The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. Vol. XXXVII. Part B4. Beijing 2008 
Gravel, gravel gobi: they are shown as celadon colour with uneven hue on the image 
of multispectral bands 4, 3, 2. The less the vegetation on the ground surface, the darker 
the colour. 
Saline lands: Saline lands have a high reflectivity, therefore they are shown as 
incanus on the image. The less the vegetation on the ground surface, the brighter the 
hue. 
Table 2 The contrast of the interpretation results and the image 
Figure 3. The interpretation results of 1:50000 topographic 
maps based on SPOT5 image in Xiangqicuo area in 
Tibet 
4. CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION 
In this paper, the focus is on the 1:50000 topographic mapping 
using SPOT5 high resolution image. The visual interpretation 
method was employed to interpret 1:50000 topographic map of 
Qixiangcuo area in Tibet based on the reference of the former 
scientific achievements. The results show that SPOT5 images 
basically meet the needs of producing 1:50000 topographic 
maps. Using the combination of panchromatic images and 
multi-band images to extract the ground objects could get very 
good results. Through consult the experts of Tibetan Plateau 
scientific expedition, the experts believe that the interpretation 
method and results are satisfactory. Some Tibetan depopulated 
area is difficult to reach therefore using traditional surveying 
methods to mapping is largely limited. This research takes 
Qixiangcuo area as an example to set up operation 
specifications and implementation methods for the Lacking 
Area of 1:50 000 Topographic Map based on RS images. 
Since the image of interpretation is single-temporal, some 
seasonal changes in ground objects could not be precisely 
judged. For example, the dry riverbeds and dry lakes can not be 
determined whether they are seasonal. In addition, the true 
color image could not be obtained due to the lack of the Blue 
band of SPOT 5, this is undoubtedly increase the difficulty and 
the error of visual interpretation. In addition, the extraction of 
vegetation is not satisfactory, which may be because the 
temporary phase and radiant correction of the image. It is 
difficult to recognize the soil material especially their borders 
due to their weaker spectral information caused by the 
interference of spectral information of vegetation which covers 
on the ground surface. The study area is in the depopulated 
area in Tibetan Plateau, and the investigation of natural 
environment of this area is rare in the past, therefore, this area 
has less background information, this has brought a certain 
degree of difficulty to the interpretation. Therefore, the 
omission and misjudge are inevitable. To further improve the 
accuracy of the interpretation of RS images, the multi-temporal 
and multi-resolution images can be employed, and adopt fusion 
method of different resolution images to obtain high precision 
maps (Liu, 1998; Lu et al., 2004). 
REFERENCE 
Wang, X., & Tong, Y, 2002. Application of Date of Satellite 
Remote Sensing and GPS Observation into Renewing 1:50000 
Topographic Maps. Surveying and Mapping of Geology and 
Mineral Resources, 2. 
Jiang, H. 2001. EXPLORATION OF UTILIZING SPOT 
REMOTE SENSING IMAGES TO SURVEY MAPS (1 : 
50000). Surveying and Mapping of Sichuan, 3, pp. 115-116.