Output devices of GIS for cartographic applications
Hari Shankar Gupta
Dept. of Geography, Maharshi Dayanand University
Rohtak, Haryana
Abstract
GIS are very powerful tools for handling spatial data. they add or replace conventional research methods and evaluation techniques. They involve new procedures of capture, manipulation and presentation of spatial information. Cartography has new dimension of understanding of representation of real phenomena (object and process) due to digital structure development. Understanding of map as a cartographic representation inherent to GIS specialists is different to an exact cartographic definition of map as a basic cartographic work. The map is usually presented in two dimensional space but due to the graphic tools of information systems it has sense to be interested in multi dimentional representation despite problems with multi dimensional transformation. The computer map as a graphic output is understood as: the set of points, lines and areas defined by their location in space using reference system and non spatial attribute .
Special attention has to be given to geographical data in digital data structures. Neither computer nor application software (in this case-GIS) are able to think like human being and in computer map production they are not able to carry out decisions which are inherent to cartographers. Procedure of map production (both traditional analouge and digital or computer) is implemented in certain sequence. For traditional map production thee as a direct one-way relationship between real phenomena and a map.
The output devices for cartographic interpretation of spatial digital data have been assessed for various systems. The most important outcome from GIS applications is the fact that problems of cartography in GIS is getting narrow into field of digital data visualisation.