Editing Topographic map

{{short description|Medium to large scale map that shows a precise map of the terrain}}
{{broader|Terrain cartography}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2024}}
{{stack|
[[File:USMC-051105-M-0245S-008.jpg|thumb|Sergeant Chris D. Washington checking his Topographic map during a morning deer hunt in [[Kilgore, Texas]]]]
[[File:Topographic map example.png|thumb|upright=1.4|A topographic map of [[Stowe, Vermont]] with contour lines]]
[[File:Topographic-Relief-perspective-sample.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|Part of the same map in a perspective [[shaded relief]] view illustrating how the contour lines follow the terrain]]
[[File:MTN50-0535-2013-cns Algete.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4| Sheet #535 (2013 version; second digital edition) of MTN50 Spanish National Topographic map series, covering [[Algete]] town (near [[Madrid]]) and its surroundings.]]
[[File:IsraelCVFRtopography.jpg|thumb|upright=1.4| Section of topographical map of [[Nablus]] area ([[West Bank]]) with contour lines at 100-meter intervals. Heights are colour-coded.]]
}}

In modern mapping, a '''topographic map''' or '''topographic sheet''' is a type of [[map]] characterized by large-[[Scale (map)|scale]] detail and quantitative representation of relief features, usually using [[contour line]]s (connecting points of equal elevation), but historically using a [[cartographic relief depiction|variety of methods]]. Traditional definitions require a topographic map to show both natural and artificial features.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kent |first1=Alexander |title=Topographic Maps: Methodological Approaches for Analyzing Cartographic Style |journal=Journal of Map & Geography Libraries |date=1 July 2009 |volume=5 |issue=2 |pages=131–156 |doi=10.1080/15420350903001187 |s2cid=128466975 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233462562 |access-date=13 June 2020}}</ref> A topographic survey is typically based upon a systematic observation and published as a [[map series]], made up of two or more map sheets that combine to form the whole map. A topographic map series uses a common specification that includes the range of cartographic symbols employed, as well as a standard geodetic framework that defines the [[map projection]], [[coordinate system]], [[ellipsoid]] and [[geodetic datum]]. Official topographic maps also adopt a national grid referencing system.

[[Natural Resources Canada]] provides this description of topographic maps:<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/topographic-information/maps/9767
 |title       = National Topographic System Maps
 |last        = Government of Canada
 |date        = 8 April 2016
|website     = Earth Sciences – Geography
 |publisher   = Natural Resources Canada
 |access-date = 16 May 2016
|quote       = yes
 |url-status  = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20160515060238/http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/topographic-information/maps/9767
 |archive-date = 15 May 2016
}}</ref>{{quote|These maps depict in detail ground relief (landforms and terrain), drainage (lakes and rivers), [[forest cover]], administrative areas, populated areas, transportation routes and facilities (including roads and railways), and other man-made features.}}
Other authors define topographic maps by contrasting them with another type of map; they are distinguished from smaller-scale "[[chorography|chorographic]] maps" that cover large regions,<ref>P. D. A. Harvey, ''The History of Topographical Maps: Symbols, Pictures and Surveys'', Thames and Hudson, 1980, {{ISBN|0-500-24105-8}}, p. 9. "By a topographical map, we mean a large-scale map, one that sets out to convey the shape and pattern of landscape, showing a tiny portion of the earth's surface as it lies within one's own direct experience, and quite distinct from the small-scale maps that show us the features of whole provinces, nations and continents."</ref><ref name="AAT">[[Art & Architecture Thesaurus]] entry for [http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=topographic+maps&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300028361 topographic maps] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607112443/http://www.getty.edu/vow/AATFullDisplay?find=topographic+maps&logic=AND&note=&english=N&prev_page=1&subjectid=300028361 |date=7 June 2011 }}.</ref> "[[planimetrics|planimetric]] maps" that do not show elevations,<ref>Committee on Nomenclature of the American Society of Photogrammetry, "Definitions of terms used in photogrammetric surveying and mapping: preliminary report", ''Photogrammetric Engineering'', 8, 247–283, 1942. "Topographic Map. A map that presents the horizontal and vertical positions of the features represented; distinguished from a planimetric map by the addition of relief in measurable form." This definition is used in many glossaries of map terminology.</ref> and "[[thematic map]]s" that focus on specific topics.<ref>M.-J. Kraak and F. Ormeling, ''Cartography: Visualization of Spatial Data'', Longman, 1996, {{ISBN|0-582-25953-3}}, p. 44. "Traditionally, the main division of maps is into topographic and thematic maps. Topographic maps supply a general image of the earth's surface: roads, rivers, buildings, often the nature of the vegetation, the relief and the names of the various mapped objects."</ref>

However, in the vernacular and day to day world, the representation of relief (contours) is popularly held to define the genre, such that even small-scale maps showing relief are commonly (and erroneously, in the technical sense) called "topographic".<ref name="AAT"/>

The study or discipline of [[topography]] is a much broader field of study, which takes into account all [[Landform feature|natural]] and human-made features of terrain. Maps were among the first artifacts to record observations about topography.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last = Kent|first=A.J. |last2=Hopfstock|first2=A.
| title = Topographic Mapping: Past, Present and Future
| journal = The Cartographic Journal
| volume = 55
| issue = 4
| date = November 2018
| pages = 305–308
| doi = 10.1080/00087041.2018.1576973
| doi-access = free
}}</ref>

==History==
{{see also|Topography#Etymology}} {{see also|Cartography#History}}

Topographic maps are based on topographical surveys. Performed at large scales, these surveys are called topographical in the old sense of [[Topography as the study of place|topography]], showing a variety of elevations and landforms.<ref>The range of information is indicated by the title of a map produced in 1766: ''A Topographical Map of Hartfordshire from an Actual Survey in which is Express'd all the Roads, Lanes, Churches, Noblemen and Gentlemen's Seats, and every Thing remarkable in the County'', by Andrew Dury and John Andrews, reprinted by Hertfordshire Publications in 1980. This showed the relief by using [[hachures]].</ref> This is in contrast to older [[cadastral survey]]s, which primarily show property and governmental boundaries. The first multi-sheet topographic map series of an entire country, the ''Carte géométrique de la France'', was completed in 1789.<ref>Library of Congress, [https://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/guide/gmillgen.html Geography and Maps: General Collections] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170916032347/http://www.loc.gov/rr/geogmap/guide/gmillgen.html |date=16 September 2017 }}</ref> The [[Great Trigonometric Survey]] of India, started by the [[East India Company]] in 1802, then taken over by the [[British Raj]] after 1857 was notable as a successful effort on a larger scale and for accurately determining heights of Himalayan peaks from viewpoints over one hundred miles distant.<ref>{{Cite journal
| last = Dickey
| first = Parke A
| title = Who discovered Mount Everest?
| journal = Eos
| volume = 66
| issue = 41
| date = October 1985
| pages = 54–59
| doi = 10.1029/EO066i041p00697
| bibcode = 1985EOSTr..66..697D
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=VnLjkpL4CyoC
| access-date = 26 June 2011| url-access = subscription
}}
</ref>
[[File:Soviet topographic map codes.svg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Global indexing system first developed for ''International Map of the World'']]

Topographic surveys were prepared by the military to assist in planning for battle and for defensive emplacements (thus the name and history of the [[United Kingdom]]'s [[Ordnance Survey]]). As such, elevation information was of vital importance.<ref>Peter Barber, ''The Map Book'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005, {{ISBN|0-297-84372-9}}, pp. 232, 250.</ref>

As they evolved, topographic map series became a national resource in modern nations in planning infrastructure and resource exploitation. In the United States, the national map-making function which had been shared by both the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers|Army Corps of Engineers]] and the [[United States Department of the Interior|Department of the Interior]] migrated to the newly created [[United States Geological Survey]] in 1879, where it has remained since.<ref>
{{cite web |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1050/organize.htm |title=Organizing the U.S. Geological Survey |access-date=19 June 2007 |date=10 April 2000 |work=The United States Geological Survey: 1879–1989 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070702030549/http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1050/organize.htm |archive-date=2 July 2007}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1050/surveys.htm |title=The Four Great Surveys of the West |access-date=19 June 2007 |date=10 April 2000 |work=The United States Geological Survey: 1879–1989 |publisher=U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Department of the Interior |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610033043/http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/c1050/surveys.htm |archive-date=10 June 2007}}</ref>

1913 saw the beginning of the [[International Map of the World]] initiative, which set out to map all of Earth's significant land areas at a scale of 1:1 million, on about one thousand sheets, each covering four degrees latitude by six or more degrees longitude. Excluding borders, each sheet was 44&nbsp;cm high and (depending on latitude) up to 66&nbsp;cm wide. Although the project eventually foundered, it left an [[International Map of the World#Map Indexing System|indexing system]] that remains in use.

By the 1980s, centralized printing of standardized topographic maps began to be superseded by databases of coordinates that could be used on computers by moderately skilled end users to view or print maps with arbitrary contents, coverage and scale. For example, the [[federal government of the United States]]' ''[[TIGER]]'' initiative compiled interlinked databases of federal, state and local political [[border]]s and [[Census tract|census enumeration areas]], and of roadways, railroads, and water features with support for locating street addresses within street segments. TIGER was developed in the 1980s and used in the 1990 and subsequent [[United States Census|decennial censuses]]. [[Digital elevation model]]s (''DEM'') were also compiled, initially from topographic maps and stereographic interpretation of aerial photographs and then from [[remote sensing|satellite photography and radar data]]. Since all these were government projects funded with taxes and not classified for national security reasons, the datasets were in the [[public domain]] and freely usable without fees or licensing.

TIGER and DEM datasets greatly facilitated [[geographic information system]]s and made the [[Global Positioning System]] much more useful by providing context around locations given by the technology as coordinates.  Initial applications were mostly professionalized forms such as innovative [[Surveying#Equipment|surveying instruments]] and agency-level GIS systems tended by experts. By the mid-1990s, increasingly [[usability|user-friendly]] resources such as [[Web mapping|online mapping]] in two and three dimensions, integration of GPS with [[mobile phone]]s and [[automotive navigation system]]s appeared. As of 2011, the future of standardized, centrally printed topographical maps is left somewhat in doubt.<ref>
{{Cite web
 |url         = http://www.cfm.ohio-state.edu/people/personal/Documents/Maps%20for%20the%20Future-A%20Discussion.pdf
 |last        = Ramirez
 |first       = J. Raul
 |title       = Maps for the Future: A Discussion
 |access-date  = 1 July 2011
|url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111122231944/http://www.cfm.ohio-state.edu/people/personal/Documents/Maps%20for%20the%20Future-A%20Discussion.pdf
 |archive-date = 22 November 2011
}}</ref><ref>{{Citation
 |last              = Hurst
 |first             = Paul
 |date = 1 September 2010
 |title             = Will we be lost without paper maps in the digital age?
 |type              = M.S. thesis
 |publisher         = University of Sheffield
 |location = U.K.
 |pages             = 1–18
 |url               = http://dagda.shef.ac.uk/dissertations/2009-10/External/PHurst_090125672_Hurst_Dissertation.pdf
 |access-date        = 1 July 2011
|url-status           = dead
 |archive-url        = https://web.archive.org/web/20111002235623/http://dagda.shef.ac.uk/dissertations/2009-10/External/PHurst_090125672_Hurst_Dissertation.pdf
 |archive-date       = 2 October 2011
}}</ref>

==Uses==
[[File:Kurvimeter 1 (fcm).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Curvimeter]] used to measure a distance on a topographic map]]
Topographic maps have many multiple uses in the present day: any type of geographic [[planning]] or large-scale [[architecture]]; [[Earth sciences]] and many other [[geography|geographic]] disciplines; [[mining]] and other Earth-based endeavours; [[civil engineering]] and recreational uses such as [[hiking]] and [[orienteering]].

It takes practice and skill to read and interpret a topographic map. This includes not only how to identify map features, but also how to interpret contour lines to infer landforms like cliffs, ridges, draws, etc. Training in map reading is often given in orienteering, scouting, and the military.<ref>{{Cite book| publisher= US Department of the Army| title = Map Reading and Land Navigation| location = Washington, DC| series = Field Manual No. 3-25.26| date = January 2005 |via=Intelligence Resource Program |url=https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm3-25-26.pdf}}</ref>

==Conventions==
{{details|contour lines#Elevation and depth}}
The various features shown on the map are represented by conventional signs or symbols. For example, colors can be used to indicate a classification of roads. These signs are usually explained in the margin of the map, or on a separately published characteristic sheet.<ref>{{cite web |website=Ordnance Survey |url-status=dead |date=Jul 2012 |title=OS Explorer Map / 1:25 000 Scale Colour Raster |url=http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/docs/legends/25k-raster-legend.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121101163741/http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/docs/legends/25k-raster-legend.pdf |archive-date=1 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |website=Swisstopo |url=http://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/internet/swisstopo/en/home/products/accessories/brochures.parsys.000120.DownloadFile.tmp/symbolsen.pdf |title=symbolsen |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726110548/http://www.swisstopo.admin.ch/internet/swisstopo/en/home/products/accessories/brochures.parsys.000120.DownloadFile.tmp/symbolsen.pdf |archive-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |publisher=United States Geological Survey |url=http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols/topomapsymbols.pdf |title=Topographic Map Symbols |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080910173405/http://erg.usgs.gov/isb/pubs/booklets/symbols/topomapsymbols.pdf |archive-date=10 September 2008 }}</ref>

Topographic maps are also commonly called ''contour maps'' or ''topo maps''. In the United States, where the primary national series is organized by a strict 7.5-minute grid, they are often called or ''[[Quadrangle (geography)|quads]]'' or quadrangles.

Topographic maps conventionally show [[topography]], or land contours, by means of [[contour line]]s. Contour lines are [[curve]]s that connect contiguous points of the same [[altitude]] ([[isohypse]]). In other words, every point on the marked line of 100&nbsp;m [[elevation]] is 100&nbsp;m above mean sea level.

These maps usually show not only the contours, but also any significant [[stream]]s or other bodies of [[water]], [[forest]] cover, built-up areas or individual buildings (depending on scale), and other features and points of interest such as what direction those streams are flowing.

Most topographic maps were prepared using [[photogrammetry|photogrammetric]] interpretation of [[aerial photography]] using a [[stereoplotter]]. Modern mapping also employs [[lidar]] and other [[Remote sensing]] techniques. Older topographic maps were prepared using traditional [[surveying]] instruments.

The cartographic style (content and appearance) of topographic maps is highly variable between national mapping organizations. Aesthetic traditions and conventions persist in topographic map symbology, particularly amongst European countries at medium map scales.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kent|first1=Alexander J.|last2=Vujakovic|first2=Peter|date=August 2009|title=Stylistic Diversity in European State 1 : 50 000 Topographic Maps|journal=The Cartographic Journal|language=en|volume=46|issue=3|pages=179–213|doi=10.1179/000870409x12488753453453|s2cid=129681695|issn=0008-7041}}</ref>

==Publishers of national topographic map series==
{{see also|National mapping agency|Map series}}
Although virtually the entire terrestrial surface of Earth has been mapped at scale 1:1,000,000, medium and large-scale mapping has been accomplished intensively in some countries and much less in others.<ref>{{cite conference
 |url         = http://icaci.org/documents/ICC_proceedings/ICC1999/Print%20PDF/ICA01.pdf
 |title       = Cartography, Digital Transitions, and Questions of History
 |first       = John
 |last        = Pickles
 |conference  = International Cartographic Association, 1999
 |location    = Ottawa
 |page        = 17
 |access-date  = 29 June 2011
|url-status  = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20111123000016/http://icaci.org/documents/ICC_proceedings/ICC1999/Print%20PDF/ICA01.pdf
 |archive-date = 23 November 2011
}}</ref> Several commercial vendors supply international topographic map series.

According to 2007/2/EC [[Directive (European Union)|European directive]], national mapping agencies of [[European Union]] countries must have publicly available services for searching, viewing and downloading their official map series.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 January 2022 |title=L_2007108EN.01000101.xml |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32007L0002&from=EN |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220119034253/http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:32007L0002&from=EN |archive-date=19 January 2022  |access-date=3 August 2022 }}</ref> Topographic maps produced by some of them are available under a [[free license]] that allows re-use, such as a [[Creative Commons license|Creative Commons]] license.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Spanish IGN products license (in Spanish) |url=https://www.ign.es/resources/licencia/Condiciones_licenciaUso_IGN.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506084419/https://www.ign.es/resources/licencia/Condiciones_licenciaUso_IGN.pdf |archive-date=6 May 2022  |access-date=3 August 2022 }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Div col|colwidth=20em}}
* [[Aeronautical chart]]
* [[Bathymetric chart]]
* [[Cadastral map]]
* [[Thematic map]]
* [[Hypsometric tints]]
* [[International Map of the World]]
* [[National mapping agency#List of national mapping agencies|(List of) national mapping agencies]]
* [[Nautical chart]]
* [[Raised-relief map]]
* [[Stereoplotter]]
* [[Topo (climbing)]]
* [[TopoFusion]]
* [[Topographic profile]]
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

== External links ==
* USGS Topographic maps are downloadable as pdf files [https://web.archive.org/web/20130601175947/http://store.usgs.gov/b2c_usgs/usgs/maplocator/%28ctype%3DareaDetails%26xcm%3Dr3standardpitrex_prd%26carea%3D%24ROOT%26layout%3D6_1_61_48%26uiarea%3D2%29/.do from a searchable map] or [https://web.archive.org/web/20161208203017/https://geonames.usgs.gov/apex/f?p=262:1:0 by a search if the map name is known].
* [http://www.madehow.com/Volume-4/Topographic-Map.html How a Topographic Map is Manufactured, History, and Other Information]
* [https://topo.icaci.org The International Cartographic Association (ICA) Commission on Topographic Mapping]

{{Atlas}}

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[[Category:Relief maps]]
[[Category:Topography|Map]]