Man Linux: Main Page and Category List

NAME

       drawmap - draw customized maps, using raw USGS data files

SYNOPSIS

       drawmap [-l latitude1,longitude1,latitude2,longitude2] [-L]
       [-o output_file.sun] [-d dem_file1 [-d dem_file2 [...]]]
       [-c contour_interval_in_meters]
       [-C contour_interval_in_meters]
       [-g gnis_file] [-a attribute_file] [-x x_size] [-y y_size]
       [-w] [-n color_table_number] [-r relief_factor] [-z]
       [-i] [-h] [-t] [dlg_file1 [dlg_file2 [...]]]

VERSION

       This is the manual page for version 2.5 of drawmap.

DESCRIPTION

       The  U.S.  Geological  Survey,  and other sources, support sites on the
       Internet with many gigabytes of raw geographic  data,  mostly  for  the
       USA.   Drawmap  draws  maps, using a subset of the available data.  The
       relevant subset includes:

       250K Digital Elevation Model (DEM) files
              Each file covers a block, one-degree square, with a 1201 by 1201
              grid  of  elevations  (in  meters).   The  extra  sample in each
              direction is due to overlap of the DEM  files  at  their  edges.
              (Files  for  Alaska  use  smaller  grids,  with  only 401 or 601
              samples in the east-west direction.)  For Hawaii and the  "lower
              48,"  the  one-degree  square  is  covered  by elevation samples
              spaced 3 arc-seconds apart; and you will often hear these  files
              called  3-arc-second  files.   In  terms  of  distance along the
              ground,  the  sample  spacing  varies  with  latitude.   It   is
              generally less than 100 meters.  (The "250K" means that the data
              were digitized from a map at the scale of 1:250,000.)  Files  of
              this  type  are  currently  available for free download from the
              USGS.

       24K Digital Elevation Model (DEM) files (in the classic format or the
       SDTS format)
              These files usually result from digitizing a "quad"  map  sheet.
              (Each  1-degree  block  of  latitude and longitude, covered by a
              250K DEM file, is further subdivided  into  an  8-by-8  grid  to
              produce  smaller blocks called quads.)  The number of samples in
              each direction varies, from quad to quad, but there  is  roughly
              one  sample per second of arc.  These files differ from the 250K
              DEM files in that the samples  are  spaced  a  fixed  number  of
              meters apart rather than a fixed number of arc-seconds.  Because
              each quad represents an area that is 7.5 minutes of latitude  by
              7.5  minutes of longitude, you will also hear these files called
              7.5-minute DEMs.  The  USGS  provides  24K  DEM  data  for  free
              download,  in  the  Spatial  Data Transfer System (SDTS) format.
              Some files in the older format are available from other sources,
              and may be available for purchase from the USGS.

       100K  Digital  Line  Graph (DLG) files (in the optional format or the
       SDTS format)
              These  files come in collections, each of which covers a quarter
              of the one-degree square covered by a 250K DEM file.  The  files
              contain  information  that allows segmented linear and polygonal
              features  to  be  drawn  on  maps,  including  boundary   lines,
              hydrographic    features    (streams,   lakes,   and   so   on),
              transportation features (roads, rail lines,  pipelines,  and  so
              on),  public  land  survey  data,  and  hypsographic  lines (the
              familiar contour lines of a  topographic  map).   The  different
              general  classes  of data come in separate files.  Files of this
              type are currently available for free download from the USGS, in
              either the ’optional’ format or the SDTS format.

       24K  Digital  Line  Graph  (DLG) files (in the optional format or the
       SDTS format)
              Like  the  24K  DEM  files,  each of these files covers a single
              quad.  Except for their inherently greater detail,  these  files
              are essentially the same as the 100K DLG files.  As with the 24K
              DEM files, these files are freely available in SDTS format,  but
              are harder to come by in the ’optional’ format.

       GTOPO30 files
              GTOPO30  files  are  similar to 250K DEM files, but with samples
              spaced 30 arc-seconds apart, and with a quite different  format.
              (For  the purposes of this manual page, you can consider GTOPO30
              files as just another variety of DEM files.)  While these  files
              have   relatively  low  resolution,  they  have  the  virtue  of
              providing full coverage for  the  entire  planet.   Furthermore,
              they are currently available for free download.

       Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) files
              These  files  are  basically  lists  of  place  names,  with the
              addition of latitude/longitude and other information.  They  are
              available for free download.

       If  a  DEM or DLG file is one of the above types, and is from the USGS,
       there is a good chance that drawmap can use  it.   However,  given  the
       range  of  available  files, this is not a certainty.  For example, the
       USGS used to distribute 100K DLG files in ’standard’ format,  with  the
       characters  ’std’  as  part  of  the  file  name.  Neither the USGS nor
       drawmap support these files anymore, but  you  may  still  be  able  to
       obtain  them.   There  is  also  a certain amount of variability in the
       format of USGS SDTS files, and drawmap may not be able to  handle  some
       of  the variants, especially if I have never obtained a relevant sample
       file to test against.  Files from non-USGS sources may also be  usable.
       However,  people  don’t  always  strictly follow the relevant standards
       when they create DEM or DLG files, and the standards can  sometimes  be
       difficult  to interpret, and drawmap isn’t infinitely adaptable, so not
       all files can be processed.

       Using the data in the various files, drawmap can produce various  kinds
       of  customized  maps,  including  shaded  relief  maps (with or without
       roads, streams, place names, and so on) and  topographic  maps  (again,
       with or without additional features).

       The  output  is an image, in SUN rasterfile format, which can be viewed
       with your favorite image  viewer,  or  converted  to  other  forms  for
       display or hard copy output.  (My preferred viewing/converting packages
       are the "ImageMagick" package and the "xv" package.  However, I  prefer
       them  only in the sense that I have them on my system.  I would imagine
       that other packages would be quite satisfactory as well.)

Map Projection Used by Drawmap

       The only type of map projection currently supported is not  technically
       a  projection  at  all,  but simply a grid of latitudes and longitudes.
       (The  word  "projection"  is  a  mathematical   term   describing   the
       "stretching" of the earth’s roughly-spherical surface onto a flat map.)
       Over limited areas, this latitude/longitude grid approximates a  family
       of projections called cylindrical projections.  By default, the grid is
       square, in the  sense  that  1000  pixels  in  the  latitude  direction
       represent  the  same  number of degrees as 1000 pixels in the longitude
       direction.  You can make the grid non-square by playing with  the  "-x"
       and "-y" options.

       There are several reasons for using this approach.  First, the 250K DEM
       data contain sample  points  that  are  evenly  spaced  in  degrees  of
       latitude  and  longitude,  making  a  simple  grid  the natural choice.
       (Drawmap was originally written solely with 250K  DEM  data  in  mind.)
       Second,  this  is  an  intuitive  projection for small-area maps.  Over
       small areas, it approximates  the  Transverse  Mercator  projection,  a
       cylindrical projection that is often used for topographic maps.  Third,
       the USGS  DLG  data  and  24K  DEM  data  are  specified  in  Universal
       Transverse Mercator (UTM) coordinates, which are based on a rectangular
       grid of x-y distances.   Over  small  areas,  degrees  of  arc  make  a
       reasonable  substitute for x-y distances, as long as the horizontal and
       vertical  directions  are  appropriately  scaled.   And,  finally,  the
       latitude/longitude grid is also acceptable for large-scale maps.  Since
       users of drawmap can produce maps covering any amount of territory, the
       latitude/longitude  grid is a lowest-common-denominator that can handle
       any request.

Introduction to UTM

       In order to find your way  around  the  data,  it  is  useful  to  know
       something  about  the  UTM  system,  which is an international military
       standard that divides the world into 60 zones (like panels on  a  beach
       ball),  each of which is 6 degrees of longitude in width, and runs from
       80 S to 84 N.  A UTM  projection,  of  a  given  zone,  has  a  central
       meridian  bisecting  the  map  from  top  to  bottom, which serves as a
       reference from which the locations of other features are derived.  Zone
       1  runs  from  180W  to  174W,  with  its  central  meridian  at  177W.
       Successive zones run to the east, with zone 2 beginning at 174W.

       In the UTM system, the location  of  a  feature  is  specified  by  its
       distance  to  the  north  of  the  equator, in meters, and its distance
       eastward from the central meridian, in meters  plus  500,000.   In  the
       southern hemisphere, 10,000,000 is added to the distance north from the
       equator.  (The purpose of the 500,000  and  10,000,000  offsets  is  to
       avoid  having any negative distances.)  Drawmap internally converts UTM
       distances into latitude/longitude coordinates before plotting  features
       on a map.

       Included with drawmap are two programs, utm2ll and ll2utm, that you can
       use  to  convert  back  and   forth   between   UTM   coordinates   and
       latitude/longitude  coordinates.   You  don’t  really need these to use
       drawmap, but they are useful in their own right.  (Be sure to read  the
       associated manual pages to get information on conversion accuracy.)

       The  result  of the cylindrical projection is to map each one-degree by
       one-degree latitude/longitude patch  (on  the  curved  surface  of  the
       Earth)  into  a  rectangular  area  (on  the  map  projection).  In the
       process, of course, the projection distorts  shapes  and  areas  as  it
       stretches  the  beach-ball  panels  into  flat  rectangles;  and  these
       deviations get larger as the distances from the  central  meridian  and
       equator increase.

       Distortion  may  also  occur  due  to  the  way  the latitude lines are
       projected.  In the classical  Mercator  projection,  for  example,  the
       latitude  lines  are  spaced farther and farther apart as they near the
       poles (reaching infinity at the poles themselves).  This gives the  map
       some  useful  directional  properties,  but grossly distorts shapes and
       areas near the poles.  (You can approximate  this  kind  of  stretching
       with  drawmap  by using the "-x" and "-y" options to vary the number of
       pixels per longitudinal  or  latitudinal  degree;  but  remember  that,
       within a drawmap map, latitude and longitude always vary linearly.)

       It  is  a fact of life that mapping a sphere onto a flat piece of paper
       is  going  to  produce  distorted  results.   Various  types   of   map
       projections  are chosen for the ways they preserve one or more valuable
       features of a globe-shaped map (features like  shape,  area,  distance,
       and direction).  In the Transverse Mercator projection, the distortions
       are reasonable for points  that  are  within  several  degrees  of  the
       central  meridian,  and  for  maps  that aren’t too near the poles.  In
       fact, a cylindrical projection has the property that it is  "conformal"
       in  the mathematical sense, meaning that it preserves angles (and hence
       shapes and areas)  within  small  areas  of  the  resulting  map.   The
       classical  Mercator  projection  is  also conformal in the cartographic
       sense, meaning that it preserves angles everywhere  on  the  map.   (In
       other  words,  if  the  great-circle  route  from Newark to Peoria is X
       degrees east-of-north on the globe, then a straight line from Newark to
       Peoria  on  a  classical  Mercator map is also at an angle of X degrees
       east-of-north.)  Of course, over large areas,  the  classical  Mercator
       projection can grossly distort shapes and areas.

       Since,  with  drawmap,  you  can  define your own image boundaries, the
       output map may span any portion of one or more UTM zones, and  zero  or
       more central meridians may appear at arbitrary positions within the map
       boundaries.  Over small  areas,  stretching  latitude/longitude  angles
       into  a  square  grid (which is what drawmap does) produces roughly the
       same map image as a square grid of UTM coordinates would.  Try to  keep
       the  map  area smaller than a UTM zone, and center the map on a central
       meridian, if you  want  to  use  the  map  as  a  UTM  surrogate.   UTM
       coordinates  are  usually  used for areas much smaller than a UTM zone,
       such as a 7.5-minute USGS quad.  For such small areas, the  geometrical
       difference  between  latitude/longitude angles and surface distances is
       small.

Introduction to the Different File Types

       At the time this manual page was updated (August, 2001),  various  DEM,
       DLG,  and  GNIS  files  were  available  for free download by following
       appropriate  links  from  http://mapping.usgs.gov/.   For  some  files,
       convenient  graphical  interfaces  were  available  to  let  you locate
       desired files by clicking on a map.  Some DEM, DLG, and GNIS files, and
       the  GTOPO30 files too, were available via FTP from edcftp.cr.usgs.gov,
       in the pub/data directory.  (In the  case  of  GNIS  files,  there  was
       simply  a  pointer  to  another  download site.)  Access to the various
       files changes over time, so you may have to do some searching  to  find
       what you want.

       Ordinary  DEM  and DLG files (that is, non-SDTS and non-GTOPO30 DEM and
       DLG files) are in (gzip-compressed) ASCII text format,  and  are  human
       readable  (when  uncompressed) except that they generally don’t contain
       linefeeds to structure them into easily-editable lines of text.   (Some
       newer  DLG  files  do  have  linefeeds; and I have come across some DEM
       files with linefeeds also.)  The web site provides information  on  how
       to  add  linefeeds  and  view the file contents, but drawmap is able to
       read and use the files in their native state (in gzip  format,  with  a
       ".gz"  suffix on the file name).  Drawmap can also process the files in
       uncompressed form.  It is okay to have linefeeds in ordinary DLG files,
       as  long  as  no line is longer than 80 bytes (including the linefeed);
       and it is okay to have linefeeds in ordinary DEM files, as long  as  no
       line  is  longer than 1024 bytes (including the linefeed).  The drawmap
       distribution contains the  block_dlg  and  block_dem  programs  to  add
       appropriate linefeeds to DLG and DEM files but, beyond that, you are on
       your own if you want to muck around inside the files.

       In general, you can add or remove records to or  from  a  DLG  or  GNIS
       file,  as long as you don’t violate the record structure.  For example,
       I have added linefeeds to a DLG file  (using  the  block_dlg  program),
       deleted  a record, added a record, and then used drawmap to process the
       file.  If you want to do this sort of thing, then you may also want  to
       get  copies of the various guides and standards for the different kinds
       of files.  These documents are available through the web sites.

       Using SDTS files is a bit more complicated.  SDTS data  generally  come
       in  the  form of tar archives, compressed with gzip.  Each such archive
       should be unpacked into a separate directory.  This  is  true  even  if
       there  are several archives in a single directory on the download site.
       (Transportation archives, for example, normally come in triples --- one
       each  for  roads,  railroads, and other transportation features.  These
       triple archives should be unpacked into three different directories  to
       avoid files from one archive overwriting files from another.)

       When  you  provide  SDTS  files  as input to drawmap, you don’t have to
       include all of the unpacked files on the command line.  For DEM  files,
       each  archive  should  contain  one  or  more  files  with  names  like
       ????CEL@.DDF, where the ’?’ symbol stands for any single character, and
       the  ’@’  symbol stands for any single digit.  Use one or more of these
       file names (each preceded by "-d") just as you would an  old-style  DEM
       file  name, and drawmap will figure out the names of the other files in
       the archive.

       For DLG files, each archive should contain one or more files with names
       like  ????LE@@.DDF.   Use  one  or more of these file names just as you
       would an optional-format DLG file name.  There is also  a  Master  Data
       Dictionary  available  for  each kind of DLG file.  At present, drawmap
       makes no use of these.

       Once you have unpacked the archives, you can  compress  the  individual
       files  with  gzip if you wish.  If you do compress them, compress every
       file that has a ".DDF" extension.  You can also change the  file  names
       to  all lower case, but don’t mix and match upper and lower case files.
       Other than changing upper to lower case, DO NOT change the file  names.
       Drawmap uses the file names to deduce what to do.

       The  GTOPO30  files  also come in archives, and must be unpacked before
       use.  (You don’t need to unpack each archive into a separate directory,
       but it isn’t a bad idea.)  Once they are unpacked, you can compress the
       individual files if you wish, as long as you compress both  the  ".HDR"
       file  and  the ".DEM" file, which are the only files that drawmap uses.
       (The same guidelines apply as for SDTS files:   try  to  be  consistent
       with upper/lower case, compression, and the like.)

       There  is  one  GTOPO30  archive  that  contains  a Polar Stereographic
       projection of Antarctica.  Drawmap can’t handle that one.  On  the  FTP
       site,  there  is  also  a  gtopo30hydro  directory.   The files in this
       directory are derived from GTOPO30 data, but use  a  Lambert  Azimuthal
       Equal Area projection.  Drawmap does not currently handle these either.

       To use GTOPO30 files, simply invoke the "-d" option, and provide  as  a
       parameter  the  file  whose  name  ends  in ".HDR" (or ".HDR.gz" if you
       compressed the individual files).  Use caution with GTOPO30 data.  Each
       data  set  spans  a large area, and the memory needed to read it all in
       can be enormous.  You can limit the amount of memory required by  using
       the  "-l"  option to restrict the range of the image to a subset of the
       available GTOPO30 data.

       Be careful with downloads.  Some download software will uncompress gzip
       files  during a download but still store the files with a ".gz" suffix.
       Other download software will leave the data compressed, but remove  the
       ".gz"  suffix.   Drawmap  will  become  confused when this happens.  It
       relies on the suffix to determine the file type.

Drawmap Tidbits

       If you provide all three types of data (DEM, DLG, and GNIS)  as  input,
       then  drawmap  will first produce a shaded relief map (or, when "-c" or
       "-C" is specified, a contour map), and then overlay it with  data  from
       the  DLG  files (with the data from each DLG file, in succession, being
       overlaid on all previous data), and then overlay everything with  place
       names  from  the  GNIS file.  If you omit the DEM data, then the shaded
       relief (or contouring) is replaced by a simple white background.

       Drawmap will take whatever information you provide and assemble  a  map
       containing  just  that  information.   If  you provide information that
       falls outside of your specified map boundaries, it is  simply  ignored.
       If you supply any DEM data, and if you don’t specify a contour map (via
       the "-c" or "-C" option), and if there is room, a  color  key  will  be
       placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  map  to help you interpret the shaded
       relief.  If you specify the "-c" or "-C" option, then a  message  about
       the  contour interval will appear at the bottom of the map, if there is
       room.

       Also, if there is room, a title will be placed at the  top,  containing
       the  lowest  and highest values of longitude and latitude for this map,
       and containing the latitude, longitude, and elevation of the points  on
       the  map  of lowest and highest elevation.  (Actually, of course, there
       may be multiple points on the map that attain  the  lowest  or  highest
       elevation,  but  drawmap  shows  only  the  first  ones  that it finds.
       Furthermore, for low-resolution output images, that have small x and  y
       pixel dimensions relative to the granularity of the available DEM data,
       drawmap may be a little sloppy about the exact latitude and  longitude,
       and  about  the exact maximum and minimum elevations.)  If only one DEM
       file is supplied, the location name from the DEM file  header  will  be
       included  in  the  title.  (Sometimes, it is hard to figure out exactly
       what the correct name is, so don’t be surprised if the  title  looks  a
       bit strange.)

       Latitude  and  longitude  tick  marks  will  be  placed  around the map
       boundaries, with one tick every tenth of a degree.  Tick marks at  full
       degrees  and  half  degrees  will be larger and (if there is room) will
       have text next to them that  specifies  the  latitude/longitude.   Tick
       marks can be turned off with the "-t" option.

       North is always at the top of the map, and east is always at the right.

OPTIONS

       -l latitude_low,longitude_low,latitude_high,longitude_high
              You usually must provide latitude and longitude coordinates that
              define  two  diagonal  corners  of  the  image.   They  must  be
              separated by a comma or other non-space character  (as  in:   -l
              34.3,-109,35.9,-109.713),  and  they must be in decimal degrees.
              Note that east longitude  is  positive  and  west  longitude  is
              negative.   Similarly,  north  latitude  is  positive  and south
              latitude is negative.  If you only  provide  one  "-d  dem_file"
              option,  then  you  can  omit  the  "-l", and the corners of the
              single DEM file will be used to define the map boundaries.  This
              is  useful  when you are simply trying to figure out what area a
              given DEM file covers.

       -L     Print out the program license information and exit.

       -o output_file.sun
              You may provide an output file name.  It can be  any  name  that
              you  choose.  By convention, SUN rasterfile images have a ".sun"
              file name extension, but you can omit it if you  wish.   If  you
              provide  no  name,  then "drawmap.sun" is used.  (If you use the
              "-h" option, and provide no name, then "drawmap.pgm" is used.)

       -d dem_file
              You can provide as many DEM files as  you  want.   (There  is  a
              hard-coded  limit  of  1000  files in the source code, but it is
              easily changed.)  Since each file covers a limited area, it  can
              take  quite  a  few  to  cover  the image if you specify a large
              latitude/longitude range for the image boundaries.

              You don’t, of course, have to provide enough files to cover  the
              whole  map  area.   Areas  not covered by a DEM file will simply
              have a white background.  If you have selected the "-c" or  "-C"
              option, there will be anomalous contour lines along the edges of
              these white areas.  If you are using 24K  DEM  data,  there  may
              also  be  anomalous contour lines around the outer boundaries of
              the map.

              The DEM files will be processed into multicolored shaded  relief
              (or  contour  lines),  serving  as  a  background  for any other
              features you add to the map.   If  you  are  trying  to  draw  a
              contour  map  using hypsographic data from DLG files (as opposed
              to drawing a contour map using the "-c" or  "-C"  option,  along
              with  data  from  DEM  files),  then  you probably don’t want to
              provide any DEM files.  The DEM data  would  mix  with  the  DLG
              contour lines to produce a confusing morass.

              Note  that files are processed in the order given.  Thus, if you
              want to provide a 250K DEM file, and overlay parts  of  it  with
              one  or  more  24K DEM files, then you want to have the 250K DEM
              file first in  the  argument  list.   This  overlays  the  high-
              resolution   data   over   top   of   the  low-resolution  data.
              Furthermore, the decision of whether or not to smooth the  final
              image  is  made  based  on  the  last DEM file processed.  It is
              usually  desirable  to  base  this  decision  on  the   highest-
              resolution data present.

       -c contour_interval_in_meters
              This  option  has  no  effect unless you provide one or more DEM
              files.  The DEM files are normally processed  into  multicolored
              shaded  relief.  If you include the "-c" option, then the shaded
              relief is replaced by a set of contour lines (orange lines on  a
              white  background)  that  represent  elevations separated by the
              given contour interval  (in  meters).   Note  that  it  is  also
              possible to generate contour lines by using data in hypsographic
              DLG files, making  the  "-c"  option  seem  somewhat  redundant.
              However,  at the present time, the area covered by the available
              DEM files is a superset of the area covered by hypsographic  DLG
              files.   Furthermore,  the "-c" option allows finer control over
              the spacing of contour lines than is available with hypsographic
              DLG  data.  On the other hand, the DLG data is likely to be more
              precise about the locations of contours.

       -C contour_interval_in_meters
              This option is exactly the same as the "-c" option, except  that
              it  doesn’t  use  a  white background.  Instead, it fills in the
              areas between the orange contour lines using a rotating  set  of
              solid  colors.   These  distinct colors make it easier to follow
              elevation contours as they swirl around the  map.   (The  colors
              come  from  the  same set used to generate shaded relief, except
              that white is excluded because it tends to stand  out  too  much
              from the other colors.)

       -g gnis_file
              Only one GNIS file is allowed.  This is not really a restriction
              since you can edit these files with  an  ordinary  text  editor,
              making  them  contain  whatever place names you want to include.
              In fact, it is normally necessary to  winnow  out  much  of  the
              available GNIS data; otherwise the map would be plastered nearly
              solid with place names.

              The GNIS data generally come in separate files, one for each  US
              state.   Files can be in one of two different formats:  a fixed-
              field-width format in which fields are  padded  out  with  white
              space,  and a tokenized format in which the fields are separated
              by the delimiter "’,’".  You can mix together records from  both
              formats in your customized GNIS file.

              WARNING:   The  format  of both kinds of GNIS files has changed;
              and drawmap will not properly process the older files.  If place
              names  don’t show up on your maps, then you may need to download
              newer GNIS files.  The newer files have records that begin  with
              a postal code, like NJ, NY, or WY.

              The  llsearch  program  (included in the drawmap package) allows
              you to extract  all  place  names  within  a  certain  range  of
              latitudes  and  longitudes.  You can manually edit the resulting
              extracted data and make further reductions.  Each GNIS entry has
              a  field  that  denotes  its type, such as "ppl" for a populated
              place and "summit" for a mountain top.  These  fields  can  help
              you to narrow down your choices.

              The  place  names  are  added  to  the image on top of any other
              features that you choose to include.  A small "+"  sign  denotes
              the actual location of the feature.

       -a attribute_file
              There  are  three  high-level  types  of  objects in a DLG file:
              Nodes (points  where  lines  join),  Areas,  and  Lines.   These
              objects  often  have attribute codes associated with them.  Each
              attribute code consists of a major code and a minor  code.   The
              major code denotes a particular general type of feature, such as
              50 for hydrographic features.  The minor code denotes a subtype,
              such as 412 for a stream, or 421 for a lake or pond.

              You   can   provide  an  attribute  file  to  control  what  DLG
              information is included in the image.  Each  line  in  the  file
              consists of a letter ’N’, ’A’, or ’L’ (for Node, Area, or Line),
              followed by a pair of numbers to  denote  the  major  and  minor
              codes,  followed  by any comments you choose to add.  The fields
              should be separated by white space.  Lines that begin with  ’#’,
              or white space, are ignored.

              A  negative  number, for either the major or minor code, matches
              anything.  Thus, an attribute specification of "L  -1  -1"  will
              draw  all  lines  in the DLG files, whether they have associated
              attribute codes  or  not.   (Omitting  the  attribute  file,  or
              providing  the  "L  -1 -1" attribute specification, ensures that
              every possible line is drawn, except for  the  "neatlines"  that
              form a rectangle around the boundaries of the data from each DLG
              file.)  If only the minor code is negative, then all lines of  a
              given   major  type  are  drawn.   (For  example,  an  attribute
              specification  of  "L  050  -1"  will  match  all   hydrographic
              features.)

              At  present,  drawmap  makes  no  use  of Node data from the DLG
              file(s).  Thus, there is no need for  any  "N"  entries  in  the
              attribute file.

              If no attribute file is given, drawmap will ignore the Area data
              from the DLG file.  If  Area  attributes  are  specified  in  an
              attribute  file, then drawmap will attempt to fill the specified
              types of areas with the same color as the  boundary  lines  that
              surround them.

              The  chief use for this is to fill in lakes, reservoirs, and the
              like.  However, because the area-filling algorithm is  currently
              not  very  robust, and because the Area data in the DLG file can
              be somewhat ambiguous, it is possible for the outside of an area
              to  be filled in instead of the inside.  (I have had this happen
              often in practice, especially  when  stretching  a  map  in  one
              direction by specifying unusual map dimensions with the "-x" and
              "-y" options.)  This potential problem is the reason  why  areas
              are  not  filled  in  unless  you make an explicit request in an
              attribute file.

              Another common problem is that sometimes lakes or rivers will be
              only  partially  filled in.  The reasons for this are beyond the
              scope of this manual page, but are discussed in comments in  the
              drawmap  source code.  One solution to both of these problems is
              to not have drawmap fill any areas.  Instead, fill in the  areas
              yourself using an image editor.

              The   distribution   for   drawmap   includes   a  file,  called
              "attrib_codes," which is pulled from a USGS guide, and describes
              various major and minor codes.  The distribution also contains a
              sample  attribute  file,  called   "attributes."    The   sample
              attribute  file contains Area attribute specifications that will
              cause lakes, ponds, streams, and reservoirs  to  be  filled  in.
              (Both  of these files are probably somewhat dated.  More current
              information can  be  obtained  by  downloading  the  appropriate
              standards documents from the USGS.)

              Precious  little  error  checking  is  done  on  the data in the
              attribute file, so be careful.

              There is a debugging feature associated with the attribute file.
              If  you  specify a major code of 10000, and a minor code of your
              choosing, then the minor code is taken to be  a  specific  node,
              area,  or  line  identifier.   (Within  each node, area, or line
              record in a DLG file, the first integer  in  the  record  is  an
              identifier  for  the node, area, or line.  In general the nodes,
              areas, and lines are numbered sequentially, starting at 1.)

              By specifying Area or Line attributes with major  codes  set  to
              10000,  you  can draw individual areas or lines from a DLG file.
              This can be useful when you are trying to  fine-tune  a  map  or
              find the source of some problem.  When using this feature, it is
              probably not a good idea to include more than one  DLG  file  in
              the  input  arguments.  This is because the Node, Area, and Line
              identifiers are unique within individual files but  are  re-used
              from file to file.  Thus, if you specify multiple DLG files, you
              may have a hard time figuring out which file is  the  source  of
              each area or line on the output map.

              Roads  and  trails  show  up  in red, pipelines and railroads in
              black, hydrographic  features  in  blue,  hypsographic  data  in
              orange,  boundaries  in  gray, vegetative features in green, and
              other data in black.

       -x x_size and -y y_size
              The horizontal and vertical dimensions of the  map,  in  picture
              elements  (pixels),  can  be  specified via the x and y options.
              You can supply either or both of them.   If  you  don’t  provide
              them,  they  will  be  selected  so  that  250K  DEM data can be
              displayed at one half of full resolution.

              As a special case, if you give only a single DEM file, and don’t
              use  the "-l", "-x", or "-y" options, drawmap will automatically
              produce a complete map at full resolution.

              For most 250K DEM files, full  resolution  is  1200  pixels  per
              degree of longitude or latitude, but it is 400 or 600 pixels per
              degree of longitude for Alaskan files.  The full  resolution  of
              GTOPO30  files  is  120  pixels  per degree.  For 24K DEM files,
              resolution is more complicated.  The data  in  these  files  are
              sampled on a uniform UTM grid instead of on a latitude/longitude
              grid, and the elevations may be sampled at spacings of 10 or  30
              meters,  and  the number of samples varies with latitude.  Thus,
              the resolution (in terms of latitude  and  longitude)  can  vary
              considerably from file to file.  I use 3600 pixels per degree as
              a very rough rule of thumb.  It is  a  reasonable  approximation
              for  files  (with  30-meter  spacing) in equatorial regions, but
              becomes considerably less accurate as one moves north or  south.
              I like this particular number because it is exactly equal to the
              number of arc-seconds in a degree.

              It is generally desirable to specify small x and y values,  when
              you  are  first  trying  to fine tune your map, because (at full
              resolution) even a single one-degree block covers a 1200 by 1200
              image, which is larger than many display screens.

              Note that the x and y values define the boundaries of the actual
              map area, but do not  define  the  size  of  the  output  image.
              Drawmap  also  adds a white border around the image, which makes
              the output image a bit larger than the  x  and  y  values  would
              otherwise imply.

              Note  also,  that  it  is best to choose x and y values that are
              some integer multiple or sub-multiple of the resolution  of  the
              DEM  data.   For  250K  DEM data, the resolution "1200 times the
              width and height of  the  image  in  degrees  of  longitude  and
              latitude."   For  example, if the image is to cover an area that
              is 0.1 degree square, then the automatically-chosen value for  x
              and y is 60, and full resolution would require x and y to be set
              to 120.  If you want to specify your own  dimensions  with  "-x"
              and  "-y", then it is best to choose an integer multiple or sub-
              multiple of the full resolution of 120.  Choices, in this  case,
              might  include  30,  120, 240, and so on.  If you choose strange
              values for x and y, then the program may produce  shaded  relief
              that  contains  odd-looking  linear  artifacts.   If  you aren’t
              providing DEM data, then you don’t  need  to  worry  about  this
              constraint.

              Similar comments apply to DEM files for Alaska, except that full
              resolution is  400  or  600  pixels  per  degree  of  longitude.
              GTOPO30 files are also similar to 250K DEM files, but their full
              resolution is ten times smaller.

              The situation for 24K DEM files is more complicated, since  they
              aren’t  perfectly  rectangular.   You  may  have  to  try  a few
              different "-x" and "-y" values until you get good results.   One
              starting  point  is  to  provide  a single 24K DEM file, without
              using the "-l", "-x", or "-y" options.  Drawmap will display the
              image  in full resolution, and will tell you what x and y values
              it picks.  (Alternatively, you can use the "-i" option to  print
              out some information about the DEM file, including its extent in
              both the x and y directions.)  You can use this  information  to
              derive approximate x and y values for maps that contain multiple
              24K DEM files.  However, because of the odd shapes  of  the  24K
              quads,  you  may still have to "twiddle" your derived values for
              the best results.

              Be careful about choosing x and y values that are near, but  not
              equal  to,  the  full  resolution  of  the  data.   Under  these
              conditions, drawmap has a hard time transferring the data to the
              image  without creating some image blemishes.  As an example, if
              the DEM data has a resolution of  1200  elevations  per  degree,
              then  an  x  or  y  value  of 1190 or 1210 would not be the best
              choice.  These values for x or y would be likely to result in  a
              checkerboard effect in areas where the elevation changes slowly.

              Note that, when the resolution of the source data doesn’t  match
              the  resolution of the desired image, drawmap may silently apply
              a filter to the source data, or to the  output  image,  to  blur
              things  out  somewhat.   This  can improve the appearance of the
              completed map.  When the resolutions  are  about  the  same,  no
              filtering  is done, because I prefer isolated image blemishes to
              non-localized blurring of the map.

       -w     The DLG files  describe  bodies  of  water  within  land  areas.
              However,  they don’t generally provide polygonal areas to define
              sea-level water in coastal areas.  When you use the "-w" option,
              drawmap  will attempt to make ocean areas bright blue, just like
              the inland waterways.  This feature is provided  as  an  option,
              rather  than  as  the default, because it sometimes produces odd
              results.  For example, some DEM data in the Sacramento, CA, area
              give  elevations below sea level.  With the "-w" option, the map
              ends up  with  anomalous-looking  sub-sea  areas  surrounded  by
              water.   (This  representation  may,  in  fact, be correct.  The
              areas may be polders, pumped out for farming purposes.  I  don’t
              know.  But they look odd.)

       -n color_table_number
              Drawmap  provides  a  choice  of  four  color schemes for shaded
              relief.  The default is color table 2, which provides a natural-
              looking  color  scheme.   Using the "-n" option, you can instead
              choose color table 1, a very-neutral non-obtrusive scheme; color
              table 3, a natural-looking but garish scheme reminiscent of maps
              in school textbooks; or color table  4,  a  very  garish  scheme
              designed  to provide good perception of variations in elevation.
              From 1 to 4, the  tables  are  ranked  in  order  of  increasing
              obtrusiveness.

              Note  that the natural scheme isn’t perfect.  What looks natural
              for seacoast plains and mountains  may  not  look  as  good  for
              highland  plains  and mountains.  The selected color scheme is a
              compromise.  If you are adventurous, you can modify the software
              to  provide  additional  color tables of your own devising.  The
              software is specifically designed  to  make  such  modifications
              reasonably  painless,  as  long as you are familiar with the ’C’
              programming language.

              For elevations below sea level, drawmap simply  re-uses  one  of
              the  colors used above sea level.  A grayish or blueish color is
              selected, if possible.  The reason for the re-use is  that  sub-
              sea-level  areas  are  rare,  and  color table space is a scarce
              commodity.

       -r relief_factor
              Normally, when drawing shaded relief,  drawmap  manipulates  the
              colors  in the color table so as to provide maximum sharpness in
              the relief.  In  other  words,  the  shading  varies  from  full
              brightness all the way to black.

              You  can  use  the  "-r"  option  to  change  this  behavior.  A
              relief_factor of 1.0 duplicates the default behavior, and is the
              same as providing no "-r" option at all.  A relief_factor of 0.5
              causes the colors to shade from full  brightness  down  to  half
              brightness.  A relief_factor of 0.0 yields full-brightness color
              bands, with no shaded relief at all.  (The "-r"  option  has  no
              effect  when  you  are requesting contours with the "-c" or "-C"
              option.)

              You can provide any relief_factor you want, as long as it  falls
              in  the  range from 0.0 through 1.0.  However, keep in mind that
              the color tables are not infinitely adjustable.  As you vary the
              relief_factor from 0 through 1, the color scheme will change, at
              most, eighteen times.  Thus, it is pointless to provide lots  of
              digits of precision in the relief_factor.

              One  use of this feature is to provide faint shaded relief, as a
              background for data you consider more important (such  as  roads
              on  a  road  map).  For this application, you might choose color
              table 1 or 2, with a relief_factor of 0.1.

       -m relief_magnification
              Some regions of the world are relatively flat, with  only  minor
              relief.  In such regions, it may be desirable to make the relief
              stand out more sharply.  The "-m" option allows you to supply  a
              magnification  factor  that enhances elevation differences.  The
              factor must be greater than or equal to  1.0,  and  the  default
              value  is  1.0.   (The  "-m"  option  has no effect when you are
              requesting contours with the "-c" or "-C" option.)

              In order to use this feature, it is  useful  to  know  a  little
              about how shaded relief is generated.  We begin by assuming that
              the sun is shining from the northwest, so that slopes facing  to
              the  north  or west will be more brightly lit than slopes facing
              south or east.  At any given point on the map, we first note the
              exact  elevation  of  the  point.   This  information is used to
              select the overall color at that point, such as  green,  yellow,
              red, brown, and so on.  We then find the difference in elevation
              between the given point and a couple of  nearby  points.   These
              results  are  used to make a rough estimate of the direction the
              land is sloping at the given point.  This estimate is then  used
              to  modulate  the light/dark shading of the point to reflect the
              degree to which the point is in sun or  in  shade.   The  actual
              degree  of  light/dark  shading  is  the  result of a hand-tuned
              algorithm, developed largely through trial and error.

              When you provide a magnification factor, the height  differences
              (between  the  given  point and its neighbors) are multiplied by
              the given factor.  Thus, if  a  given  height  difference  is  Z
              meters,  and  the magnification factor is 2, the shading is done
              as if the height difference were 2Z meters.  This may result  in
              a  somewhat  brighter highlight, or a somewhat deeper shadow, or
              no noticeable change, depending on the direction that  the  land
              is  sloping.  Note that the actual elevation of the point is not
              modified.  Thus, if the elevation calls  for  the  point  to  be
              green,  it will remain green no matter how large a magnification
              factor you provide.  The only impact of the "-m"  option  is  to
              modify the light/dark shading at each point.

              Don’t  expect amazing results.  The shading calculations are not
              linearly related to height  differences,  so  the  magnification
              factor  has  only  a  limited effect.  To maximize perception of
              height differences, you might want to try the "-z" option,  with
              or without the "-m" option.  Remember too that drawmaps shading
              is only a crude simulation of  the  light  and  shadow  of  real
              relief.   If  you want more realistic shading, you might want to
              use the "-h" option to generate a file of elevation data,  which
              can  be  imported  into  a ray-tracing program to produce a more
              realistic three-dimensional appearance.

       -z     When the given DEM data span a small range of elevations, shaded
              relief  uses  only a small portion of the color table.  In fact,
              if the range of elevations is small enough, the entire  map  may
              end  up  using  only  a  single  color, with whatever light/dark
              shading is called for by the limited roughness of  the  terrain.
              This results in a pretty boring map.

              For  these  situations,  drawmap provides the "-z" option, which
              specifies that the entire range of available colors be  used  to
              represent  the given terrain.  For example, assume that the data
              only  contain  elevations  between  4567  feet  and  5799  feet.
              Normally  (depending  on  the  chosen  color  table),  the color
              "green" might represent elevations from 0 feet to 1000 feet, and
              thus  no  green  would appear in the map.  With the "-z" option,
              however, green will instead represent elevations from 4567  feet
              to  4655  feet,  and  will show up in the low-lying areas of the
              map.  All of the other available colors will also show up,  each
              representing  its  proportion of the elevation range.  (The "-z"
              option has no effect when you are requesting contours  with  the
              "-c" or "-C" option.)

       -i     When  you  provide  this  option, drawmap doesn’t produce a map.
              Instead it prints out some useful information about all  of  the
              DEM and DLG files that you specify on the command line.

              For  a  DEM  file, the information includes:  the file name, the
              DEM name, the latitude/longitude of the southeast and  northwest
              corners,  the  minimum  and  maximum  elevation,  the  number of
              samples in the x and y directions, and an indication of  whether
              or not the file contains linefeeds.

              For  a  DLG  file, the information includes:  the file name, the
              DLG name, the postal codes touched by the  file  (e.g.  MT,  TX,
              RI),   the   type   of   data   present   in   the   file,   the
              latitude/longitude of the southeast and northwest  corners,  and
              an indication of whether or not the file contains linefeeds.

              Drawmap may not always be able to find the postal codes in a DLG
              file, so don’t be upset if the field is blank.   In  DEM  files,
              the  DEM  name may contain some postal-code information, but not
              always.  SDTS files aren’t  human-readable,  so  their  linefeed
              information is omitted.

              When  the  "-i"  option  appears,  all other options are ignored
              except the "-d" option.

       -h     When you provide this option, drawmap  doesn’t  produce  a  map.
              Instead it takes the DEM information and produces a height-field
              file, in Portable Graymap (PGM) format.  The  file  is  readable
              ASCII,  beginning  with the line "P2", which identifies the file
              as a PGM file.  The next line contains the x and  y  dimensions,
              and the maximum elevation in the file, separated by white space.
              Then the file includes all of the  elevation  samples,  one  per
              line,  beginning  with the top west-to-east row, and followed by
              all of the other rows in  sequence.   Finally,  there  are  some
              commentary   lines   containing   information  about  the  data,
              including the latitude/longitude of the southeast and  northwest
              corners, and the minimum and maximum elevations.

              This  file  is suitable for use by ray tracing programs (such as
              the   readily-available   POV-Ray(tm)   program)   to    produce
              3-dimensional  renderings  of  terrain.  (It is also viewable by
              some image viewers, such as the "xv" viewer, and can be used  as
              input to custom-built programs that process elevation data.)

              Unless  you  select  a file name, with the "-o" option, the file
              will be called "drawmap.pgm".

              Any elevations less than zero are bumped up  to  zero,  and  any
              areas  of  the  image  that  contain  no  DEM  data  have  their
              elevations set to zero.  (In the latter case, the points are not
              included when determining the minimum elevation in the file.  In
              the former case, the minimum elevation will be zero.)

              Drawmap will also generate a file  called  "drawmap.pov".   This
              file  is  a  rough  attempt at a POV-Ray (version 3) file which,
              together with the PGM file, can be used to produce  a  rendering
              of  the  3-dimensional  terrain.  The file will probably require
              manual editing to get things the way you want them, but it is at
              least a start.  There are some minimal instructions, embedded in
              the file as comments, but you are assumed to  be  familiar  with
              POV-Ray before you use the "-h" option.

       -t     Normally,  drawmap  will  put  tick marks and latitude/longitude
              numbers around the borders of the map.  However, for  maps  that
              span  large  regions  of the earth, these tick marks and numbers
              can overlap and interfere with one  another.   Drawmap  makes  a
              limited  attempt (with emphasis on the word "limited") to reduce
              the density of the markings as the map area  increases.   Rather
              than  try  to adapt to any situation, though, I chose to provide
              the "-t" option, which totally  shuts  off  production  of  tick
              marks   and  latitude/longitude  legends.   It  is  for  use  in
              situations where the border markings become cumbersome.

       dlg_file
              Any argument that doesn’t match any  of  the  above  options  is
              assumed  to  be  a  DLG  file.  You can add as many as you like.
              Note that files are processed in the order given, and each  file
              is overlaid by the ones that come after it.  Thus, you generally
              want to put "transportation" files after "hydrography" files, so
              that roads will be shown as crossing over streams instead of the
              other way around.

EXAMPLES

       To generate a simple shaded relief map for a portion  of  the  southern
       California  coast, with the size of the map set to a reduced resolution
       of 300x300 pixels (full resolution would be 1200x1200):

       drawmap -d santa_ana-w.gz -l 33,-117,34,-118 -x 300 -y 300

       To extract the upper right quadrant of the above map, and display it at
       full resolution:

       drawmap -d santa_ana-w.gz -l 33.5,-117,34,-117.5 -x 600
               -y 600

       To  add in some place names from a GNIS file (that you have prepared in
       advance, using llsearch):

       drawmap -g gnis_santa_ana_west -d santa_ana-w.gz
               -l 33.5,-117,34,-117.5 -x 600 -y 600

       To add in some DLG files for hydrography:

       drawmap -g gnis_santa_ana_west -d santa_ana-w.gz
               -l 33.5,-117,34,-117.5 -x 600 -y 600
               santa_ana-e_CA/hydrography/522274.HY.opt.gz
               santa_ana-e_CA/hydrography/522275.HY.opt.gz
               santa_ana-e_CA/hydrography/522276.HY.opt.gz
               santa_ana-e_CA/hydrography/522279.HY.opt.gz

       To draw a map of western Europe, using GTOPO30 data, first download the
       w020n90.tar.gz and w020n40.tar.gz archives, and unpack them by typing:

       gunzip -c w020n90.tar.gz | tar xf -

       gunzip -c w020n40.tar.gz | tar xf -

       Then draw a map by typing:

       drawmap -t -x900 -y1200 -w -l30,20,70,-10 -d W020N90.HDR
               -d W020N40.HDR

LIMITS

       As  distributed,  drawmap  is limited to 1000 DEM files, one GNIS file,
       and one attribute file.  The DEM limit is easily changed in  the  code.
       As  explained  above,  the  GNIS limitation is not really a limitation,
       since you can concatenate as many GNIS  records  as  you  want  into  a
       single  file.   I’m not sure how to implement multiple attribute files,
       or even what they would be used for.  The number of DLG files  is  only
       limited by your system’s limits on command-line length.

       Another  limitation  arises  from the fact that drawmap must be able to
       read all of the input data into memory.  If you want to  produce  large
       maps, then you must have large memory.

       When  dealing  with  24K  DEM  data,  there will often be visible seams
       between the data from different files.  There are several  reasons  for
       this.   First,  there can be marked differences in data quality between
       files.  Lower quality data can have a lot of  anomalous  "fuzz",  which
       forms  discontinuities  with  adjacent data of higher quality.  Even if
       one ignores other sources of discontinuity  between  data  blocks,  the
       visual  difference between the two quality levels can be quite obvious.

       Second, the calculations used to  map  raw  data  into  the  image  may
       produce discontinuities, because numeric rounding may pull a data point
       one way, at the edge of one block of data, and  may  push  an  adjacent
       data point the other way, at the edge of the adjacent block of data.

       Third,  it  goes  without saying that there may be residual bugs in the
       code that handles the DEM files.

       Finally, there may be flaws in the data itself.  For example, some  24K
       SDTS  DEM  files, produced before January 2001, are known to have small
       positional errors.  (The non-SDTS DEM  files  don’t  suffer  from  this
       problem.)

       Similar  seams  may  appear  between blocks of GTOPO30 data, but aren’t
       usually as obtrusive.

       There  is  another  issue  involving  24K  DEM  data.   Each  24K  quad
       represents  a latitude/longitude square, with one eighth of a degree on
       each side.  However, the native coordinate system for 24K DEM quads  is
       a  UTM grid.  In UTM coordinates, the latitude/longitude square becomes
       an approximate quadrilateral, which often has no two sides of the  same
       length.   The  four  sides of the quad will usually be tilted at slight
       angles to the UTM axes.  It is this odd-shaped quad that is stored in a
       24K  DEM  file, as a set of elevation samples that are evenly-spaced in
       UTM coordinates.  (The spacing is normally 10  meters  or  30  meters.)
       Different  columns  of  sample  points may contain different numbers of
       samples, depending on where the columns intersect the slanting sides of
       the quad.

       An  evenly-spaced collection of UTM points does not map onto an evenly-
       spaced set of latitude/longitude points.  In order to map the UTM  data
       onto  a  latitude/longitude grid, drawmap must warp the points into new
       relative positions, turning the unevenly-shaped UTM quadrilateral  into
       a  latitude/longitude  square.  (You might picture this by imagining an
       odd-shaped quad, which is cut out of a rubber sheet and covered with  a
       uniform  grid  of  dots,  and  which  is  then stretched into a perfect
       square.)   During  this  warping  process,  rounding  quantization  can
       produce  some  diagonal artifacts in the map image.  (We could sidestep
       this issue by making drawmap produce maps using an optional  UTM  grid,
       rather  than  always using a latitude/longitude grid.  However, drawmap
       is not presently so endowed.)

       Rounding quantization may also sometimes produce anomalous vertical and
       horizontal   linear   features  on  the  map,  in  the  form  of  small
       discontinuities in the changing elevation.  This can happen for data of
       any level of detail; and is a result of trying, for example, to stretch
       a 100-by-100 grid of data points to cover a 101-by-101  grid  of  image
       pixels.   The  data  don’t  quite fit, and something, somewhere, has to
       give.

       Whether  artifacts  are  horizontal,  vertical,  or   diagonal,   their
       incidence  can  sometimes be reduced by adjusting the values of the "x"
       and  "y"  image   dimensions.    However,   while   this   is   usually
       straightforward for 250K DEM or GTOPO30 data, it can be a challenge for
       24K DEM data.  This is because, while drawmap can tell you  the  height
       and  width,  in  UTM samples, for the raw 24K DEM data, it doesn’t know
       how to figure out an optimal width and height after the data are warped
       onto  a  latitude/longitude  grid.   Furthermore, when you provide more
       than one 24K DEM file, there is no truly optimal width and  height  for
       the  image,  because the quadrangle covered by each file has a slightly
       different shape from the quadrangles adjoining it.  What works well for
       one  quad may not be the best for another.  I don’t have a general rule
       of thumb for adjusting the width and height.  I usually just try a  few
       minor  tweaks,  to  the "x" and "y" values, and pick the one I like the
       best.

       Faced with various possible image artifacts, drawmap  tries  to  smooth
       things  out,  but  faces  a tradeoff between making the image look good
       (and blurring some  of  the  good  data),  or  leaving  the  good  data
       unaltered (resulting in some esthetic imperfections).  Drawmap tends to
       err on the side of leaving  good  data  untouched  at  the  expense  of
       leaving  some  artifacts  in  isolated  spots  on  the image.  It tries
       hardest to preserve the pristine data when the map image dimensions are
       approximately  the  same  as  the  resolution of the raw data.  This is
       because, in such cases, there is  approximately  a  one-to-one  mapping
       between  the  raw  data  and  pixels  in the image.  It seems useful to
       preserve this  correspondence,  and  not  to  blur  it  with  smoothing
       algorithms.

       When  you  specify  image  dimensions that differ considerably from the
       resolution of the data, drawmap takes more liberties in its attempt  to
       produce  pleasing  results.   If the map resolution is greater than the
       resolution of the data, then drawmap  must  replicate  data  points  in
       order to fill up the map.  It does some smoothing on the finished image
       to reduce the  resulting  "checkerboard"  effect.   If  the  data  have
       considerably  greater  resolution  than the map image, then drawmap has
       more data than it  needs,  so  it  averages  adjacent  data  points  to
       determine  each  elevation  in  the  map.   Thus,  one  alternative for
       reducing image artifacts is to produce a map at, say, half  resolution.
       If,  for example, a 24K DEM file has a 300-by-400 sample grid, then you
       might try drawing a map with "x" set to 150 and "y" set  to  200.   The
       averaging  operation  will  then  smooth  the  data, which will usually
       reduce image artifacts.

       If you are using the "-c" or "-C" option, and the given  DEM  files  do
       not  fully  cover the image, there may be anomalous contour lines along
       the borders of  the  valid  data.   (This  happens  when  you  fail  to
       completely tile the image with DEM files.)  This problem is a result of
       the way the contours are produced.  It may  get  fixed  some  day,  but
       isn’t  a  high  priority  since  it  is  usually  hard to mistake these
       anomalies for valid data.

       The code that reads SDTS files is not a complete implementation of  all
       of the relevant standards involved in SDTS.  In particular, SDTS relies
       on the ISO 8211 standard, and it would  not  be  at  all  difficult  to
       construct  a  valid ISO 8211 file that drawmap would be unable to read.
       The code is intended to be smart enough to read  SDTS  files  from  the
       USGS, and hopefully from other sources, but it is not necessarily smart
       enough to read any file you might throw at it.  If you find a USGS SDTS
       file  that  drawmap  can’t read, I would be interested in hearing about
       it.  (I can’t  promise  to  fix  the  problem,  because  the  range  of
       possibilities  is  large,  and I don’t want to end up trying to support
       every dialect that happens to pop up.)

       Most of the SDTS DEM files I have examined store elevations  as  binary
       two’s-complement  integer  numbers.  Some files, however, store them as
       binary floating-point numbers, in IEEE 754 format.  When it  encounters
       such  a  file,  drawmap simply assumes that your computer uses IEEE 754
       floating point as its native floating point format.  If this assumption
       is not true, then the file won’t be correctly parsed.

       There  may  be  some DLG attribute codes that are not properly handled.
       While I have downloaded and processed thousands of DLG  files,  in  the
       various  supported  formats,  I  can’t  be sure that this subset of the
       available files spans the full range of possibilities.  Also, it is not
       always  clear,  in  the  relevant specifications documents, exactly how
       attributes should be encoded, in either the old-style DLG files or  the
       newer  SDTS  DLG files.  I know of at least a few ambiguities that I am
       not sure how to handle.  These  are  documented  in  the  source  code.
       Furthermore,  there are numerous special cases, some of which appear to
       involve relatively small subsets of the USA.  I put  a  lot  of  effort
       into  trying to properly process the attributes, but it is difficult to
       test every possible situation, and my patience for dealing with finicky
       details is not infinite.

SEE ALSO

       llsearch(1),    utm2ll(1),   ll2utm(1),   block_dlg(1),   block_dem(1),
       sdts2dem(1), sdts2dlg(1), pgm(1)

                                 Aug  1, 2001