Abstract

A User-Oriented Map Design in the SDI Environment
Track: Cartography and Map Production
Authors: Anja Hopfstock

Current development and use of SDI focus on handling geospatial data entirely by means of IT. Thereby, low awareness seems to be paid to a user-friendly and understandable presentation of geospatial data. Based on the understanding that GI is the result of human geospatial information processing, it is argued that cartography is essential in the SDI context in order to work to full benefit of its users. Specifically, the research aimed at exploring the concept of user-oriented map design and elaborating a methodology for creating effective cartographic representations in the SDI.
Using the Example of a European Reference Map at Medium Scale the methodology was evaluated under real world conditions. The chosen test setup provided a flexible, data-driven technical framework based on ArcGIS delivering reproducible results. The presented map samples prove that it is technically feasible and viable to produce a map from geospatial data in the SDI data collection.