Land Nav Task 2 - Identify Topographic Symbols on a Military Map

1.  
Identify the colors on a
military map.

a.
The ideal situation would be
that every feature on that portion of
the earth being mapped is shown on the
map in its true shape and size.
Unfortunately, that is impossible.

b.
The amount of detail shown on a
map increases or decreases, depending
on its scale; for example, a map with
a scale of 1:250,000.

c. 
Details are shown by
topographic symbols. These symbols are
shown using six basic colors as shown
in table C-1.

Table C-1.
Colors on a topographic map

Colors

Symbols

Black

Cultural
(man-made) features other than roads

Blue

Water

Brown

All
relief features-contour lines on old
maps-cultivated land on red-light
readable maps

Green

Vegetation

Red

Major
roads, built-up areas, special
features on old maps

Red-Brown

All
relief features and main roads on
red-light readable maps

2.  
Identify the symbols used on a
military map to represent physical
features, such as physical
surroundings or objects, as shown in
table C-2.

Table C-2.
Features on topographic maps

a.
The shape of an object on the
map usually tells what it is, for
example, a black, solid square is a
building or a house; a round or
irregular blue item is a lake or pond.

b.
Logic and what the colors mean
must work together in determining a
map feature. For example, blue
represents water. If you see a symbol
that is blue and has clumps of grass,
this would be a swamp.

c. 
The size of the symbol shows
the approximate size of an object.
Most symbols are enlarged 6 to 10
times so that you can see them under
dim light.

d.
Use the legend; it has most of
the symbols used on the map.

3.  
Identify the marginal
information found on the legend.

a.
Marginal information at the top
of the map sheet.

(1) 
The top left corner contains
the geographic location of the map
area and the scale of the map.

(2) 
The top center has the name of
the map sheet.

(3) 
The top right corner contains
the map edition, map series, and the
map sheet number.

b.
Marginal information at the
bottom of the map sheet.

(1) 
The lower left corner of the
map contains the legend, the name of
the agency that prepared the map, the
map sheet number, and the map sheet
name.

(2) 
The bottom center contains the
bar scales in meters, yards, miles,
and nautical miles; the contour
interval of the contour lines; the
grid reference box; the declination
diagram; and the G-M angle (mils or
degrees).

(3) 
The lower right corner contains
the elevation guide, the adjoining map
sheet diagram, and the boundaries box,
which shows any boundaries that may be
on the map.