Digital Cliff Drawing for Topographic Maps: Traditional Representations by Means of New Technologies

On topographic mountain maps, cliff drawings are among map elements that are most difficult to produce. However, they belong to some of the most spectacular representations on maps. This paper gives a short historic overview of the development of cliff drawing and describes the most common styles of cliff representations. New techniques are presented in detail for the generation of simplified ridge-line representations in an entirely digital and effective manner. The paper shows examples of mountain maps produced using this semi-automated method and suggests further developments. Sur les cartes topographiques de montagne, les rochers figurent parmi les elements les plus difficiles a reproduire, mais aussi parmi les representations les plus spectaculaires. Cet article propose une vue d'ensemble de l'historique de la representation de rochers et decrit les differents styles de dessins les plus couramment utilises. De nouvelles methodes numeriques extremement efficaces, permettant la generation d'une represe...