Fundamentals Of Mapping

Chapter 3. Fundamentals of Mapping

Mapping involves: determining the geographic locations of features on the Earth, transforming these locations into positions on a flat map through map projections, graphically symbolizing these features. (Robinson, 1995). This chapter will provide some basic information on mapping projections and techniques, as well as on geographic coordinates.

1.

The Shape of the Earth

The Earth is best represented by a spheroid, or by what is called an oblate ellipsoid. In fact, because of gravitational variations and variations in surface features, the Earth is neither a perfect sphere nor a perfect spheroid. Satellite technology has revealed several elliptical deviations; for example, the South Pole is closer to the Equator than the North Pole. The satellite surveying technologies, including global positioning systems (GPS), have brought us more accurate means to measure the size and shape of the Earth. The elevation of every single point on the earth surface, often called a datum, may be calculated to estimate the ellipsoid. A sphere is based on a circle, whereas a spheroid (or ellipsoid) is based on an ellipse. The shape of an ellipse is defined with two different axes, as it is shown in Figure 3.1. The longer axis is called the major axis and the shorter axis is known as the minor axis. The two radii are called the semi-major and the semiminor axes respectively. The difference in magnitude between the two axes of an ellipse can be expressed as a fraction or a decimal. This value defines the degree of ellipticity or flattening.
Figure 3.1. Ellipse Figure 3.2. Earth Spheroid

(Source: ESRI Online Arc Help)

Values of ellipticity range between 0 and 1, and are defined as (1 Minor Axis/Major Axis). An ellipticity of 0 means the two axes are equal, resulting in a circle. An ellipticity of 1 means the figure has only one axis, and appears as a straight line, whose length equals the length of the major axis. Just as rotating a circle about an axis defined by its diameter creates a sphere, rotating an ellipse about either its major or minor axis produces an ellipsoid. An ellipsoid that approximates a sphere is called a spheroid. An ellipsoid that approximates the shape of the Earth is formed by rotation around the minor axis, as shown in Figure 3.2.

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Flattening is observed at the poles, and bulging occurs at the Equator. Therefore, the semi-major axis describes the equatorial radius, and the semi-minor axis represents the polar radius. No later than 1866, the semi-major axis was estimated at 6,378,206.4 meters, and the semi-minor axis at 6,356,583.8 meters by Clarke. The ellipticity of the Earth would then approximately be 0.0034. The Earth has been surveyed many times to better understand its surface objects and their peculiar irregularities. The surveys have defined many spheroids to represent the Earth. Generally, a spheroid is chosen to fit one country or a particular area. The semi-major and semi-minor axes that best fit one geographical region are not necessarily the same ones that fit another region. Until recently, values determined by Clarke in 1866 described the spheroid commonly used with the reference datum for North America (one local datum coordinate system). This is often referred to as the North American Datum 1927 (NAD27). Recent datums have been calculated using the center of the earth as a reference point instead of a point on the ground as was the case before. In 1983, a new datum was adopted for the United States and called the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83). It is thereafter accepted internationally as the geodetic reference system (GRS80) and in 1984, the U.S military made the world geodetic system (WGS84) by using slightly refined values of GRS80. It serves as the framework for supporting location measurements worldwide. Figure 3.3 displays the differences in the datums as discussed above. GPS measurements are based upon the WGS84 datum. Although these earthcentered datums and spheroids have been developed, ground-measured spheroids are currently in use and are still valid.

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Local datum coordinate system

Earth-centered datum coordinate system Earth Surface s Earth-centered datum (WGS84) Local datum (NAD27) Figure 3.3. Concept of Datum

1.1

Meridians and Parallels

To locate points or to perform some measurements on the Earth surface, an imaginary grid has been conceived as landmarks. In the spherical system, horizontal lines are called lines of latitude or parallels (Figure 3.4A). Vertical lines are called lines of longitude or meridians (Figure 3.4B). These lines encompass the globe and form a grid network called a graticule (Figure 3.4C)

A. Parallels

B. Meridians

C. Graticular network

Figure 3.4 Source: ESRI Online Arc Help)

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Latitude and longitude are angles (measured in degrees, minutes, and seconds or DMS) from the center of the Earth to a point on the surface of the Earth, as in the following Figure 3.5. They reference the angles of a line extending from the center of the Earth to the Earth surface to a spherical coordinate system. s

Figure 3.5. The spherical coordinate system of the Earth. (Source: ESRI Online Arc Help)

A circle is divided into 360 units called degrees. Each degree is further subdivided into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty seconds. For latitude: 0 is at the Equator, 90 N is at the North Pole, and 90 S is at the South Pole. For longitude: 0 starts at the Prime Meridian that conventionally passes through Greenwich in England and joins the two poles. Longitude is measured up to 180 E when traveling east from Greenwich and measured to 180 W, traveling west from Greenwich. Above and below the Equator, the arc between two meridians get gradually smaller until they become a single point at the North Pole or the South Pole. For example, on the Clarke 1866 spheroid, one degree of longitude at the Equator comprises an arc of 111.321 km; while at 60 latitude it is only 55.802 km. Viewing the North Pole as , the horizontal up axisis called the Equator and the vertical axisis called the Greenwich Prime Meridian. The origin is defined by the intersection of the Greenwich Prime Meridian and the Equator. Like the Cartesian origin, its coordinates are (0,0). The sphere is then divided into four geographical quadrants based on compass bearings from the origin. Above and below the Equator are north and south, and to the left and right of the Greenwich Prime Meridian are west and east, as seen in Figure 3.6.

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Figure 3.6. The determination of longitude on the spherical earth. (Source: Dent, 32)

NOTE: Latitudes on a spheroid are measured perpendicular to the surface, not from the center of the spheroid as on a sphere. However, the resulting differences are small.

2. 2.1

Map Scale and Projection Map Scale

To show a portion of the Earth's surface on a map, the area must be reduced. Map scale is expressed as a ratio between a distance on the map and the corresponding distance on the earth. Map scale can be shown in various ways, as a fraction (1:24,000), as a verbal statement (one inch equals one mile), or as a graph or bar. The most often used is the unit-less fractional form. For example, '1:24,000' means '1 inch on the map equals 24,000 inches on the earth surface', or also '1 foot on this map equals 24,000 feet on the earth s s surface', or as well '1 meter on the map equals 24,000 meters on the earth s surface', and so on. It is usually referred to as the representative fraction or RF for short. There are some important points that should be kept in mind with regard to map scale issues: Reduction Map scale indicates to which extent the real dimensions are reduced. The terms large-scale and small-scale refer to the relative sizes at which geographic features are represented and the detail displayed. The larger the scale (i.e., smaller denominator in the RF), the bigger and with greater detail a feature will appear on the map. The smaller the scale (i.e., bigger denominator in the RF), the larger the covered area and with lesser detail a feature will be displayed on the map. For the same map size, features on a small-scale map

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(e.g.1:1,000,000) will appear smaller than those on a large-scale map (e.g.1:24,000). The three maps shown in Figure 3.7 illustrate the trade-off. The small-scale map can show a large area but it greatly reduces the detail; the large-scale map can only show a portion of one street, but in such detail that you can see the shapes of the houses.

Figure 3.7. Small-scale vs. Large-scale maps (Source: ESRI Online Arc Help)

This concept can be illustrated when we photocopy a document (the document represents a map area in this example). By enlarging the photocopy without changing the paper size (varying the map scale and keeping the same map size, in this example), we only get a part of the original document but with bigger font size (greater details). Resolution For a given map scale, map resolution refers to how accurately the location and shape of geographic objects can be depicted. It is very important to notice that the map scale affects the map resolution. In fact, the larger the map scale, the better the resolution. For example: 1. At a scale of 1:63,360 (in which 1 inch = one mile), it is difficult to represent an area smaller than 1/8 of a mile wide and 1/8 of a mile long; such area will appear as less than 1/8 of an inch wide or long on the map. 2. As scale decreases, long narrow objects such as streams and roads must be represented as lines and smaller area features as points. NOTE: Once the map data has been captured in a GIS, it can be zoomed in or zoomed out to any chosen size because it is now in digital format.
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2.2

Map projection

2.2.1 What is a projection?

Whether you treat the Earth as a sphere or as a spheroid, you must transform its three-dimensional surface to create a flat map sheet. This transformation, usually using a mathematical conversion, is commonly referred to as map projection. Figure 3.8A shows one easy way to understand how map projections alter spatial properties is to visualize projecting a light through the Earth onto a surface called

the projection surface.

Figure 3.8A. Projecting a three-dimensional Figure 3.8B. Representation of the curved surface onto a flat map sheet. Earth on a flat plane. (Source: ESRI Online Arc Help)

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2.2.2 Types of Projection

Projection involves mathematical formulas that convert data from a geographical location (latitude and longitude) on a sphere, or spheroid, to a representative location on a flat surface. When a three-dimensional map is converted to a twodimensional map distortion occurs. Distortion can include compression, tearing, and shearing of the area that is being converted. These types of distortion can be seen in Figure 3.9.

Figure 3.9. Distortion caused by the projection process. (Source: Dent, 38)

The conversion process distorts at least one of the featurescharacteristics shape, area, distance, or direction - and often more than one of these simultaneously. Because measurements of one or more of these characteristics are often used to make decisions, anyone who uses maps as analytical tools should know which projections distort which properties, and to what extent. Although cartographers have devised thousands of different map projections, almost all of them fall into three types according to how they distort the representation of the earth surface during the process. We then can distinguish s between (1) the conformal, (2) the equal-area or equivalent, (3) and the equidistant projections. Conformal projections preserve the shape of the geographical features that are represented by keeping the individual angles describing spatial relationships, including those between intersections of arcs. Particularly, we can cite the perpendicular angles between the graticular lines. However, the area enclosed by a series of arcs may be greatly misrepresented in the process. Thus, no map projection can preserve the shapes of large regions. Equal-area or Equivalent projections preserve the area of displayed features, but other characteristics may be distorted. In Figure 3.10, the area is preserved while the shape is distorted, especially the further the region is from the Equator and/or from the Prime Meridian.

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Figure 3.10. Shape distortion on an equal-area projection. (Source: Dent, 39)

Equidistant projections preserve the distance between certain points. Scale is not maintained correctly by any projection throughout an entire map; however, there is, in most cases, one or more lines on a map along which scale is maintained correctly. Most projections have one or more lines for which the length of the line on a map is the same length (at map scale) as the line it references on the globe. Such distances are said to be true. Keep in mind that no projection preserves the distance for all points on a map. NOTE: Besides the three kinds of projections discussed above, some projections may also be called true-direction or azimuthal projections. These maintain some of the great-circle arcs (the circle created by the intersection of a plane with the surface that divides the earth equally into hemispheres) representing the directions or azimuths of all points on the map correctly with respect to the center. Some true-direction projections are also conformal, or equal-area, or equidistant.

2.2.3 Projection Surfaces

All map projections are based on general geometric characteristics. Conceptually, the spherical surface is transposed onto a plane surface called the projection surface. Another method of projection classification is based on the shape of projection surface, which may commonly be conic, cylindrical, or planar. Conic projection The most simple conic projection is tangent to the globe along a line of latitude. This line is called the standard parallel. The meridians are projected onto the conical surface, meeting at the apex of the cone. Parallel lines of latitude are projected onto the cone as rings. The cone is then openalong any meridian to produce the final conic projection, which has straight converging meridians and concentric circular arcs for parallels. The meridian at the opposite of the cut line becomes the central meridian. In general,

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distortion increases as we consider regions further from the standard parallel. Thus, cutting off the top of the cone produces a more accurate projection. With Tangent conic projections, the standard parallel is the parallel of latitude that is in contact with the conic surface of projection (Figure 3.11)

Figure 3.11. Concept of the Tangent Conic Projection (Source: Arc Online Help)

The parallels and meridians will distort when using the conic projections and look similar to that of Figure 3.12.

Figure 3.12. Grid pattern as seen with a conic projection. (Source: Dent, 42)

In Secant conic projections, as if the cone cuts throughthe globe, it conceptually contacts the surface of the Earth at two parallels of latitude, as seen in Figure 3.13. Consequently, there are two standard parallels and the distortion pattern is different whether we consider the area between the standard parallels or that beyond them.

Figure 3.13. Concept of the Secant Conic Projection (Source: Arc Online Help)

Oblique conic projections, still more complex than the previously described ones, do not align the axis of the cone of projection with the polar axis of the globe.

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Figure 3.14. Example of Lambert Conformal conic projection (left) and Albers Equal-Area conic projection (right). (Source: ESRI, 1997)

Cylindrical projections Cylindrical projections may also have one line of tangency or two lines of secancy on the globe. The Mercator projection is one of the most common cylindrical projections, and the Equator is usually its line of tangency. The graticular angles of 90 degrees are preserved. The cylinder is openalong any meridian to produce the final cylindrical projection. The meridians are equally spaced, while the spacing between parallel lines of latitude increases toward the poles. Examples of different cylindrical projections are shown in

Figure 3.15.
Figure 3.15. Types of cylindrical projections. (Source: Arc Online Help)

The parallels and meridians will distort when using the cylindrical projections and look similar to that of Figure 3.16.

Figure 3.16. General grid pattern as seen with a cylindrical projection. (Source: Dent, 42)

For more complex cylindrical projections the cylinder is rotated, thus changing the tangent or secant lines. Transverse cylindrical projections such as the
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Transverse Mercator use meridians as their tangential contact, or lines parallel to meridians as secant lines. An example of the Transverse Mercator can be seen in Figure 3.17.

Figure 3.17. The United States projected in Transverse Mercator. (Source: ESRI, 1997)

Oblique cylinders are rotated around a great circle line located anywhere between the Equator and the meridians. In these more complex projections, most meridians and the lines of latitude are no longer straight. In all cylindrical projections, the line of tangency or lines of secancy are not distorted and thus are lines of equal distance. Other geographical characteristics vary according to the specific projection. Planar projections Planar projections project map data onto a flat surface touching the globe (Figure 3.18). A planar projection is also known as an azimuthal projection or a zenithal projection. This type of projection is usually tangent to the globe at one point, but may be secant. The point of contact may be the North Pole, the South Pole, a point along the Equator, or any point in between. The focus is identified by a central longitude and central latitude; and possible aspects are polar, equatorial, and oblique.

Figure 3.18. Planar projections (Source: Arc Online Help)

Polar projection is the simplest example of the planar types. Parallels of latitude are concentric circles centered on the pole, and meridians are straight lines that intersect at the pole with their true angles of orientation. In other aspects, planar projections will have graticular angles of 90 degrees at their central focus. Directions from the focus are accurate. Great circles passing through the focus are represented by straight lines; thus the shortest distance

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from this point to any other point on the map is a straight line. Patterns of area and shape distortion are circular about the focus. Some planar projections view surface data from a specific point in space. This point of view determines how the spherical data will be projected onto a flat surface. Perspective points may be the center of the Earth, a surface point directly opposite from the focus, or a point external to the globe, as if seen from a satellite or another planet. Azimuthal projections are differentiated in part by their focus and, if applicable, by the perspective point. Figure 3.19 compares three perspective projections with polar aspects but different perspective positions.

Figure 3.19. Different types of azimuthal projections (Source: Arc Online Help)

The Gnomonic projection views the surface data from the center of the Earth, whereas the Stereographic projection views it from one pole to the opposite pole. The Orthographic projection views the Earth from an infinite point, as if viewed from deep space. Note how the differences in perspective determine the amount of distortion towards the Equator.

2.2.4 Other projections

The projections discussed this far can be conceptually performed by projecting from one geometric shape (a sphere) onto another (a cone, cylinder, or plane). Many projections are not related as easily to one of these three surfaces. Modified projections are modified versions of another projection (e.g., the Space Oblique Mercator is a modification of the Mercator projection). These modifications are made to reduce distortion, often by including additional standard lines or a different pattern of distortion. Pseudo projections have only some of the characteristics of another class of projection. For example the Sinusoidal projection is called a pseudo-cylindrical projection because all lines of latitude are straight and parallel, and all meridians are equally spaced. However, it is not truly a cylindrical projection because all meridians except the central meridian are curved. Other projections are assigned to special groups, such as circular, star, and so on.

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3. 3.1

Choosing A Map Projection Basic Criteria

To define the projection in which a GIS document is stored, we can simply refer to its primary use. Generally, we can distinguish between four major cases: Databases created under contract or to be used by a governmental organization are often in a projection determined by the governing body (such as State Plane in the United States, or Great Britain National Grid in Great Britain.) Thematic or distribution maps use equal-area projections. Presentation maps are usually conformal projections, although equal-area projections can also be used. Navigational maps are usually Mercator, true direction and/or equidistant.

3.2

Other considerations
Besides the basic criteria, some overall characteristics of the area to be mapped can also be considered, such as: extent: Is it a database of the world, a continent, or a state? location: Is it a polar, mid-latitude, or equatorial region? shape: Is the area roughly circular, or longer in the east-west, north-south, or some oblique direction? The following table shows a range of choices for common map types, according to the extent of the area to be mapped. Types of Projection Conformal WORLD Mercator (including Transverse or Oblique) Cylindrical Sinusoidal Azimuthal Compromise: Miller Robinson HEMISPHERE Polar Stereographic

Equal-area Equidistant Others

Lambert Azimuthal Azimuthal Global look: Orthographic

(Based upon Snyder 1987, Map Projections - A Working Manual)

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The following table shows a range of choice for mapping continents or smaller areas (states, etc) according to their predominant shape and location if applicable.
EAST-WEST along Equator EAST-WEST away from Equator NORTHSOUTH OBLIQUE OTHER

Conformal Equal-area Equidistant Others

Mercator Cylindrical ---

Lambert Albers ---

Transverse UTM

Mercator (Oblique)

---

---

Polar UPS Lambert (Azimuthal) ---

(Based upon Snyder 1987, Map Projections - A Working Manual)

Coordinate Systems Coordinate systems are required, and are very convenient, for locating points relative to one another and for identifying the position of geographic features. They provide also the best tool to define a direction and to measure a distance. In this section, three most common coordinate systems will be introduced. They are (1) the Geographic coordinate system, (2) the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system, (3) and the State Plane system. Figure 3.20 below displays the three coordinate systems graphically. The Geographic coordinate system consists of latitude and longitude. Measured in DMS units (degree, minute, second), a precision below a degree is expressed as minutes and seconds, and decimals of seconds (one degree equals 60 minutes, and one minute equals 60 seconds). The meridian of the observatory at Greenwich near London, England is the internationally accepted Prime Meridian. Therefore, the origin point of geographic coordinate system is the intersection of the Equator with the Greenwich meridian. NOTE: Because meridians are all alike, any one might be chosen as the Prime Meridian. The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinate system is one of the most commonly used in the world. This system and the projection on which it is based have been widely adopted for topographic maps, referencing of satellite imagery, natural resources databases, and other applications that require precision. In the UTM system, the area of the earth between 84 degrees north latitude and 80 degrees south latitude is divided into pole-topole zones of 6 degrees of longitude wide each. These zones are numbered from 1 to 60 eastward. Within each zone, the longitude of the middle is used as the central meridian of the transverse Mercator projection. Because the equator meets the central meridian of each zone at right angles, their intersection point is used as the origin point. The origin point in any UTM zone can not be used beyond 84 degrees latitude north and 80 degrees latitude south because the distortion becomes significant. For these polar regions, we use the universal polar stereographic coordinate system to replace the UTM system.
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The State Plane Coordinate System (SPCS) is designed for mapping the United States. It was developed in the 1930s by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in order to provide a common reference system for surveyors and cartographers. It is used primarily for engineering applications, especially for utility companies and local governments that need to do accurate surveying and mapping of facilities networks, such as power lines and sewers. This system is based on conformal projections using feet or meter as units. To maintain high accuracy (such as a scale of 1:10,000), each state is divided into zone(s). Each zone has its own central meridian or standard parallels to maintain the desired level of accuracy. Each zone has an origin that is usually the southwestern most point on the map.

Figure 3.20. (left to right): Geographic Coordinate System notice how the State of Michigan is short and squat; Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) the State of Michigan is tall and thin; and State Plane it also is tall and thin.

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Exercises 3A. Map projection and coordinate system transforming

In this exercise, you will convert a land use map from State Plane Coordinate system, Michigan South to UTM system. You will then be guided to notice the resulting deformations. Step 1: Start ArcView and open the exercise project From the File menu choose Open Project. Move to the directory: Your Drive:\Chapter 3\ and double-click the project file ex03a.apr. When the project opens, you see a view containing the themes Landuse95.shp, County_rds.shp, Lakes.shp, Highways.shp. Step 2: Creating a new shapefile in a new coordinate system Make the View window active, with the Landuse95.shp and County_rds.shp themes both active. From the File menu choose ArcView Projection Utility

The wizard is installed during an introduction step to the projection utility. An ArcView Projection Utility - Step 1 window will appear, which prompts you to select the shapefile(s) to be re-projected. The two selected shapefiles should be listed. Otherwise, click on the Browse button and navigate to your directory. Click on the filenames and then Open.
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The ArcView Projection Utility - Step 1 window should look as the following.

Click on Next. The ArcView Projection Utility - Step 2 window prompts you to declare the current coordinate system of the chosen shapefile.

Make the following selections. Coordinate System Type: Projected Name: NAD_1983_Michigan_South Units: Meter Click on Next. The dialog box will disappear.

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Click on No. The ArcView Projection Utility - Step 3 window prompts you to select the new coordinate system you chose for your new re-projected shapefile. Select for Name: World_Mercator (Coordinate System Type and Units remain the same as in Step 2).

Click on Next. A dialog box appears.

Click on No.

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The ArcView Projection Utility - Step 4 window prompts you to specify a directory for the newly re-projected shapefile.

Choose a directory on your local machine, which MUST be different from where the original shapefiles were stored in. Click on Next. A Summary window shows the different properties of the new file.

Scroll down and observe all the presented properties of the file. Click on Finish.

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Wait until the projection utility completed the projection process. Once it is complete, the following window will appear:

Click on OK. The Projection Utility dialog box prompts you for a confirmation:

Click on Yes. Choose the directory where you previously saved your re-projected shapefile. Click on the filenames, and then on OK. Within the same Project (ex03.apr), you are prompted to choose the view for the new shapefile. For convenience, in our exercise, select the New View option (the re-projected shapefile will be displayed in a separate View document).

Click on OK.

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The newly re-projected shapefiles are now in View 2.

Options: you can keep the same filenames on the two views you can go in the new View 2 to the Theme menu, select Properties, and rename your two themes (e.g. newCounty_rds.shp and newLanduse95.shp). Step 3: Compare map distortions Click on the Measure tool.

Move the cursor between any two intersections of newCounty_rds.shp (in View 2). Survey the distance between the two points, and write down the surveying result as seen in the status box at the bottom of the screen. Do the same operation, taking the same portion of roads, on County_rds.shp theme (in View 1). Compare the two measured distances. Press Identify tool.

Make the newLanduse95.shp (in View 2) theme active. Move the cursor into the theme and click in one polygon. The attributes of the selected polygon will be shown. Write down the area value as seen in the status box at the bottom of the screen. Do the same operation on Landuse95.shp (in View 1) theme.
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Compare the area changes of the same polygon. Step 4: Save and close the project From the File menu, choose Close Project. Click on No when prompted to save the project.

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Bibliography
Dent, Borden D., 1999. Cartography - Thematic Map Design. Fifth Edition. McGraw-Hill Publishers, New York, 417pp. Environmental Systems Research Institute, 1997. ARC/INFO Online Help. Robinson, Arthur Howard, 1995. Early Thematic Mapping in the History of Cartography. University of Chicago Press, 266pp. Snyder, John P., 1987. Map Projections - A Working Manual. Out of Print.

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