Terrain Visualization by Soldiers

Reading a military map is an important, but often difficult, soldiering task. Map reading requires not only reading and mathematical skills, but also complex problem-solving and perceptual skills. Soldiers must be able to read map symbols and special map vocabulary, calculate and estimate distance and direction, be aware of geographic orientation, and understand the meaning and interpretation of contour lines. Contour lines are mechanisms by which military maps represent land formations and relief. Soldiers must be able to quickly use the two-dimensional contour lines to visualize the three-dimensional terrain over which they must navigate. Soldiers must also be able to translate the spatial information in the environment to a two-dimensional contour line pattern so that they can isolate a current location. The ability to visualize the three- dimensional terrain from its two-dimensional contour line representation is the most complex cognitive skill required of the map reader. This skill, called terrain visualization, is also the most difficult map reading skill to train. Map users report difficulty visualizing the terrain from contour lines 1 and trainers generally agree that there are large individual differences in this ability.