Raised-relief map
A raised-relief map or terrain model is a three-dimensional representation, usually of terrain. When representing terrain, the elevation dimension is usually exaggerated by a factor between five and ten; this facilitates the visual recognition of terrain features.
Contents |
[edit] History
If the account of Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BC) in his Records of the Grand Historian is proven correct upon the unearthing of Qin Shi Huang's (r. 221–210 BC) tomb, the raised-relief map has existed since the Qin Dynasty (221–206 BC).[1] Robert Temple and Joseph Needham suggest that certain pottery vessels of the Han Dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) showing artificial mountains as lid decorations may have influenced the raised-relief map.[2] The Han Dynasty general Ma Yuan (14 BC – 49 AD) made a raised-relief map of valleys and mountains in a rice-constructed model of 32 AD.[1][3] Such rice models were expounded on by the Tang Dynasty (618–907) author Jiang Fang in his Essay on the Art of Constructing Mountains with Rice (c. 845 AD).[1] A raised-relief map made of wood representing all the provinces of the empire and put together like a giant 0.93 m2 (10 ft2) jigsaw puzzle was invented by Xie Zhuang (421–466 AD) during the Liu Song Dynasty (420–479).[1]
Shen Kuo (1031-1095) created a raised-relief map using sawdust, wood, beeswax, and wheat paste.[4][5][6] Zhu Xi (1130–1200) was inspired by the raised-relief map of Huang Shang and so made his own portable map made of wood and clay which could be folded up from eight hinged pieces.[6][7]
Later, Ibn Battuta (1304–1377) described a raised-relief map while visiting Gibraltar[8][9] In his 1665 paper for the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, John Evelyn (1620–1706) believed that wax models imitating nature and bas relief maps were something entirely new from France.[10] Some later scholars attributed the first raised-relief map to one Paul Dox, who represented the area of Kufstein in his raised-relief map of 1510.[10][9] The 20th century historian G. Sarton pointed to the writing of Ibn Battuta (1304–1368 or 1377), the latter who witnessed a raised-relief map while on Gibraltar in the 14th century.[10][9] However, the raised-relief map may have existed in China since the 3rd century BC, if the accounts in the Records of the Grand Historian (by Sima Qian, 91 BC) about Qin Shi Huang's (r. 221–210 BC) tomb prove correct (when it is excavated).[1] It is known that Ma Yuan (14 BC–49 AD) created a raised-relief map in 32 AD made out of rice, a type of map described in detail during the Tang Dynasty (618–907) by Jiang Fang in his Essay on the Art of Constructing Mountains with Rice (c. 845).[1] Xie Zhuang (421–466) of the Liu Song Dynasty (420–479) created a 0.93 m2 (10 ft2) wooden raised-relief map of the empire (showing mountains and rivers) which could be taken apart and pieced together like a giant jigsaw puzzle.[1] While on a court assignment of inspection along the Song Empire's (960–1279) frontier, the polymath scholar and official Shen Kuo (1031–1095) created a three-dimensional, raised-relief map depicting miniature roads, rivers, mountains and passes composed of wood, glue-soaked sawdust, beeswax, and wheat paste.[4][11][12][6] His wooden model pleased Emperor Shenzong of Song (r. 1067–1085), who later ordered that all the prefects administering the frontier regions should prepare similar wooden maps which could be sent to the capital and stored in an archive.[12] In 1130, Huang Shang made a wooden raised-relief map which later caught the attention of the Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi (1130–1200), who tried to acquire it but instead made his own map out of sticky clay and wood.[12][6] The map, made of eight pieces of wood connected by hinges, could be folded up and carried around by one person.[12]
[edit] Construction
Starting with a topographic map one can cut out from some sheet material successive layers, with edges following the contour lines on the map. These may be assembled in a stack to obtain a rough approximation of the terrain. This method, without vertical exaggeration, is commonly used as the base for architectural models. For models of landforms, the stack will then be smoothed by filling with some material. This may then be used directly or for greater durability a mold may be made from this. This mold may then be used to produce a plaster model.
[edit] Vacuum formed models
By using automated machinery a topographic model may be made by cutting a form with a numerically controlled mill guided by interpretation of the data used to produce a topographic map, The map may then be printed on a sheet of thermoplastic, which is then heated and drawn over the master. Vacuum is then applied to draw the soft plastic into the shape of the form.[13] Such maps are commonly available in specialty map stores.
[edit] Non-terrain applications
For appropriate mathematical functions and especially for certain types of statistics, a similar model may be constructed as an aid to understanding a function or as an aid to studying the statistical data.
[edit] See also
- Digital terrain model
- Hypsometric tints
- List of Chinese inventions#R
- Musée des Plans-Reliefs
- Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM)
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e f g Temple (1986), 179.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 580–581.
- ^ Crespigny (2007), 659.
- ^ a b Sivin (1995), III, 22.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 579–580.
- ^ a b c d Temple (1986), 180.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 580.
- ^ Needham (1986), Volume 3, 579
- ^ a b c Temple (1986), 181.
- ^ a b c Needham (1986), Volume 3, 579.
- ^ Ebrey, Walthall, and Palais (2006), 162.
- ^ a b c d Needham (1986), Volume 3, 580.
- ^ American Educational Products, Raised Relief Maps from Hubbard Scientific, How it is done.
- Ebrey, Patricia Buckley, Anne Walthall, James B. Palais (2006). East Asia: A Cultural, Social, and Political History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-618-13384-4.
- Needham, Joseph. (1986). Science and Civilization in China: Volume 3, Mathematics and the Sciences of the Heavens and the Earth. Taipei: Caves Books, Ltd.
- Sivin, Nathan (1995). Science in Ancient China: Researches and Reflections. Brookfield, Vermont: VARIORUM, Ashgate Publishing.
- Temple, Robert. (1986). The Genius of China: 3,000 Years of Science, Discovery, and Invention. With a forward by Joseph Needham. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc. ISBN 0671620282.
[edit] External links
- Terrain Models, a website of the Institute of Cartography at ETH Zurich
- Library of Congress: Geography and Maps - Globes and Terrain Models
- Report of the Relief Map Department, G-2-C, G.H.Q., of the American Expeditionary Forces
- Allan McCollum: The Topographical Model Donation Project
- How to build a landscape-model by Konrad Weber
- Participatory Avenues a web site dedicated to the participatory manufacture of raised relief models in the context of participatory planning, development and advocacy
- Adding the Third Dimension, an article (PDF 744KB) that describes ways of creating maps that "effectively present the third dimension."
 |
This cartography or mapping term article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
