A New Generation of Topographic Maps Rebuilding Canada’s National Mapping Program

Presentation Plan 1:50 000 Topographic Mapping of Canada Objectives Approach and Methodology Results Future Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

History of 1:50,000 Mapping The long road from analogue to digital 1950 - Start of 1:50 000 map production 1989 – Digital Mapping Center created to vectorize cartographic data 1993 – Map revision program set aside 2000 – Provinces and federal government collaborate to generate updated national framework data layers 2007 – Vectorization of conventional data is complete 2008 – New Topographic Mapping Program

Current GeoBase Layers Satellite Imagery Layer (Spot 10m resolution) Geodetic Control Canadian Digital Elevation Data Geographic Names National Road Network National Hydro Network Land Cover (vegetation) Aboriginal Land – Reserves In Progress Municipal Limits Railways Electrical transmission lines www.geobase.ca Collected closest to source Maintained by the source Single geometry Free on the web

Decision to Initiate Targeted Mapping Initial Consultation with Map Distributors - January 2007 National Topographic Series of maps is most preferred Paper map sales would increase if updated Topographic Mapping Initiatives Program Selected geographic areas “GeoBase inside” + resource roads where lacking Complement GeoBase data where necessary Work with partners “Map Generator” to publish “print-ready” files on the Web Maximum automation no field checks Initial Objective : 900 maps in 3 years Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Toponyms Administrative Labels Consultation Process Analysis of Sources Content decisions based on : Availability Reliability of data Cartographic decisions based on: Technology International standards ContoursHydro Vegetation Built-up Areas Feature Decision Table Production system Development Internal Discussion External Discussion Preliminary Prototype Presentation Prototypes Carto 2008 Toponyms Administrative Labels Transport. Pipelines Electrical Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Map Generator Evolution June 2007-March 2009 Software Platform Selection - 4 months ArcSDE already implemented for Geospatial Database Automate generation of Map Surround Limit editing for text placement to 2 hours per map Prototyping & cost analysis - 6 months Production System Development - 12 months Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Creation of the Map Generator Prototype symbology and surround with ArcGIS 9.2 Created a Cartographic Database to store text, administrative limits, grids, etc Automatic map creation using VB, .NET and ArcObjects Implemented several FME scripts to enhance GDB data Integrated the sequence of production Ensured the metadata was kept all along Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Final Software for Production System Enterprise Architect for architecture design ArcSDE 9.1 on Oracle for Database ArcGIS - ArcEditor 9.2 for map publishing ArcObject ESRI Grid Manager extension for grids Safe Software’s FME for data manipulation MapText’s Label-EZ, Label-Edit and Label-Contour for text placement Opalis ,VB, .net for scheduling tool Python TerraGo for GeoPDF output Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Minimum Data Preparation Outside GeoDatabase Convert imperial contour into metric Prepare UTM Grids for published sheets Update and integrate : Place names Provincial administrative boundaries, e.g. municipalities and parks; and Federal boundaries, e.g. NavCanada airports, National Defence, etc. Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Text Placement Name key linked to feature geometry How will the MapGenerator use it? The GDB geometry will be symbolized on the map The Toponymy Inventory element will be an overlay with a label, but with a transparent symbol The Label-EZ software will place the label according to our specifications A QC will be performed and the labels saved into a SDE Annotation (text) layer so the placement is preserved In the future the MapGenerator will draw from the Annotation layer for text placement Name key linked to feature geometry

Symbology Before After

Map Surround & Grids Before / After

Map Surround The metadata database is used to create the surround automatically

Work Flow Grids Toponymic Delineation Administrative Boundaries Contours Revision Ancilliary Data Surround Map Generator Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Map Generator Process from operator perspective Inside the neatline - automated Editing of text and QC - manual Addition of the surround - automated QC of surround and final inspection - manual Creation of the digital files - automated Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

Where we are today start of production - April 2009 110 maps in 3 months with 3 operators CanTopo brand for digital files First quarterly release of 54 maps in June 2009 Print-ready formats available for free TIFF PDF GeoPDF Full-size paper plots available through Regional Distributor network Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

www.geogratis.ca

Evolution of Map Generator The Map Generator project will evolve: GeoPDF - Thematic layers Adapt the Geo Database to facilitate revision and corrections using multiple sources Multiple surrounds Dynamic legends Multiple scales Image maps Transition to Web Mapping Canada’s Natural Resources – Now and for the Future

To complete the mapping of the North at 1:50 000 scale 1,630 maps remain to be published at the 1:50,000 scale. $7.3 M is being reallocated to accelerate and complete mapping over the next three years. To complete the mapping of the North at 1:50 000 scale

www.geogratis.ca Yvan Désy (613) 947-0112 Yvan.Desy@nrcan.gc.ca