Based on the analysis of the color error in topographic map images such as transitional color and color distortion

the deficiency of available algorithms that only make use of color information in map segmentation is indicated. To get correct segmentation

the information in the map must be explored sufficiently. Simulating the integrated process of visual information abstracting

a novel concept of spatial relation information is defined. According to the feature of topographic map the distribution character of pixels relations in the image is analyzed and then proposes the method of how to recover spatial relation information. By the transformation of color spaces and the improved fuzzy clustering algorithm the color of pixels in the map is evaluated with different membership degree. At last spatial relation information and color information is combined in the segmentation of color map. As a result

color error in the map is restrained effectively. The experiments show that the proposed algorithm achieves robust and precise segmentation. Furthermore

the algorithm can recognize some elements in topographic map directly. It has established a fine basis for automatic vectorization of color topographic maps and introduces a new approach for image analysis.