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ArcView Student Workbook

Backgrounder to Cartographic Conventions

Simply put, cartographic conventions are the "rules" that deal with maps,
specifically the drawing of maps. When you draw a map, you need some
rules to follow so that everyone else in the world can read and understand
the map. These rules or requirements are called cartographic conventions.
For the record, the word cartography means the study and drawing of maps.

So what are these cartographic conventions? Well, they don't necessarily


apply to all the maps you see or draw, but usually they are part of most of
them. It depends on the map and what it's intended for. In any case, all
maps should be NEATLY DRAWN, the LABELLING should be clear and
understandable, there should be a TITLE giving the reader at least a hint of
what the map is about and there should be a SCALE so that distances on
the paper map can be converted to real life distances. A NORTH ARROW
often appears to give the reader an idea as to what direction the map is
oriented. A LEGEND of some kind also usually appears on the map
indicating what the colours, lines, shades and symbols all mean. Some
simple maps may not require a legend. Many maps have a CO-ORDINATE
system on them. For example, most maps in an atlas have the longitude
and latitude grid pattern superimposed over the map.

This type of grid pattern supplies the reader with some kind reference point
so that places on a map have a co-ordinate and can be easily found. Most
maps that you draw (at least those you draw by hand) will not have a grid

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ArcView Student Workbook

pattern, although most computer mapping programs including ArcView will


allow you to add a grid if you wish. Usually the entire mapped area is
enclosed in what is called a MAP FRAME or a BORDER. And finally, all
maps that are commercially drawn are produced using a deliberately
selected MAP PROJECTION.

There you have it, folks, your cartographic conventions.

By way of review then, here's a brief checklist:

a) neatness
b) labels
c) title
d) scale
e) north arrow
f) legend
g) coordinate system
h) map frame/border
i) map projection

The rest of this EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ... concerns itself
with a somewhat more detailed explanation of the above conventions and a
bunch of other stuff about maps. First let's discuss what type of maps there
are for you to pick and choose from. There are a wide variety of maps out
there. We mention a couple of the most common and the ones you'll most
likely be using, drawing and analysing.

The most detailed and common map is the TOPOGRAPHIC map. We=re
sure your teacher has some samples of these maps. All of Canada has been
painstakingly surveyed and then drawn onto topographic maps. They
contain an incredible amount of information. The strong point of a "top"
map is that it shows both the natural and the human characteristics of an
area. This detail is accomplished with a large variety of symbols. One of the
most important aspects of a top map is its ability to show elevation, which is
hard to do on a flat, two dimensional piece of paper. There are several ways
to show elevation on maps. These include spot heights, hachures (shading)
and contour lines. Topographic maps use spot heights, a special kind of spot
height called a bench mark, and contour lines. Contour lines provide an
accurate picture of the topography of the area as they connect all places of
equal elevation.

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ArcView Student Workbook

Topographic maps come in large sheets about the size of a desk. Just
recently these maps are starting to be digitized (or converted into electronic
format) so a computer can get at them. Some analysis of these maps is still
done by hand.

A second type of map and the one a GIS is really all about is a THEMATIC
map. These are also referred to as CHLOROPLETH or RANGED maps,
although technically these are just types of thematic maps. A thematic map
is one that attempts to illustrate a specific amount or type of information
which is its "theme". A political map (for example, a map simply showing
national or provincial boundaries) is an obvious yet important example of a
thematic map. For our purposes in this Workbook a thematic map is more
specific, for example, a map showing where the countries are that have
populations over 50 000 000. Oftentimes a thematic map can be thought of
as a "distribution" map. Thematic maps can be analysed by looking for
patterns or correlations or anomalies (something out of the ordinary). Here
is a short list of other thematic maps commonly found in an atlas:

a) Climate maps
b) Vegetation/soil maps
c) Geological maps
d) Raw Materials maps
e) Road maps

There are a host of other types of maps. Take a moment and brainstorm all
the different types of maps that you can. Ask yourself what specific
information would each one contain.

We have already mentioned what basic elements should go on a map to


make it understandable. Let us briefly expand on what was mentioned
earlier.

a) Neatness

This might also be called "layout". You should ask yourself some basic
questions when you are drawing a map, either by hand or on a computer.
Does your map look nice? (Corny, perhaps, but important.) Is it pleasing to
the eye? Is it easily readable? (Does it get your reason for drawing the map
across to the map user?) Are the labels spread out and not to close to each

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ArcView Student Workbook

other? Are the elements of a map balanced on the sheet of paper or is


everything all stuck in one corner? Among the advantages of creating a
map on a computer is that it can't get dirty, at least not while it's on the
screen, and if you make a mistake it's easy to erase and make the
correction. Here=s what we mean by balance:

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Good Balance Poor Balance

b) Labels

As mentioned above, make sure your labels are neatly spaced apart so they
can easily be read by the map user. Make sure your labels are correctly
labelling what they are suppose to be labelling. Make sure you don't forget
any labels. Watch out for the correct spelling. Finally, the labels should be
consistent with the same colour, the same size ("point size" in computer
talk), and the same shape (or "font"). If you are labelling with symbols,
make sure the symbols are clear, make sense, and are of appropriate size.

Presumably you are using ArcView to make maps, but you should know that
when you draw maps by hand, your labels should always be the same size
and they should only be printed, never written, and using only capital
letters. (Just like in Grade 1. Only neater.)

c) Title

Every map should have a title. Generally speaking the title has a larger
point size than any of the other labelling. Students usually put titles at the
top of their map. This is alright but don't get stuck in a rut. Experiment
with design and layout. Try as well not to make your titles too big. Most
importantly, the title should give the reader a clear indication of what the
map is trying to show. It should also be brief and to the point. Sometimes
writing a title is challenging, much like writing the headline for a newspaper
story.

d) Scale

Since a map represents a part of the entire earth on a small piece of paper,
you need some type of scale to connect the map reader to the real world.
One centimetre on the piece of paper might be equal to five hundred
kilometres in real life. There are three principal ways to show scale on a
map: line scale, statement scale, and representative fraction. Many maps,
like topographic maps, use all three. One of the most useful functions of
scale is to allow you to calculate distances between two or more places. On
most computer mapping programs the scale is calculated for you and your
only job is to place it on the map.

e) North Arrow

Most maps are oriented (drawn) with north at the top of the map sheet. But
in some cases, depending on the type of projection that is used, north may
not be directly to the top and so it is important to put a north arrow on your
map.

On topographic maps there are actually three norths. True North refers to
latitude and longitude; the longitude lines meet at the earth's "true" north
pole. On a top map longitude lines are the edges of the map. Look at the
corners of any top map to see the latitude and longitude. Magnetic North
refers to the fact that the earth's magnetic pole is not in the same place as
the true north pole and as a result a compass needle will not point to true
north. The declination diagram in the border of any top map shows the
difference between true north and magnetic north. And you've probably
noticed the grid of fine blue lines on Canadian top maps. This is the grid
system used on all top maps that provides for really accurate location. (Your
teacher can probably explain more about this.) The vertical lines in the grid
point to the third north, called Grid North. Note that it is not the same as
either true north or magnetic north and that the difference between the
three norths is shown in the declination diagram. Navigating using a top
map or some similar map or chart requires an understanding of the
differences between these three norths.

f) Legend

Let's say you are drawing a map indicating where all the diamond mines are
located in South Africa. Instead of writing the word diamond out a whole
bunch of times, you can just place twenty diamond shaped symbols on your
map. This makes the map less cluttered and visually more fun to look at.
But the legend should contain the same symbol just in case the reader is not
clear as to what the symbol means. Legends are tricky. A common mistake
students have is putting too much in the legend. Some bits of map
information are best labelled directly on the map. Having said that,
however, it is often important to include a legend on the maps you make.
Avoid the other trap of making the legend too large or labelling it "Legend".
It's obvious what it is; there's no need to label it as well. You can often
include some information of what the map is all about in the legend's "title".
Sometimes it is a good idea to include the units that the numbers in the
legend represent, for example if you are mapping Birth Rates and the
numbers represent a figure per 1000 people, you should mention it in the
legend title.

A legend is a necessity when you are drawing a thematic map. You need to
know what the colours mean or the different shades of grey. The colours or
the shading should use a consistent colour, for example different shades of
green. The colours or shades of grey must try to show a progression. The
larger numbers get the darker colour and should begin at the top.

g) Co-ordinate System

As we said before, most maps that you draw don't have any need for a co-
ordinate system, although many of the maps you'll use in daily life have
one. Road maps are the best example. They use a system of letters and
numbers to identify squares on the map in which information (streets or
towns) is located. Topographic maps have as their map frame or border
lines of longitude and latitude, but because the scale is so large on these
maps latitude and longitude are not very useful for locating things on the
map. Besides, degrees of latitude and longitude are broken down into sixty
"minutes" and the minutes are further divided into sixty seconds. Mentally
dividing something into sixty is hard, at least for us. Furthermore, because
of the curving nature of longitude lines, they are never parallel and so the
distance between them is constantly changing and this makes things even
more confusing. Back in the 19th century, as artillery became more
accurate and the military had to be assured of hitting its targets, it became
essential to have a more efficient co-ordinate system. Thus was born the
Universal Transverse Mercator Grid (or UTM for short) also called the
map grid. Assuming you know which top map you are on (and that it is a
1:50 000 scale map), it is possible to locate any place within 100m using a
six digit co-ordinate system. We do not teach the use of the map grid
system here; you'll have to rely on your teacher for that.

h) Map Border

This is fairly straight forward. With some rare exceptions, all the information
on a map should be contained within a frame. This includes the title, the
legend, the map itself and anything else you have added. Sometimes your
map will have more than one map on it and then, of course, both of these
need borders but then the whole sheet still needs a frame.
Remember, the only thing that goes outside of the frame is your name. It
should never go inside it. And always print your name.

i) Projections

A cartographer always has one very fundamental problem to overcome.


And no matter how hard he or she tries, it's never going to be fully
overcome. The problem, of course, is how the heck do you put a three
dimensional surface (the earth) onto a two dimensional surface (a piece of
paper) without some distortion of the earth? Go on, try it yourself, mentally.
Take a basketball and cut it in half (figuratively speaking) so you have two
exact hemispheres. Now try to imagine flattening one of the halves so it
touches the floor evenly everywhere. As you probably can visualize, it can't
be done without cutting or stretching (or both) the half basketball. This is
exactly the problem cartographers face. The problem becomes greater as
more of the earth's surface is mapped. With small areas (that is, large scale
maps), like topographic maps, the distortion issue, while present, is so tiny
as to be irrelevant. But on maps of a continent (small scale maps), it
becomes most annoying. And on maps of the world - well, it's down right
maddening!

Cartographers have tried to overcome this problem by using a variety of


map projections which attempt to reduce the distortion or maintain one or
more of the main map properties, usually at the expense of another.
These map properties are size or area, shape or conformality, and
direction. No map projection can keep all of these 100% accurate across
the entire map sheet. The term "map projection" comes from the concept of
projecting the continental shapes (or whatever) from a clear glass globe
onto a sheet of paper. Depending on how you held the paper (flat, as a
cone, or as a cylinder) and where you positioned the light source (inside the
earth, at the opposite side of the earth, or at an infinite distance), you would
wind up with different images on the paper. This is how cartographers first
mentally visualized how to make maps and is the origin of the expression
"map projection". Now you need to know that no maps were ever actually
made this way. Map projections are actually all mathematically derived.
(Relax, you don't have to know how. We don't, so you don't!) The concept
of "map projection" is merely a way of visualizing and categorizing maps
based on their varying properties and how they are "made".

Cartographers use different types of map projections for different tasks. For
instance, a map in a classroom should try to preserve as much as possible
true shape and true area but it might well sacrifice true direction. On the
other hand, a map used by the navigator of a jet liner flying across the
Pacific Ocean will not have true area as a top concern; the navigator is more
interested in getting the plane to the correct destination with a minimum of
floundering around at 12 000m looking for the right airport.

There are a great number of map projections. Some of them are very
famous, like the Mercator map, first created in 1569 for navigation and still
in use today by navigators on ships and planes. ArcView has a great many
different projections that you can use. Your teacher may provide you with
an activity that gets you to play around with these a bit, but you can
experiment yourself.

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