NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 is the next generation of Geoscience Australia's popular NATMAP Raster 1:250 000 scale topographic digital maps.
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 are exact digital copies of Geoscience Australia's NATMAP topographic maps. They cover the whole of Australia at 1:250 000 scale, and are current to 2006.
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 comprises an improved Map Viewer and latest release 1:250 000 scale topographic digital maps which are ideal for a range of professional and recreational uses. The digital maps are provided in Enhanced Compressed Wavelet (ECW) image format, a type of 'Raster' format - the term Raster is used frequently throughout this guide and refers to tools and map data used in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008.
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 have a wide variety of professional and recreational uses, including:
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 contains all the software needed to use the maps on the Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000 or XP as well as Vista operating systems and Internet Explorer 5.5 or later (refer minimum system requirements). This product has not been developed or tested on Macintosh operating systems.
If you want the updated maps and functionality found in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008, you will need to buy the new version. No upgrades are available for this product.
| Name and Version | Released | Images | Cell Size | No. of CDs/DVDs | Production Method | Coords |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUSLIG GEODATA Raster-250K v1.0 | May 97 | LZW compressed 8-bit TIFF | 150dpi | 7 CD | Scanned | None |
| AUSLIG GEODATA Raster-250K 2000 v1.1 | Oct 00 | ECW with exporter | 150dpi | 2 CD | Scanned Geocoded |
Lat/long AGD66 |
| AUSLIG GEODATA Raster-250K 2000 Release 2 v1.2 | Jul 01 | ECW with exporter | 150dpi | 2 CD | Scanned Geocoded |
Lat/long AGD66 |
| NATMAP Raster 250K Mapsheets 2002 v1.3 | Sep 02 | ECW with exporter | 200dpi | 2 CD | EPS graphics file conversion (70%) Scanned (30%) All images rectified |
Easting & Northing; MGA Zone number |
| NATMAP Raster Mapsheets v1.4 - 2003 Edition | Sep 03 | ECW with exporter | 200dpi | 2 CD | EPS graphics file conversion All images rectified |
Easting & Northing; MGA Zone number |
| NATMAP Raster Mosaic v1.4 - 2003 Edition | Sep 03 | ECW with exporter | 200dpi | 2 CD | EPS graphics file conversion All images rectified |
Lat/Long GDA94 |
| NATMAP Raster, 2005 Release v1.5 | March 05 | ECW with exporter | 200dpi | 4 CD | EPS graphics file conversion All images rectified |
Easting&Northing (MGA94) and Lat/Long (GDA94) |
| NATMAP Raster Premium, 2005 Release v1.5 | March 05 | ECW with exporter | 200dpi | 2 DVD | EPS graphics file conversion All images rectified |
Easting & Northing (MGA94) and Lat/Long (GDA94) |
Geoscience Australia provides easy to follow self-help resources for users. The User Guide contains useful troubleshooting tips and a list of frequently asked questions. For troubleshooting advice you are encouraged to seek solutions from the Troubleshooting page. However, if you continue to encounter problems or cannot resolve a problem, Geoscience Australia offers a limited telephone support service for registered products for a period of one year from the date of purchase.
| Recommended | Minimum | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel 2.0 GHz Pentium 4 or faster (or equivalent) | Intel 333 MHz Pentium II (or equivalent) |
| RAM | 256 MB or more | 64 MB |
| Free Disk Space | 9 GB | 40 MB (Viewer only, maps run from DVD) |
| Display | 1024 x 768 with true colour | 800 x 600 with 64K colours |
| Optical Drive | DVD-ROM 4x or faster | DVD-ROM |
| Web Browser | Internet Explorer 6.0 or later | Internet Explorer 5.5 |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows XP or Vista | Microsoft Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP or Vista |
If your system does not meet, or is incompatible with, the Minimum or Recommended system requirements described above, you may be unable to operate the Product, or you may experience functional problems when using the Product. In such cases, Geoscience Australia is not required to provide support, advice or assistance of any kind, and Geoscience Australia will not be liable for costs or losses of any kind which you may incur in using the Product.
Geoscience Australia is not responsible for maintaining the Product or for updating, modifying or configuring the Product to suit your system requirements.
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 Release consists of the following components.
Landsat 7 Satellite Image of Australia
Layer Name in the NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 Viewer: 'Satellite-Mosaic'
The Landsat 7 Picture Mosaic of Australia was produced by the Australian Greenhouse Office (now the Department of Climate Change), as part of its National Carbon Accounting System (NCAS), from data acquired by Geoscience Australia. For more information on the Landsat satellite, refer to the Satellite Remote Sensing pages.
1:250 000 scale Topographic Map Series
Layer Name in the NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 Viewer: '250K-Maps' and '250K-Mosaic'
The NATMAP 1:250 000 scale maps included in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 have been produced by Geoscience Australia's National Mapping Division and its predecessor, the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group (AUSLIG), in conjunction with the private sector. This is the largest scale at which published topographic maps cover the entire continent. The maps have been revised using a variety of data sources, including Single Point of Truth (SPOT) and Landsat satellite imagery, other government agency information and data supplied by private companies and individuals.
The 250K Maps layer includes maps joined together into eight Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone mosaics. The 250K Mosaic has all maps joined into a single mosaic based on GDA94 geographic projection.
For more information on the types of features shown on these maps, please refer to the 1:250 000 scale NATMAP legend explanation. Additional information on map specifications, new maps and the current status of NATMAP revision can be found on the Topographic Mapping pages.
1:1 million scale Topographic Map Series
Layer Name in the NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 Viewer: '1M-Maps'
The International Map of the World (IMW) Australia series was Australia's contribution to a common effort by many international mapping agencies to map the world at 1:1 million scale. It was conceived initially for planning economic development, but has been used as the basis for many other maps, including aeronautical charts and thematic mapping. The series was completed in 1978 and was revised regularly until the mid-1980s (average currency 1976).
Small Scale Reference Maps
Layer Name in the NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 Viewer: '5M-Maps'
The smaller scale general reference maps provide a general overview of Australia, but still contain similar information to the larger scale maps. These maps have been revised regularly since the mid-1990s, with the revision information sourced from the same sources as the 1:250 000 scale maps. The Locator map used here is derived from GEODATA TOPO-10M, which is freely available from the Geoscience Australia website. The 1:5 million scale General Reference Map of Australia is used for the 5M Map layer and the Magnifier map.
Accuracy and reliability Maps
The 1:250 000 scale map images used in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 are constructed from digital topographic data with a basic horizontal accuracy of approximately +/-120 metres. Therefore, the accuracy of positions reported by the software should approach that of the original paper map.
Topographic information included in the map images has been checked from multiple sources including satellite imagery. Most maps have not been field checked so some information may not be accurate or up-to-date, especially rapidly changing features such as telecommunication towers and homestead names.
Every effort has been made to make the map images a useful reference. If you discover errors or omissions on the map, please contact Geoscience Australia (mapfeedback@ga.gov.au) or send your annotated NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 printout to us showing the map error.
The reliability of individual map sheets can be found on the Map Reliability page.
Gazetteer data (Place Name Search)
The Gazetteer of Australia 2006 Release is a compilation of more than 322,000 geographic names of Australia as at March 2006, provided by members of the Committee for Geographic Names in Australasia.
Postcode data
The postcode information contained in the Place Name Search tool has been reproduced with Australia Post's permission from the Australia Post Postcode Database and has a November 2004 reliability date.
GEOMET (ANZLIC Metadata) entries
The 1:250 000 scale topographic maps available in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 were produced directly from Geoscience Australia's National Topographic Database, GEODATA TOPO-250K Series 3 in July 2006.
Geoscience Australia's MapMaker application was used in an ESRI ArcMap environment to extract GEODATA TOPO-250K Series 3 vector data for individual 1:250 000 scale maps and construct each map with correct symbology. Each of the 514 maps was then exported into TIFF image format and then geo-referenced in ER Mapper. This gives the images a spatial position encoded with coordinates and projection information to create a GeoTIFF. All GeoTIFF's were then imported, clipped and reprojected into ER Mapper format (ERS) where the mosaics were created before being exported as compressed ECW images.
Why are some features not shown on 1:250 000 scale NATMAPs?
Some features on maps, especially small scale maps, are subject to what is known as 'cartographic generalisation'. It refers to a group of techniques used by map makers which allow the level of information to be retained while the amount of data shown on the map is reduced. These techniques include:
More on displacement
Closely adjacent features may be located on the Earth's surface in such a way that they cannot be separated at the scale of the map. To make sure that the map is readable, one feature is kept in its true position and the rest are displaced. On NATMAP maps the following list of features may be displaced when one or more are adjacent. The higher a feature is on the list, the more likely it is that it has been held in the correct position over those lower on the list.
If two features need to be offset relative to one another and neither is listed above, the position of the feature with greater landmark value will be maintained.
For example, if a railway and road are coincident at the scale being produced, the road will be displaced. Where two or three features are close and adjacent, one may be displaced by up to 225 metres at 1:250 000 scale. In the worst case, when all these features are close together, one may be displaced by up to 675 metres at 1:250 000 scale. However, any features which have been displaced must maintain their relative position.
Generalisation is not a completely automatic process and some human judgement is required. Decisions are usually based on the significance of the feature at the scale of the map being produced as well as on the number of similar features nearby and the purpose of the map.
One major impact of generalisation is when using maps with global positioning systems (GPS). When a GPS track is overlaid on a map, the track may not match the road as it is shown on the map because of the displacement described above. This is not an error in the position of the road as such, but one of the consequences of trying to make the map clear and readable.
Feature masking
If you have a close look at any recent paper NATMAP map you would see that most rivers can be seen 'underneath' or 'on top of' the roads. The digital process used to manufacture the map images in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 can show one layer only in each pixel (picture element) of the image, hence some features will be masked. The order in which the layering occurs is fixed and in some maps this may produce some illogical results or effects that will not appear on the paper map. Significant illogical effects, such as canals covering roads, have been edited but may be incomplete.
Map rotation (applies to the '250K-Maps' layer in NATMAP Raster)
The map images in this layer appear tilted because they are geo-referenced to the Map Grid of Australia (MGA). Each map's boundaries are based on latitude and longitude but these boundaries do not always correspond to MGA gridlines. In order to match the map image to MGA, the image has to be rotated and stretched. Note that the blue MGA gridlines on the map are orientated vertically and horizontally in the Viewer, while lines of latitude and longitude will be shown at an angle.
Join lines
The Landsat Satellite image is made up of many individual images, or 'scenes'. Most of these scenes are cloud free and, in order to achieve this, images were taken at different times of the year. While every effort is made to colour match the images, matching in some cases is not perfect because of differences in ground conditions or the time of year that the images were taken.
Note on improving image clarity
The map images in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 have been compressed. Images which are compressed have information that has been removed from the image using a particular technique or algorithm to reduce the file size. Depending on the compression technique, some information may be lost from the image altogether when it is compressed. This is called 'lossy' compression. ECW, JPEG and MrSID are common lossy compression techniques.
The images in NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 use ECW compression. This will mean that some features will lose some of their clarity, in particular, very thin lines such as tracks and watercourses may become blurry. Colours also may not be uniform within areas (e.g. forest areas shown as green on the paper map may, on the image, contain traces of other colours). These effects are called 'artefacts'.
Other factors affecting image clarity include your monitor specifications, the software being used to view the map images (if not using the NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 Viewer) and the zoom scale. If viewing in other software packages there often is an option to 'zoom to raster resolution'. This zoom level will give the clearest view of the image. Zooming in too far will cause pixellation and artefacts will appear to be very significant. Clarity is reduced also if zooming out too far. For the best results, you should set your zoom to around the same level as if you were looking at the paper map version at the same viewing distance. The scale bar will assist this process.
While every effort has been made to minimise the number and extent of artefacts within each map image, users should be aware that artefacts exist as a result of fitting all of the NATMAP 1:250 000 scale maps onto minimal digital media at an affordable price. The map images in this product are not intended to be exact replicas of the paper map in terms of quality, but do contain the same information as shown on the paper version.
File naming convention
All images in the 250K-Maps layer are named according to the UTM zone; for example zone54mga.ecw. Mosaic or individual map images are named according to scale, that is 250K.ecw, 1M.ecw, 5M.ecw, 20M.ecw. The Landsat 7 satellite image mosaic of Australia is named ls7_mosaic.ecw.
Positional accuracy
Each identifiable coordinate pixel should be within four pixels of the calculated position. The production of maps involves cartographic generalisation of features, which adds additional inaccuracies into the images.
A full listing of dataset accuracies is provided below.
| Dataset | Image resolution | Positional accuracy |
|---|---|---|
| 1M-Mosaic | 0.00116 degrees | 0.0047 degrees |
| 5M-Mosaic | 0.00470 degrees | 0.0220 degrees |
| 250K-Mosaic | 0.00032 degrees | 0.0012 degrees |
| Satellite-Mosaic | 0.00025 degrees | 0.0018 degrees |
| 250K-Maps | 29 metres | 127 metres |
Pixel size
The size of a pixel in metres for any of the Mosaic layers varies with the degree of latitude.
| Location | 250K | 1M | 5M | 20M | Satellite |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torres Strait (Qld) | 35m | 127m | 615m | 2.6km | 44m |
| Darwin (NT), Weipa (Qld) | 35m | 126m | 610m | 2.6km | 44m |
| Cairns (Qld), the Kimberleys (WA) | 34m | 124m | 600m | 2.5km | 43m |
| Townsville (Qld), Tennant Creek (NT), Port Hedland (WA) | 33m | 121m | 586m | 2.5km | 42m |
| Rockhampton (Qld), Alice Springs (NT), Carnavon (WA) | 32m | 118m | 570m | 2.4km | 41m |
| Brisbane (Qld), Oodnadatta (SA), Leonora (WA), Geraldton (WA) | 31m | 114m | 551m | 2.3km | 39m |
| Newcastle (NSW), Broken Hill (NSW), Port Augusta (SA), Perth (WA) | 30m | 109m | 530m | 2.2km | 38m |
| Adelaide (SA), Albury (NSW) | 29m | 104m | 505m | 2.1km | 36m |
| King Island (Tas) | 27m | 99m | 478m | 2.0km | 34m |
| Hobart (Tas) | 26m | 93m | 450m | 1.9km | 32m |
Legends
Legends are included for each of the following scales and images
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 is organised on the media as follows:
| NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 (2 DVDs) | |
|---|---|
| Disc 1 | Map Viewer Software and installation files User Guide files 1:250 000 scale Mosaic of Australia 1:20 000 000 map* 1:5 000 000 scale map* Landsat satellite images of Australia (25 metre pixel size) Reference Map* |
| Disc 2 | Maps of each MGA zone at 1:250 000 scale |
Maps labelled * are part of the installation files, and become useable upon installation to your hard drive where they are visible in your chosen installation directory.
Maps (except for those labelled * in the table above) are stored in the Maps folder. Within this folder is another folder which is named with the appropriate layer name. See the table below.
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008
Maps > 1M-Mosaic > NATMAP-DVD1
Maps > 250K-Maps > NATMAP-DVD2
Maps > 250K-Mosaic > NATMAP-DVD1
Maps > Satellite-Mosaic > NATMAP-DVD1
Conditions of use
Please refer to the licence conditions for details on the conditions of use for NATMAP Digital Maps 2008.
How to order NATMAP Digital Maps 2008
NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 are sold through Geoscience Australia's Map Retailers who are located in every State and Territory of Australia.
You can also purchase NATMAP Digital Maps 2008 over the phone or download an order form from the Geoscience Australia Sales Centre.
Topographic information included in the map images have been checked from multiple sources including satellite imagery. Maps have not been field checked and some information may not be accurate. Every effort has been made to make the map images a useful reference.
The custodians of the data for the Gazetteer of Australia do not guarantee that the data is free from errors and omissions.