On the Issues of Scale, Resolution, and Fractal Analysis in the Mapping Sciences*

Scale and resolution have long been key issues in geography. The rapid development of analytical cartography, GIS, and remote sensing (the mapping sciences) in the last decade has forced the issues of scale and resolution to be treated formally and better defined. This paper addresses the problem of scale and resolution in geographical studies, with special reference to the mapping sciences. The fractal concept is introduced, and its use in identifying the scale and resolution problem is discussed. The implications of the scale and resolution problem on studies of global change and modeling are also explored.

[1]  W. S. Robinson.  Ecological correlations and the behavior of individuals. , 1950, International journal of epidemiology.

[2]  David Harvey,et al.  Pattern, Process, and the Scale Problem in Geographical Research , 1968 .

[3]  David Harvey.  Explanation in Geography , 1969 .

[4]  Kirk H. Stone.  A Geographer's Strength: The Multiple-Scale Approach , 1972 .

[5]  Benoit B. Mandelbrot,et al.  Fractal Geometry of Nature , 1984 .

[6]  I. Good,et al.  Fractals: Form, Chance and Dimension , 1978 .

[7]  M. Watson,et al.  The Scale Problem in Human Geography , 1978 .

[8]  M. Goodchild.  Fractals and the accuracy of geographical measures , 1980 .

[9]  Loren C. Carpenter,et al.  Computer rendering of fractal curves and surfaces , 1980, SIGGRAPH '80.

[10]  P. Burrough.  Fractal dimensions of landscapes and other environmental data , 1981, Nature.

[11]  G. Dutton,et al.  Fractal Enhancement of Cartographic Line Detail , 1981 .

[12]  Donald S. Fussell,et al.  Computer rendering of stochastic models , 1982, Commun. ACM.

[13]  N. Lam.  Spatial Interpolation Methods: A Review , 1983 .

[14]  Mark C Shelberg,et al.  Measuring the Fractal Dimensions of Surfaces , 1983 .

[15]  D. Mark,et al.  Scale-dependent fractal dimensions of topographic surfaces: An empirical investigation, with applications in geomorphology and computer mapping , 1984 .

[16]  J. Muller,et al.  Fractal Dimension and Inconsistencies in Cartographic Line Representations , 1986 .

[17]  Peter H. Richter,et al.  The Beauty of Fractals , 1988, 1988.

[18]  M. Goodchild,et al.  The Fractal Nature of Geographic Phenomena , 1987 .

[19]  C. Woodcock,et al.  The factor of scale in remote sensing , 1987 .

[20]  R. O'Neill,et al.  Landscape patterns in a disturbed environment , 1987 .

[21]  L. D. Cola.  Fractal analysis of a classified landsat scene , 1989 .

[22]  Barbara P. Buttenfield,et al.  Scale-Dependence And Self-Similarity In Cartographic Lines , 1989 .

[23]  A Fractal Analysis of Cartographic Generalization , 1989 .

[24]  N. Lam.  Description and measurement of Landsat TM images using fractals , 1990 .

[25]  Kenneth Falconer,et al.  Fractal Geometry: Mathematical Foundations and Applications , 1990 .