Cartographic Animation

The creation of cartographic animations has been feasible since the early 1960's but has only recently become a practical alternative for the display of maps. A theoretical framework is emerging for this form ofspatial visualization. The basic goal of cartographic animation is the depiction of change.


The types of change can be categorized as temporal and non-temporal. Most cartographic animations depict change over time. Non-temporal cartographic animation are also possible. Examples include animations of data classification, data generalization, and a series of related variables from a single time period.