Advancedlegendsforinteractivedynamicmaps.docVIP

Advanced legends for interactive dynamic mapsTerje Midtb? Division of Geomatics Norwegian University of Science and Technology Trondheim, Norway E-mail: terjem@ntnu.no  Abstract: Electronic media opens for many interesting possibilities when it comes to the presentation of phenomena that changes by over time. In a dynamic presentation of such phenomena, the symbols in the map may change during the animation and make it more difficult for the map reader use keep track of the information and compare it with the legend. This paper looks closer into methods for extended use of the legends on thematic maps. It shows how legends can split and moved around in the application to make it easier for the map reader to compare values in the legend with the symbols on the map. At the same time, operations in the map can be controlled by the legends. INTRODUCTION 10-12 years ago the majority of maps, both on paper or in electronic media, usually were static and included few interactive operations. The legend describing the symbols on the map was, with few exceptions, located outside the map itself. With the introduction of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) we have experienced new types of maps which enable more interactivity, more dynamic changes and the incorporation of sound together with the visual presentation. Today thousands of small interactive cartographic products can be found on the Web around the world. However, compared to more traditional cartography, the evolution of small map applications on web are still in an early phase. When it comes to electronic cartographic applications there is a variety from quite simple applications for presenting maps, to more advanced map based visualization systems. Belonging to the last category a group of map based applications under the term “geovisualization” has showed up during the last decade. Geovisualization has emerged as a result of various disciplines requirements for making good visualizations of scientific da