Historical Geographic Information System Research Articles

The atlas of local jurisdictions of Ancien Régime France

This article describes the construction and content of an atlas of local jurisdictions of Ancien Régime France: bailliages. Bailliages were at the center of the Ancien Régime's jurisdictional apparatus: they administered the ordinary royal justice, delineated the area of influence of heterogeneous customary laws, and served as electoral constituencies for the Estates General of 1614 and 1789. Yet, their territorial extent was relatively unknown to the royal authority, leading early scholars to assert the impossibility of mapping the geography of bailliages. Based on Armand Brette's Atlas des bailliages et juridictions assimilées published in 1904, we develop a historical geographic information system containing shapefiles and associated data files of bailliage courts at the time of the convocation of the Estates General of 1789. This new source has many potential applications, including mapping the different legal systems that coexisted in France, such as Roman law in pays de droit écrit and customary law in pays de droit coutumier, and studying elections to the Estates General of 1789.

A Study on the Problem of Starting and Depositing of Ming Dynasty Fields Based on the Perspective of HGIS

The origination, transportation, and retention of field levies are the core contents of the Ming Dynasty financial research, and in the past, the academic community's attention to the origination, transportation, and retention problems only stayed in the discussion of the amount of field levies and the institutional level. With the use of digital humanities and historical geographic information systems in historical research, the spatial information implied in the Ming dynasty field levies can also be presented in the study. The book "Wanli Accounting Record" compiled by the Ministry of Revenue during the Wanli period contains the collection and storage of field levies at all levels of provinces and counties in the Ming Dynasty, and the historical documents are converted into data and then the GIS software is utilized to present them in a hierarchical manner on a nationwide scale. The results of the hierarchical presentation are further analyzed by using spatial analysis software to analyze the spatial relationship between the field levies in each state and county in the Ming Dynasty.

Detection of Changes in Buildings in Remote Sensing Images via Self-Supervised Contrastive Pre-Training and Historical Geographic Information System Vector Maps

The detection of building changes (hereafter ‘building change detection’, BCD) is a critical issue in remote sensing analysis. Accurate BCD faces challenges, such as complex scenes, radiometric differences between bi-temporal images, and a shortage of labelled samples. Traditional supervised deep learning requires abundant labelled data, which is expensive to obtain for BCD. By contrast, there is ample unlabelled remote sensing imagery available. Self-supervised learning (SSL) offers a solution, allowing learning from unlabelled data without explicit labels. Inspired by SSL, we employed the SimSiam algorithm to acquire domain-specific knowledge from remote sensing data. Then, these well-initialised weight parameters were transferred to BCD tasks, achieving optimal accuracy. A novel framework for BCD was developed using self-supervised contrastive pre-training and historical geographic information system (GIS) vector maps (HGVMs). We introduced the improved MS-ResUNet network for the extraction of buildings from new temporal satellite images, incorporating multi-scale pyramid image inputs and multi-layer attention modules. In addition, we pioneered a novel spatial analysis rule for detecting changes in building vectors in bi-temporal images. This rule enabled automatic BCD by harnessing domain knowledge from HGVMs and building upon the spatial analysis of building vectors in bi-temporal images. We applied this method to two extensive datasets in Liuzhou, China, to assess its effectiveness in both urban and suburban areas. The experimental results demonstrated that our proposed approach offers a competitive quantitative and qualitative performance, surpassing existing state-of-the-art methods. Combining HGVMs and high-resolution remote sensing imagery from the corresponding years is useful for building updates.

A Multi-Level Grid Database for Protecting and Sharing Historical Geographic Urban Data: A Case Study of Shanghai

Historical geographic data play an important supporting role in the study of long-term geographic studies, such as climate change, urban expansion and land-use and land-cover change. These data vary in source, format and accuracy and are widely found in historical documents, old maps, produced vector data, aerial photographs, old photographs, etc. The complex nature of data makes it difficult for researchers to organize, store and manage in a unified manner. Thus, GIS practitioners and social scientists will collectively face the challenge of integrating historical data into spatial databases. Herein, we introduced the concept of a multi-level spatial grid, selecting Shanghai as the study area, to construct the Shanghai historical geographic database and give the conceptual model and processing method. The experiment was performed using the China Historical Geographic Information System (CHGIS), which showed the historical evolution of Shanghai more conveniently. Meanwhile, we simulated one million rows of historical geographic data in Shanghai and compared the retrieval efficiency of the encoding method with the latitude–longitude and geometric object indexing methods, which demonstrated that our method was very effective. This research is important for the construction of a historical urban database, which can better preserve historical resources and promote urban culture with information science and technology.

Assessment and Spatial Analysis of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) Dynamics in the Black Volta Basin

The Black Volta Basin, a critical hydrological region, is experiencing rapid changes in Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) patterns due to diverse anthropogenic and environmental factors. This study employs a comprehensive Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) methodology to assess and analyze the spatiotemporal dynamics of LULC in the basin. Utilizing data from multiple remote sensing platforms, including optical and radar sensors, as well as historical GIS datasets, a detailed LULC classification is performed. The integration of multi-temporal satellite imagery enables the detection and quantification of changes across distinct land cover categories. Through rigorous spatial analysis and statistical techniques, the study reveals the extent and magnitude of LULC transformations over a defined period. Land cover transitions are identified, characterized, and linked to potential drivers such as urbanization, agricultural expansion, and natural processes. The outcomes of this research contribute to an enhanced understanding of the evolving LULC dynamics in the Black Volta Basin, shedding light on both natural and human-induced changes. The results underscore the significance of a multi-sensor approach in accurately capturing complex LULC changes and their implications for regional sustainability and resource management. This study's insights serve as valuable inputs for policymakers, researchers, and stakeholders engaged in land-use planning, environmental conservation, and sustainable development within the Black Volta Basin and similar ecologically sensitive areas.

Marginal Gentrification and Racial Capitalism in a Post-chocolate City

Researchers have found that gentrification is less likely in Black neighborhoods than in White or Latinx neighborhoods, and that gentrification looks different in Black neighborhoods. For example, researchers have found that Black neighborhoods experience marginal gentrification—changes in the educational level but not the income of residents. This study uses Census and National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) data to explore the relationship between gentrification and racial change in Washington, DC between 2000 and 2019. We measure gentrification using four distinct but related measures: change in home value, rent, average educational level, and household income. The results show a positive association between changes in the percentage of residents with college degrees and the percentage of White residents in neighborhoods that were majority Black in 2000. We also find a positive association between changes in the percentage of Latinx residents and the average rent. We do not find a significant relationship between racial change and changes in home value and average income. Our findings point to the importance of including race in models of gentrification as well as using different measures of gentrification to capture it more fully.

Spatio-temporal patterns in the history of colonial botanical exploration in India

A study of Indian botany during the colonial period provides us with an interdisciplinary sphere covering science, politics, sociology, economics, and other associated domains. The presentation of this rich legacy to general readers often restricts itself to the descriptive accounts of explorers with little analysis of the intermingling of socio-political dynamics, landscape, and geography. We attempt to revisit the colonial plant exploration history through spatio-temporal analyses to understand how explorers with divergent interests traversed the country in different periods and directions. Our findings show that the Himalayas drove most of the explorations followed by the Deccan peninsula, the Western Ghats, and the Gangetic plain. In general, company/crown administered areas were better surveyed and documented than native states. Furthermore, through a prioritization exercise, we identify the centers of prominence, highlighting their political, economic, and social importance in contemporary India. In sum, this article shows the potential of applying Historical Geographic Information System (HGIS) mapping for spearheading future research and creating space for possible dialogs among historians, political scientists, and ecologists.

Poverty and Gender: Determinants of Female- and Male-Headed Households with Children in Poverty in the USA, 2019

Attaining economic parity and reducing poverty between the genders are critical steps toward attaining the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Despite progress, women in the US still earn USD 0.83 for every USD 1.00 that a man earns. With rising shares of single/female-headed households with children in American society in recent years, such gaps in earnings exacerbate the misery of children living in such households. In 2019, female-headed households with children had poverty rates almost twice (36.5%) that of single/male-headed families (16.3%). This paper uses five-year American Community Survey estimates from the National Historical Geographic Information System to empirically examine the spatial distribution and determinants of female-versus-male-headed households with children living in poverty in the counties of the USA. Lower levels of educational attainment are associated with higher levels of poverty for both genders. A bachelor’s degree in education is associated with higher poverty for female-headed households, whereas majoring in business, sciences, engineering, and arts/humanities is associated with lower poverty for male-headed households. Service-sector occupations inherently contribute to higher poverty for both groups. Over-representation in management/professional and natural-resources, construction, and maintenance-type occupations works well for male-headed households, whereas management/professional, sales/office, and service-based occupations associate with higher poverty for female-headed households—pointing toward the “working poor”—comprising largely of the active female labor force in the new economy. Full- and part-time work status alleviates poverty for female-headed households, whereas part-time work is associated with higher poverty for males.

The Geography of Surveillance: Spatial and Temporal Patterning of Police Surveillance Following Arrest in the First Years of the Special Tribunal in Fascist Italy, 1925-1928

Between 1925 and 1928, a fundamental strategy of the Italian fascist regime was the imposition of a political court, the Special Tribunal for the Defense of the State [Tribunale Speciale per la Difesa dello Stato], to control its political enemies and the entire society. One unexplored aspect of the Special Tribunal was its use of long-term surveillance to monitor people brought before the court. Suspects were monitored for long periods even when found innocent or upon release from prison. Blending geographical and historical analysis, specifically HGIS (Historical Geographical Information System), this work contributes to highlight surveillance during the fascist regime, which was less brutal than others not because it was imperfect but because it was sophisticated. Thus, the article also contributes to the understanding of the nature of the Italian fascist regime in comparison to its contemporary counterparts.

Introduction: Digital History

Abstract New digital methods are currently enhancing the historian’s toolbox fundamentally. This thematic issue is a collection of papers discussing case studies in the fields of digitization, optical character recognition, distant reading, text mining, network analysis, and historical geographical information systems. The papers discuss opportunities and limitations in the application of digital methods in historical studies and point out fields of future applications.

Fine lines: locating commercial sex work in official data, Dublin 1901 and 1911

Abstract Dublin at the turn of the nineteenth century had limited permanent employment opportunities compared to Belfast, and for poor families financial instability manifested in limited life expectancy. This article focuses on young adult cohorts in Dublin city. By cross-referencing names and addresses from death records with census, court and prison records, it casts new light on the lives of the city's most disadvantaged people. It applies a digital humanities framework and uses historical Geographical Information Systems to explore patterns in cause of death, and to reveal more about household income, casual labour, women's work and community networks. We contend that the cautions about the occlusion of commercial sex work in historical data should be extended to the lowest strata of the working classes more generally and that it is only through granular analyses that the fine lines between poverty and destitution can emerge.

158 Associations Between County Level Poverty and Firearm Injuries in the State of Maryland

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: The United States is experiencing an epidemic of firearm deaths and injuries. Poverty and other socioeconomic factors have been linked to firearm injuries on the national level. The goal of this study is to examine the relationship between county level poverty and firearm injuries in the State of Maryland. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This is a cross sectional study assessing fatal and non-fatal firearm injuries of all ages between 2018-2020 utilizing data from the State of Maryland’s Health Services Cost Review Commission. Our primary analysis will involve calculating injury and mortality rates to assess if fatal and non-fatal firearm injuries are associated with county-level poverty, defined as the percentage of the population living below the federal poverty line. Rates will be calculated by determining county level population within subgroups using the National Historical Geographical Information System database. We will also conduct regression analyses to adjust for confounding variables selected based on evidence from prior research. Some of these variables include age, sex, race, urbanicity, and the social vulnerability index. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: An abundance of prior research has demonstrated differences in firearm injury by age, sex, and race. Prior studies have also shown that poverty is associated with higher rates of firearm-related deaths among youth. Based on that foundational data, we anticipate that regression analyses will demonstrate that counties with higher poverty levels will have higher rates of fatal and non-fatal firearm injuries, even after controlling for other known risk factors. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Findings from this study will contribute to growing evidence on the role of poverty in the burden of firearm injuries and mortality. This will have policy implications regarding the allocation of public health resources and interventions aimed at reducing firearm-related injuries and deaths in Maryland.

Gentrification and Air Quality in a Large Urban County in the United States

Introduction: Increases in industrialization and manufacturing have led to worsening pollution in some components of air quality. In addition, gentrification is occurring in large cities throughout the world. As these socioeconomic and demographic changes occur, there have been no studies examining the association of gentrification with air quality. To investigate this association, we studied the trends of gentrification, changes in racial distribution and changes in air quality in each zip code of a large urban county over a 40-year period. Methods: We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study over 40 years in Wayne County, Michigan using socioeconomic and demographic data from the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) and air quality data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To assess gentrification, longitudinal analyses were performed to examine median household income, percentage with a college education, median housing value, median gross rent and employment level. The racial distribution was evaluated in each zip code during the time period. Gentrification was studied in relation to air quality using nonparametric 2-sample Wilcon-Mann-Whitney tests and Binomial Generalized Linear Regression models. Results: Although air quality improved overall over the 40-year period, there was a lesser rate of improvement in gentrified areas. Furthermore, gentrification was strongly associated with racial distribution. The most substantial gentrification occurred from 2010 to 2020, in which a specific cluster of adjacent zip codes in downtown Detroit experienced intense gentrification and a drop in the percentage of African-American residents. Conclusions: Gentrified areas seem to have a less pronounced improvement in air quality over time. This reduction in air quality improvement is likely associated with demolitions and the construction of new buildings, such as sporting arenas and accompanying traffic density. Gentrification is also strongly associated with an increase in non-minority residents in an area. Although previous definitions of gentrification in the literature have not included racial distribution, we suggest that future definitions should include this metric given the strong association. Minority residents who are displaced as a result of gentrification do not experience the improvements in housing quality, accessibility to healthy foods and other associations of gentrification.

The Malaysian Historical Geographical Information System (MHGIS): The Case of Chinese Temples in Johor

This is a quantitative study of Chinese temples in Johor using temple data to show the development of Chinese religion in the state. The study finds that Chinese temples in Johor are dominated by a fusion of Confucianism, Buddhism and Daoism, with only a minority of orthodox Buddhism in existence. The broad range of Buddhist and Daoist deities shows the diversity and inclusiveness of the religion. In addition, the number of newly created temples in the state is still on the rise, contradicting the perception that they, especially Daoist ones, are on the decline. The quantitative data collation and analysis of Chinese temples in Johor not only will reflect more accurately the development of religion and beliefs of the local Chinese community, but also is an attempt to construct Malaysia Historical Geographic Information System (MHGIS). We hope that in the future, we can make use of the convenience of the data humanities system to make a more macro and holistic exploration and development of the study of Chinese temples and beliefs in Malaysia.

Developing and Disseminating a New Historical Geospatial Database from Kitchener’s 19th Century Map of Cyprus

Extraction and dissemination of historical geospatial data from early maps are major goals of historical geographic information systems (HGISs) in the context of the spatial humanities. This paper illustrates the process of interpreting, georeferencing, organizing, and visualizing the content of a historical map of Cyprus in the context of GISs and highlights the development of a national-scale spatial database of the island in the 19th century. This method was applied to Lord Kitchener’s historical map of Cyprus (published in 1885), which is considered the product of the first scientific topographic survey of Cyprus, is rich in geographic information about the area, and covers the entire island at a scale of 1:63,360. Previous attempts to create historical geodatabases have either focused on small areas or, when conducted on a national scale, have been thematically focused. The positional accuracy of the map was found to be 1.08 mm in map units, which was equivalent to 68.76 m on the ground. Accordingly, the main categories of geographic content (land cover, administrative units, settlements, transportation/communication networks, stream networks/water bodies, points of interest, annotations) were digitized from the georeferenced historical map. The Web-based application developed in this study supported the visualization of the historical geographic content of the map and its comparison with modern basemaps. The creation of the geodatabase presented in the study provides a template for similar studies and a basis for further development of the historical geodatabase of Cyprus.

STEM education and gender income parity in USA, 2019

Gender economic parity is critical toward attaining sustainable economic development. Scholarship has attributed gendered structure of occupations and earning differences as manifestation of their human capital skills and personal choices—based on the availability of jobs and labor in the market—as proposed by the Human Capital and the Neoclassical Economic Theorists. Feminists, however, question such simplistic likening of earnings and occupational attainments with their human capital skills as it masks the complex layers of discrimination faced by women in contemporary labor market. All over the world, women have restricted access to quality education, especially in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)- and professional-disciplines. This occurs due to the complex ways in which patriarchal society, culture, class, race, regionality and local-scale policies intersect with each other. This study examines the relationships between professional and STEM-based educational attainments among women with their earnings and earning-gaps compared to men in U.S. Counties. I use 5-years-(2015–2019)-Amerucan Community Survey (ACS) data from the National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) to compute occupation-based location quotients and for descriptive, correlations and regression analyses. Low-to-modest levels of education for women associate with lower earnings whereas women with Professional and Master's degree and those majoring in Business and Science & Engineering associate with higher earnings and relative wellbeing. However, there exists better gender parity concerning female-versus-male earnings for modest-to-lower educated categories. This suggests better negotiation power of males in the labor market regardless of their education. These findings point toward the significance of Feminist Political Ecologists and Labor Market Segmentation theorists in capturing nuanced complexities of gendered discrimination across U.S. Counties.

A geography of repression: The first years of the fascist Special Tribunal in Italy, 1926–1928

This article analyzes the spatial and temporal patterning of political arrests during the initial years of the fascist regime in Italy, specifically from 1926 to 1928. During these crucial years, Italy's fascists acted rapidly to consolidate their power and to suppress their opponents. A key element of this takeover was the creation of a political court, the Special Tribunal. I examine the work of the Special Tribunal in two ways. First, I analyze the spatial patterning of political arrests on different scales, ranging from local to national. Second, using Agamben's concept of ‘states of exception’, I investigate how the fascists used political crises to further their activities of political suppression. I argue that while the Special Tribunal did target political enemies, it was also used as a sophisticated system of control of territory and population. Drawing on the techniques of the emerging field of historical geographic information systems (GIS), I use the Knox Index and hotspot analysis to focus on the role played by space and place in the fascist system of political oppression. This article contributes to a growing body of historical research focusing on the spatial dynamics of authoritarian regimes in interwar and wartime Europe and the geographies of their carceral practices.

『산경표』의 공간 DB 구축과 산줄기 선형의 특징 분석

Sangyeongpyo is a geography book that provides a comprehensive tabulation of mountains and mountain ridges in the late Joseon Dynasty period of Korea. This study focused on analyzing Sangyeongpyo published by the JosonKwangmunhoe(朝鮮光文會), which is the most recently published and widely used edition among the available editions. Eight different editions of Sangyeongpyo, including the one published by the JosonKwangmunhoe, were compared and examined in this study. A database was constructed for mountain ridges and genealogy of mountains composing Sangyeongpyo, watershed areas, and social, historical, and cultural characteristics in the areas were analyzed through the paths of the mountain ridges and the points in the Jimaek therein. The results showed that there were differences between the eight editions, such as in the expression of the major mountain ridge systems. Further, upon examining the Sangyeongpyo edition by JosonKwangmunhoe, we found that 1,586 points constituted 15 mountain ranges. Upon classifying these points into types, we found that there were not only mountain geomorphological types but also places of historical and cultural significance such as Eupchi(邑治), Jinbo(鎭堡). Lastly, the paths and points in the mountain ridges described in Sangyeongpyo were selected primarily considering the distribution of the administrative system of the late Joseon Dynasty period, as well as the connectivity of the mountains ranges leading to them. Furthermore, regardless of the status of topographic watershed classification or dominance of mountain ridge, the applicable path was selected with a priority for mountain ridges described in Sangyeongpyo when there were major points with historical and cultural characteristics as a social community. This study is significant in laying the groundwork for preparing basic data for the development of a more modern and scientific reconstruction of the traditional mountain ridge system through the restructuring of the genealogical descriptions in Sangyeongpyo into a modern network code method, building a DB, and mapping based on the Historical Geographic Information System.

Construction of the Ohio Children's Opportunity Index.

ObjectiveTo describe the development of an area-level measure of children's opportunity, the Ohio Children's Opportunity Index (OCOI).Data Sources/Study SettingSecondary data were collected from US census based-American Community Survey (ACS), US Environmental Protection Agency, US Housing and Urban Development, Ohio Vital Statistics, US Department of Agriculture-Economic Research Service, Ohio State University Center for Urban and Regional Analysis, Ohio Incident Based Reporting System, IPUMS National Historical Geographic Information System, and Ohio Department of Medicaid. Data were aggregated to census tracts across two time periods.Study DesignOCOI domains were selected based on existing literature, which included family stability, infant health, children's health, access, education, housing, environment, and criminal justice domains. The composite index was developed using an equal weighting approach. Validation analyses were conducted between OCOI and health and race-related outcomes, and a national index.Principal FindingsComposite OCOI scores ranged from 0–100 with an average value of 74.82 (SD, 17.00). Census tracts in the major metropolitan cities across Ohio represented 76% of the total census tracts in the least advantaged OCOI septile. OCOI served as a significant predictor of health and race-related outcomes. Specifically, the average life expectancy at birth of children born in the most advantaged septile was approximately 9 years more than those born in least advantaged septile. Increases in OCOI were associated with decreases in proportion of Black (48 points lower in the most advantaged vs. least advantaged septile), p < 0.001) and Minority populations (54 points lower in most advantaged vs. least advantaged septile, p < 0.001). We found R-squared values > 0.50 between the OCOI and the national Child Opportunity Index scores. Temporally, OCOI decreased by 1% between the two study periods, explained mainly by decreases in the children health, accessibility and environmental domains.ConclusionAs the first opportunity index developed for children in Ohio, the OCOI is a valuable resource for policy reform, especially related to health disparities and health equity. Health care providers will be able to use it to obtain holistic views on their patients and implement interventions that can tackle barriers to childhood development using a more tailored approach.

Spatially calibrating polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) as proxies of area burned by vegetation fires: Insights from comparisons of historical data and sedimentary PAH fluxes

Many regions worldwide have experienced increasing wildfire activity in recent years and climate changes are predicted to result in more frequent and severe fires. Reconstruction of past fire activity offers paleoenvironmental context for modern and future burning. Pyrogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) have been increasingly used as a molecular biomarker for fire occurrence in the paleorecord and offer opportunity for nuanced reconstructions of fire characteristics. A suite of PAHs is produced during combustion, and the emission amount and assemblage is influenced by many variables including fuel type, fire temperature, and oxygen availability. Despite recent advances in understanding the controls and taphonomy of these biomass burning markers, the spatial scale of this proxy is unknown. In this paper, measurements of PAH fluxes preserved in a lake sediment archive from the Sierra Nevada, California were compared with a historical geographic information system (GIS) dataset of area burned up to 150 km distance from the lake to determine the spatial scales for which these biomarkers are reliable proxies of biomass burning. The PAH fluxes in the Swamp Lake sediments record a change in the relative anthropogenic and pyrogenic sourcing of PAHs. Anthropogenic pollution sources could explain why some PAHs (fluoranthene (Fl), pyrene (Py), benz[a]anthracene (BaA), retene (Ret), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), dibenzo[a,h]anthracene (DA) and ideno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IP)) did not correlate with area burned within 150 km. This indicates that individual PAHs may have different efficacies in recording area burned and be more susceptible to masking of fire signals by pollution sources. Despite these complications, we find that the PAHs naphthalene (Na), acenaphthene (Ace), fluorene (F), and anthracene (An) are reliable local proxies of area burned (within 40 km), whereas the PAHs phenanthrene (Phe), chrysene (Ch), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), and benzo[g,h,i]perylene (Bghi) are both reliable local (within 36 km) as well as more regional (as much as 75 km for phenanthrene (Phe), chrysene (Ch), and benzo[g,h,i]perylene (Bghi) or 150 km for benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF) and benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF)) area burned proxies. Comparisons of PAH fluxes with charcoal accumulation rates in the same sediments suggest that pyrogenic particulate transport modulates low to mid-molecular weight PAHs via adsorption. Overall, the results show that PAH records integrate a combination of spatial signals of area burned and measurement of individual PAHs may enable cross-scale paleofire reconstructions.