Arctic GIS Workshop Poster Abstract

22-24 January 2001
Bell Harbor International Conference Center
Seattle, Washington

Fusing Regional Thematic Maps of the Arctic: An Application of the Self Defining Structure (SDS) and Helical Hyperspatial (HH) Coding for the Visualization and Analysis of Correlations Between Geoscientific Data Sets

Ron Macnab¹ and Herman Varma^2
1 Geological Survey of Canada, Dartmouth NS, Canada
² Canadian Hydrographic Service, Dartmouth NS, Canada

Significant collaborations at the international level are increasing our knowledge of the Arctic region through regional compilations of geoscientific observations: bathymetry, gravity, magnetic, and sediment thickness. Thematic maps and digital grids have been constructed from these assembled data sets for the purpose of describing, in visual and numerical fashion, the parameters that characterize the nature and distribution of the material underlying the seafloor. An appreciation of the correlations between thematic data sets can also help develop a better understanding of the region's tectonic framework and history; a primary objective of such investigations is to devise methodologies for combining the data sets in ways that emphasize their correlations, and for displaying those correlations in a manner that stimulates unambiguous interpretation. This poster illustrates the outcome of an experiment in consolidating the four Arctic thematic data sets within a single SDS framework, and in combining their respective attributes with a view to extracting more information than might otherwise be available from the unconsolidated data.