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Question No.1 What are Datums ?

A geodetic datum is the tool used to define the shape and size of the earth, as well as the reference point for the various coordinate systems used in mapping the earth. Throughout time, hundreds of different datums have been used - each one changing with the earth views of the times. True geodetic datums however, are only those which appeared after the 1700s. Prior to that, the earth's ellipsoidal shape was not always taken into consideration, as many still believed it was flat. Since most datums today are used for measuring and showing large portions of the earth, an ellipsoidal model is essential.

The Vertical and Horizontal Datums


Today, there are hundreds of different datums in use; but, they are all either horizontal or vertical in their orientation. The horizontal datum is the one that is used in measuring a specific position on the earth's surface in coordinate systems such as latitude and longitude. Because of the different local datums (i.e. those having different reference points) the same position can have many different geographic coordinates so it is important to know which datum the reference is in. The vertical datum measures the elevations of specific points on the earth. This data is gathered via tides with sea level measurements, geodetic surveying with different ellipsoid models used with the horizontal datum, and gravity, measured with the geoid. The data is then depicted on maps as some height above sea level. For reference, the geoid is a mathematical model of the earth measured with gravity that corresponds with the mean ocean surface level on the earth- such as if the water were extended over the land. Because the surface is highly irregular however, there are different local geoids that are used to get the most accurate mathematical model possible for use in measuring vertical distances.

Commonly Used Datums


As previously mentioned, there are many datums in use around the world today. Some of the most commonly used datums are those of the World Geodetic System, the North American Datums, those of the Ordinance Survey of Great Britain, and the European Datum; however, this is by no means an exhaustive list. Within the World Geodetic System (WGS), there are several different datums that have been in use throughout the years. These are WGS 84, 72, 70, and 60. The WGS 84 is currently the one in use for this system and is valid until 2010. In addition, it is one of the most widely used datums around the world. In the 1980s, the United States Department of Defense used the Geodetic Reference System, 1980 (GRS 80) and Doppler satellite images to create a new, more accurate world geodetic system. This

became what is known today as WGS 84. In terms of reference, WGS 84 uses what is called the "zero meridian" but because of the new measurements, it shifted 100 meters (0.062 miles) from the previously used Prime Meridian. Similar to WGS 84 is the North American Datum 1983 (NAD 83). This is the official horizontal datum for use in the North and Central American geodetic networks. Like WGS 84, it is based on the GRS 80 ellipsoid so the two have very similar measurements. NAD 83 was also developed using satellite and remote sensing imagery and is the default datum on most GPS units today. Prior to NAD 83 was NAD 27, a horizontal datum constructed in 1927 based on the Clarke 1866 ellipsoid. Though NAD 27 was in use for many years and still appears on United States topographic maps, it was based on a series of approximations with the geodetic center being based at Meades Ranch, Kansas. This point was chosen because it is near the geographic center of the contiguous United States. Also similar to WGS 84 is the Ordinance Survey of Great Britain 1936 (OSGB36) as the latitude and longitude positions of points are the same in both datums. However, it is based on the Airy 1830 ellipsoid as it shows Great Britain, its primary user, the most accurately. The European Datum 1950 (ED50) is the datum used for showing much of Western Europe and was developed after World War II when a reliable system of mapping borders was needed. It was based on the International Ellipsoid but changed when GRS80 and WGS84 were put into use. Today ED50's latitude and longitude lines are similar to WGS84 but the lines do become farther apart on ED50 when moving toward Eastern Europe. When working with these or other map datums, it is important to always be aware of which datum a particular map is referenced in because often there are large differences in terms of distance between place to place on each different datum. This "datum shift" can then cause problems in terms of navigation and/or in trying to locate a specific place or object as a user of the wrong datum can sometimes be hundreds of meters from their desired position. Whichever datum is used however, they represent a powerful geographic tool but are most important in cartography, geology, navigation, surveying, and sometimes even astronomy. In fact, "geodesy" (the study of measurement and Earth representation) has become its own subject within the field of earth sciences.
Question No.2 . Define Map Projections ?

Map Projections

Basic Principles

Although for many mapping applications the earth can be assumed to be a perfect sphere, there is a difference between the distance around the earth between the poles versus the equator. The circumference of the earth is about 1/300th smaller around the poles. This type of figure is termed an oblate ellipsoid or spheroid, and is the three-dimensional shape obtained by rotating

an ellipse about its shorter axis. An estimate of the earths surface based on an ellipsoid provides a determination of the elevation of every point on the earths surface, including sea level, and is often called a datum. Over time, and in different countries, many datums have been developed and used. With more accurate means of measurement today (i.e. satellite and GPS), recent datums are referenced from the center of the earth rather than a theoretical surface. The resulting North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83)and the slightly refined World Geodetic System (WGS84), from the U.S. Military in 1984, are internationally accepted as the geodetic reference system (GRS 80). Geographic Coordinates simply refers to the system of latitude and longitude. This coordinate system is formed by creating a grid using the equator as 0 degrees and forming parallels of latitude to the north and south (90 degrees N is the North Pole, 90 degrees S is the South Pole), and meridians of longitude east and west (which meet at 180 degrees, commonly called the International Date Line) of the "Prime Meridian" which passes through Greenwich, England. Map projections are used to transfer or project geographical coordinates onto a flat surface.

The easiest way to try to transfer the information onto a flat surface is to convert the geographic coordinates into an X and Y coordinate system, where x is longitude and y is latitude. This is an example of projecting onto a plane. Coordinates can also be "projected" onto two other flat surfaces, a cylinder or cone, and then unfolded into a map. The grid formed by the latitude and longitude on a map is called the graticule. There are thousands of different map projections all depending on how they intersect earths surface and how they are oriented. For example, the line of latitude or longitude where a projection intersects or cuts the earths surface is called the point of contact, or standard line, where distortion is minimized. Orientations of the three shapes can also vary between equatorial (standard lines of latitude), transverse (standard lines of longitude), and oblique (standard line other than

latitude or longitude). In addition, each projection effects the distance, area, and angle relationships of the earth surface as portrayed on the map. Ideally, these factors would be consistent to the relationships on the real earth. Unfortunately, some relationships are always distorted.

Types of Projections

An azimuthal or planar projection is usually tangent to a specific point on earths surface, but may also be secant. This point, or focus, may be a pole, the equator, or other oblique point. Normally though, the azimuthal projection is used for polar charts due to distortion at other latitudes. A cylindrical projection usually places the earth inside a cylinder with the equator tangent or secant to the inside of the cylinder. If the cylinder is placed perpendicular to the axis of the earth, the resulting projection is called a transverse projection.

In a conic projection, a cone is placed over the earth, normally tangent to one or more lines of latitude. This tangent line is called a standard parallel and, in general, distortion increases the further away you get from this line. A conic projection works best over mid latitudes for this reason. Mathematical map projections are not based on developable surface, but often specify a direct mathematical projection from a spheroid onto a flat surface. These types of map projections can change for different parts or regions of the world in order to reduce certain distortions. They can also be formed by merging other projections in order to get the best of each.

Projection Distance, Area, and Shape

Equal area projections preserve the property of area. On an equivalent projection all parts of the earth's surface are shown with the correct area. However, latitudinal distances are never accurate. Conformal projections preserve right angles between lines of latitude and longitude and are primarily used because they preserve direction. Area is always distorted on conformal maps. Because of GISs emphasis on cartographic shapes, GIS systems often use conformal projections. Some projections only preserve correct distance relationships along a few lines on the map. For example, an Equidistant azimuthal projection has the distance to the outside of the map portrayed correctly. These are seldom used in GIS. A final category is compromise maps. They may be the average of two or more projections or interrupted or broken in order to minimize certain distortions.

Common GIS Projections

Mercator- A conformal, cylindrical projection tangent to the equator. Originally created to display accurate compass bearings for sea travel. An additional feature of this projection is that all local shapes are accurate and clearly defined. Transverse Mercator - Similar to the Mercator except that the cylinder is tangent along a meridian instead of the equator. The result is a conformal projection that minimizes distortion along a north-south line, but does not maintain true directions. Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Based on a Transverse Mercator projection centered in the middle of zones that are 6 degrees in longitude wide. These zones have been created throughout the world. Lambert Conformal Conic A conic, confromal projection typically intersecting parallels of latitude, standard parallels, in the northern hemisphere. This projection is one of the best for middle latitudes because distortion is lowest in the band between the standard parallels. It is similar to the Albers Conic Equal Area projection except that the Lambert Conformal Conic projection portrays shape more accurately than area. State Plane A standard set of projections for the United States o based on either the Lambert Conformal Conic or transverse mercator projection, depending on the orientation of each state. Large states commonly require several state plane zones. Lambert Equal Area - An equidistant, conic projection similar to the Lambert Conformal Conic that preserves areas. Albers Equal Area Conic - This conic projection uses two standard parallels to reduce some of the distortion of a projection with one standard parallel. Shape and linear scale distortion are minimized between standard parallels.

Question No.3. Georeferencing and Why it is needed ?

The term georeferencing means the process of connecting a geodataset with spatial reference informaton (coordinates). Raw raster data normally does not have a relation to a coordinate system. This can be, for example, a scanned map or an aerial photo. So, this map or photo needs to be adapted into a coordinate system. Spatial adjustment is not possible, since the dataset does not have a coordinate system at all. By means of visible points in the photo which real coordinates are well-known - so called ground control points - the whole aerial photo is transformed into the coordinate system. After that, the coordinates of every point in the picture are available. If it is a scanned map and no specified points are available, also the intersections of the coordinate grid can be used as reference points. After the georeferencing process, the picture may be combined with any georefered dataset by transforming into another coordinate system by spatial adjustment. To georefer a map image or an aerial photo or any similar dataset, at least three ground control points are necessary. If more than three points are known, the errors of the transformation process can be reduced. With more than three ground control points, an RMS value can be calculated for every point. RMS means Root Mean Square and signifies the calculated error for every point. The bigger the RMS-value the worse the match of the real life point with the calculated coordinates point. A RMS-value will be high if the coordinates of the corresponding point are wrong or inexact, and therefore, this point should be removed from the transformation process. For this reason, it is important to have more than three ground control points. If not, errors won't be detected.
With more than three points, an RMS-value will appear in either case, but if it is quite small, is can be ignored. The following image shows the process of georeferencing a

picture. By help of 5 ground control points, the aerial photo is transformed into a georefered photo:

Question No.4. Digital Elevation Model and Digital Terrain Model ? Difference between Digital Elevation Model and Digital Terrain Model ? A digital elevation model (DEM) is defined as "any digital representation of the continuous variation of relief over space,"Elevation data can be represented digitally in many ways, including a gridded model where elevation is estimated for each cell in a regular grid, a triangular irregular network, and contours. Representation of the DEM as a grid is quite common, as this format lends itself well to computer computations .

the term digital elevation model or DEM is frequently used to refer to any digital representation of a topographic surface however, most often it is used to refer specifically to a raster or regular grid of spot heights . Digital terrain model or DTM may actually be a more generic term for any digital representation of a topographic surface, but it is not so widely used The DEM is the simplest form of digital representation of topography and the most common . A variety of DEMs are available, including coverage of much of the US from the US Geological Survey . The resolution, or the distance between adjacent grid points, is a critical parameter The best resolution commonly available is 30 m, with a vertical resolution of 1 m. The coverages of the entire globe, including the ocean floor, can be obtained at various resolutions Digital Terrain Model

Digital Terrain Model (DTM)1

A digital terrain model is a topographic model of the bare earth terrain relief that can be manipulated by computer programs. The data files contain the spatial elevation data of the terrain in a digital format which usually presented as a rectangular grid. Vegetation, buildings and other man-made (artificial) features are removed digitally - leaving just the underlying terrain ( on the other hand, Digital Surface Model (DSM) is usually the main product produced from photogrammetry, where it does contain all the features mentioned above, while a filtered DSM results in a DTM). DTM model is mostly related as raster data type (opposed to vector data type), stored usually as a rectangular equal-spaced grid, with space (resolution) of between 50 and 500 meters mostly presented in cartesian coordinate system i.e. x, y, z (there are DTMs presented in geographic coordinate system i.e. angular coordinates of latitude and longitude). For several applications a higher resolution is required (as high as 1 meter spacing). A DTM can be used to guide automatic machinery in the construction of a physical model or even in computer games, where is describes the relief map. Modeling terrain relief via DTM is a powerful tool in GIS (Geographic Information System) analysis and visualization. DTM can be stored in a GIS databases in several ways: 1) a set of contour vectors (left); 2) a rectangular grid of equal-spaced corner/point heights (middle); or, 3) an irregularly spaced set of points connected as triangles (TIN - Triangular Irregular Network) (right). The DTM data sets are extremely useful for the generation of 3D renderings of any location in the area described. 3D models rendered from DTM data can be extremely useful and versatile for a variety of applications. DTMs are used especially in civil engineering, geodesy & surveying,geophysics, and geography. The main applications are: 1. Visualization of the terrain 2. Reduction (terrain correction) of gravity measurements (gravimetry, physical geodesy) 3. Terrain analyses in Cartography and Morphology 4. Rectification of airborne or satellite photos 5. Extraction of terrain parameters, model water flow or mass Movement Difference Between Digital Elevation Model and Digital Terrain Model :
Digital Elevation Model (DEM) - A 3-D model of the earth's surface represented by masspoints and breaklines. Less rigorous (not as densely collected) than a DTM. A DEM does not support contour modeling and is primarily used for orthorectification of aerial photography to the earth's surface. Digital Terrain Model (DTM) - A more rigorous 3-D model of the earth's surface

than a DEM. A DTM can be used for accurate contour modeling and can also be used for orthorectification.

A DEM is a 'bare earth' elevation model, unmodified from its original data source (such as lidar, ifsar, or an autocorrelated photogrammetric surface) which is supposedly free of vegetation, buildings, and other 'non ground' objects. A DSM is an elevation model that includes the tops of buildings, trees, powerlines, and any other objects. Commonly this is seen as a canopy model and only 'sees' ground where there is nothing else overtop of it. A DTM is effectively a DEM that has been augmented by elements such as breaklines and observations other than the original data to correct for artifacts produced by using only the original data. This is often done by using photogrammetrically derived linework introduced into a DEM surface. An example is hydro-flattening commonly seen in elevation models done to FEMA specifications Incidentally, a DEM is far cheaper to produce an a DTM.
Question No.5. Define Edge Matching, Mosaicing and Remote Sensing ?

Edge-matching
Edge matching is a procedure to adjust the position of features extending across map sheet boundaries. This function ensures that all features that cross adjacent map sheets have the same edge locations. Links are used when matching features in adjacent coverages.

Remote Sensing : Remote sensing can be broadly defined as the collection and interpretation of information about an object, area, or event without being in physical contact with the object. Aircraft and satellites are the common platforms for remote sensing of the earth and its natural resources. Aerial photography in the visible portion of the electromagnetic wavelength was the original form of remote sensing but technological developments has enabled the acquisition of information at other wavelengths including near infrared, thermal infrared and microwave. Collection of information over a large numbers of wavelength bands is referred to as multispectral or hyperspectral data. The development and deployment of manned and unmanned satellites has enhanced the collection of remotely sensed data and offers an inexpensive way to obtain information over large areas. The capacity of remote sensing to identify and monitor land surfaces and environmental conditions has expanded greatly over the last few years and remotely sensed data will be an essential tool in natural resource management.
Mosaicking :

Image Mosaics are assemblage of minute Images which are joined in such a way that if anyone sees the image from a distance it appears a larger image. The arrangement of small Images may be manual or automatic. In Image Mosaics color is adjusted automatically.

Creating Image Mosaics follows the following steps:

Choosing an image: Choice depends on the person who is performing the Image Mosaics or the purpose of Image Mosaics . Juxtapositioning Images at various scales is one of the attractive feature of Image Mosaics . Another factor is distribution of colors. Uniform distribution of colors in Images are more suitable for Image Mosaics .

Finding a tilling pattern: Keeping in mind about the type of tilling to be used in the Image Mosaics , the image tiles can be arranged. The simplest pattern is semiregular rectangular grids. For traditional halftoning, hexagonal grids are used. The pattern which matches the given target image best is the most suitable target pattern. The image tiles after being arranged in a rectangular grid have the same aspect ratio.

Arranging the image tiles: After the grid of tilling have been selected, the tiles can be arranged in different ways for creating Image Mosaics

References : http://www.surdex.com/MappingGlossary.aspx http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/5701/what-is-the-difference-between-demdsm-and-dtm http://www.wiley.com/legacy/wileychi/gis/Volume1/BB1v1_ch19.pdf http://rockyweb.cr.usgs.gov/outreach/sgu/datumnotes.html http://www.nauticalcharts.noaa.gov/csdl/learn_datum.html http://kartoweb.itc.nl/geometrics/Map%20projections/Understanding%20Map %20Projections.pdf http://maps.unomaha.edu/Peterson/gis/notes/MapProjCoord.html http://maps.unomaha.edu/Peterson/gis/notes/GISAnal1.html http://gis.mapsofworld.com/remote-sensing/image-mosaics.html

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