Is there a name for the process of producing positional data for cartography?

Question

Map-making requires two distinct processes, first to produce the data -- latitude, longitude and elevation -- of the points to be mapped; and second to represent this data on a flat surface as a map. Cartography nicely covers the science of creating the map from the data -- plotting points to give an accurate representation of desired properties, realising that at least one of shape, area, direction or distance, has to be sacrificed. Is there an overall name for the initial gathering of data? Terms like "surveying" seem to me to be too specialised or limited to cover all the processes involved, and "topography" seems too broad.

Answer 1

"Geo-locating" would be a good general term for gathering positional data in preparation to plot those features into a two-dimensional map surface. Geocoding is a sort of transition step between the two processes you describe, where we have accurately defined our location data (either addresses or coordinates) for what we want to map and now we are using a software tool (such as in Esri ArcGIS) to take our location data and plot those features in our 2D map.