Reading the Territory. Signs graphics and remote sensing images

The study of the shape of the Earth involved philosophers , mathematicians, ' surveyors ' , draftsman who , based on their knowledge and skills, attempted to return with different methods and techniques and on different media , the geographical and spatial information for its three-dimensional and twodimensional maps of the world from globes to the maps, since ancient times. During the twentieth century , with the progress of aeronautics - military and civilian - the study of the geometry of the Earth and its cartographic representation had significant developments related to aerial surveys and the emerging technique of photogrammetry from architecture (land ) was strategically used in the recording of photorealistic large portions of the territory. Technological advances and the political and cultural events always influenced the evolution of the representation of the Earth. In some areas of study and analysis of the natural and built , the reading of the information contained in the maps can be the basis for knowledge both punctual that general of the land . Modern technology , with the development of sophisticated digital atlases and web offers the chance to read the evolutionary processes and the urban transformation of the territory and stands as an indispensable instrument of knowledge, research and forecasting changes and transformations.