It is obvious that in the research fields (1) and (2) more or 
less strong interrelations exist between photogrammetry and 
cartography which should (also for economical reasons) be sub 
jected to further investigation. The aim should be: a direct 
possibly not interrupted) flow of data from photogrammetry to 
cartography (from object to map). 
But over and beyond the direct interrelations there still are 
other points of view important for the information transmission 
chain object - map. After all the task of the transmission chain 
is(or should at least be) the production of up-to-date maps 
since only these maps are, as a rule, usable .for the map user as 
reliable basis for work and decision taking. A topographic map, 
for instance, not revised for 10 years will hardly serve its 
purpose. So the question arises where from an operational and/ 
or instrumental point of view improvements can he made at the 
transmission chain which reduce the total expenditure of time 
(with the same or reduced manpower). It is evident that here 
the most important problems lie with the automation of pattern 
recognition (object classification) in digital image processing 
and the automation of cartographic generalization . First suc 
cessful steps towards a solution of these problems have already 
been taken, usable results in most cases only being obtained 
by the application of interactive modes of operation (via dis 
play) . Should it be possible to solve both problems adequately, 
this will most likely lead to new basic conceptions as to the 
production and actualization of maps, in particular of topo 
graphical maps. But in view of the fact that up-to-date maps 
are asked for today already, one has started in some countries 
(including Central Europe) to produce photomaps as their ac 
tualization requires relatively little time [4]. If for the 
time being only one of the two problems can be solved in a sat 
isfactory manner, the repercussions on the information trans 
mission chain object map may perhaps be different to those 
resulting from the solution of both problems. In other words: 
there exist interrelations between photogrammetry and cartog 
raphy the practical effects of which are at present difficult 
to judge.