CHAPTER 3

Cartographic Information
Sources
CONTENTS:
-Ground survey
- Remote Sensing
- Census sampling
-Vector data
-Raster
 Data:
- Primary data - captured specifically for use in
mapping by direct measurement
- Secondary data re-used from earlier studies or
obtained from other systems
Comes with digital and analog format
Analog format must be digitized before it was
processed in geographic database
Process of data collection:
Capture,
Automation,
DATA Conversion,
Transfer,
Interpretation
Digitizing.
 Why we need data in cartography?

a) To collect attribute information as well as location

data of any geographical features.

b) To combine any related data in order to boost the

analysis of geospatial data.

c) Major need in map making Data input costs

often consume (60-90% of project costs yet
important)

d) Locational data Cartesian coordinate system

source maps may have different projections and
scale.

e) Digital data sharing

 PRIMARY SOURCES SECONDARY SOURCES
Remote sensing Scanned map & photograph

Aerial photograph Well established data

Global Positioning System (GPS) Attributes data

Ground surveying Census & sampling

Light Detection and Ranging

(LiDAR)
 Two common data models:

VECTOR DATA RASTER DATA

Assumption: Earth's surface is composed of Earth is represented as a grid of equally

discrete objects such as trees, rivers, lakes, sized cells.
etc.

Objects are represented as point, line, and Individual cell represents a portion of the
polygon features with well-defined earth such as a square meter or a square
boundaries. mile.

Feature boundaries are defined Only (x,y) coordinate pair (called the
by (x,y) coordinate pairs, which reference origin) is used to define the location of
a location in the real world. every cell.

Every feature is assigned a unique Each raster cell is assigned a numeric

numerical identifier, which is stored with value, which can represent any kind of
the feature record in an attribute table. information about that geographic
location e.g. an elevation measurement in
m
VECTOR DATA RASTER DATA

POINT

LINE

AREA
 PRIMARY SOURCE DATA MODEL

Remote sensing Raster data

Aerial photograph Raster data

Global Positioning System Vector data

Ground surveying Vector data

LiDAR Vector data

 Technique used to derive information about
the physical, chemical, and biological
properties of objects without direct physical
contact

Widely used over mapping larger areas

 How the information gathered & absorbed?
Information is derived from measurements of the amount of
electromagnetic radiation (EMR) reflected, emitted, or
scattered from objects.
How data are captured?
A variety of sensors, operating throughout certain wavelength
were employed to obtain measurements.
How remote sensing is classified?
Passive sensors : Use reflected solar radiation
Active sensors : Generate their own source of EMR
How to measure remote sensing images?
Identifying the resolution elements of the image which are
spatial, spectral and temporal resolution
 Spatial resolution
Size of object that can be resolved and the most
usual measure is the pixel size.
Spectral resolution
Parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that are
measured.
Temporal resolution
Repeat cycle describe frequency with which
images are collected for the same area.
QUICKBIRD IKONOS

SPOT 5 LANDSAT TM
 SPOT (Systme Pour l'Observation de la Terre) is a
series of Earth observation imaging satellites
designed and launched by France, with support
from Sweden and Belgium.

Temporal resolution : 26 days

Spatial resolution:-
-Panchromatic(black white) : 2.5m x 2.5m
-Panchromatic : 5m x 5m
-Multispectral (RGB) : 10m x 10m
-Short wave infra red : 20m x 20m
 Spectral resolution:
Panchromatic: 0.48 0.71 m
Green: 0.50 - 0.59 m
Red: 0.61 - 0.68 m
Near IR: 0.79 0.89 m
Shortwave IR: 1.58 - 1.75 m

Applications requiring frequent monitoring such as

agriculture, forestry are well served by the SPOT
sensors.
 Aerial photography is equally important in medium-
to large-scale projects
Photographs are normally collected by analog
optical cameras and later scanned
Can provide stereo imagery for the extraction of
digital elevation models (DEM)
Aerial photographs are very suitable for detailed
surveying and mapping projects.
 PROS CONS
Provide stereo imagery which are Resolution is often too coarse
used to create a 3D analog or
digital model

Consistency of data Many sensors are restricted by

cloud cover

Availability of systematic Maps less "realistic"

global coverage
 Ground surveying is based on the principle that the
3-D location of any point can be determined by
measuring angles and distances from other known
points.

Traditional equipment like theodolites have been

replaced by total stations that can measure both
angles and distances to an accuracy of 1 mm

Ground survey is a very time-consuming and

expensive activity, but it is still the best way to
obtain highly accurate point locations.
 Typically used for capturing buildings, land and
property boundaries, manholes, and other objects
that need to be located accurately.

Surveying also used to obtain reference marks for

use in other data capture projects. E.g. Aerial
photographs and satellite images are frequently
georeferenced using points obtained from ground
survey.
 GPS have revolutionized the measurement of position, making it
possible for people to know almost exactly where they are
anywhere on the surface of the earth.

The GPS consists of a system of 24 satellites , each orbiting the

Earth every 12 hours at a height of 20,200km and transmitting
radio pulses at precisely timed intervals.

Positioning in 3 dimensions (latitude, longitude and elevation)

requires that at least four satellites are above the horizon and
accuracy depends on the number of such satellites.

GPS is very useful for recording ground control points e.g. when
locating objects that move (ships navigation, cars, and etc)

Also can direct capture of the locations of many types of fixed

objects such as utility assets, buildings, etc.
 LiDAR ( Light Detection and Ranging) is a recent technology
that employs a scanning laser rangefinder to produce accurate
topographic surveys of great detail.

A LiDAR scanner is an active remote sensing instrument; it

transmits EMR and measures the radiation that is scattered back
to a receiver after interacting with the Earths atmosphere or
objects on the surface.

The scanner is typically carried on a low altitude aircraft that

also has an inertial navigation system and differential GPS to
provide location.
 LiDAR scanners are capable of collecting extremely large
quantities of very detailed information ( e.g. scanning of the
order of 30000 points per second at an accuracy of 15cm).

The data collected from a LiDAR scanners can be described

as a point cloud that is massive collection of independent
points with x,y and z values.

Extensive processing are implemented to remove tree

canopies, buildings and other unwanted features and to
correct errors in order to provide a bare earth point
dataset.
 PROS & CONS
OF VECTOR DATA

PROS CONS

Compact data structure Complex structure

Efficient for encoding topology Overlay operations difficult

True representation of shape Might imply false sense of

accuracy
 It refers to the data obtained from maps, hardcopy
documents etc. Some of the methods to capture
secondary data are as follows:

a) Scanned data:
- A scanner is used to convert analog source map or
document into digital images by scanning
successive lines across a map or document and
recording the amount of light reflected from the
data source.
- E.g. building plans, CAD drawings, images and maps
are scanned
- Helps in reducing wear and tear; improves
access and provides integrated storage.
b) Digitization:

- Digitizing is the process of interpreting

and converting paper map or image
data to vector digital data.
- Two types of digitizing:
i) Heads down digitization
ii) Heads up digitization
 Heads down digitization

Digitizers are used to capture data from hardcopy

maps. Heads down digitization is done on a digitizing
table using a magnetic pen. The position of a cursor is
detected when passed over a table inlaid with a fine
mesh of wires. The function of a digitizer is to input
correctly the coordinates of the points and the lines.
 Heads-up digitization

This method uses scanned copy of the map or image and

digitization is done on the screen of the computer monitor.
The scanned map lays vertical which can be viewed without
bending the head down and therefore is called as heads up
digitization. Semi-automatic and automatic methods of
digitizing requires post processing but saves lot of time and
resources compared to manual method.
 Besides ground survey and remote sensing
measurement, readily made data also can be
used as one of the data sources for cartographic
purposes

A large amount of information is now available in

digital formats, so there are great opportunities to
secure and use existing digital sources.
 To acquire some digital sources, users must contact the
producers directly to gain the necessary data in a
compatible format but some can be downloaded
online for free

There are still several constraints when using existing

digital data. These include:
a) Cost of data may be very expensive
b) Incompatible with some user platforms e.g. not
inter-exchangeable data format
c) Incompatible with user required standards e.g.
poor data quality, not appropriate scale
d) Restrictions for data use and sharing
 The storage of spatial information can also contain
attributive data in spatial locations.

The attributes can be used for symbolization and

annotation of maps, and can be acquired from
different sources by different entering methods:

a) Importing from GIS databases (ArcGIS,

MapInfo, etc.)
b) Importing from attributive databases (Ms Access,
Oracle, etc,)
c) Manually entering from keyboard
d) Deriving from existing data (e.g. From classification,
computation, etc.)
e) Importing from field observations
Hardware files

Interview
& survey
 Not all spatial features and phenomena
information can be collected through ground
survey, and remote sensing, therefore we need to
captured the data through field sampling

What aspects is critical in census and data

sampling procedures?

1. Identify the subjects

2. Identify the scope of your subject
3. Collect the data and its location
4. Tabulate it in a proper manner
 Example:

Source of data : Malaysia Royal

Police
Date of census : Jan 07 Dec 07
Type of accidents : All
Type of vehicles : Cars and
motorbikes only
 Spatial sampling method:
What aspects we need to emphasized in field
data sampling?

Size of the sample: Adequate

Sampling units: Appropriate

Sample spatial distributions: Well distributed

Sampling strategies: Suitable and sufficient

 Example:
Dengue Epidemic

Size of the Average on every

sample: states
Sampling units: No of cases

Sample spatial All states

distributions:
Sampling Random
strategies: