distance on the ground. If the region of the map is small enough for the curvature of the Earth to be neglected, then the scale may be taken as a constant ratio over the whole map. . For maps covering larger areas, or the whole Earth, it is essential to use a, which is a function of position, and strive to keep its variation within narrow bounds. Although the scale statement is nominal it is usually accurate enough for all but the most precise of measurements.

Large scale maps, say 1:10,000, cover relatively small regions in great detail and small scale maps, say 1:10,000,000, cover large regions such as nations, continents and the whole globe. The large/small terminology arose from the practice of writing scales as numerical fractions: 1/10000 is larger than 1/10000000. There is no exact dividing line between large and small but 1/100000 might well be considered as a medium scale. Examples of large scale maps are the 1:25000 maps produced for hikers; on the other hand maps intended for motorists at 1:250,000 or 1:1,000,000 are small scale.

It is important to recognize that even the most accurate maps sacrifice a certain amount of accuracy in scale to deliver a greater visual usefulness to its user. For example, the width of roads and small streams are exaggerated when they are too narrow to be shown on the map at true scale; that is, on a printed map they would be narrower than could be perceived by the naked eye. The same applies to computer maps where the smallest unit is the pixel. A narrow stream say must be shown to have the width of a pixel even if at the map scale it would be a small fraction of the pixel width.

Cartogram: The EU The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 member states which are located primarily in Europe. Committed to regional integration, the EU was established by the Treaty of Maastricht in 1993 upon the foundations of the European Communities. With over 500 million citizens, the EU combined generated an estimated 28% share (US$ 16.5 distorted to show population distributions.

Some maps, called cartograms A cartogram is a map in which some thematic mapping variable – such as travel time or Gross National Product – is substituted for land area or distance. The geometry or space of the map is distorted in order to convey the information of this alternate variable. There are two main types of cartograms: area and distance cartograms, have the scale deliberately distorted to reflect information other than land area or distance. For example, this map of Europe has been distorted to show population distribution, while the rough shape of the continent is still discernable.

Another example of distorted scale is the famous London Underground map. The basic geographical structure is respected but the tube lines (and the River Thames) are smoothed to clarify the relationships between stations. Near the center of the map stations are spaced out more than near the edges of map.

Further inaccuracies may be deliberate. For example, cartographers may simply omit military installations or remove features solely in order to enhance the clarity of the map. For example, a road map may or may not show railroads, smaller waterways or other prominent non-road objects, and even if it does, it may show them less clearly (e.g. dashed or dotted lines/outlines) than the highways. Known as decluttering, the practice makes the subject matter that the user is interested in easier to read, usually without sacrificing overall accuracy. Software-based maps often allow the user to toggle decluttering between ON, OFF and AUTO as needed. In AUTO the degree of decluttering is adjusted as the user changes the scale being displayed.

Map types and projections

Main article: World map Map of large underwater features. (1995, NOAA)

Maps of the world or large areas are often either 'political' or 'physical'. The most important purpose of the political map is to show territorial borders; the purpose of the physical is to show features of geography such as mountains, soil type or land use. Geological maps show not only the physical surface, but characteristics of the underlying rock, fault lines, and subsurface structures.

Maps that depict the surface of the Earth also use a projection, a way of translating the three-dimensional real surface of the geoid to a two-dimensional picture. Perhaps the best-known world-map projection is the Mercator projection, originally designed as a form of nautical chart.

Airplane pilots use aeronautical charts based on a Lambert conformal conic projection, in which a cone is laid over the section of the earth to be mapped. The cone intersects the sphere (the earth) at one or two parallels which are chosen as standard lines. This allows the pilots to plot a great-circle route approximation on a flat, two-dimensional chart.

Electronic maps

A USGS digital raster graphic.

From the last quarter of the 20th century, the indispensable tool of the cartographer has been the computer. Much of cartography, especially at the data-gathering survey level, has been subsumed by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The functionality of maps has been greatly advanced by technology simplifying the superimposition of spatially located variables onto existing geographical maps. Having local information such as rainfall level, distribution of wildlife, or demographic data integrated within the map allows more efficient analysis and better decision making. In the pre-electronic age such superimposition of data led Dr. John Snow to discover the cause of cholera. Today, it is used by agencies of the human kind, as diverse as wildlife conservationists and militaries around the world.

Relief map Sierra Nevada

Even when GIS is not involved, most cartographers now use a variety of computer graphics programs to generate new maps.

Interactive, computerised maps are commercially available, allowing users to zoom in or zoom out (respectively meaning to increase or decrease the scale), sometimes by replacing one map with another of different scale, centered where possible on the same point. In-car global navigation satellite systems are computerised maps with route-planning and advice facilities which monitor the user's position with the help of satellites. From the computer scientist's point of view, zooming in entails one or a combination of:

  1. replacing the map by a more detailed one
  2. enlarging the same map without enlarging the pixels, hence showing more detail by removing less information compared to the less detailed version
  3. enlarging the same map with the pixels enlarged (replaced by rectangles of pixels); no additional detail is shown, but, depending on the quality of one's vision, possibly more detail can be seen; if a computer display does not show adjacent pixels really separate, but overlapping instead (this does not apply for an LCD, but may apply for a cathode ray tube), then replacing a pixel by a rectangle of pixels does show more detail. A variation of this method is interpolation.
A world map in PDF format.

For example:

See also: Webpage (Graphics), PDF (Layers), MapQuest, Google Maps, Google Earth, OpenStreetMap or Yahoo! Maps.

Conventional signs

The various features shown on a map are represented by conventional signs or symbols. For example, colors can be used to indicate a classification of roads. These signs are usually explained in the margin of the map, or on a separately published characteristic sheet.[1]

Labeling

To communicate spatial information effectively, features such as rivers, lakes, and cities need to be labeled. Over centuries cartographers have developed the art of placing names on even the densest of maps. Text placement or name placement can get mathematically very complex as the number of labels and map density increases. Therefore, text placement is time-consuming and labor-intensive, so cartographers and GIS users have developed automatic label placement to ease this process.[2][3]

Non geographical spatial maps

Maps exist of the solar system, and other cosmological features such as star maps. In addition maps of other bodies such as the Moon and other planets are technically not geological maps.

Non spatial maps

Many diagrams such as Gantt charts display logical relationships between items, and do not display spatial relationships at all.

Many maps are topological in nature, and the distances are completely unimportant, and only the connectivity is significant.

See also

Atlas portal
General
Map design and types
Modern maps
Map history
Related Topics

Footnotes

  1. ^ Ordnance Survey, Explorer Map Symbols; Swisstopo, Conventional Signs; United States Geological Survey, Topographic Map Symbols.
  2. ^ Imhof, E., “Die Anordnung der Namen in der Karte,” Annuaire International de Cartographie II, Orell-Füssli Verlag, Zürich, 93-129, 1962.
  3. ^ Freeman, H.,, Map data processing and the annotation problem, Proc. 3rd Scandinavian Conf. on Image Analysis, Chartwell-Bratt Ltd. Copenhagen, 1983.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: maps
Atlas

Atlas · Cartography · Geography · Map · Map projection · Topography Early world maps · History of cartography · List of cartographers Cartogram · Geologic map · Linguistic map · Nautical chart · Pictorial maps · Thematic map · Topographic map · Weather map Find a map by geographic area or type

Visualization of technical information
Fields Biological data visualization · Chemical imaging · Crime mapping · Data visualization · Educational visualization · Flow visualization · Geovisualization · Information visualization · Mathematical visualization · Medical imaging · Molecular graphics · Product visualization · Scientific visualization · Software visualization · Technical drawing · Volume visualization
Image types Chart · Computer graphics · Diagram · Graph of a function · Engineering drawing · Ideogram · Information graphics · Map · Photograph · Pictogram · Plot · Statistical graphics · Table · Technical drawings · Technical illustration
Experts Jacques Bertin · Stuart Card · Thomas A. DeFanti · Michael Friendly · Nigel Holmes · Alan MacEachren · Jock D. Mackinlay · Michael Maltz · Bruce H. McCormick · Charles Joseph Minard · Otto Neurath · William Playfair · Clifford A. Pickover · Arthur H. Robinson · Lawrence J. Rosenblum · Adolphe Quetelet · George G. Robertson · Ben Shneiderman · Edward Tufte
Related topics Cartography · Computer graphics · Graph drawing · Graphic design · Imaging science · Information science · Mental visualisation · Neuroimaging · Scientific modelling · Spatial analysis · Visual analytics · Visual perception
Orienteering
History
Orienteering concepts
Sport Disciplines
IOF governed Foot-O · Ski-O · Mountain bike O · Trail-O
IARU governed Amateur radio direction finding (Fox Oring · ROCA)
Other sports Car-O · Canoe-O · Mountain marathon · Mounted O · Rogaining
Related sports Adventure racing · Alleycat races · Fell running · Relay race · Transmitter hunting
Equipment
Event Control point · Course · Map
Personal Compass (hand, protractor, thumb) · Eye protectors · Gaiters · Headlamp
Exceptions GPS · Whistle · Backpacking
Fundamentals Map (Orienteering map) · Navigation (Resection, Route choice, Wayfinding, Waypoint) · Racing (Hiking, Running, Walking)
Organization International · Nations · Clubs · Orienteers (by country, innovators) · Events
Non-sport related Adventure travel · Bicycle touring · Location-based game (Geocaching, Poker run) · Hiking · Hunting · Mountaineering · Scoutcraft orienteering · Traveling backpacking · Wilderness backpacking
Orienteering competition events
Foot-O
Top ranked only World Championships · World Cup · World Games · Junior WOC · European Championships · WUOC
Open to everyone O-Ringen · Jukola · Tiomila · JK
Ski-O
Top ranked only World Championships · World Cup · Junior Ski-WOC
MTB-O
Top ranked only World Championships
Mountain marathon
Open to everyone Kepler · LAMM · OMM · SLMM
List of orienteering events
Browse orienteering articles by category

Categories: Maps | Cartography | Geodesy | Hiking equipment | Geography

 

The above information uses material from Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Some facts may not have been fully verified for accuracy. [Disclaimers]
This page was last archived by our server on Thu Jul 29 18:21:41 2010. [ refresh local cache ]
Displaying this page or its contents does not use any Wikimedia Foundation's resources.
The owners of this site proudly support the Wikimedia Foundation.


Buckle up for Road Trip 101 - The Gamecock
dailygamecock.com
Buckle up for Road Trip 101 - The Gamecock
Wed, 28 Jul 2010 05:56:26 GMT+00:00
The Gamecock In an era of MapQuest, when half of Americans have GPS services on their phones, a lot of people forget the importance of a physical map . ...
Google News Search: Map,
Wed Jul 28 08:24:00 2010
map web 2010 jpg
walkcarrboro.com
map web 2010 jpg
632px x 780px | 301.50kB

[source page]



Yahoo Images Search: Map,
Tue Jul 27 09:30:56 2010
Rachelle Lefevre Joins ABC's 'Off The Map ' As Regular; AMC's ...
deadline.com
Rachelle Lefevre Joins ABC's 'Off The Map ' As Regular; AMC's ...

NELLIE ANDREEVA

hu, 22 Jul 2010 21:00:34 GM

Former Twilight co-star Rachelle Lefevre has joined the cast of the Shonda Rhimes-produced​ new ABC medical drama Off the . Map. as a regular. Additionally, AMC officially announced the casting of Michael Rooker (Jumper) and Norman Reedus ...

Google Blogs Search: Map,
Sun Jul 25 04:54:13 2010
How do i get the battlefield bad company 2 map pack 1 and vip map pack 2?
Q. Also, is there any news about a 3rd map pack. And if you can answer this, what extra do i get if i get limited edition and can i buy it in stores or only online. Thanks very much in return guys !
Asked by Eugene - Thu May 6 16:11:27 2010 - - 1 Answers - 0 Comments

A. You need Bad Company 2 VIP to get Map pack 2. I believe Map Pack 1 comes free with VIP when you enter the Code, I do not know of any extra with the Limited Edition. (Never heard of a Limited edition)
Answered by Florence - Sun May 9 14:03:33 2010

Yahoo Answers Search: Map,
Tue Jul 20 13:43:59 2010