Military cartography. Russian military cartography will soon cease to exist Military cartographer what he should know
Features of the development of cartography in the second half of the XIX-XX centuries.
Development of military cartography.
Sea mapping.
Thematic mapping.
Features of Soviet cartography.
The results of the development of cartography on turn of XIX-XX centuries
Development of military cartography.
Very large successes in the development of military cartography were achieved in the 19th century. in Russia.
Many of the works of that period, preserved in manuscript form, are remarkable in their completeness and design.
The beginning of the organizational formation of military cartography dates back to 1797. Production of field topographic works was not organized in an organized way, which was especially evident in the war of 1812. Therefore, in 1822, a special Corps of military topographers was established for the production of state surveys, which later carried out a huge amount of work on triangulation, observation of astronomical points and topographic surveys, especially in western , central and partly southern provinces European Russia. Among the triangulations begun in 1816, the works of General K.I. Tenner and Academician V.Ya. Danube to the Arctic Ocean with a length of 25 ° 20,. These classical works, known as the Struve arc, were at one time a very accurate and largest degree measurement, the most important material for determining the dimensions of the earth's ellipsoid. Following the triangulation, topographic scale surveys were carried out, initially on a half-verst (1:21000) scale (1819-1844), then on a one-verst (1:42,000) scale (1844-1870). Trigonometric points served as the basis for the breakdown of the geometric network. Only the main objects of the area were filmed instrumentally: big roads, rivers, borders of provinces. The rest of the content of the map was applied visually, but in the field, on the scale, how these surveys methodically differed from their predecessors of the 18th century,
when drawing maps from field books was homework.
In the process of surveying, the relief was depicted as approximate contour lines with an indication of the angular magnitude of the slopes of the terrain, and the contours of the peaks and thalwegs were instrumentally applied; in a cameral setting, the relief was drawn in strokes. By 1870, surveys of this nature had spread to 30 provinces of Russia, as well as to Poland and partly Finland; the total area of the surveyed space was over 1500 thousand versts2 (1700 thousand km2). Large-scale semi-instrumental surveys were also made in the Transcaucasus in the Orenburg Territory, in Siberia and abroad.
All these surveys served as sources for the compilation and publication of a number of new maps, among which a three-verst map of European Russia, begun in 1845, occupies an outstanding place.
More than 500 sheets of it covered the territory of European Russia from its western borders to the line St. Petersburg - Cherepovets - Velikiye Luki - Ryazan - Valuyki - Borisoglebsk - Daritsyn - Novocherkassk. The three-verst map is remarkable in its detail and excellent rendering of relief strokes of the western and central parts of Russia. For it, an original scale of strokes was developed, adapted to convey a flat relief. The three-verst map put forward Russian military cartography to one of the first places. It was a major contribution to world cartography, made with great skill, especially in terms of the quality of the engraving (The predecessor of this map - a three-verst map of Poland (1834-1839) on 57 sheets - is also notable for the perfection of the engraving. Her experience was used to create a map of European Russia. ).
Another outstanding work of Russian military cartography of the XIX century. was a Special ten-verst (scale 1:420,000) map of European Russia (1865-1871) on 152 sheets, edited by I. A. Strelbitsky. Its content, image detail and design were established after the production of a number of samples for various regions of European Russia. With particular completeness, the map reproduced hydrography and settlements. Of the natural elements of the landscape, the map depicts forests, sands, swamps and, most importantly, relief. Huge material was involved in compiling the map, in particular, over 20,000 strongholds. To establish the correct names, the Geographical and Statistical Dictionary of P.P. Semenov served. Conceived as military map, ten-verstka went far beyond this purpose and was widely used for scientific, practical and cultural purposes. For example, we point out that it served as the basis for a ten-verst geological map of European Russia, and in Soviet times it was reprinted until the 1930s and was, in particular, used in compiling a hypsometric map of the European part of the USSR at a scale of 1: 1,500,000. Three-verst and ten-verst maps were systematically maintained at the level of modernity until the early 80s of the XIX century.
The success of the work of the military topographic service was largely due to the special training of personnel: topographers studied at the Military Topographic School, surveyors of the highest qualification graduated from the geodetic department of the General Staff Academy (since 1854) and trained at the Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory (founded in 1839) .
During the period of imperialism, topographic maps become obsolete. First, the terrain changes, especially rapidly under the influence of man, and maps cease to correspond to reality over time. Secondly, as science and technology develop, life puts forward new requirements for the content and accuracy of maps.
The aging of maps as a result of changes in the terrain makes it necessary to update and reissue maps, to carry out work that was then called reconnaissance in the military department.
The cards were technically obsolete as well. When in the second half of the XIX century. topographic maps found new areas of application in engineering, in particular railway construction, geological surveys, etc., they required a geometrically accurate transfer of relief through the replacement of strokes with horizontal lines. The introduction of contour lines proved to be important for the army as well.
A great influence on the improvement of maps and the reduction in the cost of their printing was the introduction of photographic equipment and lithography (printing from flat printing plates) into map publishing instead of expensive and time-consuming engraving.
New work was carried out relatively slowly, which was partly influenced by the enlargement of the scale and the increase in the accuracy of surveys.
As a result of more than a century of activity of the Russian military topographic service, maps were created for an area of about 10 million km2, i.e., almost equal to the area of the entire European continent. This remarkable contribution to the topographic study of the planet surpassed by the beginning of the First World War what was done in this direction by any other state.
The First World War served as an impetus for the introduction of a number of new methods into topographic and geodetic work and cartography. The biggest development was the use of aerial photography to update and replenish maps, which later revolutionized the production of topographic maps.
Sea mapping
The sea covers 71% of the Earth's surface. This fact in itself speaks of the importance of nautical charts. Mapping the seas is a task of national importance, carried out by the hydrographic services (in the USSR, the Main Directorate of Navigation and Oceanography of the USSR Ministry of Defense), whose purpose is to ensure the safety of navigation. Therefore, special navigational (hydrographic) charts for navigation, designed to lay the path of a ship and determine its location, until recently constituted the undividedly dominant category of nautical charts.
In the USSR, it is customary to subdivide navigation charts according to their purpose and scale into four groups:
1) plans on a scale of 1: 25,000 and larger, used for entering ports, harbors, when anchoring, as well as for designing hydraulic structures;
2) private charts in scales from 1:25,000 to 1:75,000, used for navigation in the immediate vicinity of the coast, when passing by narrow passages, when the ship's course is determined by local objects;
3) travel charts on a scale of 1: 100,000 to 1: 1,000,000, intended for navigation along the coast, sometimes with a complete loss of visibility of the coast;
4) general charts on a scale of 1: 1,000,000 and smaller, used to study the conditions of navigation and when sailing on the high seas (Abroad, similar classifications are used, but the terms for designating groups may be different.).
In these groups, travel and general maps are of particular importance, covering completely separate basins, while plans and private maps are made only for some sections of the coast.
The International Hydrographic Organization aims to facilitate the mutual exchange of charts between countries, the standardization of navigational charts and, most importantly, the production in the order of international cooperation standard cards. Maps of the world are made in scales 1:10 000000 and 1:3500000.
The topographic maps of the slit are a continuation of the topographic maps of the land and are performed on the same scale, projection (Gauss) and layout. They serve for the exploitation and protection of the natural resources of the shelf - minerals, vegetation and animals, for the planning, design and operation of various structures and for many other purposes, but do not replace navigation charts. The main elements of the content of shelf maps include: engineering and technical structures; the relief of the seabed, depicted by depth marks, horizontal lines (isobaths) and special signs of characteristic forms - brows, ledges, canyons, etc.; bottom sediments (soils) denoted by conventional abbreviations; bottom plants shown in areas of significant concentrations conventional signs and signatures, and sedentary benthic animals; artificial structures and fairways.
From the middle of the XIX century. the steam fleet began to supplant the sailing ships. Mariners no longer depend on the wind. The ships could stick to the shore. Draft and speed increased. As a result, increased demands were placed on navigation charts. At the coasts, the marine inventory began to be replaced by more accurate work, including triangulation, topographic survey of the coasts and, based on them, depth measurements.
At the same time, in connection with the laying of telegraph cables across the oceans, the study of oceanic basins was begun. The invention of the deep water lot made it possible to measure great depths. However, due to the difficulty of measuring, their number remained small for a long time.
§ 14.3 Cassini map. Military cartography in the advanced countries of Western Europe during the period of the establishment of capitalism
If in the first half of the XVIII century. Since the largest milestones in the development of cartography were its planting in scientific academic institutions and the organization in Russia of the first systematic state survey, then for the second half of the century, the use of triangulation to justify surveys and the use of projections for topographic maps became an event of paramount importance. These innovations, carried out in France by Caesar Cassini, made it possible for any number of surveyors to work simultaneously and independently when surveying large areas, to correctly and easily combine the results of individual surveys into a single whole, to eliminate the accumulation of errors and to obtain constant and reliable control at all stages of survey operations.
The story is like this. In 1746-1748, during the actions of the French army in the Netherlands, surveys of this country were made. In the process of processing for compiling the map, seemingly insurmountable obstacles arose when summarizing the individual surveys among themselves. Cassini, the head of the "geometric inventory" of France (see § 14.1), who at that time connected the French triangulation with the chain of Snell's triangles, proposed using his own trigonometric points to substantiate and link surveys, which resolved the difficulties that arose.
This success prompted Cassini to start systematic scale surveys of France for a "geometric" map at a scale of 1:86,400. settlements, relative to which hydrography, roads, forests were plotted and terrain irregularities were indicated. Remarkable in its geometric justification, the Cassini map in other respects (Fig. 14.4) did not rise above the level of its time (a template image of settlements with perspective signs, a primitive image of the relief with dashes without coordination with the steepness of the slopes and the difference in heights, etc.). Except for a short time when Cassini received government support, his filming was carried out as a private enterprise. Work on the map lasted from 1750 to 1789, and in full on 182 sheets the map went on sale only in 1815.
The mathematical principles proposed by Cassini for substantiating topographic surveys found a wide response in other countries. The earliest example is the survey of the Austrian Netherlands (Belgium), made in 1770-1777. led by Ferrari. Very large in scale (1:11520), it contained 275 sheets with a very detailed and skillfully executed drawing of the terrain, each sheet was accompanied by a text description.
Rice. 14.4. Fragment of the topographic map of France Cassini scale 1: 86 400 (1750-1789)
Based on this survey, Ferrari, borrowing the scale (1: 86,400) and the projection of the Cassini map, published a map of the Austrian Netherlands on 25 sheets, an example of cartographic art of the 18th century. (Fig. 14.5). The works of Cassini were also a model for surveying and maps of some German states. 
Rice. 14. 5. Fragment of the topographic map of the Austrian Netherlands Ferrari scale 1: 86 400 (1777)
At the turn of the XVIII and XIX centuries. the army began to feel an urgent need for topographic maps. Until that time, use geographical maps in military affairs was limited to a relatively narrow framework, which was determined by the dominant throughout the 18th century. linear tactics of warfare. Linear construction could only be carried out on a flat and open area, where the commander had the opportunity to directly observe the battlefield and direct the battle. Neither he nor his subordinate commanders felt any special need for detailed maps of the battlefield and the surrounding area. But the map turned out to be necessary in the movement and concentration of troops and in their quartering. In the first case, a relatively small scale road map was sufficient. Large scale maps(plans) were filmed only for fortified areas and camps, that is, for limited areas of the terrain.
A radical change in views on the military use of the map was caused by a new system of tactics. It consisted in the use of a scattering formation of shooters advanced forward against the linear formations of the enemy, followed by battle columns. This tactic encouraged troops to “fight on rough terrain, in villages and forests, where they found shelter from enemy fire and where the enemy’s line formation invariably fell into disarray; ... thanks to this, any terrain has now become suitable for combat; and one of the main requirements for the military leader was the ability to quickly assess all the advantages and disadvantages of the area and immediately position their troops in accordance with this ”(Marx K. and Engels F. Soch., vol. 41. S. 38-39. ). Under these conditions, the map became indispensable for studying the terrain and using it in battle, for choosing the direction of strikes and detours, and in general for directing the battle.
At the beginning of the XIX century. European countries hastily train their armies according to a new model and organize special military topographic services. The latter are rapidly growing, in a number of cases they include civilian cartographic institutions and, while remaining in the military department, acquire the position of state cartographic services. Their main duty is to produce large-scale topographic maps for possible theaters of war, based on a rigid reference network - triangulation and topographic surveys.
A new problem has arisen in relation to the transfer of relief. Large-scale maps without relief images have lost all value for the army. The army not only expected from the map a visual representation of the terrain, but also demanded that the steepness of the slopes be shown, which largely determines the possibility of maneuvering troops. The perspective and semi-perspective methods of depicting relief, which prevailed in the 18th century, were unsuitable for this purpose. The solution to the problem was proposed by Lehman, who developed an objective method for depicting the relief with strokes that were drawn along the lines of the greatest steepness of the slopes so that the thickness of the strokes was in a certain ratio with the steepness of the slope (see § 4.2).
The creation of topographic maps for vast areas required determining the type and size of the Earth as a whole and a detailed geometric study of its individual parts. Mathematics occupied a central position in cartography and contributed to its improvement.
As a result of the vigorous activity of the military topographic services, a number of European countries in the second half of the 19th century. completed topographic surveys and published topographic maps of their territories.
Military topographers are responsible not only for the current tasks in their field, but are also in charge of the advance preparation of the territories of the continental regions in terms of topographic and geodesic, using for this purpose structures that are more or less engaged in geodetic and cartographic activities. devoted just to the work of military topographers. Journalist Alexei Yegorov will have access to information that was previously practically inaccessible to the general public. How a practical survey of areas is carried out, who creates layouts of the area and what real risk is associated with the implementation of this, at first glance, purely paper work - see all this in new program from the cycle "Military Acceptance". Points on the map The fact that the territory, which, perhaps, will become a battlefield, is the first to be studied by topographers in uniform is known to everyone who is at least a little familiar with military affairs. In 2012, the 543rd Center for Geospatial Information and Navigation was created within the structure of the Russian Ministry of Defense - a unique formation designed to provide a wide range of topographic and geodetic services in the interests of the Russian military department in the South of Russia. Surveyors of this Center solve their tasks mainly by the method of practical study of the terrain. To do this, they are armed with original technical and vehicles that allow them to carry out real-time different kinds filming - from photographic to topogeodesic. 
It was this equipment, mounted on the basis of a KamAZ off-road vehicle, that specialists of the Center conducted a survey of the territory of Crimea last year. The capabilities of technology made it possible to draw up or compare maps directly in the direction of travel, and transfer them to the base. However, topographic and geodetic work on the peninsula did not look much like a vacation trip around the resort area. Specialists had to install special towers that act as reference points for the coordinate grid. These towers, by the way, are rather large in size - a height of a 12-story building. Military topographers had to put them on their own, without the involvement of third-party organizations. 
... Yes, such trips can remind the ignorant of the expeditions of geologists from the middle of the last century. However, there is not much romance in the work of military surveyors. The specialists of this service are faced with a complex and responsible task - to accurately determine the planned-altitude substantiation of given areas, to determine and fix the coordinates and heights of the "points", to create the basis for geodetic reference in the interests of the troops. At the same time, the terrain, where the task of the command often throws military surveyors, bears little resemblance to a promenade. Mountain steeps, canyons, impenetrable gorges, narrow caves - these and other obstacles lie in wait for the specialists of this service all the time. Combat use coordinates Colonel Alexander Zaliznyuk, Head of the Military Topographical Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces - Head of the Topographical Service of the entire Russian Army and Navy, has been in this field for decades, awarded the honorary title "Honored Worker of Geodesy and Cartography of the Russian Federation." According to him, modern technical means are increasingly coming into the system of work of topographic service specialists. For example, a theodolite - a measuring device for determining horizontal and vertical angles in topographic surveys - is giving way to space geodesy tools. 
“Space geodesy forms and defines a geocentric coordinate system, the center of which is at the Earth's center of mass,” says Colonel Zaliznyuk. “This center of mass is static, but it needs to be known with high accuracy.”The possession of such information makes it possible to carry out, say, missile launches with high accuracy, setting the coordinates of targets with an accuracy of up to a centimeter. By the way, this allows you to carry out firing with a smaller amount of ammunition, saving the cost of their purchase, saving the military budget. Topographic maps are created in electronic form based on satellite imagery. According to the head of the 946th Main Geospatial Information Center of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Colonel Vladimir Kozlov, digital information about the terrain is processed by a software and hardware complex, and the accuracy with which these maps are created also does not exceed a centimeter.
“We can make such maps on the territory of the entire globe,” the officer proudly reports.It is worth noting that space technologies are also improving, moving away from the methods adopted back in the 1980s. At that time, a satellite was also used, but the shooting was carried out on ordinary film, and when it came to an end, the satellite dropped the capsule from space to Earth, after which the pictures taken were transferred to paper manually. Topographers for special purposes True, where you can’t look from space, the main satellite of the topographer was and remains the very theodolite. And also - electronic tacheometers, laser roulettes, levels, plus standard equipment and equipment that military personnel have to carry. The work of topographical service specialists, as already mentioned, is not always romantic ... Besides, at times it even resembles extreme sports, it is so difficult here, and sometimes even dangerous. Ropeway crossings, skydiving, horseback riding. And yet - the implementation of tasks almost at the forefront. The former head of the 543rd Center, Alexander Goncharuk, recalls that his specialists had to perform tasks during both counter-terrorist operations in the North Caucasus, as well as during the “five-day” war in August 2008. In 1996, the officer happened to draw up a cartographically accurate layout of Grozny: in the future, all the operations of our troops were worked out precisely on this unique scheme. By the way, that layout with an area of 4 by 6 meters, as Alexander Goncharuk recalls, was made hastily, from improvised material. But they did it, they got the job done.
Fortunately, topographic surveyors do not have to risk life and health so often. Technology comes to the rescue. The above-mentioned mobile navigation system based on KamAZ, which, in turn, is part of the digital topographic system, will reduce months of painstaking work to several hours. The data collected by geodesists are connected on a computer with photographs from satellites and aircraft, “attached” to the coordinates of the area and displayed in analog form, and maps are printed here, on the basis of a mobile printing house included in the complex. 
An important aspect: coordinates are transmitted in coded form. That is, each military topographer also acts as a cryptographer - cipher. As the head of the 946th Main Center, Colonel Vladimir Kozlov, notes, the map of landmarks allows you to transmit information by means of communication using the conditional names of objects. By the way, during the Great Patriotic War, our intelligence officers often confused the Nazis by giving German cities their own, conditional names. So the city of Wormen became Vasya, Arnstein - Kolya, Tiffenzein - Petey. And before the Battle of Borodino in 1812, our scouts managed to plant completely fake maps at the Napoleonic headquarters, where they changed the names of many settlements. As a result, entangled in the terrain, the French lost several days. By the way, in the repository of the cartographic center you can find materials from just 1812 - the very same year when the topographic service was created in Russia by imperial decree. According to Syrian patterns The experience of the current hostilities in Syria has shown that it is too early to refuse maps in their usual form. The computer may not always be at the commander's hand. But after all, maps in paper form are also becoming more perfect. For example, they are already made with water protection, with the possibility of applying information with special markers. Cards are created... on silk! Such funds are initially absolutely compact, they can be crumpled up, put in a pocket without prejudice to subsequent use. 
Three-dimensional models can be considered a new word in military cartography. The head of the Military Topographic Department, Colonel Alexander Zaliznyuk, emphasizes that such maps are used both by headquarters and by military personnel on an individual basis. “We have the equipment with which we make these schemes,” says Colonel Zaliznyuk. - First, a three-dimensional virtual model, then a matrix is cut out using a special machine, and a map is printed on a special plotter.It is worth noting that the officers of the Military Topographical Directorate took part in the creation of three-dimensional digital maps of the Syrian Aleppo and Palmyra. They performed mathematical support, carried out geodetic work. The model turned out to be such that it can accurately measure distances, areas, heights. The first launches of the famous Kalibr missiles, which were used to strike terrorist targets in Syria, were also calculated on our maps. According to the information that was prepared by the specialists of the topographic service of the Russian General Staff, according to the electronic topographic map they created, flight tasks were prepared for the successful use of this high-precision weapon.
”, Russian military cartography and hydrography has not been developed for over twenty years. This scientific industry is losing highly qualified specialists, and their average age over sixty years old. This was told to journalists by Admiral Anatoly Komaritsyn, the former head of the Main Directorate of Navigation and Oceanography of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
At a press conference held in the St. Petersburg media center, Komaritsyn told RIA Novosti that military navigation and cartography are today placed in unbearable conditions. He noted that hydrographs are trained at the Higher Naval School. Frunze, where ... 6-8 specialists graduate per year. Previously, the school had a hydrographic department, but it was gradually combined with the navigation department, in fact, it was closed. And in Soviet times, Komaritsyn said, there were almost eleven thousand specialists in the Russian fleet and "there was continuity." The admiral also said that the average age of a specialist can currently reach seventy years.
He noted that in order to maintain nautical cartography, traditionally run by the military, 300-400 chart numbers should be issued per year. This is just to support. But in order to "move forward", you need to release more than six hundred issues. In Soviet times, the Main Hydrographic Department of the country issued 550 maps on orders and 300-400 as a "backlog" for the future. Today, only 300 cards are issued per year.
According to Komaritsyn, two hundred and forty lighthouses are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense. The lighthouses on the port territories belong to the Ministry of Transport, "and the lighthouses between the ports, which stick out on wild rocks, were left to the military." Komaritsyn said that it can be difficult to get close to such lighthouses; many of them work in auto mode. He also said that no funds are allocated for the maintenance of lighthouses. They give wages to caretakers and provide them with food, that's all.
Another major problem of current military cartography is the organization of expeditions to collect information about the depths and obtain other data for mapping. At one time, 417 oceanic and coastal research vessels were subordinate to the Main Directorate of Hydrography.
As Komaritsyn explained, out of all this impressive number of ships, 25-30 are now left, which "roam along the coast." The last expedition, according to the admiral, took place in 1988. “Now there are no expeditions at all. They are in the state, but everything is reduced. Komaritsyn noted that in Soviet times, any ship, being in its area, simultaneously carried out research and sent data to cartographers. Hydrography, according to the admiral, should be done in peacetime. "If another time comes, hydrographers become military pilots."
Data for cartography, obtained in the Soviet era, have now become archival. According to Komaritsyn, military hydrographers have accumulated a huge amount of material - and now it needs to be processed. The most important research was carried out, for example, in the Arctic - to search for both routes and possible points of emergence of submarines in the polar regions. By the way, at each drifting station "North Pole" even today a military hydrograph works among the polar explorers. Icebreakers and ships navigate the Northern Sea Route using maps of the Arctic Ocean. All these maps are based on military cartographic data.
The admiral said that the country contained ten thousand admiralty card numbers. They were the best and in demand - and were constantly transferred to a higher quality printing system. Military hydrography must not be destroyed!
Komaritsyn also explained that for military use, the need for maps is much higher than for civilian use: after all, military ships use more routes than civilian ones. However, for solving peaceful tasks of exploring the Arctic shelf and finding safe sea routes, the experience of military hydrography and cartography can be a suitable basis.
Recall that the Hydrographic Service of the Navy was established back in 1827. Initially, it was subordinate to the sovereign. A century and a half later, in 1972, the Hydrographic Directorate of the Navy was transformed into the Main Directorate of Navigation and Oceanography of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
A specialist who has devoted his life to creating maps is a man of science, a wanderer who studies the world around him with great interest. In his work, he skillfully combines more than one subject area, and his work is highly valued by society. And it is about this specialist that we propose to talk today.
It has always been of great importance to mankind. It is difficult to imagine holding a geography lesson without an atlas or a globe, and traveling or hiking without a map of the area. The work of cartographers is also very clearly demonstrated on popular Internet resources. They made no less contribution to the creation of navigation systems used in various devices around the world.
A specialist who has devoted his life to creating maps is a man of science, a wanderer who studies the world around him with great interest. In his work, he skillfully combines more than one subject area, and his work is highly valued by society. And it is about this specialist that we propose to talk today.
What is a cartographer?
A specialist working on the creation of different types of maps (flat, relief, volumetric, etc.), by modeling and displaying the spatial arrangement of objects (Earth, celestial bodies, etc.). The name of the profession consists of several Greek words: χάρτης (chartes): translated as papyrus paper, and γράφειν (grapho): meaning to draw or write.
The first maps began to form even in the period of the emergence of writing. They acquired particular relevance when mankind began to explore new lands. That is why cartographers took part in almost all sea, land and military expeditions, and their role could not be overestimated.
over creation schematic representation of the surface Many outstanding people worked on the earth in different periods: Claudius Ptolemy, Leonardo Da Vinci, Albrecht Dürer, and others. The Flemish cartographer Gerhard Mercator received great recognition in this area, during whose life cartography was singled out as a separate science. Mercator also compiled a collection of 107 maps with the name "atlas" unknown at that time.
The profession of a cartographer has not lost its relevance to this day. However, if until the end of the previous century, maps were issued only in paper form, then with the spread of digital technologies, they acquired an electronic format. Modern specialists use various technical means in their work and interact with experts from other fields (in particular, together with programmers they create electronic cards).
Cartography includes the theory of science and practice (applied cartography). Accordingly, the profession has several areas of activity:
- Theoretical cartographers - are engaged in the development of methods for representing three-dimensional relief on a plane, the development of cartography in electronic format and the formation of thematic atlases and maps.
- Practitioner cartographers - collect data on the surface of the earth and other planets, on the basis of which they compile and issue new maps on digital or paper.
Based on the technical specifications of the customer, cartographers can work on creating different thematic maps:
- historical;
- political;
- economic;
- military;
- climatic;
- zoological, etc.
Since such work requires special knowledge of other sciences, expert consultants are involved in the process to help with a number of issues. However, some cartographers, over the years of practice, deepen their knowledge and get a narrower specialization in the subject area they studied.
The responsibility of modern map makers includes:
- compilation of a sample of primary geodetic data;
- identification of map sizes, coordinate grids, diagonals and trapezoids;
- implementation of the topographic base;
- display of schemes, columns, diagrams and profiles according to the customer's order and the exclusion of non-thematic filling load;
- tabulation symbols and selection of fonts;
- timely introduction of changes to electronic cards;
- use of geographic information systems (GIS);
- collection and processing of data obtained as a result of ground survey of the terrain (this is done), aerial photography and space photography;
- the use of a level and theodolite to determine the height and measure distances, as well as other special tools and computer programs.
What personal qualities should a cartographer have?
A number of mandatory personal qualities of cartographers, necessary for conducting successful professional activities, include:
- penchant for exact sciences,
- Analytical mind,
- attentiveness.
It is these qualities that contribute to the quality of work and reduce the likelihood of erroneous presentation of data.
Map Makers- methodical, responsible and observant people who are able to concentrate on one task for a long time. They are both mobile and diligent at the same time. Drawing up graphic schemes requires the presence of spatial vision and a good eye.
The need to interact with other professionals determines the need for good communication skills. Curiosity is another quality without which it is difficult to enjoy this kind of activity.
Health matters a lot. Practical cartographers often go to the site for the purpose of visual inspection and detailing of objects and spend a lot of time in the field, so any serious illness will be a contraindication in the profession.
Benefits of being a cartographer
For people who have chosen cartography as a profession, the main advantage is the opportunity to participate in the study of objects and putting them on maps. They show a high interest in their duties and are completely immersed in science.
Many cartographers are attracted by the opportunity to take part in various expeditions. They see some romance in the traveling nature of the work and like to spend time in nature.
Despite the fact that the profession of a cartographer is not very popular in society, one cannot fail to note the level of its demand. Experienced specialists who regularly improve their skills and knowledge are required in many large companies: production structures that produce traditional maps and atlases, the government department "Roskartografiya", IT companies, media, construction firms, academic institutions, etc.
Each organization may put forward certain requirements for cartographers, depending on the field of activity, but employment in them will provide a specialist with a stable income of 20-80 thousand rubles and permanent employment.
Disadvantages of being a cartographer
Expeditions and hiking along the routes carry not only romance, but also involve an increased danger to life and health. Cartographers often work in extreme conditions, in places where there are practically no people. Working outdoors, lack of comfort and a high likelihood of unforeseen situations can cause illness. In addition, frequent business trips exclude the possibility of planning a personal life.
The high demand for the profession does not give any guarantees of employment, which is associated with high competition in companies. Often there are very few open vacancies, and in order to get a good position, specialists have to constantly improve their skills and improve themselves.
Where can you get a job as a cartographer?
To master the profession of a cartographer, it is necessary to have deep knowledge in such subject areas as geography, mathematics, computer science, etc. Education in this specialty can be obtained at special colleges and technical schools. Upon graduation from a secondary technical institution, the graduate is awarded the qualification of a cartographer. The best among many educational institutions is the St. Petersburg College of Geodesy and Cartography.
The geographical faculties of universities also train theoretical cartographers, and practical skills can be obtained at the faculties of cartography and geoinformatics at technical universities. In them, the training program covers the entire process of forming maps: from fieldwork to publication. Some of the best universities for cartography include:
- Military Space Academy named after A.F. Mozhaisky;
- Mordovian State University N.P. Ogareva.
Image sources: uole-museum.ru, artchive.ru
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