Cartography courses at Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE) in Budapest, Hungary

Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics Faculty of Informatics Eötvös Loránd University Address: Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A. Budapest 1117. HUNGARY Website (only general information): http://lazarus.elte.hu/gb/gbindex.html For personal or more detailed information contact: Dr. László Zentai (Head of Department) – [email protected] Dr. Jesús Reyes Nunez – [email protected]

Semester 1 (February-May) Title WebGIS programming Output-oriented computer cartography Alternative methods in thematic cartography Cartographic visualisation Toponymy (geographical names)

Lecturer Mátyás GEDE László ZENTAI Jesús REYES Zsolt TÖRÖK Gábor GERCSÁK

Credits 4 6 4 4 4

Semester 2 (September-December) Title Unix/Linux Open source GIS software 3D modelling in GIS ArcGIS Automations in cartographic generalization (theory and programming) Coordinate systems on the earth ellipsoid and on the maps

Lecturer Béla KOVÁCS János MÉSZÁROS Gáspár ALBERT Krisztina IRÁS Zsuzsanna UNGVÁRI János GYÖRFFY

Credits 4 4 4 4 4 4

WebGIS programming Class summary Developing WebGIS applications using OpenLayers and MapServer. Themes (themes are not necessarily equal to lessons; some of them may require more than one lesson)  Introduction: structure of WebGIS architectures. The role of OpenLayers and MapServer.  JavaScript fundamentals (if necessary).  OpenLayers basics: displaying maps on web pages; Map and Layer objects; base layers and overlays.  Raster layer types and their typical usage: OSM, Google layers, WMS, Image layer.  Vector layer. Types and properties of vector features. Populating vector layers. The WFS protocol.  Controls: retrieving feature information using WMS or WFS. Popups.  More on controls: Drawing, measurements. Geocoding using Nominatim.  MapServer basics: the Mapfile; layers and classes; providing WMS and WFS services  Classification using expressions, basic styling. The role and use of projections.  Labels, symbols.  Scale-dependent visualization. Designing concepts of multi-scale map services.  Data sources: shapefiles, other GIS formats; geodatabases. Free public data sources.

Student project Create a web map application of a smaller region of special interest.  Download OSM data.  Add data from other sources.  Set up WMS service with MapServer (with well-designed layer structure, styling)  Create user interface using OpenLayers.  Add interactive functions to the map (toggle layers, clickable features, etc.)

Output-oriented Computer Cartography   

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Theoretical background of computer cartography The effect of IT development to computer cartography Hardware elements computers input devices output devices Software elements operation systems colours texts Software types in computer cartography file formats Evolution of output devices in computer cartography Offset printed maps Colour separation Proofs Imagesetting Digital printing Practice General graphic software Map drawing software

Cartographic visualisation           

Cartographic visualization and communication. The definitions of maps and cartography. Artistic and scientific representation of space. Media and representation. Geographic ontology and cartographic representation. The concept of scale and the spatial representation. Cartographic modeling. Object information: spatial coordinates, attributes and temporal information. Symbolization and carto-semiotics. Legend: groups of objects and categories of symbols. Graphic and conceptual generalization. Representational space in cartography. Functions of cartographic representation. Maps and map-related forms of representation. Proposition and expression. The elements of visual communication, the construction of images. The structural organization of maps: horizontal organizations. Vertical hierarchy. Representational space in digital environment: network-based services, dynamic representations. Abstract and virtual spaces. Maps in mass media, infographics. Cartography for tourism and propaganda.

Alternative methods in thematic cartography             

Milestones in the history of the thematic cartography and data representation Cartograms 1: history, definitions, types Cartograms 2: results of newest research Cartograms 3: free software for their making Chernoff faces 1: history, principle, types Chernoff faces 2: results of newest research Chernoff faces 3: The use of the Chernoff principle in school cartography The use of sound in cartography 1: experiments on thematic maps, use on multimedia maps. The use of sound in cartography 2: maps and atlases for blind and visually impaired people The use of sound in cartography 3: Examples from the Web and applications Map-based geovisualization: actual research and applications `Non map-based´ geovisualization: antecedents, actual solutions and applications Cybercartography: Newest thematic solutions pre-determined by the actual research projects

Toponymy (geographical names)               

Geographical names, place names United Nations and the standardization of names National committees on geographical names Gazetteers Major writing systems Names with non-Latin script Transcription and transliteration of names Translation of geographical names Exonyms and endonyms Minority names Short names and formal names of countries Naming geographical features Naming oceans and seas Naming undersea features Compiling place names indexes

Unix/Linux       

Comparison of the MS and MAC systems and commercial UNIX and GNU linux platforms Usage of UNIX based systems in Cartography and Geoinformatics (server/client solutions) Applications and developments on mobile data loggers The user and the system administrator level Security and stability Manage and development of unicate server/portal appl. Database level WEB cartographic portals

Open-source GIS software 

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The main topic of the course will be two leading open-source GIS software: QGIS (or Quantum GIS) and GRASS GIS, their functionalities, processing methods etc. The related code-directories (GDAL, OGR, PROJ.4) also will be discussed during the semester. List of main subtopics: • Introduction into open-source GIS, examples, basic methods • Integration of different data types and sources (local files, web-based services, databases, GPS based data import etc.) • Visualization of different data types (RGB or HIS raster files, multispectral images, vector files) • Editing of different data formats • Parameterization of map projections, syntax of PROJ4 format to describe projections • Analysis methods with vector files (buffer, neighbourhood, least-distance, topology) and raster files (filters, classification methods, 3D analysis). • Publication of created maps or databases: printed and online (MapServer export, QGIS Cloud).

3D modelling in GIS  

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Concepts and theoretic base of 3D modelling. Types and the “scale” of 3D models. Data and objects in the model. Types of different modelling applications, and the usage of 3D models in the Earth sciences. Hierarchical data management. Data management systems of the 3D model and their functionalities. The source and the management of primary data. Converting raster into vector and further into numerical data or converting raster directly into numerical data. The structure of GIS databases. The 2D GIS base of the 3D model. GIS topology types. Connection between the subsystems. Data mining, data classification and data analysis. The modelling procedure. Classification of 3D modeling methods. Comparison of the raster and vector based data-model. Simple and complicated irregular models. Simple and complicated regular models. The concept of tessellation. Processing and storing grid data. Calculation of grid point values. The concept of scalar-space and vector-space. The medium, and the requirements of the visualization. The conceptual 3D model. Models in the virtual space. Tools for visualization and querying. Own work, practice, consulting.

ArcGIS         

Data management (ArcCatalog) Structuring geodatabases Georeferencing, projection transformations (ArcMAP) Digitization and editing, building database Creating and editing topology Analysing data Methods of thematic mapping; Creating thematic maps Map finishing, creating layouts ArcGIS online, web publication

Automations in cartographic generalization (theory and programming)    

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Principles of the generalization: points, lines, polygons. Relations with the different map features. Scale, data density and generalization. Generalization operator. Basics of the Python programming: variables, operators, lists, iterations, functions, statements, working with text and binary files, modules. Line generalization: the most important generalization algorithms in practice. Their usage in GIS software (QGIS, QGIS Generalizer module, Global Mapper, ArcGIS). Theory of each algorithms. Programming on vector data: Nth point, radial distance, perpendicular distance, Douglas-Peucker algorithms. Theory of contour line generalization, coastline generalization, river generalization, topology safe generalization on border lines. Bezier curves. Reading and writing GeoJSON, and Shapefiles with Python and OGR. Generalization of point features. Generalization of area features. Methods for area preserving generalization. Building generalization. 3D DEM-s. Reading in GIS software. Free available DEMs, and their use. Expoting in raster formats. Basics of 3D DEM generalization on SRTM data (image filtering). Generallization of hill shading. Reading and writing ASC files and GeoTIFF with GDAL in Python. Creating contours in GIS software (QGIS, Global Mapper) Create slope and aspect maps in GIS software, or with computing and programming in GDAL for Python.

Coordinate systems on the Earth ellipsoid and on the maps           

Elements of the coordinate systems on several surfaces Geometry of the ellipsoid and its parameterization Transformation of different coordinates of the sphere Transformation of different coordinates of the ellipsoid Direct and inverse problem of the sphere and ellipsoid Converting between different geodesic data coordinates Direct mapping from the ellipsoid onto a plane and its using in the cartography Mapping from the ellipsoid onto an aposphere and its using in the cartography Transverse and oblique cylinder projections of the ellipsoid Global map coordinate systems (Gauss-Krüger, UTM, MGRS) Conical projections of the ellipsoid and their using in the cartography