Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
5- Applications and further developments
How can the above presented concept be applied?
In its present form it is first of all a system for orientation. Different carto-
graphic products can be allocated within the system and its/theirs relation
to other cartographic product categories can be established (see e.g. the red
dots in the different planes along the vertical line in
Figure 9
).
This is more an application of the
principle
. To a more
operative
applica-
tion of the system several steps of development work must be taken.
In first place the “CLASSIFICATION” level most be calibrated. When it
comes to cartographic products along the “Seen - Known”-axis the task is
comparatively simple and mostly the question of “fine tuning”. Even here
is, however, necessary to deal with questions of great importance and
complexity. What do we mean by “seen”? Is it exclusively a physical per-
son´s observation of physical objects in the field? Or does the term include
knowledge acquired through studying photographic or other representa-
tions also? Studying maps, which were compiled by visual observations?
How do we classify these
indirect
visual experiences?
A tentative, preliminary working hypothesis here is that the closer a map is
located to the triangle diagram's corner “seen” the more the direct observa-
tion may apply. The closer the “abstraction” (“Known”) corner a carto-
graphic product is located, the more the “indirect” way of seeing is
present. In the middle of scale topographic and geographic maps can have
an important role. Even in the corner point of “pure abstraction” we may
find visual elements: the above mentioned constructor of a new grid net
visualizes the geometry of his results not only in his mind but also dia-
grammatically.
The calibration of the scales in the diagram of “CLASSIFICATION”
request perhaps the hardest but also the most interesting part of the work
within this model. In this process we must penetrate our ideas thoroughly
what we think maps are about, what they contain and what happens when
the mapmakers create them. This reasoning may turn out to be the most
important result of this study - if it happens.
The questions above address of course some of the most central parts in
cartographic theory. But the complexity of those questions is so huge and
our way of working with them includes so complex processes that we
