Mapping

Mapping serves a wide variety of purposes but chiefly among them is as an aid in communication. This explicit step in critical spatial thinking adds geographic context to data and information, and allow us to communicate our findings across scales far larger than our immediate surroundings. However, a map is never a neutral form of communication and polarizes our view of the world with the choices, both intentional and not, that the cartographer applied. By choosing what concerns the map addresses, we use these maps as sensemaking tools to help paint meaning back into our landscape.

The Cartographic Filter

Every map is a model of the world, and just as in modeling, a map’s output is a function of its parameters: the projection chosen, the resolution of the data, and the symbology used. When we map, we are balancing:

• Abstraction: Reducing complex systems, primarily by reducing the dimensionality of the problem.
• Scale: Navigating the orders of magnitude in both spatial and computational scale.
• Context: Providing the “where” that makes the “what” and “why” meaningful.

Maps as Communication Tools

In the context of the scientific method, mapping is often the vehicle for “communicating novel results”. If our maps aren’t reproducible or if the data behind them is obscured, we contribute to the reproducibility crisis. Therefore, our workflow should be as sturdy as our compute environments.