Using geographic and cartographic principles for environmental assessment and risk mapping

The National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) is a research institute that provides the Dutch government with information for policy making on environment and public health. Policy support requires special care in choosing the right model, since the policy question or policy problem should been addressed by exactly the right answer. From the scientific point of view the answer has to be both scientifically correct and suitable to policy considerations. The translation of scientific model results to a political decision maker taking considerations in all the stages of spatial modelling: the input of the data, the algorithm modelling and the post-processing models. The output of a model is often conveyed in a map. Maps have strong visual impact and wrong use of some cartographic techniques can lead to wrong interpretations of the message to be conveyed. To realize the potential and impact of maps, it is useful to learn some basic principles of cartographic communication and map design. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.