ADVANCED CARTOGRAPHY

Lecture delivered at BMS College of Engineering Course Advanced GIS November 27,2011

Dr S Natarajan Professor and Key Resource Person Department of Information Science and Engineering PES Institute of Technology Bangalore

ADVANCED CARTOGRAPHY
Labels Map Making Metadata file

Map Design
A map is useless unless it is read People will read and study attractive, informative maps It takes time to create a good map or you need a template that you can use over and over Analyze other peoples and groups maps
Feb 18, 2000

Map Design
Keep the map as clear as possible
Make it easy to read

Make the map as legible as possible

Make it easy to understand

Use a hierarchical structure for your maps

Show most important information first in legend Attention span is inversely proportional to the weight on a persons feet

Feb 18, 2000

Map Design
Use appropriate patterns
Definitely not
not Limestone Sandstone or Make it easy to distinguish adjacent patterns

Feb 18, 2000

Map Design
Use appropriate and consistent line weights
Inconsistent and inappropriate

Appropriate

Appropriate
Feb 18, 2000

Consistent

Map Design
Use different sizes of the same symbol to indicate relative values, e.g.,
number of superfund sites in a city value of property <$500K

<$100K <10
Feb 18, 2000

>$500K

10-100

>100

Map Design
Use a good color scheme
Use colors that are familiar to users Do not use bright colors without the good reason

Feb 18, 2000

Clarity and Legibility

Use appropriate graphical elements to delineate between map features
Use contrasting colors to distinguish features Use lines to seperate features Use patterns that are easy to distinguish

Feb 18, 2000

Visual Contrast
Is defined as the crispness or sharpness of the distinction between map symbols Use different size symbols Use primary colors, which contrast more with each other than with other colors Dont take contrast to excess, keep your maps from looking busy
Feb 18, 2000

Visual Balance
Is the relative weight of the basic graphic components and shapes in a map
Components of a map = title, legend, explanatory text, photographs, north arrow, scale

Use organizational standard for technical maps, e.g. USGS, city

Feb 18, 2000

Hierarchical Structure
Differentiate between broad classes or types of information in the map Help the reader focus on specific themes from several that may be shown

Feb 18, 2000

Thematic Maps
USGS Geologic maps use standard colors for rock types and ages, use a recent published USGS map to color code your maps Color code the map according to the age of the rocks Use shades of the same color for rock units with the same age designation

Geologic Map of the U.S.

Feb 18, 2000

Map Posters
Layer text and photos on maps Place text at right angles in complementary color Keep it simple
Environmental Series 1
Oil and gas fields studied for this report.

Feb 18, 2000

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ADVANCED CARTOGRAPHY
Three label placement categories Point labelling Line labelling Area labelling Labelling complexity The point labelling problem is proven to be NP-complete

Rules according to Imhof

Eduard Imhof (1895-1986)

- Swiss Cartographer - Positioning Names on Maps (1962/1975)

Example

Problematic cases

Problem association Thunder Bay and point Problem visibility highway 20

Problem readability name

Another problematic case

University Ave. is interrupted 4 times

Specific rules point labels

Label must be close to point, preferably to right and above Labels are placed horizontal, no extra spacing No overlap with other labels, except perhaps in the spacing of the areal label Label may intersect line feature; then line must be interrupted Points at a large body of water must have their label in the water. In other cases there may be no line between a point and its label If it cannot be avoided, a name may be split over two lines of text

Specific rules line labels

Label must follow shape of river Label should not bend upwards and downwards consecutively At long line features the label must be repeated No or little extra spacing between characters, spacing between words of the label is allowed For vertical line features: upward reading direction left on the map and downward right on the map Contour lines: labels must interrupt contour line; top of label points to higher regions

Specific rules areal labels

Horizontal labeling is good unless this conflicts with the dominant shape of the region Non-horizontal labels must be curved Monotonous curving; no inflection points Label should be spread over whole region Adjacent regions preferably have same shape of label (both horizontal, e.g.) Sometimes an areal label may be outside its region, but not in another labeled region Small areal features treated as point features

Strategies for automatic label placement

Compute for each feature various candidate positions according to the rules Choose for each feature one candidate position, such that the chosen positions do not overlap Sometimes a feature cannot be labeled, and sometimes the label of a feature must be repeated

Reasons for removal

poor

Utrecht

Utrecht

Utrecht Zeist

good

Utrecht

Zeist

Utrecht
Readability text Visibility features

Utrecht Association

Choosing from the candidates

Translate to a graph problem (graph G): - each candidate position of each feature is a node in G - two nodes have an edge in G if their candidate positions intersect - two nodes have an edge in G if their candidate positions are of the same feature

Computing intersecting candidates

Each candidate is (approximately) a simple geometric shape Determine all pairs of intersecting candidates using a plane sweep algorithm O((n+k) log n) time, with k the number of intersecting pairs Typically: k = O(n)

Label Placement-- Introduction

Rule-based algorithms Best computer algorithms are those that emulate an experienced human cartographer Experienced cartographer repeats road names several times for long roads Cartographers work based on accepted conventions and rules and they place labels in order of importance - For example, New York City, Vienna, Berlin, Paris, or Tokyo must show up on country maps because they are high-priority labels Once those are placed, the cartographer places the next most important class of labels, for example major roads, rivers, and other large cities In every step they ensure that (1) the text is placed in a way that the reader easily associates it with the feature, and (2) the label does not overlap with those already placed on the map. Other algorithms The simplest greedy algorithm places consecutive labels on the map in positions that result in minimal overlap of labels Its results are not satisfactory even for very simple problems, but it is extremely fast Slightly more complex algorithms rely on local optimization to reach a local optimum of a placement evaluation function -- in each iteration placement of a single label is moved to another position, and if it improves the result the move is preserved. It performs reasonably well for maps that are not too densely labelled Slightly more complex variations try moving 2 or more labels at the same time. The algorithm ends after reaching some local optimum

Label Placement-- Introduction

The algorithm that yields good results with relatively good performance simulated annealing - is very simple. It works like local optimization, but it may keep a change even if it worsens the result. The chance of keeping such a change is , where E is the change in the evaluation function, T is the temperature When the temperature is high, simulated annealing performs almost random changes to the label placement, being able to escape a local optimum Later, when hopefully a very good local optimum has been found, it behaves in a manner similar to local optimization Another class of direct search algorithms are the various evolutionary algorithms, e.g. genetic algorithms If a map labeling problem can be reduced to a situation in which each remaining label has only two potential positions in which it can be placed then it may be solved efficiently by using an instance of 2-satisfiability

Algorithms for Label Placement

Most familiar algorithms
Random placement Exhaustive search algorithms Greedy algorithms Local search algorithms Tabu search Stochastic search (Simulated annealing) Overlap vectors Mathematical programming Genetic algorithms

Label Placement Rules

Area features

Label placement most difficult

Point features Line features

Label placement least constrained

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Label Placement Quality Metrics

Aesthetics Label visibility Feature visibility Association
Based on Van Dijk et al. (1999)

River

City

City

Peak

Peak

ATown BTown

BTown ATown
30

Label Placement Quality Metrics

Aesthetics 5 of 20 papers reviewed

Label visibility

20

Feature visibility 10 Association 11

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Automating Label Placement

Area features

Label placement most difficult

Point features
Line features

Frequent research target for label placement automation

Label placement least constrained

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Automating Label Placement

Area features
models

Point feature label placement

algorithms

Line features

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Automated Point Feature Label Placement

Models
Discrete label position priorities: Yoeli (1972) 2 4 1 3 6 8 Slider model: Van Kreveld et al. (1999) 7 5

Continuous circumferential movement: Hirsch (1982), Kameda & Imai (2003)

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Automated Point Feature Label Placement

Algorithms
Local Search

Global Optimization
35

Automated Point Feature Label Placement

Algorithms
Local Search Rule-based exhaustive search Gradient descent
Global Optimization Force-directed Simulated annealing
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Local Search
Algorithms
Exhaustive Search

Rule Rule Rule

x
Place labels according to rules until violation Backtrack and adjust to maximize number of labels placed

Exhaustive Search: Freeman & Ahn (1984, 1987); Jones (1989), Cook & Jones (1990); Doerschler & Freeman (1992) Rule-based, with backtracking (place labels until overplot occurs, backtrack and adjust). Practical only for small problems (e.g. 50 points features per Christensen et al 1995)

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Local Search
Algorithms
Gradient Descent
Develop initial label placement Compute overlap vectors to guide next movement Iterate

From Hirsch (1982), p. 13

Gradient Descent: Hirsch (1982) After an initial, trial placement, choose from available operations (label movements) that which provides most immediate improvement. Iterate. Tends to cycle around local minima without being able to escape and find overall optimum labeling
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Local Search
Algorithms
Gradient Descent

Develop initial label placement Compute overlap vectors to guide next movement Iterate Can cycle between local minima (a) and (b) (a) without finding preferred placement (c)

From Hirsch (1982), p. 13

(b)

(c) From Christensen et al. (1995), p. 213 39

Automated Point Feature Label Placement

Algorithms
Local Search Rule-based exhaustive search Gradient descent
Global Optimization Force-directed Simulated annealing
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Global Optimization Algorithms

Force-Directed

Force-Directed: Uses repulsive forces between labels, to prevent placement of labels close to one another. Ebner et al. (2003); Stadler et al. (2006) Simulated annealing as a follow-up can result in near-optimal label placement, From Stadler et al. (2006), p. 211 and relatively fast solutions to large problems
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Global Optimization
Algorithms
Simulated Annealing

Based on Zoraster (1997) and Christensen et al. (1995) 42

Automated Label Placement

Software
Imhof (and others) labeling rules
Yoeli priorities
9.2

Iteration and backtracking

Optimization

Association

Label / feature visibility Aesthetics Slider models Simulated annealing

Force-directed methods
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ADVANCED CARTOGRAPHY
Labels Map Making Metadata file

What is a map?
A generalized view of an area, usually some portion of Earths surface, as seen from above at a greatly reduced size Any geographical image of the environment A two-dimensional representation of the spatial distribution of selected phenomena

Why make maps?

To represent a larger area than we can see To show a phenomenon or process we cant see with our eyes To present information concisely To show spatial relationships

Represent a larger area

Show what we cant see

Present info concisely

Show spatial relationships

How do we read maps?

Maps are selective views of reality Size of the map relative to reality (scale) Whats on the map (symbolization) Shape of the map (projection)

Map scale
Ratio of the distance on the map to the distance on the ground Scale is a fraction Larger area covered means larger denominator Larger denominator means smaller fraction So a large-scale map covers a small area

Large-scale

Small-scale

Map scale
Ratio of the distance on the map to the distance on the ground 1. Graphic:

Stays the same when photocopied Might not be right for the whole map

Map scale
2. Verbal: 1 inch equals 10 miles Easy to understand Can change if photocopied

Map scale
3. Representative fraction or ratio: 1:24,000 Units dont matter Can change if photocopied

Map symbolization
Symbols are a code instead of text Three kinds: point, line, area Consider shape, size, orientation, pattern, color, value

Point symbols
Every symbol counts as one occurrence Qualitative points Indicate location Can also describe that location Quantitative points Show a distribution Indicate a value (graduated symbols)

Indicate location Describe location

Show a distribution

Indicate a value

Line symbols
One-dimensional Mostly taken for granted (borders, roads) Isolines connect same values Flow-line maps indicate value by width of line

Isolines (Contour lines)

Flow-line maps

Area symbols
Each territory or region has one value Differences in kind Differences in value Choropleth maps Usually, darker indicates more Cartograms distort area to show value

Differences in kind

Differences in kind

Differences in value (Choropleth)

ADVANCED CARTOGRAPHY
Labels Map Making Metadata file

Why Metadata?

Metadata makes spatial information more useful to all types of users by

Making it easier to document and locate data sets.

The growing availability of data of all kinds from many different sources has helped GIS technology become more useful and widely adopted With metadata support, data producers can publish information about data, and data consumers can search for the data they need.

Why Metadata? (Cont)

Spatial data is important for GIS- it is important to know if the data will meet users needs Data users need metadata to locate appropriate data sets Metadata provides information about the data available within an organization or from

Catalog services Clearinghouses Other external sources

Metadata not only helps find data, but once data has been found, it also tells how to interpret and use data Publishing metadata facilitates data sharing Sharing data between organizations stimulates cooperation and a coordinated, integrated approach to spatially related policy issues.

Metadata and GIS Management

From a data management perspective, metadata is important for maintaining an organization's investment in spatial data Metadata benefits an organization in the following ways:

Provides an inventory of data assets Helps determine and maintain the value of data Helps you determine the reliability and currency of data Supports decision making Documents legal issues Helps keep data accurate and helps verify accuracy to support good decision making and cost savings Helps determine budgets because it provides a clearer understanding of when or if data needs to be updated or repurchased

What is Metadata?

Metadata is a summary document providing

Content Quality Type Creation Spatial information about a data set Text file Extensible Markup Language (XML) database record

It can be stored in any format:

Metadata is more easily shareable (Small size) By creating metadata and sharing it with others, information about existing data becomes readily available to anyone seeking it Metadata makes data discovery easier and reduces data duplication ESRI stores metadata with the data set it details and may additionally index metadata in a central database for sharing ESRI software uses the XML standard for metadata processing.

Metadata Standards

In United States, FGDC (Federal Geographic Data Committee) Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Published in 1998.

The International Organization for Standardization has also created a spatial metadata standard-- ISO

ESRI Supported Metadata

For both the FGDC and ISO standards, ESRI provides a set of tools.

A metadata editor Style sheets that present the metadata in various report formats A synchronizer that automatically records a data set's properties in the appropriate metadata elements for that standard

ESRI Supported Metadata

Metadata services are built on the functionality of three existing ESRI products. The ArcGIS ArcCatalog application is used for creating and authoring metadata and sending to a metadata service. ArcIMS and ArcSDE

ArcIMS hosts the metadata service ArcSDE is the interface to the relational database that stores metadata documents.

ArcCatalog, Metadata Explorer, Web browsers, or Z39.50 clients can access metadata stored in a metadata service.

Authoring Metadata

ArcCatalog automatically captures some core metadata and updates metadata automatically when possible, e.g.

spatial extent and coordinate system can be automatically supplied. ArcCatalog automatically attaches metadata to the data set to ensure integrity ArcCatalog will fill in as much information as it can using the data's properties when the data changes

ArcCatalog can send data to the ArcIMS metadata service, which requires at least the following metadata items:

Title Publisher Spatial extent Data theme

Content type

Supported Data Types

ArcGIS has been designed to create metadata for any data set supported/created by ArcGIS as well as any other data set identified and cataloged by the user (e.g., text, CAD files, scripts). Supported data sets include the following: ArcInfo coverages ESRI shapefiles CAD drawings Images GRIDs TINs PC ARC/INFO coverages ArcSDE geodatabases Personal ArcSDE Maps Workspaces Folders Layers NFO tables dBASE tables DBMS tables Projections Text files Programming scripts

Publishing Metadata

The ArcIMS metadata service makes metadata created with ArcCatalog available on the Internet. The ArcIMS metadata service uses an ArcSDE database as the repository into which all published metadata documents are stored.

Digital Communication Standards

ESRI software creates metadata in XML format XML is a metamarkup language

but unlike HTML, it describes structured data content rather than display properties XML is an open industry standard: platform neutral and oriented to publishing and distributing information through Internet Any metadata published in valid XML will be accepted by any metadata service.

Z39.50 is an open, well-established communications protocol for information sharing on wide area networks

Clients and servers can send and receive requests and responses using the Z39.50 protocol.

The FGDC uses Z39.50 to implement the NSDI Clearinghouse, which enables searches for spatial data over the Internet.