Antarctic Cartography: Mapping the End of the Earth at the Polar Geospatial Center
Jesse Bakker, Polar Geospatial Center, University of Minnesota
Captivated by the rugged and truly remote wilderness of Antarctica, people have long attempted to capture this stark landscape in maps. Inaccessible, ice-covered, and largely distorted on most maps, Antarctica presents unique challenges and constraints to cartographers. Here, we showcase the visualization techniques, incredible data, and historical inspiration that map makers at the Polar Geospatial Center use to bring the frozen continent into view to support vital polar science.
Wavelet-Based Texture Shading
Leland Brown, Instituto Superior Técnico, Lisbon, Portugal
Texture shading is a terrain representation method that works effectively on both mountainous terrain and areas of low relief, but until now it was not as well-suited for mixed terrain types. The original algorithm enhances small features based on horizontal width but does not consider the local ruggedness of the terrain. Ideally we could decompose the terrain into features of different sizes and adjust each based on both width and height. An updated texture shading algorithm approximates this intuition using a continuous wavelet transform. This process is initially available via a free online interface. A preview window allows adjusting the parameters of the algorithm to see their effects in real time before generating the final image.
Multi-scale Shaded Relief and Surface Orientation
Patrick Kennelly, Central Oregon Community College
Gene Trantham, Independent
While terrain representations show noticeable changes when mapped at various scales, no studies to date have attempted to quantify and visualize the variations in relief shading values among scales. In this study, we vary raster extent and grid cell resolution over a fixed extent to look at changes in the orientation of surface normal vectors and the variance of relief shading values. We use multi-resolution digital elevation models (DEMs) designed for cartographic display at varying scales in two ways. In the first part, four different resolutions of DEMs (1, 5, 15, and 30-meter pixels) cover the same extent and are centered on the Gore Range of Colorado. In the second part, the full extent of eight DEMs of varying resolution (1, 5, 15, 30, 90, 250, 500, and 1,000-meter pixels) are centered on the Gore Range and cover increasingly large portions of Colorado and the western United States. Our analysis visualizes and quantifies tonal variations a user experiences when zooming out on an interactive map from large to small scales.
Resampling Relief: Evaluating Elevation and Hillshade Representation on Discrete Global Grids
Emmanuel Stefanakis, Department of Geomatics Engineering, University of Calgary
This study evaluates how Earth relief and terrain illumination can be represented on an ISEA3H discrete global grid system (DGGS), with emphasis on multi-resolution resampling. Using Alberta, Canada, as a testbed, we examine diverse geomorphological settings, including plains, foothills, river valleys, and mountain/alpine terrain. Elevation and hillshade products are generated across successive DGGS resolution levels and compared with equivalent representations on regular rectangular grids. The analysis assesses preservation of landform structure, shading continuity, and visual legibility during scale transitions. Results inform cartographic generalization strategies for hexagonal global grids and support more effective terrain visualization in DGGS-based mapping environments.
Mapping Alaska: New Maps of the Last Frontier
Chaney Swiney, Benchmark Maps/East View Geospatial
Earlier this year, Benchmark Maps released two new Alaskan titles: the 3rd edition of our Alaska Road & Recreation Atlas and a brand new folded Alaska Recreation Map. With enhanced terrain representation and updated land ownership data, both products showcase a new-and-improved aesthetic. We’ll take a tour through the atlas and show how it’s changed over its first decade, poring over the maps and highlighting the cartography that showcases these spectacular landscapes. Plus, we’ll get into the details of building the folded map, a companion product that relies heavily on the foundation laid by the atlas.
How Scientists Map Ice: A Cartographic Content Analysis of Glacier Changes in Peer-Reviewed Literature
Jasper Zhou, University of Oregon
Glacier change maps appear in peer-reviewed journals every year, yet no one has systematically asked whether those maps actually communicate well. This study applies quantitative content analysis to a corpus of glacier retreat maps published between 2000 and 2025, coding for symbology, color, temporal encoding, and science communication quality. The goal is to characterize how glaciologists currently map retreat, trace how design conventions have shifted over time, and identify where scientific glacier cartography falls short of what we know about effective climate visualization.
