SBEH 4363:

GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
SYSTEMS
IN REAL ESTATE

Dr Siti Zaleha Daud

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DATA DISPLAY
AND
CARTOGRAPHY

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 Common Map Elements
 Common map
elements are the
title, map body,
legend, north
arrow, scale,
acknowledgment,
and neatline/map
border.
 Other elements
include the grid,
name of map
projection, inset or
location map, and
data quality
information.

Figure 9.1
Common map elements.
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Cartographic Representation
 Cartography is the making and study of maps in all their aspects.

 Cartographers classify maps into general reference or thematic,

and qualitative or quantitative.

 General reference map – displays a large variety of spatial

feature such as US Geological Survey

 Thematic map – design for special purposes such as the

population densities by state

 Qualitative map – portrays different types of data such as

vegetation type

 Quantitative map – communicates ranked or numeric data such

as city population

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 MAP

Example: the darker

the more dense the
state population

Thematic map for population densities by state

Spatial Features and Map Symbols
 To display a spatial feature on a map, we use a map symbol to
indicate the feature’s location and a visual variable, or visual
variables, with the symbol to show the feature’s attribute data.
 The general rule for vector data is to use point symbols for point
features, line symbols for line features, and area symbols for area
features.
 Visual variables for data display include hue, value, chroma, size,
texture, shape, and pattern.

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Figure 9.2
This map uses area
symbols to show
watersheds, a line
symbol for streams,
and a point symbol for
gage stations.

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Figure 9.3
Visual variables in cartographic
symbolization.

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 Use of Color
 Color has the visual dimensions of hue, value, and
chroma. Hue is the quality that distinguishes one color
from another. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color.
Chroma refers to the richness, or brilliance, of a color.
 Hue is a visual variable better suited for qualitative
(nominal) data, whereas value and chroma are better
suited for quantitative (ordinal, interval, and ratio) data.
 Quantitative color schemes include the single hue, hue
and value, diverging or double-ended, part spectral, and
full spectral.

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 Data Classification
Six commonly used classification methods are;
 equal interval – divide the range of data equally
 geometric interval – group data into classes of
increasingly larger interval values
 equal frequency - quantile
 mean and standard deviation – set the class break
at units of std dev 0.5 and 1.0
 natural breaks – jenzs optimization method
(minimize within same class and maximize
differences between class)
 user defined – user choose

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Figure 9.4. The three maps are based on the same data, but they
look different spatial patterns because of the use of different
classification methods.

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 Generalization
 Generalization is considered a necessary part of cartographic
representation.
 Use map symbols to represent spatial features. Example; same
point symbol represent cities of different areas
 Change of scale is often the reason that calls for generalization.
When mapped at a smaller scale than that of the source map, the
amount of map space is greatly reduced and, as a result, map
symbols become congested and may even overlap one another.
Cartographers may group or merge spatial features into one
single feature and may shift spatial features to create space
between them.

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 Example:
Classification & Generalisation

Classification:
• Land parcels for housing are classed into
• single storey terrace,
• double storey terrace and
• bungalow.

Generalisation:
• single storey terrace, double storey terrace and bungalow
are generalised under housing lots

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 Housing Age

Legend

Before 1900
1901-1930
1931-1950

1951 to 1999

Map showing classification of buildings according to age (range of year build)

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 classification provides new patterns/relationships

URBAN URBAN URBAN

RESIDENTIAL INDUSTRIAL

RURAL
AGRICULTURE
RURAL RURAL
FOREST

ORIGINAL CLASSIFICATION GENERALIZED CLASSIFICATION

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 Reclassification Operations
• transform the attribute information associated with a
single map coverage
• allow the “cause-and-effect” of certain spatial factors
be evaluated
• Example;
* soil types and farmland values
* generalising land use pattern
* population densities classified into classes such as
'overcrowded area’
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Re-classification Analysis - Association Between Farm Land Value and Soil Types
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 Types of
Quantitative Maps

Figure 9.5
Six common types of
quantitative maps.

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The dasymetric map is a variation of the simple choropleth map. By using
statistics and additional information, the dasymetric map delineates areas
of homogeneous values rather than following administrative boundaries

Figure 9.6
Map symbols follow the boundaries in the choropleth map (left) but not
the dasymetric map (right).

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 Raster Map
Raster maps are cell-
based. They can be
qualitative
(categorical) or
quantitative (numeric).

Figure 9.7
Map showing raster-based
elevation data. Cells with
higher elevations have darker
shades.

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 Typography
Text is needed for almost every map element.
Mapmakers treat text as a map symbol because, like
point, line, or area symbols, text can have many type
variations.
Type Variation – typeface and form
Typeface – design character such as times new
roman
Type form - include type weight (bold, regular, or
light), type width (condensed or extended), upright
versus slanted (or roman versus italic), and
uppercase versus lowercase.

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Two main groups of typefaces are serif (with serif) and sans
serif (without serif). Serifs are small, finishing touches at the
ends of line strokes.

Figure 9.8
Times New Roman is a serif typeface, and Tahoma is a sans
serif typeface.

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Type form variations include type weight
(bold, regular, or light), type width
(condensed or extended), upright versus
slanted (or roman versus italic), and
uppercase versus lowercase.

Figure 9.9
Type variations in weight and roman
versus italic.
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 Selection of Type
Variations
 Cartographers recommend
legibility, harmony, and
conventions for selection of
type variations.
 Mapmakers can generally
achieve harmony by
adopting only one or two
typefaces on a map.

Figure 9.10
The look of the map is not
harmonious because of too
many typefaces.
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 Placement of Text
 As a general rule, a label should be placed to show
the location or the area extent of the named spatial
feature.
 ArcGIS offers interactive and dynamic labeling for
placement of text in the map body.

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Figure 9.11
Dynamic labeling of major cities in the United States. The initial result is good
but not totally satisfactory. Philadelphia is missing. Labels of San Antonio,
Indianapolis, and Baltimore overlap slightly with point symbols. San Francisco
is too close to San Jose.
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Figure 9.12
A revised version of Figure 9.11. Philadelphia is added to the map, and several
city names are moved individually to be closer to their point symbols.
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 Leader Line
One way to take care of labels in a congested
area is to use a leader line to link a label to its
feature

Figure 9.13
A leader line connects a point symbol to its label.

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Figure 9.14a
Dynamic labeling of
streams may not
work for every label.
Brown Cr. overlaps
with Fagan Cr., and
Pamas Cr. and
Short Cr. do not
follow the course of
the creek.

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Figure 9.14b
Problem labels in Figure
9.14 are redrawn with the
spline text tool, which can
align a text along a curved
line

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 Map Design
 Map design is a visual plan to achieve a goal. A well-
designed map is balanced, coherent, ordered, and
interesting to look at, whereas a poorly designed map is
confusing and disoriented. Map design is both an art and
science.
 Cartographers usually study map design from the
perspectives of layout and visual hierarchy.
 Layout deals with the arrangement and composition of
various map elements on a map. Major concerns with layout
are focus, order, and balance.
 Visual hierarchy is the process of developing a visual plan to
introduce the 3-D effect or depth to maps.

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Figure 9.15
Use a box around the
legend to draw the map
reader’s attention to it.

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Figure 9.16
The basic structure of the conterminous USA layout template in ArcMap.
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Figure 9.17
A visual hierarchy example. The two black circles are on top (closest
to the map reader), followed by the gray polygon and the grid.
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Figure 9.18
Through interposition, the map body appears on top of the neatline.
However, some map makers may object to this design because they
believe that all map elements should be placed inside the neatline.
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Figure 9.19
A map looks confusing if it
uses too many boxes to
highlight individual
elements.

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Figure 9.20
Contrast is missing in (a), whereas the line contrast makes the
state outline look more important than the county boundaries in (b).
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 Animated Maps
 Maps can be used in a temporal animation to show
changes over time.

 To be used in a temporal animation, a series of map

frames showing the snapshots of a theme must be
prepared with attributes showing a time, a time interval,
and a unit.

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 Map Production
 GIS users design and make maps on the computer screen.
These soft-copy maps can be printed, exported for use on
the Internet, used in overhead computer projection systems,
exported to other software packages, or further processed
for publishing.
 Map production is a complex topic. As an example, color
symbols from the color printers do not exactly match those
on the computer screen. This discrepancy results from the
use of different media and color models.

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Figure 9.21
The RGB (red, green, and blue) color model.

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U.S. Census Bureau: Census 2000 demographic data mapping
http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/atlas.html
International Color Consortium
http://www.color.org/
ColorBrewer
http://www.personal.psu.edu/cab38/ColorBrewer/ColorBrewer_intro.html

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