The main purpose of this project is to gather, digitize and archive all categories of maps of mainland China and Taiwan (including topographic maps and various thematic maps) and remote sensing imagery data (including aerial photographs and satellite imagery). By applying GIS technology to our data, we are able to provide objective and straightforward geographical information on societal and cultural changes in contemporary mainland Chinese and Taiwan, as well as changes in the natural environment, terrain and landform in this region.

By June 2010, we had completed the digitization of over 240,000 images. In addition to formulating a standard and digital operating procedure and format, we also plan to construct a distributed temporal and spatial information system under the web geospatial information system, so that we may attempt to restore historical truth, simulate changing processes and layer different thematic maps over each other by selecting the desired area on the map interface or using a layer mapping search tool that displays spatial information in a simple list. This will also help us to consolidate multiple data, enhance the quality of our research materials and help those in the education field and the general public to better understand spatial data from Taiwan.

In addition, we have been participating in related seminars and conferences at home and abroad, publishing papers on related technologies and applications, seeking collaboration with academic research institutions or industry groups, broadening the scope of our technological exchange and value-added applications, and promoting the sharing and value-added application of data in order to advertize the value of our digital archives.

For more Info, Please visit http://gis.rchss.sinica.edu.tw/mapdap/