NTS Flashcards
National Topographic System Index Maps
six regional Index Maps showing the National Topographic System (NTS) grid:
- Atlantic Provinces CTI-11 (pictured below)
- Quebec CTI-12
- Ontario CTI-13
- Prairie Provinces ?
- British Columbia CTI-15
- Northwest Territories and Yukon CTI-16
These index maps are available from map dealers, Regional Distribution Centres, and Certified Map Printers across Canada. You can download them in PDF, TIFF, Shapefile and KML formats via Open Government.
CTI-14
How are NTS map sheets defined?
- Each area defined by dark grey lines is given a ??? (“21”, in the diagram). This is the first element in an NTS map number. This dark grey extent is divided into ? smaller areas defined by lighter grey lines; each of these 16 areas is labelled with a light grey letter (“O” and “J”, in the diagram). The lettering begins in the southeast (lower right-hand) corner and zigzags to the northeast (upper right-hand) corner.
dark grey number
16
The letter is the second element in an NTS map number for a 1:250 000 map.
This lighter grey extent is divided into 16 areas defined by fine black lines; each of these 16 areas is labelled with a black number (“1” to “16”). The numbering begins in the southeast (lower right-hand) corner and zigzags to the northeast (??-?) corner. This is the final element in an NTS map number for a 1:50 000 map.
upper right-hand
What is a topographic map?
A topographic map is a ? and ? ? of ?-? and ?? on the ground such as roads, railways, power transmission lines, contours, elevations, rivers, lakes and geographical names.
detailed and accurate illustration of man-made and natural features
The most frequently used Canadian topographic map is at the scale of
1:50 000.
The topographic map is a two-dimensional representation of the Earth’s three-dimensional landscape. The most frequently used Canadian topographic map is at the scale of
1:50 000.
What information is on a topographic map?
- Topographic maps identify numerous ground features, which can be grouped into the following categories:
- Relief: mountains, valleys, slopes, depressions as defined by contours
- Hydrography:
- lakes, rivers, streams, swamps, rapids, falls Vegetation: wooded areas Transportation: roads, trails, railways, bridges, airports/airfield, seaplane anchorages
Six NTS Categories
- Vegetation
- transportation
- boundaries
- Culture
- Toponymy
- Relief
Is a topographic map similar to a road map? Both types of maps show roads, water features, ???, but that’s where the similarity ends.
Topographic maps show contours, elevation, forest cover, marsh, pipelines, power transmission lines, buildings and various types of boundary lines such as international, provincial and administrative, and many others
cities and parks
What are contour lines?
Contour lines connect a series of points of equal elevation and are used to illustrate relief on a map.
- What do the colours mean?
- Black
- Blue
- Green
- cultural features
- water features
- vegetation
Topo tip:
- Use contour lines to determine elevations of mountains and flat areas. The closer together the lines are, the steeper the slope.
- Contour elevation numbers indicate the direction of elevation by always reading (pointing) uphill.
What is scale?
- Maps are made to scale.
- In each case, the scale represents the ratio of a distance on the map to the actual distance on the ground.
- A standard Canadian topographic map is produced at 1:50 000, where 2 cm on the map represents ? on the ground.
1 km
- Medium-scale maps (e.g. 1:50 000) cover smaller areas in greater detail, whereas
- small-scale maps (e.g. 1:250 000) cover large areas in less detail.
- A 1:250 000 scale national topographic system (NTS) map covers the same area as ? 1:50 000 scale NTS maps.
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