Status of world mapping (World Cartography. 14)

Photogrammetria, 34 (1978) 259- 262

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B o o k Reviews

Status of World Mapping (World Cartography. 14). United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, New York, N.Y., 1976, 102 pp. The Cartography Section of the Dept. of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat has undertaken t w o surveys on the Status of World Mapping, viz. one in 1968 (the results of which have been published in World Cartography, volume 10) and another in 1974. Eighty-seven countries, representing 70% of the world's land area, have answered the 1974 questionnaire. Although the survey in 1968 was mainly concerned with topographic map coverage, that c o n d u c t e d in 1974 also requested information on photographic coverage, equipment, m a n p o w e r and government expenditure. The results of the 1974 survey, together with an analysis of these results by Prof. A.J. Brandenberger of Laval University, Quebec, Canada, are to be found in the present volume. The section "Inventory of world topographic mapping" (pp. 22--63) contains the explicit answers given by the national cartographic agencies. A statistical summary of the inventory is presented in 7 tables (pages 4--21), viz. separately for: Africa, North America, South America, Europe, Asia, U.S.S.R. and Oceania. The map scales have been grouped into 4 categories, viz. (1) 1:25,000 and larger, (2) a b o u t 1:50,000, (3) about 1:100,000 and (4} a b o u t 1: 250,000. The analysis of Prof. Brandenberger ( " S t u d y on the status of world cartography", pp. 71--96) treats the following. (1) Map production progress is calculated from the differences between the 1974 and 1968 survey results, for the four map scale categories and for the various regions, as well as for the entire land area of the world. Figure VIII (below) represents the latter. Map production progress (in per cent per year) may be compared there with average population growth (2%) and with the forecasted growth of economic productivity (3%%). It should be mentioned that the progress thus derived for Asia (figure V) and Africa (figure I) is rather unreliable because the comparison between the 1974 and 1968 surveys is based on information covering only 10.6% and 29.4% of the total areas of Asia and Africa, respectively. (2) Regarding annual progress in aerial photographic coverage (which appears to be satisfactory, viz. 4.4%}, geodetic network extension (too slow, viz. only 0.4%), number of available stereoplotters, a m o u n t of manpower in the national cartographic agencies, etc., the author repeatedly borrows data from another source of information, viz. the Data Bank for Surveying and Mapping of the Dept. of Photogrammetry at Laval University. (3) Conclusion and Recommendations. World map production at scales 1: 5 0 , 0 0 0 - 1:100,000 should be approximately doubled in order to achieve full and up-to-date coverage by the year 2000. At present the annual expen-

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World: percemtage of total area covered on each scale category, population growth index and growth of eeonomie produetlvity, 1960-1980

Figure VIII.

Map coverage (perceNtage}

Population growth index (1960=100)

Index of growth of economic productivity (1960=100)

100

200

90

190

200

• 1

0.3%

-[

190

0]

250,00 j

T

180

80

180

70

170

170

60

160

160

50

150

'150

4 0 - 140

,I

o '

1

.'113040

30-130 2 0 - 120

I"

~ ~

10-t110

~

1

o, 1960

o ~"~ ~'gerd

- 120 110

I

I

I

I I

1965

1968

1970

1974 1975

1oo 1980 Year

SOURCES: For population growth, Demographic Yearbook, 1973 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E/F.74.XIH.1); for growth of economic productivity, Statistical Yearbook, 1973 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E/F.74.XVII.I).

ditures on surveying and mapping are a b o u t $3.5 billion (more than $2 billion by government agencies and more than $1 billion by private enterprises), thus about $1 per capita or $ 25 per square kilometre of land. It will n o t surprise the reader that the author recommends more comprehensive studies and inventories based on world-wide surveys, for the purpose of working out realistic guidelines, in particular for the developing countries. Under the same heading (Status of World Mapping), a paper has been added by Prof. G. K o n e c n y of Hannover University, W. Germany, entitled: "Methods of data acquisition for the establishment of a multipurpose land registration system in u r b a n a n d rural areas with special emphasis on p h o t o g r a m m e t r y " (pp. 97--102). In this paper useful information is given, in a condensed form, on the potentials of p h o t o g r a m m e t r y for the establishment of large-scale

261

m a p p i n g a n d i n f o r m a t i o n s y s t e m s . T h e reviewer, h o w e v e r , w a r n s f o r possible misunderstanding of the following quotation: "European cadastral systems have evolved in a century, but a developing country must be able to establish it within a decade. The technical means to do so are available if the system is implemented in the form of the following phases: Phase 1 : establishment of a dense, monumented geodetic control net as a reference for Phase Phase Phase Phase

2: 3: 4: 5:

mapping and future surveys; large-scale mapping; establishment of a cadastre as a legal instrument; expansion of the cadastre intc a multipurpose information system; automation of the cadastre into a data bank."

The reviewer emphasizes that these words should not be taken to mean t h a t o n e c a n n o t e m b a r k o n a local c a d a s t r a l survey w i t h o u t having c o m p l e t e d a d e n s e g e o d e t i c c o n t r o l net, or t h a t large-scale m a p p i n g s h o u l d be c o m p l e t e d b e f o r e b e i n g able t o establish a c a d a s t r e as a legal i n s t r u m e n t . In this c o n n e c t i o n , t h e r e v i e w e r t a k e s t h e l i b e r t y o f r e f e r r i n g t o his o w n invited p a p e r to t h e Helsinki Congress: " T h e use o f Large Scale O r t h o p h o t o Maps in Cadastral S u r v e y a n d f o r R u r a l a n d U r b a n D e v e l o p m e n t P r o j e c t s " ( I T C J o u r n a l , 1976-2, pp. 2 7 5 - - 3 0 1 ) . J. VISSER (Enschede) O b s e r v a t i o n s and L e a s t Squares. E d w a r d M. Mikhail, w i t h c o n t r i b u t i o n s b y

F. A c k e r m a n n . D u n - D o n e l l y , N e w Y o r k , N.Y., 1976, 497 pp., h a r d cover, U.S. $ 25.OO. O b s e r v a t i o n s and L e a s t S q u a r e s is a v e r y a p p e a l i n g t e x t for u n d e r g r a d u a t e and a d v a n c e d s t u d e n t s o f a d j u s t m e n t c o m p u t a t i o n a n d f o r research w o r k e r s in n e e d f o r a h a n d b o o k on a d j u s t m e n t a l g o r i t h m s . I t reflects t h e e x p e r i e n c e s of t h e a u t h o r s as a c a d e m i c t e a c h e r s : E d w a r d M. Mikhail is t h e p r o f e s s o r o f p h o t o g r a m m e t r y at P u r d u e U n i v e r s i t y , U.S.A.; F. A c k e r m a n n h o l d s a similar p o s i t i o n at S t u t t g a r t U n i v e r s i t y , F . R . G . T h e b o o k is organised in t h r e e p a r t s a n d an e x t e n s i v e a p p e n d i x . T h e first p a r t with 4 c h a p t e r s ( 1 0 0 pages) deals w i t h statistical c o n c e p t s ( p r o b a b i l i t y , d i s t r i b u t i o n s , testing, errors, p r o p a g a t i o n ) . I t is n o t i n t e n d e d t o s u b s t i t u t e for statistical l i t e r a t u r e b u t c o n t a i n s w h a t is r e l e v a n t in the c o n t e x t of a d j u s t m e n t computation. T h e c o r e o f t h e b o o k is its s e c o n d p a r t dealing in 7 c h a p t e r s ( o n a b o u t 200 pages) w i t h t h e various s t a n d a r d cases o f a d j u s t m e n t . T h e s e are g r o u p e d into: (a) a d j u s t m e n t w i t h c o n d i t i o n s ( o b s e r v a t i o n s o n l y ; i n d i r e c t o b s e r v a t i o n s ) ; (b} a d j u s t m e n t with c o n d i t i o n s a n d c o n s t r a i n t s . Several m e t h o d s o f solving t h e s e d i f f e r e n t s t a n d a r d cases are discussed. V a l u a b l e facts are p r e s e n t e d on n o n linear e q u a t i o n s , a p o s t e r i o r i e s t i m a t e s o f v a r i o u s statistical p a r a m e t e r s a n d numerical considerations. T h e last p a r t o f t h e b o o k addresses in t h r e e c h a p t e r s ( 1 0 0 pages) m o r e re-