Topographic maps are an invaluable tool for planning routes through unfamiliar terrain. However, accurately planning routes on topographic maps is a time- consuming and error-prone task. One factor is the difficulty of interpreting the map itself, which requires prior knowledge and practice. Another factor is the difficulty of making choices between possible routes that have different trade-offs between length and the terrain they traverse. To alleviate these difficulties, this thesis presents a system to automate the process of finding routes on scanned images of topographic maps. The system allows users to select any two points on a topographic map and identify their specific preferences for their route. This system extracts terrain and contour line data from topographic map images using image processing techniques and then uses the A* Search algorithm to find a route between the specified points. This system can be used as a starting point for hand-drawn routes, as a means of considering alternative routes, or to entirely replace drawing routes by hand. This thesis also presents a user study which shows that this system produces routes in a significantly shorter time than hand-drawn routes, and with a similar level of accuracy.

Abstract This thesis focuses on topographic mapping of rock formations with the use of new technologies in a comprehensive manner, from airborne laser scanning (ALS) data acquisition and processing in rocky terrains, followed by their processing to the content of topographic databases and their cartographic processing in maps. The introduction discusses issues of importance for practice, and the relation between topographic mapping of rocks and other fields of human activity. The ALS section describes products for topographic mapping of rocks derived from ALS data, and discusses the specifics of ALS data acquisition and processing in wooded rugged terrain. Existing solutions of this problem are explained and their limitations are identified. Author's own approaches to solving this task are presented as case studies, including three made a further three designed experiments with ALS data processing and evaluation of their results. Recommendation regarding mapping of sandstone landscapes in Czechia have been also addressed. The topographic section describes the current representation of rocks and related objects in the ZABAGED database (Czech national digital topographic database), explains the historical context, analyzes this data and identifies their shortcomings in relation to the ALS. Research...