This is an overview of a cartographic mapping package developed at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. The package demonstrates educational and navigational applications and was produced for the semester unit Special Studies in Computing in the course for the award of Bachelor of Arts in Computing Studies.

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R.J.Williams
Bachelor of Arts in Computing Studies
(CCAE)
AMAIC
CARTOGRAPHY
Volume 11 No.3 March 1980
This is an overview of a cartographic mapping package developed at the
Canberra College of Advanced Education. The package demonstrates
educational and navigational applications and was produced for the semester
unit Special Studies in Computing in the course for the award of Bachelor of
Arts in Computing Studies.
The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author.
1
The text and illustrations in this paper have not been edited at all from the original journal article.
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2. Until the Age of Automation, thematic cartographers were posed with the problem of whether
to use currently available maps as bases for their particular purposes or whether to embark
on what might be a lengthy and involved task to produce their desired map bases. The
available maps might be restricted by the area covered, by the types of projection required, by
limited ranges of scale, or by inadequacies of detail for conveying the objectives (Anderson,
1978).
The Age of Automation has made the second alternative now more feasible. Any geographic
feature digitally represented in a data base is now accessible and may be rotated,
transformed and scaled to produce the desired output.
A cartographic mapping package developed at the Canberra College of Advanced Education
as an undergraduate topic in the unit Special Studies in Computing attempts to demonstrate
these characteristics.
The Cartographic Mapping Package
The programs within the package can be divided into two groups:
1. Data base creation programs; and
2. Applications program and support programs.
The data base creation programs have the primary function of creating a hierarchical data
base for the applications program.
Programs within the College’s Geographic Information Processing System (GIPS) are used to
display/plot the output of the applications program (MAPPACK) on a number of devices
(Figure 1). MAPPACK is the major program within the cartographic mapping package and is
designed to demonstrate ideas from which production systems might evolve. Two field
applicable to these ideas are:
1. Education; and
2. Navigation.
Figure 1: MAPPACK
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3. Education
The ‘Atlas’ mapping option and the ‘Pre-History’ mapping option could be used to
demonstrate geographical areas in studying applied geography, cartography, and ‘pre-history’
type subjects.
Atlas. Currently MAPPACK has available ten map projections. This can easily be extended to
any desired number. Each projection may be displayed in a normal aspect or oblique to any
point requested by the program user.
The projections currently available are:
1. Orthographic;
2. Stereographic;
3. Gnomonic;
4. Postel ( Azimuthal Equidistant);
5. Perspective;
6. Mercator;
7. Lambert’s Cylindrical Equivalent;
8. Bonne;
9. Sanson Flamsteed; and
10. Mollweide.
The primary aim of a logical choice of a suitable map projection is to select a projection in
which the extreme distortions are smaller than would occur in any other projection used to
map the same area. The amount of distortion which is likely to be encountered depends on
the location, size and shape of area to be mapped (Maling, 1973).
The following three rules aid in the selection of a suitable projection:
i. If the country to be mapped lies in the tropics a cylindrical projection, e.g. Mercator,
should be used;
ii. If the country to be mapped lies in temperate latitudes, a conical projection, e.g.
Bonne, should be used. (The Bonne Projection is technically a pseudo- or modified
conical projection with the special property of equivalence and with correct scale
along the parallels of latitude and central meridian).
The choice of special property is largely determined by the intended purpose of the map
(Maling, 1973). These are the properties of:
i. Conformality. A conformal map projection, e.g. Mercator, has no angular
deformation. This property is useful for topographic maps and navigation charts;
ii. Equivalence. The equal-area map projections, e.g. Sanson Flamsteed, are most
important in the field of distribution mapping of statistical variables;
iii. Equidistance. Equidistant maps are often used in atlas maps, strategic planning
maps and similar representations of large parts of the earth’s surface.
MAPPACK also has the option of ‘windowing’ out a geographical area (Figure 2).
Pre-History. This option is a fairly simple approach to mapping continental movement.
Continents may be shifted and totated irrespective of the map graticule, however no real
deformation of shape occurs. This displays an interesting aspect of computer mapping and
could feasibly be expanded to show more realistic effects.
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4. Figure 2: Malaya - Sumatra
Navigation
The navigational application provides a powerful mapping tool by producing highly specialized
maps of specific areas of interest. Options include the following:
1. Strip map. For great circle route mapping the user requests the STRIP map option
and enters the required region, e.g. LONDON TO SYDNEY. Up to five intermediate
places may be requested. The user is required to specify the direction, i.e. west to
east or east to west, and the map scale which may be a specific scale or a particular
page size format, e.g. A4. The result is a strip map, or maps, between the places
selected and having the same scale (Figure 3).
2. Bearing and Distance Maps. This option is accessed via the ATLAS style map
selection. This map may be centred on any point on the Earth’s surface and is
available on a global basis or to a specific radial distance (Figure 4). Bearing and
distance is true from the centre of the map.
3. Distance to Coastline. This option calculates the bearing and great circle distance to
the nearest point on a coastline of a major land feature.
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5. Figure 3: London to Sydney via Singapore
MAPPACK Communication
MAPPACK permits either interactive communication to obtain parameters or batch entry of
parameters.
Interactive Communication
MAPPACK’s communication module uses an English-style question and answer interaction
with the user to determine the user’s requirements. The module is designed to ask the
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6. Figure 4: Darwin to 5000 KM
minimum number of questions to produce the desired map (Appendices 1 & 2), the user being
relieved of the following operations:
i. Place name coordinates. The program currently has knowledge of eighty major cities
and places. However, in the case of a place not being known to the system, the
program will request the geographical coordinates.
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7. ii. Map scale selection (if the user wishes). The program is capable of determining the
scale of the map required to fit:
a. An A4 size page;
b. A computer printout size page;
c. The maximum area available on the College’s output devices; these being an
EAI 430 plotter, a TEKTRONIX 4013 display screen and a HP7200A plotter;
iii. Map scale adjustment if a radial area or ‘windowed’ area is requested;
iv. Origin shifts due to formula calculations;
v. False north pole calculations for oblique aspect tasks.
Batch Entry
The batch entry module is less sophisticated than the interactive module and is, generally,
intended for use when the input is via magnetic tape files. No automatic scale selection, scale
adjustment, or false pole calculation is performed. The user is required to enter these
parameters.
This module accepts parameters to enable the program to handle multi-file tapes and multi-
tape files.
Geographic Data Base
MAPPACK utilizes a hierarchical data base structure. For example, if the user selects a
region in the vicinity of Australia, Indonesia or the South Pacific then a slightly more detailed
file is accessed than if he chose a region elsewhere or chose a global map area. Another user
option is to access the original data base and nominate his own feature requirement and point
density (Figure 5).
The geographic data base for the cartographic mapping package is World Data Bank 2
(WDB2). The data base creation programs within the package are used to create this data
base structure. WDB2 is a cartographic data base developed in the United States of America
and contains approximately 6,000,000 coordinate pairs in approximately 30,000 line
segments. These coordinates outlining natural and man-made features of the world are
contained in five distinct storage areas:
1. North America;
2. South America and Antarctica;
3. Europe;
4. Africa and
5. Asia.
Each storage is further divided into separate files for:
a. Coastlines, islands and lakes (CIL);
b. Rivers (RIV);
c. International boundaries (BDY); and
d. In the case of North America a fourth file (PDY) further delineates the states
of the USA and the provinces of Canada (Anderson, 1978).
WDB2 has a classification/ranking system to denote hierarchy among features within the
individual files. These features and subordinate classifications/ranks as coded in WDB2 are
as follows:
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8. Figure 5: geographic data base
I. Coastlines, Islands and Lakes (CIL)
1. Coastlines, islands and lakes that appear on all maps
2. Additional major islands and lakes
3. Intermediate islands and lakes
4. Minor islands and lakes
5. Intermittent major lakes
6. Intermittent rivers – additional
7. Reefs
8. Salt pans – major
9. Salt pans – minor
10. Ice shelves – major
11. Ice shelves – minor
12. Glaciers
II. Rivers (RIV)
1. Permanent major rivers
2. Additional major rivers
3. Additional rivers
4. Minor rivers
5. Double-lines rivers
6. Intermittent rivers – major
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9. 7. Intermittent rivers – additional
8. Intermittent rivers – minor
9. Major canals
10. Canals of lesser importance
11. Canals – irrigation type
III. International Boundaries of Limits of Sovereignty (BDY)
1. Demarcated or delimited
2. Indefinite or in dispute
3. Other line of separation or sovereignty on land
IV. International Boundaries (PDY)
1. First order admin
Conclusion
The cartographic mapping package utilizes a number of concepts. Firstly, the creation of a
hierarchical data base enables a number of relatively small direct access disk files to be used
for planning and initial assessment mapping purposes while the detailed data base (tape file)
is only used when more detail is actually required. Secondly, the use of a communication
module which requests only the minimum number of parameters for a particular task provides
the user with an easy and simple way of inputing his requirements. Thirdly, the use of
automatic scaling, positioning, rotation and point selection permits users with little technical
knowledge to still package the College’s Geographic Information Processing System (GIPS)
for output to various devices means that only GIPS needs to be amended if a new output
terminal is acquired instead of the applications being modified.
Acknowledgement
Thanks are due to Mr W. Wassermann for assistance with problems of a cartographic nature
and to Mr D. Child and the staff of the CCAE Computer Centre for providing the extra
computer time and resources required by the project.
References
Anderson, D.E., Angel, J.L. and Gorny, A.J. (1978). World Data Bank II: Content, structure
and application in Dutton, G. (ed.), Harvard papers on geographic information systems:
Proceedings, First International Advanced Study Symposium on Topological Data Structures
for Geographic Information Systems, Volume 2.
Maling, D.H. (1973). Coordinate systems and map projections, George Philip, London.
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10. MAPPACK Communications – Appendix 1
RUN MAPPACK; MAXPROCTIME = 30;
MAXIOTIME = 20
#Collect any printout from Print 6
#Running
#?
*Mappack*
Cartographic Mapping Package
Types of maps available include ….
Atlas
Strip map
Pre-history mapping
Distance to coastline
Which would you prefer?
ATLAS
Enter region
- If World type WORLD
- - Strip map of type A TO B
DARWIN
Enter projection number
0 … Orthographic
1 … Stereographic
2 … Gnomonic
3 … Postel (Azimuthal Equidistant)
4 … Perspective
5 … Mercator
6 … Lambert (Cylindrical Equal Area)
7 … Bonne
8 … Sanson-Flamsteed
9 … Mollweide
3
The following scale options are available.
You may nominate your
Own scale
Computer printout size
A4 size
Maximum available size
Which would you like?
A4
Map scale is 20,000,000
Is oblique aspect required?
YES
Place centred on?
DARWIN
Postel Equidistant Projection
Enter radial distance in 1000KM (max 20)
5
Map scale is now 1:75,000,000
Are distance range rings required?
YES
The following options are available
Enter YES if required …
Geographic data …
YES
Geographic graticule …
YES
Nomenclature …
NO
Legend …
YES
***MAPPACK running***
MAPPACK Communications – Appendix 2
RUN MAPPACK; MAXPROCTIME = 40;
MAXIOTIME = 25
#Collect any printout from Print 7
#Running
#?
*Mappack*
Cartographic Mapping Package
Types of maps available include ….
Atlas
Strip map
Pre-history mapping
Distance to coastline
Which would you prefer?
STRIP MAP
Enter region
- If World type WORLD
- - Strip map of type A TO B
LONDON TO SYDNEY
Strip map option
Point of departure is …
LONDON
Point of arrival is …
SYDNEY
Enter number of intermediate points
If none then enter 0 …
1
Enter intermediate place name
SINGAPORE
Stage 1 of strip map …
Leg LONDON to SYDNEY
Is direction West to East?
YES
If you wish to nominate a map scale other than the
maximum available enter one of the following
A4 size
Computer printout size
Own scale
Nil change
A4
Stage 2 of strip map …
Leg SINGAPORE to SYDNEY
Is direction West to East?
YES
The following options are available
Enter YES if required …
Geographic data …
YES
Geographic graticule …
YES
Nomenclature …
NO
Legend …
YES
***MAPPACK running***
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