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1Delaware Geological Survey University of Delaware Delaware Geological Survey Building Newark, DE 19716-7501 Telephone: (302) 831-8262 Fax: (302) 831-3579 e-mail: rockman@udel.edu |
2Water Resources Agency University of Delaware Paradee Center 69 Transportation Circle Dover, DE 19903 Telephone: (302) 735-8204 Fax: (302) 735-8203 e-mail: nminni@udel.edu |
In the middle 1800s we began to use "aerial photography" to help produce maps. These "birdseye" views began as artists produced lithographs after ascending in hot air balloons. In the early 1900s the aircraft provided the platform needed to get accurate "birdseye" views using what we recognize now as aerial photographs. But even with these more accurate views, cartography still required the human (artistic) touch.
We are getting more and more remote views of our planet and we have different electronic sensors that satellites use as well as photos taken by astronauts to help us get an even better understanding of the spatial layout of our planet. Satellite technology has propelled map making forward at a shocking pace, leaving many true cartographers behind. Now we have to know GIS to create maps, but there is still a portion of this craft that is art based.
Today all kinds of data can be mapped using GIS technology. We can perform massively complicated computations on spatial data and produce a graphic, geospatial result that most of us still would call a map. These maps have a different "look" to them and many of us are willing to make concessions and accept this new type of digital map; however, I would tell you that at the present time, the art of Cartography is still very much alive, especially in the area of thematic maps and especially those that get published.
In January 2001, the Delaware Geological Survey published the new Bedrock Geologic Map of the Piedmont of Delaware and Adjacent Pennsylvania (Plank and others, 2000; Schenck and others, 2000). This is the first geologic map that the Survey has produced totally in a digital environment. Most of the problems encountered producing this map began when we started using GIS (ArcInfo) to do "cartography". Moving the map into Adobe Illustrator and completing the map in that environment solved many of these problems.
Cartography is evolving once more and eventually researchers and people alike will accept the "look" of a plotter printed graphic map allowing cartography to move into the 21st century and beyond. When future researchers look at this map, they will likely say, "this map was produced when cartography was still an art!"
Schenck, W. S., Plank, M. O., and Srogi, L., 2000, Bedrock Geologic Map of the Piedmont of Delaware and Adjacent Pennsylvania: Delaware Geological Survey Geologic Map Series No. 10, Scale 1:36,000.