Map Work
In this paper, Dr. Shiman examines the relative accuracy of two of the Michler 8" = 1 mile map sheets, surveyed in the year following the end of the war. He makes extensive use of historic photographs, computing lines of sight, and angles of view to discover some built-in distortions. In the main, the Federal military cartographers did a pretty amazing job. That is why the errors that do crop up should be closely examined. We know, for example, that the accuracy of surveying in heavily wooded areas deteriorated rapidly. Given two accurately surveyed points a mile apart on a stream (where roads crossed it maybe), the draftsman's rendering of the stream's meandering course was often a flight of imagination. Map accuracy was limited from many causes. Yet we marvel, when sections of these historic maps line up almost precisely with modern maps.

analysis_of_michler_map_s_of_baxter_rd.pdf | |
File Size: | 3450 kb |
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