Constraints on the distortion of area objects in the process of map objects displacement

The displacement operator is an important and still a hot topic in map generalization. In the generalization product, symbols must be unambiguous and easily perceived and readily understood, which makes space competition among features an important obstacle in the process of map objects displacement. Space conflict between objects, through propagation process, may be spread and more objects may drift into it. In order to maintain symbols equilibrium and spatial relationship between objects, some unimportant symbols or parts of symbols should be distorted under constraints according to visual graphic resolution thresholds to figure out space competition among map features. Three constraints including position, legibility and characteristics are important for the maintenance of symbols equilibrium and spatial relationship, which are discussed in this paper. The skeleton is introduced to represent area objects figure characteristic, in which an area object can be separated to parts hierarchically according to their importance in the construction. Then, the finite element method is applied to the map objects’ displacement and distortion, in which a strategy for the parameters of finite element method is discussed.