Himalaya

Made in November 2000
Please note that this poster was done for demonstration of the concept.

Analysis

The Himalaya poster is based on the DCW data. The layers included are: roads, railways, settlements and utilities.

Feature classifications:

Roads
Highways, primary and secondary roads, tracks, trails and foothpaths.

Railways
All railways above ground, including those under construction or abandoned.

Settlements
Populated areas, ranging from cities to small villages or groups of houses.

Utilities
Power transmission lines, telephone and telegraph lines, over- and underground pipelines are included if they are considered as important landscape features.

click to enlarge

"Infrastructure is often built into the most productive regions, with subsequent immigration of non-indigenous populations and growth in resident farmlands. Nomadic and semi-nomadic people are often forced into more marginal grazing lands previously used only seasonally. The result is overgrazing and high vulnerability to periods of drought, often with tragic results. The driving pressures of development that initially started these processes, often with social conflicts, are too often overlooked."

Data sources

The DCW is a digital cartographic database based on the United States Operational Navigational Chart Series (ONC), scale 1:1,000,000. It was derived from flight charts made for aerial navigation. The data were collected between 1968 - 1989. The DCW were released by the DMA US Defence Mapping Agency in 1992.