廖克 · 2001
Liao Ke describes the contents, sources and production of China's national general, physical, economic and agricultural atlases. The General Atlas draws on topographic surveys and the national place-name survey, covering regions, provinces, cities and seas. The Physical Atlas synthesizes scientific surveys and long-term observations in sections on the natural environment, resources, hazards, and the use and protection of nature; Liao emphasizes its treatment of human–nature relationships. The Economic Atlas uses censuses and economic statistics to map sectoral structures and regional differences, including foreign investment and pollution management. The Agricultural Atlas combines natural conditions, agricultural economics and production technology to depict agricultural distribution, production levels and regional inequalities. Liao describes satellite imagery and computer processing in the physical, economic and agricultural volumes, a statistical-mapping expert system for the Economic Atlas, and fully digital design, editing and automated plate-making for the Physical Atlas. He records Chinese and English publication of the economic and physical atlases and reports the Physical Atlas's outstanding-atlas award at the 2001 International Cartographic Conference exhibition.
