6 ECTS credits
175 h study time
Offer 1 with catalog number 1001815ANR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.
The first chapter of the course focuses on the cartographic communication process and on the basic principles of cartographic design. Essential notions such as scale, generalisation and symbolisation are introduced.
The second part includes an overview of the history of cartography, with emphasis on cartographic activity in Europe, the Southern and Northern Netherlands, and Belgium.
The third part of the course focuses on thematic cartography, with emphasis on choropleth mapping, color perception and use of color. This part of the course includes a practical introduction to thematic cartography, in which the students learn how to select a suitable representation for mapping a spatial phenomenon and how to produce a thematic map using cartographic software.
Part four of the course focuses on geodetic and cartographic reference systems and offers an introduction to map projection theory. Through a series of exercises the practical use of co-ordinate information is discussed. The student also learns how distortion characteristics of a map projection can be analysed mathematically.
a. What is cartography? What is a map?
b. The cartographic communication process
c. Basic principles of cartographic design
d. Scale and scale reduction
a. Various ways of studying the history of cartography
b. Prehistoric and “primitive” cartography
c. Cartography in Classical Antiquity
d. Cartography in Medieval Europe
e. The Renaissance of Western cartography
f. The Golden Age in the Northern Netherlands
g. The new cartography in France
f. Large-scale cartography of the Belgian territory
a. Equal intervals and quantiles approach
b. Mean-standard deviation method
c. Cluster-based approaches
d. The “optimal” classification method
e. Important considerations
a. The electromagnetic spectrum
b. Dimensions of colour
c. Theories of colour perception
d. Additive and subtractive colour mixing
e. The Munsell colour model
a. The physical model of the Earth: the geoid
b. Mathematical models of the Earth
c. Definition of a local geodetic datum
d. Important datums
e. Definition of a map projection
f. Classes of map projections
g. Orientation of a map projection
a. Properties of map projections
b. Tissot’s indicatrix
c. Some examples of map projections
d. The conformal conical projection
For chapters 5 and 6 basic knowledge of trigonometry and calculus is recommended.
After successful completion of this course students should:
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Oral Exam determines 25% of the final mark.
Written Exam determines 50% of the final mark.
PRAC Practical Assignment determines 25% of the final mark.
Within the Oral Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the PRAC Practical Assignment category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Chapters 1-4 (including self study): oral exam (with written preparation)
Chapters 5-6: written exam (coordinate calculation + analysis of the distortion characteristics of map projections)
Practical assignment thematic cartography: test of map design capabilities (computer lab)
Calculation of mark:
25% oral exam + 50% written exam + 25% practical assignment map design
Partial marks for the oral exam, written exam or practical assignment, if the student obtains at least half of the score for this part, are transferred to the second session and to the next academic year.
The student can relinquish his partial mark for the oral exam, written exam or practical assignment, provided he reports this to the lecturer by e-mail not later than 15/08 (2nd session) or 1/10 (no transfer to the next academic year).
Once the student has indicated that he will abandon his partial mark, he will irrevocably lose the partial mark.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Geography: Default track (only offered in Dutch)