Eva Novotná’s research while affiliated with Charles University in Prague and other places

In the study, the main features of perception of natural hazards from the viewpoint of the inhabitants of the Himalaya are outlined. The spiritual significance of people’s attitude to the mountains expressed in ancient mythology is emphasized. The pioneering and recent periods of exploration of the natural environment of the Himalaya are briefly described, and current trends in the recognition of natural hazards and risks, including active protection of the population, are indicated. Special attention is paid to extreme natural hazards and risks on high Himalayan ridges and rock faces. It is necessary to search optimal procedures for protecting people from catastrophic events and the consequences of natural hazards. The main reasons are both ongoing global climate changes and raising human activities in the diverse and dynamic environment of the Himalaya.

Historical cartography is an important source of data on the early periods of exploration of the Himalayan natural environment. The chapter provides an overview of the development of Himalayan mapping. Twenty old maps have been analysed. The Greeks plotted the Himalaya as a barrier of mountains designated as Imaus mons or Emodi montes. Medieval circular maps present a string or waves of mountains. Greek names were adopted, among others, by the Dutch, and the cartographer A. Ortelius added the name Dalanger. An entirely new image of the high mountains was presented by J. B. d’Anville in 1733 on his map of Tibet. His work was an inspiration for other representatives of French, German and Austrian cartography. In 1788, J. Rennell marked the mountains as Himmaleh. In 1802, geodetic triangulation of the Indian Peninsula began, and the mountain peaks were measured remotely across the borders. Since the nineteenth century, the Himalaya has been depicted by hachures. Special maps of the Himalaya were published in German atlases. In the second half of the nineteenth century, Peak XV was named Mount Everest. Triangulation was completed in 1863 by J. T. Walker. Other cartographic representations to be found in the summary table.

The final chapter of the book describes the specifics of geomorphological hazards in the Nepal Himalaya. The destructive effects of the concentration of individual types of natural hazards of orogenetic and climate-morphogenetic origin in varied spatial and temporal scales are emphasized. The main conceptual and methodological challenges in the complex research of geomorphological hazards and risks in the extreme environments of the Nepal Himalaya are presented. In these contexts, physical geography and geomorphology are evaluated as promisingly developing fields of natural science that, together with other Earth sciences, can contribute to a substantial reduction of serious social losses caused by natural hazards and disasters in the high mountain regions of Asia.

The aim of the article is to prepare a model for making available metadata and digital objects of the new Globe Virtual Collection for the Map Collection of the Faculty of Science of Charles University. The globes are special cartographic documents; therefore, they are also described in a special way. The article deals with the digitization, visualization and accessibility of an old globe by Josef Jüttner from 1839, which comes from the depository of one of the most important central European collections. A simple model for a new virtual processing of the globe collection at Charles University is presented. SfM-MVS photogrammetry was chosen for digitization of the globe. The basic elements of the copperplate were set as basic parameters for image acquisition. Contrast, density, black line, line, dash and dot patterns and their complex use were observed for a good graphic design of the globe. Other parameters included a closer determination of the users for whom the resulting product is intended, as well as the profile of the users’ behavior on the site so far. New metadata were extracted from the bibliographic description. The virtual 3D globe was integrated into the database using the Cesium JavaScript library. Metadata and a 3D model of the globe were linked together and made available to the general public on the Globe page of the Map Collection of the Faculty of Science of Charles University. A comparison of web browsers was performed focusing on the loading time of the 3D model on the website. New graphic elements were identified with the new processing. It was possible to read the factual information written on the globe. Different possibilities and limitations of metadata description, photogrammetric methods and web presentation are described. This good practice can be applied by other virtual map collections.