Chapter three Cartography (SEng3141)

CHAPTER THREE
3. Map projection concept and application
A map is a representation to scale of either the whole earth or a portion of it on a plane
surface. Maps are effective means for recording and communicating information about
the environment. Besides depicting various features of the earth, it has a network of
parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude. Most importantly they preserve the
locational attributes of the information. i.e. they show the relationship between the one
feature and another. The parallels and meridians serve as co-ordinates for locating the
absolute positions of the various points on the ground. They are known as geographic co-
ordinates. For the organization and planning for cartographic production the entire task is
divided into two parts.

1. Cartographic work for Map Preparation (scale, layout, format, interpretation, plotting,
map finalization, printing etc.
2. Map Reproduction (to generate multiple copies of map)
3.1 Cartographic work for Map Preparation

During the process of map-making, the map should follow the characteristics of globe. It
is not possible to retain all the globe characteristics in a single map. So what ever is
possible try to retain, depending upon your requirement and accordingly projection is
selected.
3.1.1 Globe Characteristics
On a globe, features from the earth surface – their shape, the area they occupy and the
distance and direction between them are correctly shown. An ideal map projection retains
all of these characteristics and translates them to the map. The characteristics of an ideal
map should be:

1) Conformality
The retention of correct shape of earth feature on the map is called Conformality. i.e. map
features can be recognized by their distinctive shapes. Conformality also allows the
accurate recording of direction. The requirement for a conformal map are that the lines of

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latitudes and longitudes must cross one another at right angles and the scale must be the
same in all the directions at any given point. It is true only for the small area.
Mercator projection
Lambert Conformal Conic
Transverse Mercator
Mercator projection is designed in such a way that the North-South scale changes at the
same rate as the east-west scale. This means scale of Mercator is same in all the
directions at the given point on the map.
2) Equivalence (Equal Area)
When a map is produced on equal area projection, a unit area drawn on it always
represent the same number of square kilometers (sq km) on the earth’s surface. To retain
equivalence, any scale changes that occur in one direction must be compensated by
suitable changes of scale in opposite direction depending upon the position on earth.
e.g. a) Albers Equal Area Projection
b) Sinusoidal Projection
In the Sinusoidal Projection the scale is true along the central meridian and each parallel,
which gives the projection its equal area characteristics.
3) Distance: (Equidistant Projection)
Correct distance relationship require that the length of a straight line between two points
on the map represents the correct great circle distance between the same points on the
earth.
e.g. Azimuthal Equidistant Project
All the points on Azimuthal Equidistant Projection are plotted at their distance from the
center of the projection and are in their true globe direction or azimuth from the center.
# Distance relationship other than those measured from the center of the projection is
increasingly distorted away from the central point.
4) Direction
When a projection retains correct direction, a straight-line drawn between two points on
the map shows the correct Azimuth of the line.
An azimuth is an angle formed at the starting point of a straight line in relation to
meridian.
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e.g. Gnomonic Projection

Here spacing of the graticule increases rapidly away from the center of the projection
resulting in an increasingly exaggerated scale.
3.1.2. Cartographic Database generation

Cartographic database is generated mostly using Topographical maps as a base. Large-

scale maps of 1:50,000 pertaining to the study area are either placed on digitizing board
or scanned for base layer generation. The information present on maps like administrative
boundaries, settlement locations, transport network (rail and roads), drainage and rivers,
forest area, wastelands, marshy lands etc are traced as a separate layer using CADD
software. The entire data is edited for any errors and formatted into a common projection
system. This information is used as base for map preparation using aerial or satellite data
interpretation.
3.1.3. Format, Layout and Map Preparation
Using a map produced in foreign country involves the same general techniques as using a
map produced in one’s own country. One has to take care of certain things during
preparation of any map so that any one can read and get information from it. The map
should not be prepared in such a way that it is readable to local people but not readable to
others. When map is printed in an unfamiliar language, map content is more difficult to
comprehend without the clues. Even when language problems are absent other obstacles
to map use of include the use of unusual signs and symbols, alternative locational system
or measurement expressed in uncommon units.
Keeping above facts in the mind, a mapmaker should follow international conventional
technique while making any map. These include:
a) Language:
Map use and interpretation is difficult when the place names, legend and other map
Information is printed in unfamiliar language. It is better to use Roman alphabets so that
user can simply translate the terms of interest into English. If it is not possible to use the
common language then try to make a glossary of all the unfamiliar terms and provide it
along the map. This will help the user to un-code the unfamiliar terms used in the map.
’

b) Map Scale and Contour Interval:

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Depending upon the theme and area for which map has to be prepared, scale and contour
interval is selected. In general a proper scale is just sufficiently large to permit all desired
features to be shown clearly and all boundaries to be scaled with the desired accuracy.
For engineering and survey map scale should be less than 10,000.
The proper choice of contour interval for topographic survey depends upon the slopes of
the land to be represented, the scale of the map and purpose of the survey. In hilly region,
if the contour interval is very small in relation to scale, the contour lines become so
crowded and hide other information.
For most general purpose and field conditions, the contour interval should be taken as:
For Large Scale ranging from 1’’ to 10’ – 1’’ to 100’ – CI can be ½’, 1’, 2’ or 5’.
For Intermediate Scale ranging from 1’’to 100’ – 1’’ to 1000’ – CI can be 1’, 2’, 5’ or
10’.

c) Locational System (Coordinate System):

There are two basic systems for designating locations on the map. One system involves
the use of Latitude and Longitude graticule and other involves the use of state plane
rectangular grid system.
Either of the two locational systems can be used. The mapping area should be given
correct coordinate system, which is further subdivided into small graticule. E.g. on
1:50,000-scale map, the outer boundaries of both latitude and longitude vary by 15
minutes. This can be further subdivided into 5 minutes graticule. This method of defining
location is being used internationally and hence one should follow the same technique
during the preparation of map.
d) Plotting the features from Aerial Photograph or Surveyed data:
Once the format and scale of the map is decided, the next step is plotting the map. This is
the process of transferring the surveyed data to the map. In the preparation of the
topographical maps, the first plotting task is to define accurately the position of the
control points on the map. This is best accomplished by preparing a rectangular grid and
plotting each traverse

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point by means of its computed coordinates. The plotting of other details including
contour can be done with the use of circular protractor. A measuring scale can also be
used to locate the points. Features from aerial photographs can be identified and mapped
using various interpretation keys such as size, shape, pattern, association, shadow, tone,
texture, association and resolution.
One should check the correct relationship between the features after the process of
plotting.

e) Putting other Marginal Information of Maps:

The next step is to finalize the map by putting marginal information of maps. These
include:
Title: a title of map usually provides the following information:
- The organization for which the map is made.
- The name of the theme that has been mapped.
- The name of the person doing drafting.
- The place or office where map is drawn.
- The date of survey and compilation.
- Scale both numerical and graphical.
Proper font and size should also be used different headings. The size of the letter should
be consistent with the size of the drawing. A general tendency with beginners is to make
the title too bold, with letters too large or weight of the lines too heavy. Another common
fault is too much space between the lines, which gives the title a loose disjointed
appearance. A direction of north arrow should also be given on the map.
f) Symbols and Colors:
Symbols are used to portray various features on maps. Different draftsman may use
different symbols to represent the same features. However, it is desirable that the most
common features should be represented by symbols that are widely accepted and
understood. Since scale of the map vary, the size and pattern of symbols will vary
somewhat to suit the scale of the map. Care must be taken in executing the symbols so
that they don’t obscure the other features on the map. The color should not be irritating to
eye and should be logical. On topographical maps, the common color used for different

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features are:
Black – Administrative boundaries, rail, lettering
Brown – contour, hachures.
Blue: water features – rivers, streams, ponds, lakes etc.
Green: Vegetation
Red: Roads, Settlements etc.
g) Legend:
Proper legend should be designed at the bottom of the map to give clues and description
of each feature shown on the map. Same symbols and colors should be followed both in
map and legend to avoid confusion.
h) Map Accuracy:
The map thus prepared should follow the standard map accuracy.
Horizontal Accuracy: the acceptable horizontal error should not be more than 1/50 for
the map prepared on 1:25,000 scales and it should not be more than 1/100 for maps
prepared on 1:50,000 scale.
Vertical Accuracy: 90% of the all elevations interpolated from the map should not be
more than one half of the contour interval.

3.2 Geometric and Mathematical Relationship of earths coordinates

3.2.1 Mathematical, Equivalent Projections
The property of equivalency is often the overriding concern in thematic cartography. Two
mathematically derived, pseudo cylindrical equal area projections are presented here as
good choices when depicting the entire world on one map.
Note that no world equal area projection on a single sheet can avoid considerable shape
distortion, especially along the peripheries of the map.
The Mollweide projection, named after Carl B. Mollweide who developed it in 1805
(Environmental Systems Research Institute 2007), is widely used for mapping world
distributions. Its standard parallels are 40° 44' N and S. The central meridian is one-half
the length of the equator and drawn perpendicular to it. Parallels are straight lines parallel
to the equator but are not drawn with lengths true to scale, except for the standard
parallels. Each parallel, however, is divided equally along its length. The parallels are
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spaced along the central meridian to achieve equivalency. The elliptical shape of the
projection gives a kind of global feel to the projection, which some designers find
pleasing as long as one can accept the distortion along the peripheries. Very similar to the
Mollweide is the Hammer projection. The Hammer projection, developed in Germany in
1892, was for many years erroneously called the Aitoff projection (Steers 1962).
Nonetheless some software packages refer to this projection as the Hammer-Aitoff
projection. The principal difference between this projection and the Mollweide is that the
Hammer has curved parallels. This curvature results in less oblique intersections of
meridians and parallels at the extremities, and thus reduces shape distortions in these
areas. The outline (that is, the ellipses forming the outermost meridians) is identical to the
Mollweide. Hammer’s projection also is quite acceptable for mapping world
distributions. A comparison of it with the Mollweide shows little difference. Because the
parallels are curved, east-west exaggeration at the poles is less on the Hammer than on
the Mollweide. This is most notable when comparing the Antarctica landmasses. Africa is
less stretched along the north-south axis on the Hammer. Overall, however, these
projections are very similar in appearance and attributes.
Interrupted Projections; One solution to minimize distortion is to make an interrupted
projection of the world. Many of the previously mentioned world projections can be
turned into an interrupted projection.
Table of guide to the employment of projections for world-, continental-, and country-
scale thematic maps

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Cylindrical Projections
This last category in World Projections is more of an acknowledgement that many
cylindrical (also called rectangular) projections have been produced and used throughout
cartographic history rather than a recommendation or endorsement for their use in world
thematic mapping.
Gall-Peters Projection; Special consideration is devoted here to what has become known
as the Gall-Peters projection , primarily to stimulate the cartographic designer to look
further into the literature, and partly because of the controversy surrounding its use (see

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the following Figure ). In recent times, probably no other map projection has received as
much attention in both the scientific and popular literature.

Figure of the winkel tripel projection

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Figure of the gall-peters projection

3.3 Map Projection and Projection Surfaces

3.3.1 Projected Coordinate Systems

As we have seen so far, all projections involve coordinate systems, such as the decimal
degree coordinates that are so common in mapping and setting projection parameters.
Another option for mapping is to use a related but yet distinct concept of the projected
coordinate system, which combines the projection process with the parameters of a
particular grid (Iliffe 2000). There are a number of national, state, and county level
projected coordinate systems. For this text, we will focus on the State Plane and
Universal Transverse Mercator coordinate systems due to the sheer volume of
downloadable data available in these systems. Selecting one of these systems as a
projection choice can be effective for many mapping applications, particularly maps with
scales at the state level and larger.

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3.3.2 State Plane Coordinate (SPC) System

The original State Plane coordinate system was developed in the early 1930s by the then
United States Coast and Geodetic Survey (USCGS), now the National Ocean Service
(National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 1989). It was devised so that local
engineers, surveyors, and others could tie their work into the reference then used, the
Clarke ellipsoid of 1866, which was used in the North American Datum (NAD) of 1927
but has since been migrated to the North American Datum (NAD) of 1983. What they
desired was a simple rectangular coordinate system on which easy plane geometry and
trigonometry could be applied for surveying, because working with spherical coordinates
was cumbersome. Earlier we mentioned that if the area of the Earth being mapped is
small enough, virtually no distortion exists. This is the principle behind the SPC system.
To ensure stated accuracies of less than one part in 10,000, the states are partitioned into
a series of zones (see the following Figure). In the continental United States, these zones
are elongated either in the north-south direction or the east-west direction. Many states
have two or three zones, a few states have only a single zone; Alaska, California, Hawaii,
Texas, and Wyoming have four or more zones. Each zone is assigned its own coordinate
systems with its own origin and its own projection. There are three conformal projections
used to map the states—the secant case of the Lambert Conformal Conic for zones with
elongated east-west dimensions, the secant case of the Transverse Mercator for zones
with elongated north south dimensions, and the secant case of the Oblique Mercator for
one section of Alaska. In each case, over small areas these projections essentially project
as rectangular grids, with little or no areal and distance distortion. Because they are
conformal, no angular distortion between the meridians and parallels is present.
The projection’s parameters are then adjusted for each zone. For example, a zone
employing the Lambert Conformal

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Figure of the zones of the state plane coordinate system

3.3.3 Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) System

The Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) system, along with the Universal Polar
Stereographic System (for polar regions), was created after World War II by several
allied nations in order to produce a unified and consistent coordinate system after years of
attempting to trade information in disparate coordinate systems. The United States
military soon followed with its own adaptation of the UTM system (Van Sickle 2004).
We will be following the civilian use of the system. The UTM system is not quite as
accurate as the State Plane system, with accuracies as large as one part in 2,500 (Van
Sickle 2004). But the increased coverage and overall acceptance of the system has had a
major impact on the mapping community. Many U.S. states, for example, distribute much

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of their public domain spatial data in UTM format (usually NAD27 or NAD83 datum),
which can be easily loaded into GIS and mapping software, where the projection, datum,
and/ or the projection’s parameters can be adjusted if need be.

Figure of the universal transverse mercator system

3.4 TYPES OF MAP PROJECTIONS

Local surveys are usually computed in plane metric coordinates. These coordinates are
obtained by mapping the reference ellipsoid to the plane by applying one of the well-
known map projections. The surveyor mainly works in this plane coordinate system (x or
northings, y or easting’s). The coordinates of surveyed objects, obtained by using, for
example, EDM equipment and theodolites, are most easily computed by applying plane
computation formulae.
Air navigation, on the other hand, operates using geographic coordinates (latitude,
longitude). Therefore the problem is to derive geographic coordinates as a function of
plane coordinates. This problem can be solved by applying the inverse map projection

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formulae to the easting’s and northings. Application of inverse map projection requires
that the type of national map projection be clearly defined in mathematical terms.
Projections can be classified as mapping of the earth onto the plane of:
A. an azimuthal plane;
B. a tangent cone; or
C. a tangent cylinder.
Plane, cone and cylinder can be in a normal, transverse or oblique position attached to the
earth. In addition, the surfaces of the plane, cone and cylinder can intersect the ellipsoid
(or sphere) so that there are two lines of contact. These projections are called secant
projections.

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