Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
4.2 Ontology CartoExpert
Our research team decided to create new cartographic ontology CartoExpert in 2010. Basic
terms of the conceptualization of cartographic knowledge can be found in cartographical
topics. There are several important topics that deal with cartography like “Thematic
Cartography and Geographic Visualization” by Slocum et al. (2004), “Cartography,
Visualization of Geospatial Data” by Kraak and Ormeling (2003) and “Elements of
Cartography” by Robinson et al. (1995). Other resources are e.g. “How maps work?
Representation, Visualization and Design” by MacEachren (2004) and “Mapping It Out:
Expository Cartography for the Humanities and Social Sciences” by Monmonier (1993).
Some different cartographical concepts and methods exist in Central Europe. Other authors
and their topics like “Methods of map expression” by Pravda (2006), “Application of
Cartography and Thematic Maps” by Vozenilek (2004) and “Quantitative method in
cartography“ by Kanok (1992) were also considered. All terms, rules and recommendations
were collected from these topics. Subsequently, they were used in the phase of ontology
building and knowledge base design.
Fig. 7. The result of search for word “map” at the WordNet ontology
Maps are divided according to cartography to two main groups. There are thematic maps
and topographic maps. Every thematic map contains a simple topographic base map.
Thematic maps represent the distribution of one or more particular phenomena (Kraak,
Ormeling, 2003). Census and statistical data are very often depicted on thematic maps. Data
are divided into two types: qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative data have
absolute or relative value. Absolute and relative values are expressed by different
cartographic methods in maps. Absolute values, which have a non-area related ratio, are
expressed by diagrams in maps. All methods use cartographic symbols (point, line, area).
