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Roger Wheate as what is the resolution of a 1:50,000 map.
In general the formula is divide the map scale (denominator) by 2,000 to
get the resolution on the ground in me. From the Nyquist sampling
theorem we know that detection requires 2 items (minimum) to see something,
so divide map scale by 1,000 to estimate the pattern that cane detected.
This assumes data without error (sic!). Of course cartographers exaggarate
so the rule is only approximate. More detail in Techcal Report TR-95-6
available from NCGIA, Geography, UCSB< Santa Barbara, CA, 93106-4060.
Waldo Tobler