5 Elements of any Map

The colour white is used to show barren land on topographical sheets.

Most topographic maps will use green for vegetation or national parks and wildlife management areas. They will also use blue for rivers, lakes, or other bodies of water.

• RED -Overprinted on primary and secondary roads to highlight them.
• BLACK -Manmade or cultural features.
• BLUE -Water-related features.
• BROWN -Contour lines and elevation numbers.
• GREEN -Vegetation features.
• WHITE -Sparse or no vegetation.
• PURPLE -Denotes revisions that have been made to a map using aerial photos.

Colors Used on a Military Map

Topographic maps use green to denote vegetation such as woods, while blue is used to denote water features like lakes, swamps, rivers, and drainage. Red is used for man-made features, like main roads or political boundaries, and purple for new changes or updates on the map that weren’t previously represented.

• Title.
• Scale.
• Legend.
• Compass.
• Latitude and Longitude.

The map essentials were the (1) directional reference; (2) scale; (3) title; (4) date; (5) name of the cartographer; (6) source; (7) projection; (8) locational references; (9) legend or key.

Some maps have all eight elements while other maps may only contain a few of them.

• Data Frame. The data frame is the portion of the map that displays the data layers.
• Legend. The legend serves as the decoder for the symbology in the data frame.
• Title.
• North Arrow.
• Scale.
• Citation.

A map legend or key is a visual explanation of the symbols used on the map. It typically includes a sample of each symbol (point, line, or area), and a short description of what the symbol means.

A grid is a network of evenly spaced horizontal and vertical lines used to identify locations on a map. For example, you can place a grid that divides a map into a specified number of rows and columns by choosing the reference grid type.

Using the ruler, draw a rectangle on the map around the entire city area. Divide the rectangle into 1-inch grid squares. Beginning at the bottom, measure up 1 inch and draw a parallel line from left to right on the horizontal. Measure up another inch and draw a parallel line until you have less than 1 inch to the top.

A grid system on a map is usually square and is represented by drawn lines on the map creating those squares. The purpose of the grid system is to give each point in the map an identifier, an address, by which we can refer to it by.

What is another word for grid?

The eastings are the vertical lines, and the number written on each of the eastings increases from the left hand side of the map to the right hand side of the map. They are called eastings because there numbers increase as you move east on the map.

A series of faint blue lines on every map makes up a numbered grid that is used to create the National Grid reference. This is a simple way of finding points and places on a map, to give to others as a meeting location or to quote if you get into trouble and need to specify exactly where you are.

Things to remember:

1. First, find the four-figure grid reference but leave a space after the first two digits.
2. Estimate or measure how many tenths across the grid square your symbol lies.
3. Next, estimate how many tenths up the grid square your symbol lies.
4. You now have a six figure grid reference.

As we already said, when giving a four-figure grid reference, always give the eastings number first and the northings number second. An easy way to remember this is to keep in mind the letters HV (High Voltage), that is horizontal reading first followed the vertical reading.

To find the number of a square first use the eastings to go along the corridor until you come to the bottom left-hand corner of the square you want. Write this two-figure number down. Then use the northing to go up the stairs until you find the same corner.

How to enter coordinates in Google Maps on a computer

1. Go to maps.google.com.
2. Type out the coordinates into the search bar — using either the degrees, minutes, and seconds (DMS) format, the degrees and decimal minutes (DMM) format, or decimal degrees (DD) format — then hit enter or click on the search icon.

Click “Grid Reference Tools” and choose “Get Grid Reference from Map”. By clicking on the desired location, the 6-figure Grid reference will be shown.

Six figure grid references are commonly used for topographic maps with a scale of 1:50,000. On a 6-figure grid reference the last digit refers to a tenth of the distance between the 1km grid reference lines, so the reference is only accurate to within 100 metres.

After writing three digits of eastings, write two digit of the last northings and then from the bottom of the last northing, measure the distance to the object with a ruler in mm. Then divide that resultant distance by 2. This will give you the sixth number of the grid.

Click on the ‘Find by Grid Reference’ menu option, this will display the Go To Location search box. Enter in the X and Y co-ordinates (Eastings and Northings) in to the relevant boxes and click ‘Go’. The selected location should now be shown in the middle of map window.

What does the six-figure grid reference 198823 tell you? It gives you an exact point in grid square 1988 that is 2/10s up and 3/10s along. It gives you an exact point in grid square 1982 that is 8/10s across and 3/10s up.