Mapping the Future of Geomatics

When looking at an average world map, the amount of detailed information required to create each square centimetre is colossal. The cartographers of old did admirable work with often fragmentary information and left it to their artistic imaginations to do the rest; our new electronic possibilities allow an unprecedented accumulation of information of all kinds from a multitude of disciplines, areas of knowledge and sources (outer space and deep-sea diving are two among many that play their part) to be brought together to provide extraordinarily accurate and complete maps, to be used in fields as broad as petrol prospection and desert irrigation, city planning and environmental protection