ERROR PROPAGATION THROUGH MAP OPERATIONS

In image processing and geographic information systems, a new map is constructed by carrying out a sequence of operations on a set of source maps. These operations typically include the adding, ratioing, and overlaying (or buffering) of two or more maps. But each source map may contain error. There may be error associated with measuring attribute values and in specifying the location (or position) of attribute values. This article investigates through theory and simulation the effects of different types of source-map error on both the size and pattern of errors in the resulting map and examines how these effects also depend on the spatial structure of the true source maps.