Mapwork

Map Scales

 A scale is bigger when the features on the map are bigger, so orthophoto maps have
bigger scales than topographic maps because orthophoto maps have bigger features
displayed. An orthophoto has a scale of 1:10 000 so it is five times larger than the scale
of a topographic map which is 1:50 000.
 In words a 1:10 000 scale means 1cm on the map represents 10 000cm on the ground.
A 1:50 000 scale means 1cm on the map equals 50 000cm on the ground.
Water is transported using furrows, canals, and pipelines.
Manmade features are features that were built or created by humans/people e.g., cultivated
land, firebreaks, buildings, powerlines etc.
Reasons or proof of why an area receives seasonal rainfall:

 Presence of non-perennial rivers

 Presence of numerous dams
 Presence of windpumps
Uses for dams:

 Used to irrigate crops.

 Used for recreation (water activities like swimming, fishing, rowing)
 Domestic purposes (washing, cooking etc.)
 Industrial purposes
Uses for row of trees:

 Used as windbreaks.
 Used to prevent soil erosion
 Purifies air
 Used as buffer
 Used to beautify area (aesthetic purposes)
How woodlands and plantations are protected

 Use of firebreaks
 Fire watch towers
 Numerous dams
Airports and air strips are mostly situated in areas away from built up areas, where there is
flatland and where the land is cheaper.
Reasons or opportunities for tourism in areas include dams (for recreational purposes), nature
reserves, national parks.
The 4 measures of height on a map

 Contour lines
 Spot heights
 Benchmarks
 Trigonometric beacons
Modes of transport

 Air transport, road transport, rail transport and water transport.

GIS (Geographic Information Systems)
What is GIS?

 Information about the Earth captured in a computer to solve planning and management
problems.
 It is an organised collection of computers, computer programmes, geographical data
and people.
 This information can be used in numerous fields and by people such as scientists,
meteorologists, traffic controllers, town planners, environmentalists, businessmen,
government departments, companies etc. Basically, it can be used in any field that has
a spatial component.
Components of GIS:

 Hardware
 Software
 Data
 People
 Network
 Procedures
Computer hardware – computer, screen, keyboard, mouse, etc.
Software – the programme that will allow you to enter information, edit, manipulate and put
the information into map format.
People – people operating the computers, entering the information and extracting the relevant
information.
Data – It must be correct and accurate (geographical data)
Procedures – How the data is stored on the computer e.g., raster or vector system.
Why does GIS exist?

 To capture information for later use

 Store information for later use
 Make research easier
 Manipulate information
 Compare information to make informed decisions
How GIS is used by the Government and businesses
- It’s used for mapping areas, which can be used by people and businesses for travelling
purposes
- Used to identify accident zones on road networks and can be optimised using data
intelligence
- Used for urban planning by using it to discover sites for further development
- It’s used for transportation planning by planning new roads or rail route
- It’s used to analyse human impacts on the environment
- Can be used in disaster management
Sources of information for GIS
- Surveying: Through remote sensing, onsite surveying
- Digital globes: Which are illustrations of the Earth in 3D and high definition
- Volunteered Geographic Information: Through smartphones people can edit and
update GIS information
- Location Based Services: Using smartphones location information can be corrected
What is remote sensing?

 To collect information about the Earth using sensors on aeroplanes and satellites
without being in physical contact with the surface of the Earth.
 Examples of remote sensing are observations taken from aircraft, satellites or an aerial
photograph.
 Remote sensing is useful for collecting information from inaccessible and isolated
places.
Vector data
The data/information shows geographic features in the form of points, lines or polygons.

 Point features – indicate small features, e.g. spot heights, buildings, trig beacons.
 Line features – indicate narrow linear features, e.g. rivers, roads.
 Polygon features – include cultivated land, built-up areas and dams.
Raster data
Spatial data stored in the form of pixels.

 The data is allocated in rows and columns on the map by the computer.
 The size of the cells(pixels) will determine the accuracy of the map (smaller pixels
show more detail).
 The storage of raster data can use a lot of space on a computer system.
Spatial data
- Refers to the position of an object, in other words its coordinates e.g., towns, rivers,
roads
Attribute data
- Information which describes or gives the characteristics of an object. Usually shown in
table format and include numbers, length, area etc.
- Tells you more about spatial data
Spatial resolution
- How clear and easy the detail is to see.
- An orthophoto map has a high spatial resolution as it has a large scale and shows
more detail than a map with a smaller scale.
Pixel
- The smallest unit of spatial and spectral information represented in a digital image.
- Pixels are the building blocks of digital images because they are the little blocks you
see when you zoom into a digital image.
- Pixel is a short form of picture element
Data layering/Thematic layering
- When different kinds of data (vector or raster data) are placed one on top of the other
to produce a map for a particular area. Layers of data may include: vegetation, e.g.
farm land; contour lines; roads; power lines; built-up areas and rivers.

Data manipulation
- The process used to organise data for your specific needs. Changes that one makes
to the data during analysis. It involves converting, re-arranging, and analysing data to
get answers
Buffering
- To mark off an area around an object
- The marked off area is the buffer zone
- Buffering builds new objects by identifying all areas that are within a certain specified
distance of the original objects (whether be it a point, line or area)
Line buffering
Point buffering

Polygon buffering

Data sharing
- Practice of making data used for scholarly research available to other researchers
Data standardisation
- Process of achieving agreement on common data definitions, representation and
structures to which all data layers must conform.
Data security
- This means protecting a database from destructive forces and the unwanted actions
of unauthorised users. This may be done by encryption, firewall, or password
Data querying
- This is a process used to retrieve or get data from the database
- A query is a question about a place. Issuing a query means asking a GIS database a
question e.g., by clicking on a point to get attribute data about a town or any feature.
Statistical analysis
- The collection of methods used to process large amounts of data and report overall
trends
Orthophoto Maps
Shadows
- The direction of shadows can determine the time of day that the orthophoto was taken,
while the length of the shadow can help to determine the time of the year.
Time of day
- Look at the shadows of trees or high buildings. If the shadow lies in a south-westerly
direction, it indicates that the sun is still lying relatively far to the east. The photo was
thus taken in the morning.
- If the shadow lies to the south the photo was taken at +12 noon.
- If the shadow lies to the southeast the photo was taken in the afternoon.
- The shortest shadow is at noon. The longer the shadow, the earlier (am) or later (pm)
it is, depending on the orientation.
Time of the year
- Use the date on the photo (if provided).
- Look for signs of rainfall. (Is it a summer or winter rainfall area?)
Tone and texture
- If the cultivated lands are light in colour, then crops have been sown or are still very
young, signifying wintertime in a summer rainfall area or summer in a winter rainfall
area.
- If the crops are darker in colour, then they are fully grown, signifying the middle of
summer in a summer rainfall area or the middle of winter in a winter rainfall area.
- Where plantations reveal regular ordered planting, these are obviously planted by
man.
- Crops show a regular colour and texture and often follow the contours.
- Orchards have a dotted appearance and regularly spaced rough appearance.
- Vineyards also have a dotted appearance; smaller of texture than orchards with a clear
linear form. With trellised vines it is possible to detect the connecting wires together
with the dotted appearance.

Urban areas
CBD
- This is the part where the densest development and highest buildings occur.
- The street pattern is usually a grid pattern.
Flats/Apartments
- These are usually just on the outskirts of the CBD adjacent to parking areas. Big and
high buildings (not as dense as the CBD).
High income residential areas
- Houses of varying sizes, selectively positioned on large plots (occasionally with
swimming pool and tennis court).
Low income residential areas
- Houses are uniform, neatly arranged in rows on very small plots. (Modern RDP-
houses).
Informal settlements
- Shacks randomly positioned usually with no obvious street pattern.
Industries and factories
- Normally outside residential areas with access to road and railway facilities.
- Large plots with large single-story buildings.
Schools
- Found in residential areas. Large buildings often with significant sports grounds

Map Interpretation
Relief
- Relief influences the land-use in an area.
- In the Southern Hemisphere the north-facing slopes are warmer than the south facing
slopes. People build houses and grow crops on north-facing slopes.
- Forestry often takes place on steeper slopes and crops are grown on gentle slopes.
Rivers and Water
- Non-perennial rivers and the presence of dams indicates seasonal rainfall in an area
- The drainage patterns of rivers depend on the features of the landscape. You may be
asked to determine the drainage pattern e.g. trellis, dendritic.
- The total length and number of rivers in an area gives an indication of the drainage
density
To determine the direction in which a river flows:
- Rivers flow from the highest to the lowest point. Look at the spot heights and contours
at various points along a river.
- The contour lines point upstream in a valley.
- Look at the tributaries joining the river. The direction in which they join the main river
indicates the direction of flow.
- Wind pumps indicate seasonal rainfall. Often found in dry areas, e.g. sheep farming
areas.
- Irrigation systems, furrows and canals indicate lower rainfall in a region.
Agriculture
Commercial Farming
Indications of commercial farming:
- Farm names
- Well-developed infrastructure – road systems, electricity, railways
- Farm buildings, e.g. sheds, workers’ homes
- Irrigation systems, dams