Brazilian Nsdi Ten Years Later: Current Overview, New Challenges and Propositions for National Topographic Mapping

Abstract

Cartographic data represents the main and basic component of a Spatial Data Infrastructure. SDI, in turn, has the role of supporting, with strategic information, the most diverse political and economic actions, in the management and planning of public actions. Thus, this work aims, initially, to present an overview of cartography in Brazil through the analysis of the evolution of topographic mapping coverage in the country. For each of the main scales used, a coverage map was created. The analyzes reflect three different periods (until 1997, between 1998 and 2007, after 2008) in order to relate how and to what degree, the creation of Brazilian National SDI (in 2008) had an impact on the mapping production in the country. Given the current panorama, as a final objective, this paper aims at to present proposals to leverage the coverage of this reference data. One of them is the use of new data sources such as Volunteered Geographic Information, especially in areas with outdated mapping or without mapping, as has already been used in some countries. Another proposition is to share the responsibility of mapping through partnerships with other levels of government, which would result the decentralization and the optimization of cartographic production.

Authoritative Cartography in Brazil and Collaborative Mapping Platforms: Challenges and Proposals for Data Integration

“…This is due to the fact that in this case, the reference database is a recent mapping, on the scale of 1:25,000 and updated in the year 2018. When compared with the reality of the country, it is observed that the availability of such an updated and detailed dataset is an exception, according to Silva and Camboim (2020) that calculated that only 5.5% of Brazil's territory is mapped on the 1:25,000 scale, and in this scale, about 68% were less than 12 years old.…”

“…However, Brazil has a historical deficiency in the coverage of cartographic data in its territory, noticeable in the larger scales established for the national topographic mapping. According to Silva and Camboim (2020), the 1:25,000 scale, for example, has hugely limited coverage (about 5.5% of the country) incorporated into the National Cartographic System. The intermediate scales, 1:50,000 and 1:100,000, when combined, cover 94% of the country, but on the other hand, mostly produced more than 40 years ago.…”

“…Here, the core focus is on finding gaps in the official data that VGI could fill, using case studies experiments to identify the main challenges and potentialities in the process. This perspective is important to create a methodology reproducible throughout the mapping of the country, considering the diversity of Brazilian authoritative mapping, that on a small scale, ranging from 1:25,000 to 1:250,000, is frequently outdated and available in absolutely heterogeneous environments (Silva and Camboim 2020).…”

Inference of positional accuracy of collaborative data from intrinsic parameters

“…In Brazil, only 5.5% of the territory has reference mapping on a scale of 1:25,000 (Silva & Camboim, 2020), and on large (urban) scales the numbers are worse. Belo Horizonte (BH), the capital of the State of Minas Gerais, is an exception.…”

“…In many developing countries, where spatial data deficits are common, both at large and small scales (Silva & Camboim, 2020), voluntary geographic information (VGI) can minimize the consequences of this scenario. In these countries, the focus of research on VGI is updating existing cartographic bases (Bravo & Sluter, 2015; Machado & Camboim, 2019).…”