Reconstruction of Map Projection, its Inverse and Re-Projection

This paper focuses on the automatic recognition of map projection, its inverse and re-projection. Our analysis leads to the unconstrained optimization solved by the hybrid BFGS nonlinear least squares technique. The objective function is represented by the squared sum of the residuals. For the map re-projection the partial differential equations of the inverse transformation are derived. They can be applied to any map projection. Illustrative examples of the stereographic and globular Nicolosi projections frequently used in early maps are involved and their inverse formulas are presented.