Comparison of the contents and graphic form of Polish topographic maps 1:50 000 for civil use

W artykule porównano zakres treści i formę graficzną trzech polskich cywilnych map topograficznych w skali 1:50 000: w układzie "1965", w układzie "1992" oraz w układzie "WGS-84".In Poland currently there are three topographic maps at the scale of 1:50 000 for civil use: -map in ,,1965" coordinate system published in 1977-1982 by the Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography, covering the whole country, - map in ,,1992" coordinate system, exept first 48 sheets of Mazowsze region, which were edited in ,,1942" coordinate system), published in 1995-2002 by the Surveyor General of Poland, covering almost 60% of the country's area, - ,,WGS-84" map in UTM projection published in 2003-2006 by the Surveyor General of Poland with the Polish Military Gegraphic Service, covering 25% of the country's area. Comparison of the range of contents and graphic form of the three maps clearly shows the superiority of the map in ,,1992" system. Compared to the other two it employs a new way of presenting built-up areas. It contains significantly more information about the function and intensity of exploitation of built-up areas and offers provides a more complete picture of anthropogenic landscape than any other map in that scale, in Poland or abroad. In addition, the ,,1992" map has the most detailed presentation of streets and relief. Detailed depiction of plant cover and crop areas is achieved by lowering the area limits, below which a particular object is not shown with its outline. Similarly, lowering of the length limit of watercourses and area limit of water pools led to a more detailed presentation of water network. The contents of the ,,1992" map was also enriched by a much larger number of acronyms and descriptions of public buildings and industrial sites. The map in ,,1965" system was printed in four colors, ,,WGS-84" map in five, and the ,,1992" map - in six. The comparison of graphic form of the three maps gave lowest marks to the least readable "1965" map. The ,,1992" map is characterized by wider use of color, which adds to its readability and attractiveness. Substituting black color, traditionally used for buildings and road network with brown resulted in higher graphic capacity and better presentation of public buildings and industrial sites. Consistent use of green for green areas, blue for water and light brown for relief facilitates perception of particular categories of map contents. Application of color patterns for grass areas and orchards allowed for a clear and detailed presentation of their outline. The graphic level of the .WGS-84" map is higher than that of former military maps and the map in "1965" system, partly due to the application of several solutions from the ,,1992" map (e.g. consistent use of green for green areas, simplified presentation of built--up areas). Some elements of the ,,WSG-84" map, such as main roads or borders of natural reserves, are more readable than in the other two. The comparison of the three maps in 1:50 000 shows that the newly planned map in this scale, which is to be prepared using the topographic database should base on the map in ,,1992" coordinate system