Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Contribution of New Sensors to Cartography
Carla Bernadete Madureira Cruz and Rafael Silva de Barros
Additional information is available at the end of the chapter
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/48258
1. Introduction
Different cartographic representations are considered fundamental for the Geographic
Science, whose characteristics are related, almost always, with the need for representation
and analysis of spatially distributed phenomena. Therefore, it is fundamental that the
cartographic bases are available, meeting the needs regarding the accuracy and updating, in
different scales.
Generation and maintenance of these bases are considered as highly complex, considering
all the planialtimetric information that they should contain, mainly in the case of a large
country as Brazil, whose territory extends for about 8.5 million km², with many areas of
difficult access. Furthermore, there is a need for concern also with the thematic maps, whose
origins depend on the cartographic bases themselves, which operate as spatial reference,
besides other inputs originated normally from field surveys and remote sensing. The
diversity of these maps is enormous, creating an immense variety of methods and specialists
involved in their preparation.
With all this progress, cartography is presenting growing changes in the form of preparation
and divulging of its products. The availability of new technologies, for acquisition, storage
and dissemination of spatial data, made the use of maps and images increasingly popular,
reaching not only government organizations and private companies, as habitual, but also
individual users. On the other hand, this same technological progress has entailed a new
context of methodological solutions, some of which presenting themselves as interesting
alternatives for the process of maps generation, despite presenting also many future
challenges. Changes to the way work is carried out are fundamental to attend viable
solutions in ongoing applications, in the long-term, that also require a high level of quality,
as those involving systematic cartography.
It is a fact that the consolidation of the Information Technology in practically all areas of
knowledge, with the consequent cost reduction regarding software and hardware, was
