The Australian Antarctic Division map catalogue

The Australian Antarctic Division holds a collection of approximately 3500 maps and charts. In 1998 the Australian Antarctic Data Centre began the task of collating a catalogue of its holdings. After several previous attempts to complete this large task, the map catalogue was published online in early 1999.

The map catalogue includes:

  • historical maps dating back to the mid 1800's
  • thematic maps such as geological, vegetation and bathymetry maps
  • hydrographic charts
  • topographical maps
  • satellite image maps
  • orthophoto maps

Many countries from around the world distribute their Antarctic maps and charts through an agreement by the Scientific Committee of Antarctic Research (SCAR). These are also included in the map catalogue. The Australian Antarctic Division online map catalogue was recently adopted by the SCAR Working Group on Geodesy and Geographic Information as the international standard for the cataloguing of Antarctic maps.

Ursula Ryan
GIS Officer,
Australian Antarctic Division

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