Open access journal publication: methods of implementation and copyright issues

Saturday, 8 January, 2005

M.J. Smith
Society of Cartographers Bulletin, 39, 21-24
Open access journal publication is becoming an increasingly important model for the dissemination of research articles. In the UK this is currently being driven by government requirements for access to research funded by the research councils. Within the context of cartography, the Journal of Maps publishes maps using an open access methodology. This article describes the context for open access publishing and how this model has been adopted by the Journal of Maps. Particular focus is given to the licensing model adopted for open access distribution and the implications to the higher education community in the UK in the use of third party data within maps.

Geomorphological mapping of glacial landforms from remotely sensed data: an evaluation of the principal data sources and an assessment of their quality

Saturday, 8 January, 2005

M.J. Smith, J. Rose and S. Booth
Geomorphology, 76, 148-165


This paper presents the results of an experiment to compare glacial geomorphology mapped from remote sensed imagery with 1:10,560 scale field mapping. The field mapping was validated against high resolution LiDAR imagery of an area glacierized during the Younger Dryas, and found to provide an essentially reliable, if not complete, representation of the glacial geomorphology. The experiment consists of comparing the field mapping with digital elevation models (Shuttle Radar Topography Mission C-Band, Landmap, OS Panorama®, OS Profile®, NEXTMap) and satellite imagery (Landsat Thematic Mapper) of a 100 km2 region of central Scotland, north of Glasgow, that was last glaciated during the Last Glacial Maximum and during the Younger Dryas, respectively c. 14.5 and 11.5 ka BP. For the purposes of the exercise, attention concentrated on glacial lineaments (flutes, drumlins, crag and tail), but attention was also given to moraine ridges and eskers. Qualitative and quantitative comparisons are performed and the results show that of the remotely sensed data sets, only NEXTMap Great Britain™ provided results that show any approximation to the field mapping. OS Panorama® and OS Profile® provide very poor approximations and the other methods fail to provide any information of value. Attention is given to the issues of scale and the differences between a small scale detailed study, such as this experiment, in which a high resolution glacial geomorphological reconstruction is required, and the small scale, wide regional studies where the remote sensing techniques used here provide evidence of regional significance when glaciers formed the largest elements of the landscape. The paper concludes with a consideration of protocols for future geomorphological mapping exercises, and outlines some of the requirements that must be adopted as these protocols are developed.

Avalanche frequency and terrain characteristics at Rogers’ Pass, British Columbia, Canada.

Saturday, 8 January, 2005

M.J. Smith and D.M. McClung
Journal of Glaciology, 43(143), 165-171
The frequency of avalanches at a given location is the primary variable for calculating the risk as input to zoning applications and decisions about avalanche control options. In this paper, we present an in-depth study of avalanche frequency using an extensive data base of avalanche occurrence records from Rogers’ Pass, British Columbia (43 avalanche paths; 24 years of records). This study, the first of its kind for high frequency avalanche paths, yields the result that the frequency of avalanches may be described by a Poisson distribution. Study of the relationship between terrain variables and precipitation estimates shows that avalanche frequency is significantly correlated with path roughness, 30 year maximum water equivalent, east-west location from Rogers’ Pass summit, wind exposure and runout zone elevation and inclination. With the length of avalanche occurrence records and quality of the data, we believe our study is the most comprehensive in existence about avalanche frequency and its relation to terrain variables.

Landmap Strip Data: Planimetric and Height Quality Assessment

Saturday, 8 January, 2005

M.J. Smith and K. Kitmitto
Proceedings of GIS Research UK 10th Annual Conference, 326-330
The Landmap project set out to create an orthorectified digital elevation model (DEM) of the United Kingdom and Ireland using spaceborne SAR interferometry that was free from any inherited copyright. This paper provides an assessment of the planimetric and height accuracy of the Landmap DEM in comparison to the Ordnance Survey Panorama™ DEM product. Significant planimetric errors were located and these were the cause of large height errors. A description of visual artefacts is given and a brief description of surface derivatives calculated from the Landmap DEM. Since this paper was produced all planimetric errors have been corrected.