Automated Cartographic Generalization in Italy

Abstract

ABSTRACT:Automated cartographic generalization has been a challenging research field for over 30 years; nowadays thanks to the continuous research is becoming a concrete opportunity to increase the speed of map sets production and maintenance. As some National mapping agencies are working in this direction, in Italy automated cartographic generalization is still a research field, although recent researches show its applicability to the Italian data models for the production of maps. This paper illustrates how the production of cartography in Italy is organized and the situation of the research on generalization in the country. The paper reports the most interesting results of the research, especially those brought by the on-going CARGEN project, that testify how automated cartographic generalization could play a key role also in the Italian cartographic processes.

Coupling Historical Maps and LiDAR Data to Identify Man-Made Landforms in Urban Areas

“…The most ancient core of the city, the yellow area in Figure 1, was smaller (c. 11.45 km 2 ) and was roughly located between the city's two main streams: the Bisagno in the eastern part, and the Polcevera in the West. From a geological point of view, the study area is largely constituted by marly limestones, marls, and clays in Flysch sequences of Upper Cretaceous, while the western part, in the Polcevera Valley, is dominated by shales of Lower Cretaceous [36][37][38]. The two formations are found both as outcrops and bedrock.…”

“…The two formations are found both as outcrops and bedrock. Another important lithotype, today largely hidden by the urban structure, is constituted by stiff fissured Pliocene clays, exclusively found in the historical center [37][38][39][40][41][42]. Morphology is characterized by many small and steep catchments, mostly oriented orthogonally to the coastline, originating from the neotectonic activity [42].…”