After scouring the internet looking for suitable cartographic projections for Afghanistan and finding not alot, attached below is a simple comparison.
Notes: - All your data should be stored in Datum WGS84 decimal Lat Long for Afghanistan.
- You'll find that the Military and the UN put out all their maps using WGS84, which isnt great, but probably done because of drawing speed. WGS84 should not be used as a projection for cartographic maps due to the distortion effect in Afghanistan
- US Geological Survey put out a range of raster products using a Transverse Mercator Projection, 66, 34.
- Russian Cartographers used a Grauss Kruger Projection, which is almost identical to the Above TM and the same location when "Viewed from Space" such as Google Earth.
- Google maps and most other web mapping applications will use World Mercator, or a slightly modified version called "Web Mercator"
- World from space is horrifically slow to draw.
- TM using the USGS specifications seems to be the most suitable for Country scale maps.
- Albers Conical is rarely seen outside of reference books and a climate map made by a cartographer in nepal, who also uses an everest 1937 datum in place of WGS84.
- For nice looking and accurate maps at a variety of scales, try using World Mercator as your projection when mapping and GIS'ing in Afghanistan.
Your comments and suggestions are welcomed.
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ć ď Duane Wilkins, Aug 23, 2009 11:21 AM
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