Spatial patterns of interprovincial mountain geographical names in China and implications for regional governance

Suffering from fragile environment, poor accessibility and infrastructure, as well as social,political and economic marginality, the interprovincial mountain geographical entities are difficult areas for the regional governance in China.By analyzing the spatial patterns and the influencing factors of the interprovincial mountain geographical names(IMGNs), the goal of this research is to clarify the geographical features of IMGNs and offer alternatives for the management of interprovincial mountain regions in China. The spatial visualization,the analysis of spatial agglomeration and the influencing factors of IMGNs were all implemented under a geographical information system. Results showed that there were 6869 IMGNs in China according to the database of "China's Second National Survey of Geographical Names(2014-2018)",including 4209 mountain geographical names, 1684 mountain peak geographical names and 976 the other mountain geographical names. Hunan Province had the largest number of names while Shanghai had the smallest number of names. In addition, the spatial variance of the mountain peak names and the mountain names were larger than that of the other mountain geographical names, and the IMGNs showed a significant clustering phenomenon in the southern part of China. The relative elevation and the population had an impact on the distribution of the IMGNs. The largest number of the names occurred where the relative elevation was between 1000-2000 m and where the population was between 40-50 million. Density of unnamed interprovincial mountain geographical entities declined from west to east in China. The analysis of generic names of different types of IMGNs implied that the naming of IMGNs is inconsistent. Based on these analyses, it is suggested that the government should take the IMGNs as management units, strengthen the naming of unnamed interprovincial mountain geographical entities, standardize the generic names of IMGNs and identify areas of poverty based on the survey of IMGNs.

Spatial distribution and influencing factors of interprovincial terrestrial physical geographical names in China

The interprovincial terrestrial physical geographical entities are the key areas of regional integrated management. In this paper, we analyzed the spatial patterns of the interprovincial terrestrial physical geographical names(ITPGN) from three aspects: numerical features, spatial variance and spatial agglomeration. The influencing factors of the distribution of ITPGN and the implications for the regional management were further discussed. GIS technology was used to visualize the distribution of ITPGN, analyze the spatial agglomeration and the influencing factors of ITPGN. A total of 11,325 ITPGN, including 4243 water ITPGN and 7082 terrain ITPGN, were extracted from the database of "China's Second National Survey of Geographical Names(2014–2018)", and the mountain geographical names were the largest type in ITPGN. Hunan Province had the largest number of the names in China, and Shanghai had the smallest number of the names. The spatial variance of the terrain ITPGN was larger than that of the water ITPGN, and the ITPGN showed a significant agglomeration phenomenon in the southern part of China. In addition, the relative elevation and the population had an impact on the distribution of the ITPGN. The largest number of the geographical names occurred in the regions where the relative elevation was between 1000–2000 meters, and where the population was between 40–50 million. Based on the analysis, it was suggested that the government should take the ITPGN as management units, optimize management strategies based on the characteristics of different types of ITPGN, strengthen the naming of unnamed interprovincial terrestrial physical geographical entities and balance the interests in the controversial ITPGN. This study demonstrated that GIS and spatial analysis techniques were useful for the research of ITPGN and the results could provide targeted management suggestions to realize coordinated development in the interprovincial regions.

Atlas information systems and geographical names information systems as contributants to spatial data infrastructure

National and international programs dealing with spatial data infrastructures(SDI)made it possible to compile a uniform digital base and a universal toolkit for the integrated description of territories on global to national scales.Atlas information systems(AIS)are considered to be an integrating tool for diverse information resources(modelling,visualisation and analysis),as well as for the elaboration of various scenarios and the possible development of alternatives for such complex systems as those of nature-society-economy.As there is an increased use of digital maps at spatial data infrastructures all aspects related to geographical names are of particular importance in this application of AIS to SDI.It is important to realise a toponymic project,dealing with place-names and their variants depending on the language and time period when a specific place-name was used.The layer of geographical names is considered to be one of the three most important data components of AIS.

China is making significant progress in the nomenclature of international undersea features

With the arising global awareness of the ocean,relevant countries are competing to name the discovered undersea features at the international seabed areas in recent years.The Sub-Committee on Undersea Feature Names（SCUFN）is a joint organization under the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of United Nations Educational,Scientific and Cultural Organization and the

Map-Based Analysis on the Toponymic Culture of Beijing

Geographical names or toponyms in Beijing boast a long history,distinctive characteristics,and rich cultural connotations and humanistic values,thus the toponymic culture protection in Beijing is of great significance.Based on the results of the Second National Census of Geographical Names in Beijing,this paper summarizes the characteristics of geographical names in Beijing and their distribution pattern presented in maps,and puts forward suggestions for protecting the toponymic culture.

Automated location correction and spot height generation for named summits in the coterminous United States

Spot elevations published on historical U.S.Geological Survey topographic maps were established as needed to enhance information imparted by the quadrangle’s contours.In addition to other features,labels were routinely placed on mountain summits.While some elevations were established through field survey triangulation,many were computed during photogrammetric stereo-compilation.Today,Global Navigation Satellite System(GNSS)receivers have replaced expensive triangulation methods.However,since GNSS measurements require visiting the feature location,a national dataset containing high-accuracy spot elevations has not yet been created.Consequently,modern U.S.Topo maps are devoid of mountain peak or other spot elevations.Still,topographic map users continue to demand the display of spot heights.Therefore,a pilot study was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of automatically generating elevation values at named U.S.summits using available elevation data.The devised method uses an uphill stepping technique to find the most likely highest point in subsequently higher-resolution elevation models.Resulting elevation values are compared to other published sources.Results from 196 summits indicate that values derived from lidar are generally higher,whereas those populated from the one-third arcsecond USGS Seamless 3DEP elevation dataset are generally lower.A thorough understanding of these relationships require the evaluation of more points.