Map Symbols for Crisis Mapping: Challenges and Prospects

ABSTRACT

Crisis maps and visualizations utilized routinely by international agencies, humanitarian organizations, and non-governmental organizations for aid and relief activities commonly require complex sets of map symbols. However, effective map symbology for humanitarian relief purposes entails several challenges, including consideration of the following: (1) taxonomy development, (2) symbol design issues, (3) promulgation and sharing of map symbols, and (4) standardization of symbols within and among organizations. This paper discusses these key challenges to the design and use of crisis map symbology through a review of the cartographic literature as well as results collected from a survey targeted at humanitarian organizations from around the world. The survey was designed to gather information on current symbology design and use practices in order to understand common challenges. Survey results confirm agreement in the persistence of these four primary symbology challenges, especially the importance of intuitive symbol design. Respondents disagreed most about the adequacy of current crisis map symbology standards as well as the ease in which standards may be implemented within and across organizations. Survey results suggest the need for expert systems designed specifically for symbology design to support humanitarian relief activities.

KEYWORDS:

• Crisis mapping
• hazards
• symbology
• map design
• standards
• humanitarian relief

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to extend thanks and appreciation to the many anonymous respondents from the humanitarian relief and crisis mapping communities who participated in the international symbology survey as described in this manuscript. These respondents provided critical input regarding their experiences with maps and GIS in the realm of crisis mapping on behalf of the organizations they represent. Thanks are due also to research assistants Joseph Anderson and Mark McCleary for assistance with project tasks. This work was supported by funding provided by the Douglas C. Ridgley Fellowship at Illinois State University.

Notes on the contributor

John Kostelnick is an associate professor in the Department of Geography-Geology and Director of the Institute for Geospatial Analysis and Mapping (GEOMAP) at Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA. He holds a PhD in geography from the University of Kansas. His primary research interests include multiple facets of GIScience, including crisis mapping, geovisualization, GIS integration into science and society, and cultural mapping.

Notes

1 For example, see http://reliefweb.int/report/world/world-humanitarian-and-country-icons-2012 for UN OCHA’s World: 2012 Humanitarian and Country Icons 2012 and https://www.fgdc.gov/HSWG/index.html for the US Department of Homeland Security’s Homeland Security Mapping Standard – Point Symbology for Emergency Management symbol sets.