Mapping the Seven Seas

摘要

Marine charting started in ancient times, and the power of a navy has since been matched by the quality of its charts. On a predominantly oceanic world, mapping the maritime environment amounts to sum up all the know-how and constraints described in the previous Geospatial information releases: the complexity of coastal, surface and subsurface features is augmented by specific human occupation of the littoral, the changing and dynamic nature of the seas, as well as their peculiar weather patterns; on top of this, navigational and traffic control information is adding up an extra, critical dimension. Fortunately, digital-age information products translate this complexity into critical decision-making tools.