Terrain mapping beyond the defaults
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Field, K.; 2Kennelly, P.
1ESRI Email: kfield@esri.com
2LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY Email: patrick.kennelly@liu.edu
Abstract
Mapping the third dimension of terrain can be traced to the earliest of maps, Babylonian clay tablets c.750 B.C. These early depictions of mountains in perspective view have given way to a rich array of different representations including hill-shades, contours and three-dimensional displays. The search for analytical techniques that replicate many of the classic representations which the Swiss have become renowned for during the 20th century has occupied cartography for the past few decades as has the experimentation of alternative techniques. Many approaches have been defined in research but rarely operationalized and shared in map-making software. Consequently, many cartographers and map-makers who are not conversant with the research literature, or who rely of software defaults, are perhaps unaware of their existence. In this presentation we share a summary of recent work by a range of researchers who have created different ways of representing terrain and demonstrate a new suite of tools that can be used in ArcGIS to render Digital Elevation Models in alternative ways. The new and updated tools provide a rich toolbox for analytical hill-shades that create far more detailed, nuanced and modifiable renderings using a range of approaches. We will show how the tools can be used to create both artistic and enhanced versions of standard hill-shades. We also demonstrate tools for the creation of illuminated contours, horizontal and vertical hachures, filled contours, shadow lines, plan oblique effects and chromastereoscopic elevation tinting. Combined, these tools provide the modern map-maker an opportunity to take advantage of a wealth of terrain research and a way of creating their own rich and varied terrain representations. Further, we showcase a new set of terrain services that render on-the-fly to support the creation of topographic maps in ArcGIS Online without the need for your own data or Digital Elevation Models.
Keywords
terrain; map design; techniques