Map with a homogeneous grid system

Claim 2

A geographic map provided with a sphere grid network, wherein said network is obtained by inverse gnomonic transfer of a Rome de l'Isle polyhedron (P) circumscribed about a sphere (S) in accordance with local transfers centered at the point of tangency (E) of each lozenge-shaped face (L) of the polyhedron (P) to the sphere (S).

Claim 3

A geographic map according to claim 1, wherein each lozenge (M 1 ) is subdivided into elementary quadrilaterals (M 2 , M 3 , . . . ) by iterative dichotomy of each side by straight lines (l k l k , q j q j ) parallel to the adjacent sides.

Claim 4

A geographic map according to claim 1, wherein each lozenge is subdivided into elementary quadrilaterals, the vertices of which are defined by straight lines, the intersections (l k , q j ) of said straight lines with the sides of the lozenge being determined by the following formulae: a.sub.2 l.sub.k =1-g(-T) (1) b.sub.2 l.sub.k =g(T) (2) a.sub.2 q.sub.j =1-g(-t) (3) b.sub.1 q.sub.j =g(t) (4) where a 2 is a vertex at one end of the major diagonal of the lozenge (M 1 ); b 1 and b 2 are the vertices at the ends of the minor diagonal of the lozenge; g(T)=0.5+T+(T.sup.2 -0.25)(v.sub.o +v.sub.1 T+v.sub.2 T.sup.2 +v.sub.3 T.sup.3) (5) g(t)=0.5+t+(t.sup.2 -0.25)(v.sub.o +v.sub.1 t+v.sub.2 t.sup.2 +v.sub.3 t.sup.3) (6) v o =0.07215444 v 1 =0.229157 v 2 =0.026875 v 3 =0.080845 T being of the form T=k/NL-0.5 t being of the form t=j/NL-0.5 where NL is the whole number of subdivisions required for one side and j and k are whole numbers varying from 1 to NL; a 2 l k , b 2 l k , a 2 q j , b 1 q j being the fractions of the length of side of the lozenge transferred to the sides of the lozenge respectively from the vertices a 2 , b 2 , a 2 , b 1 .

Claim 5

A geographic map according to claim 1, wherein each lozenge is subdivided into elementary quadrilaterals having vertices defined by straight lines in which the intersections (l k , q j ) with the sides of the lozenge are determined by the following formulae: a.sub.2 l.sub.k =1-h (-T,t) b.sub.2 l.sub.k =h (T,t) a.sub.2 q.sub.j =1-h (-t, T) b.sub.l q.sub.j =h (t,T) where a 2 is a vertex at one end of the major diagonal of the lozenge; b 1 and b 2 are the vertices at the ends of the minor diagonal of the lozenge; h(T,t)=0.5+T+(T.sup.2 -0.25)(v.sub.0 +v.sub.1 T+v.sub.2 T.sup.2 +v.sub.3 T.sup.3)+uT(T.sup.2 -0.25) (t2-0.25) (7) h(t,T)=0.5+t+(t.sup.2 -0.25)(v.sub.0 +v.sub.1 t+v.sub.2 t.sup.2 +v.sub.3 t.sup.3)+ut(T.sup.2 -0.25) (t.sup.2 -0.25) (8) v 0 =0.07215444 v 1 =0.222360 v 2 =0.026089 v 3 =0.085626 u=-0.049765 T being of the form T=k/NL=-0.5 t being of the form t=j/NL-0.5 where NL is the whole number of subdivisions required for one side and j and k are whole numbers varying from 1 to NL; a 2 l k , b 2 l k , a 2 q j , b 1 q j being the fractions of the length of side of the lozenge transferred to the sides of the lozenge respectively from the vertices a 2 , b 2 , a 2 , b 1 .

Claim 6

A geographic map according to claim 3, wherein graduations having a value T and t or equivalent identification codes are marked on the sides of the lozenge at the points of intersection (l k , q j ) of the subdivision lines with the sides and said graduations extend from -0.5 at the minor-diagonal vertices of the lozenge to +0.5 at the major-diagonal vertices of the lozenge.

Claim 7

A geographic map according to claim 1, wherein each elementary quadrilateral is re-cut into pseudo-triangles by arcs which are substantially parallel to the minor diagonal of the lozenge and pass through the vertices of the elementary quadrilaterals.

Claim 8

A geographic map according to claim 6, wherein the map grid system is obtained from the sphere network by means of a projection of part of said network.

Claim 9

A geographic map according to claim 7, wherein said map is centered at one of the points of the network and covers at least the polygon formed by the pseudo-triangles in which the point aforesaid is one of the vertices.

Claim 10

A geographic map according to claim 8, wherein said map is centered at a principal regrouping center of the sphere network, said regrouping center being one of the major-diagonal vertices of a spherical lozenge transferred to the sphere from a Rome de l'Isle polyhedron or one of the vertices of a pseudo-lozenge determined by iterative displacement on the sphere starting from an initial regrouping center along a major diagonal of a pseudo-lozenge obtained by joining a pseudo-triangle adjacent to the initial regrouping center to the immediately adjacent pseudo-triangle which is contiguous thereto on the side opposite to said initial regrouping center.

Claim 11

A geographic map according to claim 7, wherein the projection is a radial projection centered at one point of the grid network.

Claim 12

A geographic map according to claim 10, wherein the projection is a stereographic projection.

Claim 13

A geographic map provided with a network derived from the geographic map according to claim 3, wherein said map is provided with rectangular coordinates linearly related to the parameters T, t.

Claim 14

A geographic map according to claim 7 and applicable to a surface approximating to a sphere, wherein said map describes the spherical image obtained by means of a preliminary representation of said surface on the sphere, especially by means of an equivalent or conformal central projection.