Historical Imagery Research Articles

Historic Maps and Imagery for Modern Scientific Applications

Historic Maps and Imagery for Modern Scientific Applications

Change of spatial information under rescaling: A case study using multi-resolution image series

Spatial structure in imagery depends on a complicated interaction between the observational regime and the types and arrangements of entities within the scene that the image portrays. Although block averaging of pixels has commonly been used to simulate coarser resolution imagery, relatively little attention has been focused on the effects of simple rescaling on spatial structure and the explanation and a possible solution to the problem. Yet, if there are significant differences in spatial variance between rescaled and observed images, it may affect the reliability of retrieved biogeophysical quantities. To investigate these issues, a nested series of high spatial resolution digital imagery was collected at a research site in eastern Nebraska in 2001. An airborne Kodak DCS420IR camera acquired imagery at three altitudes, yielding nominal spatial resolutions ranging from 0.187 m to 1 m. The red and near infrared (NIR) bands of the co-registered image series were normalized using pseudo-invariant features, and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was calculated. Plots of grain sorghum planted in orthogonal crop row orientations were extracted from the image series. The finest spatial resolution data were then rescaled by averaging blocks of pixels to produce a rescaled image series that closely matched the spatial resolution of the observed image series. Spatial structures of the observed and rescaled image series were characterized using semivariogram analysis. Results for NDVI and its component bands show, as expected, that decreasing spatial resolution leads to decreasing spatial variability and increasing spatial dependence. However, compared to the observed data, the rescaled images contain more persistent spatial structure that exhibits limited variation in both spatial dependence and spatial heterogeneity. Rescaling via simple block averaging fails to consider the effect of scene object shape and extent on spatial information. As the features portrayed by pixels are equally weighted regardless of the shape and extent of the underlying scene objects, the rescaled image retains more of the original spatial information than would occur through direct observation at a coarser sensor spatial resolution. In contrast, for the observed images, due to the effect of the modulation transfer function (MTF) of the imaging system, high frequency features like edges are blurred or lost as the pixel size increases, resulting in greater variation in spatial structure. Successive applications of a low-pass spatial convolution filter are shown to mimic a MTF. Accordingly, it is recommended that such a procedure be applied prior to rescaling by simple block averaging, if insufficient image metadata exist to replicate the net MTF of the imaging system, as might be expected in land cover change analysis studies using historical imagery.

Automated imagery orthorectification pilot

Automated orthorectification of raw image products is now possible based on the comprehensive metadata collected by Global Positioning Systems and Inertial Measurement Unit technology aboard aircraft and satellite digital imaging systems, and based on emerging pattern-matching and automated image-to-image and control point selection capabilities in many advanced image processing systems. Automated orthorectification of standard aerial photography is also possible if a camera calibration report and sufficient metadata is available. Orthorectification of historical imagery, for which only limited metadata was available, was also attempted and found to require some user input, creating a semi-automated process that still has significant potential to reduce processing time and expense for the conversion of archival historical imagery into geospatially enabled, digital formats, facilitating preservation and utilization of a vast archive of historical imagery. Over 90 percent of the frames of historical aerial photos used in this experiment were successfully orthorectified to the accuracy of the USGS 100K base map series utilized for the geospatial reference of the archive. The accuracy standard for the 100K series maps is approximately 167 feet (51 meters). The main problems associated with orthorectification failure were cloud cover, shadow and historical landscape change which confused automated image-to-image matching processes. Further research is recommended to optimize automated orthorectification methods and enable broad operational use, especially as related to historical imagery archives.

Assessing stone degradation using an integrated database and geographical information system (GIS)

An integrated database and geographical information system (GIS) for the recording and monitoring of stone degradation are outlined. GIS requirements for stone degradation are summarized and a simple classification system for weathering forms identified and applied. The potential use of the system for identifying change in weathering forms using historic imagery is illustrated using an example from Oxford. Combining information from imagery of different buildings at different time periods, it is possible to put forward a possible scenario of weathering form evolution.

To fly: contemporary aerial photography

This book surveys the contemporary art photography movement of aerial photography, against the backdrop of the scientific and historical imagery that preceded it. This global project includes Italian photographer Olivo Barbieri, who surveys Rome, Shanghai, and Las Vegas from a helicopter. Esteban Pastorino Diaz photographs the landscapes of Greece and South America using a kite with a camera mounted beneath it. Terry Evans works with various conservancy groups around Chicago to document the flat views of the Midwestern landscapes. Frank Gohlke engages with the universal destruction of Mt. St Helens' eruption and the re-growth of the following decade. Adriel Heisey builds his own planes, and hangs outside of them, to document Native American sites such as Chaco Canyon from a low altitude. Emmet Gowin travels all over the world to record from the air the marks of environmental destruction. David Maisel photographs the Great Salt Lake. Alex McLean flies his plane over a variety of places that are reduced to geometrical colored patterns. Additional artists include Barbara Bosworth, Marilyn Bridges, William Garnett, Mario Giacomelli, Emmet Gowin, and Bradford Washburn.

Sixty-three Years of Land Alteration in Erie Township

Land use and land cover (LULC) was mapped using historical aerial photos (1940) and contemporary QuickBird satellite imagery (2003) for a 100 km2 area covering portions of Erie Township, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio on the western end of Lake Erie. This area serves as a microcosm of conditions elsewhere on the Great Lakes coast, containing a range of human-altered to natural landscapes. Geographic information system analysis was used to measure LULC change within the study area based on the 1940 and 2003 maps, and to illustrate the use of historical aerial photos and data to quantify changes in anthropogenic pressures to coastal ecosystems. Agriculture was and is the main land use in the study site, constituting 78% and 55% of upland area in 1940 and 2003, respectively. Most conversions to other land uses originated as agricultural lands. Transportation changes over the time period included the loss of two major railroad yards and the gain of an interstate highway. The area of commercial and industrial development increased 12-fold, from 20 ha in 1940 to 246 ha by 2003. Major industries built after 1940 included an electrical power plant and a sanitary landfill. Residential development approximately doubled from 353 ha in 1940 to 717 ha in 2003, consistent with an 80% increase in population. Coastal ecosystems within the study area included a coastal spit (Woodtick Peninsula) and a large, partially-diked wetland behind it (Erie Marsh), both of which changed extensively over the time period studied. This approach offers a means of incorporating long-term observations into the evaluation of environmental condition in coastal wetlands.

Remote sensing of stream depths with hydraulically assisted bathymetry (HAB) models

This article introduces a technique for using a combination of remote sensing imagery and open-channel flow principles to estimate depths for each pixel in an imaged river. This technique, which we term hydraulically assisted bathymetry (HAB), uses a combination of local stream gage information on discharge, image brightness data, and Manning-based estimates of stream resistance to calculate water depth. The HAB technique does not require ground-truth depth information at the time of flight. HAB can be accomplished with multispectral or hyperspectral data, and therefore can be applied over entire watersheds using standard high spatial resolution satellite or aerial images. HAB also has the potential to be applied retroactively to historic imagery, allowing researchers to map temporal changes in depth. We present two versions of the technique, HAB-1 and HAB-2. HAB-1 is based primarily on the geometry, discharge and velocity relationships of river channels. Manning's equation (assuming average depth approximates the hydraulic radius), the discharge equation, and the assumption that the frequency distribution of depths within a cross-section approximates that of a triangle are combined with discharge data from a local station, width measurements from imagery, and slope measurements from maps to estimate minimum, average and maximum depths at a multiple cross-sections. These depths are assigned to pixels of maximum, average, and minimum brightness within the cross-sections to develop a brightness–depth relation to estimate depths throughout the remainder of the river. HAB-2 is similar to HAB-1 in operation, but the assumption that the distribution of depths approximates that of a triangle is replaced by an optical Beer–Lambert law of light absorbance. In this case, the flow equations and the optical equations are used to iteratively scale the river pixel values until their depths produce a discharge that matches that of a nearby gage. R 2 values for measured depths versus depths estimated by HAB-1 and HAB-2 are 0.51 and 0.77, respectively, in the relatively simple Brazos River, Texas. R 2 values for HAB-1 and HAB-2 are 0.46 and 0.26, respectively, in the Lamar River, a complex mountain river system in Yellowstone National Park. Although the R 2 values are moderate, depth maps and cross-sections derived from the HAB techniques are consistent with typical stream geomorphology patterns and provide far greater spatial coverage and detail than could be achieved with ground-based survey techniques. Improved depth estimates can be achieved by stratifying the river into different habitat types that normalize for differences in turbulence and substrate.

The ‘first’ educator? Rethinking the ‘teacher’ through luce irigaray’s philosophy of sexual difference

This article examines historical imagery of the teacher in relation to a story drawn from ancient Greece: that relating to the teacher of the mythic hero Achilles in The Iliad. The article explores the possibility that this early image of a teacher — the aging warrior Phoenix — could be a source for later representations of the teaching function. In an effort to place this historical image into a larger context of cultural symbolism relating to pedagogy, the article asks, why is this ‘first’ educator a man? By what narrative procedure was a man contrived to assume roles such as nurturing and childrearing that had always been (and continue to be) represented as feminine occupations? Using the work of Luce Irigaray, the article raises issues about the sex of the teacher in order to disrupt the seemingly obvious sex-neutrality of modern images of education, which define teaching and learning as humanistic, as social and cultural practices for which gender is irrelevant, and through which abstract disciplines such as literacy and numeracy are represented as transcending the physicality of the sexed body. It attempts to expose the constant deference modern educators unconsciously pay to patriarchal models of the pedagogical relationship, and to reveal the repression of sexual difference at the core of the mythology from which Western images of education have been generated.

Changes in lagoonal marsh morphology at selected Northeastern Atlantic coast sites of significance to migratory waterbirds

Five lagoonal salt marsh areas, ranging from 220 ha to 3,670 ha, were selected from Cape Cod, Massachusetts to the southern DelMarVa peninsula, Virginia, USA to examine the degree to which Spartina marsh area and microhabitats had changed from the early or mid- 1900s to recent periods. We chose areas based on their importance to migratory bird populations, agency concerns about marsh loss and sea-level rise, and availability of historic imagery. We georeferenced and processed aerial photographs from a variety of sources ranging from 1932 to 1994. Of particular interest were changes in total salt marsh area, tidal creeks, tidal flats, tidal and non-tidal ponds, and open water habitats. Nauset Marsh, within Cape Cod National Seashore, experienced an annual marsh loss of 0.40% (19% from 1947 to 1994) with most loss attributed to sand overwash and conversion to open water. At Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in southern New Jersey, annual loss was 0.27% (17% from 1932 to 1995), with nearly equal attribution of loss to open water and tidal pond expansion. At Curlew Bay, Virginia, annual loss was 0.20% (9% from 1949 to 1994) and almost entirely due to perimeter erosion to open water. At Gull Marsh, Virginia, a site chosen because of known erosional losses, we recorded the highest annual loss rate, 0.67% per annum, again almost entirely due to erosional, perimeter loss. In contrast, at the southernmost site, Mockhorn Island Wildlife Management Area, Virginia, there was a net gain of 0.09% per annum (4% from 1949 to 1994), with tidal flats becoming increasingly vegetated. Habitat implications for waterbirds are considerable; salt marsh specialists such as laughing gulls (Larus atricilla), Forster’s terns (Sterna forsteri), black rail, (Laterallus jamaicensis), seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus), and saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) are particularly at risk if these trends continue, and all but the laughing gull are species of concern to state and federal managers.

Continuity and Creativity in Iroquois Beadwork

This review essay of Across Borders: Beadwork in Iroquois Life focuses on the display of beadwork as a cultural practice that has evolved significantly throughout its history while remaining central to Iroquois identity. The exhibition draws on historical documentation, objects, and imagery that depict the varied uses of beadwork as ritual objects, sources of income, markers of identity, and as works of art. The content and narrative for the display was developed through a broad collaboration between curators, scholars, artists, and members of two Iroquois communities. The changing and continued importance of beadwork is reflected in the adaptation of materials and styles for different forms of production and use. Across Borders places Iroquois beadwork in a broad context while concentrating on specific forms and meanings that are attached to beadwork, whether created in community gatherings or by individual artists.

SURFACE CURRENT MAPPING OFF CALIFORNIA WITH RADIOMETRY AND ALTIMETRY

Surface coastal currents off California are a good example of the complex variability in space and time of currents in an ocean basin eastern boundary. Conventional oceanographic measurements are unable to resolve these relatively small scale variations but by employing both satellite imagery and satellite altimetry we are able to resolve this complex structure and its variations in space and time. Moreover using historical satellite imagery we are able to extend this study back into the past. Our emphasis will be on resolving these variations and later studies will relate these variations to various forcing functions

Reimagining Birmingham

This article was sparked by the relative lack of attention the city of Birmingham has received in the global reception of `Birmingham cultural studies'. This oversight may reflect a more general trend in contemporary analysis of urban settings: a tendency to scenography. This refers to the filmic mode of address in recent studies of urban change which privilege a small number of dramatic, cinematic settings. Our article explores the city of Birmingham in its own terms, as an intense example of a wider set of processes: economic restructuring, place marketing amidst globalization. It investigates the politics of memory underlying the dominant competing visions of Birmingham which we call `the urban Arcadia' and `Birmingham forward'. Despite their manifest differences, these two alignments of historical imagery converge on a harmonious conception of community which excludes many of the city's residents.

ABSTRACT: Insights into Sedimentology and Evolution of a Modern Carbonate Tidal Flat from Historical and Satellite Imagery: Andros Island, Bahamas

ABSTRACT: Insights into Sedimentology and Evolution of a Modern Carbonate Tidal Flat from Historical and Satellite Imagery: Andros Island, Bahamas

Sensitivity of Mexican water bodies to regional climatic change: Three study alternatives applied to remote sensed data of Lake Patzcuaro

Historical aerial photography over closed basins enables the observation of lake surfaces at variable water levels and climatic conditions. Thus, the assessment at the landscape level of subtle variations in inundated areas depends on a suitable framework for processing historical imagery, frequently available at different scales and resolutions.

The Image of Georgian Bath, 1700-2000: Towns, Heritage, and History

This interdisciplinary study explores the evolution, structure, and uses of the image of Georgian Bath, from its genesis in the eighteenth century to its renaissance in the twentieth century. In recent decades there has been both a popular resurgence of interest in heritage and tradition, and a growing academic awareness of the power of imagery in shaping the lives of individuals and societies. There is perhaps no city in Britain so saturated in history and layered with historic imagery as Bath. It therefore provides an ideal case-study to investigate the dynamic fusion and impact of the forces of past and representation. The dominant perception of Bath today is that of a classical and particularly Georgian city. In this stimulating and scholarly study, Peter Borsay examines the construction and development of this image. Its principal components, biography and architecture, are explored, together with the media through which it was constructed and transmitted, as well as its commercial, social, political, and psychological uses. Dr Borsay concludes by relating the findings for Bath to current debates on towns, heritage, and the nature of history.

Memory-Work

Memory-Work

New Tricks with Old Maps: Urban Landscape Change, GIS, and Historic Preservation in the Less Developed World

This article presents a methodology for a more detailed investigation of urban landscape change in rapidly growing cities of the less developed world beyond typical macrolevel approaches. This research is an attempt to bridge the gap between traditional landscape analysis and geographic information science (GIS). The article presents the preliminary results from a pilot project in Zamalek, Egypt, highlighting the benefits and drawbacks of the two techniques. Rarely used to study the less developed world, these techniques are utilized to assess change within a portion of Cairo's urban landscape. Large-scale historic maps and high-resolution satellite imagery, combined with field attribute collection, are the major data sources in this applied landscape analysis. A motivating factor in the desire to examine landscape change at such a large scale is the need to create monitoring systems for historic preservation in cities of the less developed world.

Remote sensing of biotic effects: Zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) influence on water clarity in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron

In this study, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) remote sensing reflectance (Rrs ), imagery from 1987–1993 is used to study changes in water clarity before and after zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) were discovered in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron. Spatial and temporal trends in the data indicate distinct and persistent increases in water clarity in the inner bay after the first large recruitment of zebra mussels in the fall of 1991. The pre‐Dreissena imagery show that turbidity in the inner bay was influenced by the Saginaw River discharge in spring, biological production (plankton) in summer, and wind‐driven resuspension in fall, with highest turbidity in spring and fall. Spatial patterns in the post‐Dreissena images were more similar regardless of season, with low reflectances in the shallow regions of the inner bay where zebra mussel densities were highest. A regression model based on point data from 24 sampling stations over the 7‐yr period indicates that reflectances varied significantly by site and zebra mussel densities, as well as seasonally. Trends in observed and predicted values of reflectances followed similar patterns at each station—highest values were found during 1991 and lowest during 1992 at all stations, with slightly higher Rrs in 1993 compared to 1992. Whereas AVHRR Rrs highlight the value of historical imagery for reconstructing seasonal and interannual turbidity patterns in near‐shore waters, a new generation of operational ocean color satellites, such as SeaWiFS (Sea‐viewing Wide Field‐of‐view Sensor) and the newly launched MODIS (moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer), now provide for routine monitoring of important biological and physical processes from space.

The Head and the Heart. National Identity and Urban Planning in a Devolved Scotland

Questions of identity and how it is changing under the influences of globalization and how in turn it is affecting government and policy processes have become increasingly to the fore in recent years. Despite shifts towards devolution in the UK and the anticipation of such processes heralding an opportunity for governance to better reflect national identity, little interest has been paid to the role of planning in such issues. An essential component of identity that has influenced attitudes towards planning is the role of myths. Two myths that have been significant for planning in Scotland are those of egalitarianism and radicalism, both of which have contributed towards the idea of Scottish planning being distinct from and superior to its English counterpart. These two myths form part of what Tom Nairn has termed the 'heart' of Scottish identity founded upon romantic, historic imagery of identity. The 'head' is formed by the realization of the need to compete economically in a globalized free-market. This paper explores how both the head and the heart are driving the future of Scottish planning through the devolved Parliament. It then goes on to address the institutional and political influences through the Scottish Parliament and the likely trajectory for change. It concludes that planning is becoming less a mechanism that reflects national identity and more of a facilitator for economic growth with important symbolic significance of distinctiveness.

Identifying the Identified: The Need for Critical Exploration of Native American Identity within Educational Contexts

Whereas, teacher education programs strive to prepare preservice teacher education students to address various diversities, this article discusses the lack of critical exploration of Native American identity and discusses its impact within P-12 and higher education contexts. Stereotypes, historical imagery, and cultural assumptions about Native Americans and Native communities are deconstructed through the use of statistics and other factual information. Teacher educators, preservice teachers, and classroom teachers are challenged to evaluate their educational histories and attitudes toward Native Americans as a first step to a critical exploration of Native American identity. Suggestions are provided to educators to prompt investigation into Native American identity and contemporary Indigenous issues within the classroom.