
SPELDOK-AUSTRIA HANDBUCH ZUM ÖSTERREICHISCHEN HÖHLENVERZEICHNIS (Speldok-10)
7
1 Summary
Every science dealing w ith objects in spatial
relations needs a system of assessment
w here these objects may be registered so that
all informations are available. In speleology all
over the world various systems of registration
are used, for instance assessment of caves
according to topographical maps or
administrative districts. In Austria (and
Bavaria), however, a system of reference
numbers w as developed in 1949, marked by
orographic boundaries and built up
hierarchically. Thus, w ith the help of this
system each cave can be found by its number
and its name. The “Österreichische
Höhlenverzeichnis” (Austrian Cave Index)
contains the number and name of each cave
as w ell as all its corresponding data. The basic
principle of this system of registration has
frequently been published in cave literature
(see chapter 11).
From the huge number of informations about a
cave (map, descriptions, literature, photos)
standardized informations are selected and
recorded in the Austrian Cave Index. These
informations have been currently enlarged.
The latest update occurred in 2002, w here the
boundaries of natural areas w ere digitalized
and adapted for the first time; a new data base
w as developed as w ell. In order to register all
these changes, and to be sure that the system
is being used orderly, it w as decided to
present the whole registration system of the
Austrian caves in a comprehensive handbook.
Chapter 3 gives a survey of the historical
development of this system. The karstic rocks
in Austria are presented in chapter 4 in order
to give a survey of the Austrian cave regions
in general. The hierarchic principle of
registration is described in chapter 5 and
graphically show n in figurAbb. 7. This chapter
illustrates the so-called “su/jointfilesconvert/447682/bgroups” as
smallest units, obtained by constant regional
division of natural areas. They are exactly
defined on a topographical chart by a four-
figure number. All caves situated w ithin such a
su/jointfilesconvert/447682/bgroup receive this number and, separated
by a diagonal stroke, a consecutive cave
number as extension. This so-called
“Katasternummer” (index number) and the
name of the cave are invariable codes of
every Austrian cave.
Chapter 5 show s that this system is not only
used in Bavaria and Austria, but also in
Hungary, and that it may be extended
because of free numbers still available.
Chapter 6 deals w ith the system applied in the
Bavarian region. Chapter 7 gives a survey of
the digitalization of the sou/jointfilesconvert/447682/bgroups'
boundaries; table 3 comprises all those
su/jointfilesconvert/447682/bgroups, in w hich the boundaries have been
changed or new ly defined.
In chapter 8 all informations and codes about
every cave in the Austrian Cave Index are
enlisted. It is essential for the functioning of
this system that each caving club is given a
certain operating range. Only w ithin this range
a club may assign index numbers to caves
(figurAbb. 14). The remaining sections of
chapter 8 show how a cave is assigned to a
certain federal state (province) of Austria
(8.3.1), how the length and depth of a cave is
codified (8.3.7) and how the type of cave and
the status of exploration is assessed. A printed
extract of the cave index is presented as an
example, and the positioning of caves by
coordinates is described.
Since a new topographic set of maps w ill be
published in Austria w ithin the coming years,
the old maps are compared w ith these new
ones in section 8.7; Section 8.8 demonstrates,
w hich positioning method allow s for w hich
degree of accuracy. Chapter 9 presents the
set-up of the database for the caveindex,
show ing some corresponding screenshots.
A verbal description of the smallest subunits of
the system, the su/jointfilesconvert/447682/bgroups, is given in chapter
10.
The appendix contains tables, among others
lists of community codes, numbers and names
of the new topographical maps. Furthermore
statistic data, e.g. concerning the square
dimensions of the su/jointfilesconvert/447682/bgroups, can be found.
Three coloured maps show ing the position of
su/jointfilesconvert/447682/bgroups relative to each other and to the
Austrian general map complete the handbook.
englische Übersetzung: Dr. Elisbeth Cech
Komentarze do niniejszej Instrukcji