Report from the ISOM/2000 Seminar in Copenhagen, 1999-02-27-28

The IOF Map Committee arranged this seminar in order to discuss in detail the current status of the ISOM/2000 Project, and to reach consensus in a number of matters. Invited were the IOF Map Committee members, the ISOM/2000 Project Team and the ISOM/2000 Expert Reference Group. Representatives from eight countries (AUS, DEN, FIN, GBR, GER, HUN, NOR, SWE) were present at the meeting.

1. Cartographic matters
Each IOF map symbol was revised in terms of dimensions and adoptions to digital cartography. A number of marginal changes will be made for this purpose. One new symbol, the “elongated knoll" that has been used in e.g. Sweden and Finland for many years, is approved for inclusion into the ISOM.

2. Vegetation.

2.1 Screen values slightly modified
The screen for IOF406 (light green) will be raised from 20 to 30 % and the IOF408 (medium green) from 50% to 60 % in order to improve legibility.

2.2 Speed-reduction values adjusted
The speed-reduction values were discussed at length. It was concluded that an estimate of 90% of all orienteering takes place in terrain with 0-50% speed reduction, and that the current borders are not optimised or practical for this situation. Discussions with elite runners has confirmed this. The seminar concluded in suggesting to change the limit for “medium green" down to 40% speed reduction, while the limit for “light green" remains unchanged. This is an important change in comparison with the earlier statements in the “Early Warning" document. The suggested change for the “dark green" to 80-100% was accepted.
The limits will be as follows:

IOF406 (light green)	20-40% speed reduction
IOF408	(medium green)	40-80% speed reduction
IOF410	(solid green)	80-100% speed reduction
The stripes (407,409) for undervegetation will follow the same limits.

3. Removal of the 20% rule, replacement rules
The seminar supported removing the 20% rule. It will be replaced with a 5% rule, and changes to a few individual symbols.

3.1 The 5% rule
The 5% rule gives a permission to deviate from all given dimensions with +/- 5% in the printed result. This room is necessary for purposes of the printing process.

3.2 Possibility to enlarge specific symbols
In order to be able to maintain current practice in some IOF Federations, the following permissions will be given:
IOF206 (boulder) It will be permitted to enlarge this symbol by 20%. In practice this means that there can be two sizes of boulders, 0.4 and 0.5. The reason is to be able to show the distinction between boulders with significant difference in size, but where they still don't meet the large boulder criteria. This is e.g. an important practice in mapping Australian granite terrain. Note: IOF207 Large Boulder is not included in this rule!
IOF209 (boulder cluster) see above.
IOF106 (earth bank) It is permitted to make the baseline 0.25 for very high earth banks.

4. Removal of the “Special Terrain Rule"
The seminar supported the suggestion to remove the “Special Terrain" rule (making 1:10 000 maps without enlarging the symbols). The only accepted way to make 1:10 000 maps for international events will be to follow the enlargement rule (see below). The IOF MC recognises the fact that sometimes there are wishes to make maps in extreme or impossible terrain. Therefore the following sentence will be included in the new ISOM: “Terrain that cannot be field worked in the 1:7500 scale and legibly presented in the 1:15 000 scale, are not suitable for international orienteering."

5. Enlarging to the 1:10 000 scale, the “Enlargement Rule"
The seminar clearly supported the 150% factor. This means that when making a 1:10 000 map, all symbols and lines shall be enlarged by 150 % from the dimensions stated in the ISOM for the 1:15 000 scale. Rasters should remain the same as in 1:15 000. This will improve legibility for the rasters at edges (e.g. the marsh raster etc).

6. Four-colour printing, guidelines
In the ISOM/2000 project, a test with offset four-colour printing has been made, showing amazingly high quality. In the test, random distributed dot-screens were applied, giving e.g. a close to perfect contour image. It was concluded that additional test should be made, using less sophisticated raster techniques (regular rasters) in order to compare. The final ISOM will include a 4-color guide with values for each PMS color/ISOM screen for traditional four-colour offset printing. When it comes to digital offset and digital colour copiers, the situation is very complex. Tests has shown that each individual equipment requires its own colour settings, which in fact can vary just by changing the RIP-hard/software in the same machine. Under these circumstances, it is not possible to give a “general" guideline for other techniques than four-colour offset. However this area is developing very rapidly, and it may be a different situation in just a few years.

7. Conclusion, acknowledgements The seminar gave a very good opportunity to discuss map making for orienteering at the highest level. The atmosphere was co-operative, and the individual contributions will make the ISOM/2000 a product that can be a leading star for the orienteering map makers for another ten-year period. Finally I wish to thank Alex Tarr AUS, Sören Nielsen DEN, Flemming Norgaard DEN, Jorma Ake FIN, Chris Shaw GBR, Andreas Dresen GER, Laszlo Zentai HUN, Knut-Olav Sunde NOR, Lennart Karlsson SWE for their contribution.

On behalf of the IOF Map Committee
Björn Persson, chairman