2 MAPPING MAPS Have you ever surfed Google Maps to see the area where you live or find road information? What do you use a road map for? Compass rose is the English equivalent of rosa dei venti . What is a map? Simply defined, maps are pictures of the Earth s surface, each map shows different information. Most maps include a compass rose , which indicates which way is north, south, east and west. They also include a scale (usually shown with a bar) so you can estimate distances. Types of maps Physical maps illustrate the physical features of an area, such as the mountains, rivers and lakes. Colours are used to show different landscapes. Water is usually shown in blue, green is typically used for plains, and orange or brown indicate hills and mountains. Political maps indicate states and national boundaries, the capital and major cities. A capital city is usually marked with a star within a circle. Road maps show major motorways and roads, airports, railroad tracks, cities and other points of interest in an area. Ordnance Survey 104 SURVEYING AND DESIGN Topographic maps include contour lines to show the shape and elevation of an area. Lines that are close together indicate steep terrain and lines that are far apart indicate flat terrain. Thematic maps emphasize a particular theme or special topics, for example, political, cultural or agricultural features of an area. Economic or resource maps show the specific type of economic activity or natural resources present in an area through the use of different symbols or colours. Climate maps show information about the climate of an area based on the temperature, the amount of snow and rain that an area receives or average number of cloudy or sunny days in a month or year. Weather maps show what the current weather in an area is and what the weather in that area will be in the coming hours or days. ONLINE RESOURCES boundary: confine flat: piatto ownership: proprietà plain: pianura remote sensing system: sistema di controllo da remoto steep: scosceso terrain: terreno topic: argomento scale: scala (nelle carte geografiche) Road map Cadastral maps show the accurate measures of the boundaries and ownership of each property. Physical map Who creates maps? Mapmakers, called cartographers, create maps for many different purposes. Today, cartography is a mixture of art, science and technology. Cartographers use geodetic surveys and remote sensing systems to measure, analyse and create maps and charts for political, cultural and educational purposes.