Historical Topographic Maps Research Articles

Twentieth Century Glacier Change on Mount Adams, Washington, USA

Abstract Mount Adams is a large glacier-clad stratovolcano located in southern Washington, USA. We examined the area change of the 12 glaciers on the mountain during the 20th century using historical topographic maps and aerial photographs. The total glacier area decreased by 49% (31.5 km2 to 16.2 km2) from 1904 to 2006. The glaciers showed a period of retreat during the first half of the century, followed by either a slowing of retreat or an advance from the 1960s to the 1990s. Subsequently, the glaciers resumed their rapid retreat. Glaciers on Mt. Adams show similar trends to those on both Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier. The qualitative correlation between area change and trends in winter precipitation and summer temperature indicate a largely temperature-driven glacier shrinkage as the climate warmed since the Little Ice Age of the late 19th Century. No century-scale trends were noted in precipitation but decadal-scale variations in winter precipitation appear to enhance or buffer the effects of temperature ...

Integrating historical topographic maps and SRTM data to derive the bathymetry of a tropical reservoir

This paper proposes a cheap and fast method for est imating the bathymetry of hydroelectric reservoirs. Brazil has more than 30 l arge hydroelectric reservoirs with volume exceeding one billion cubic meters. The hydroelectric sector is responsible for 97% of energy generation being the largest hydroele ctric park in the world. These dams, however, cause a series of environmental, social an d economic impacts, which need to be monitored. Among the variables affecting the env ironmental impact posed by reservoirs, depth has a key role because it acts on the aquatic system hydrodynamics. Reservoir depth distribution, the bathymetry, is al so a fundamental factor controlling physical-chemical and biological properties of the system. In Brazil, the acquisition of bathymetric information for the large reservoirs, h owever, is not a simple task, because: 1) most of the topographic maps available in the ar ea covered by the lake have very small scale (1:100 000 and smaller); 2) larger char ts are property of the hydropower companies and are classified; 3) the size of the re servoirs prevent the use of bathymetric surveys due. The challenge therefore is how to comb ine the use of low precision topographic charts from the period previous to rese rvoir filling, SRTM data to obtain a bathymetric map which could be used for planning echo-bathymetric missions so as reducing both cost and time of data acquisition and processing.

Rediscovering Rural Appalachian Communities with Historical GIS

Desde finales del siglo 19 hasta la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el sur agrario de los Apalaches era un mosaico de comunidades agrícolas pequeñas y muy unidas. Este patrón histórico de asentamiento rural es registrado a nivel local en estudios de etnógrafos y geógrafos históricos sobre casos comunitarios, sinembargo no ha sido cartografiada de forma sistemática. Este trabajo explora la hipótesis de que el análisis mapas topográficos históricos utilizando SIG identifica adecuadamente los límites pasados de los barrios agrícolas del sur de los Apalaches. Utilizando la función de análisis de asignación de costos de ArcGIS, regiones de menor costo son generadas alrededor de los nodos de los barrios, basadas en el costo de la energía de viajes a pie con respecto a distancia y pendiente. Estos vecindarios agrícolas prospectos se asemejan a las descripciones espaciales de los etnógrafos y los geógrafos históricos. Cartografiar barrios agrícolas históricos en los Apalaches provee una importante base para la comparación de pasados y presentes patrones de asentamiento. Este método de investigación es significativo porque es fácilmente replicable y puede ser empleado a través de los Apalaches del Sur y del siglo pasado.

Multitemporal monitoring of water resources degradation at Al-Azraq Oasis, Jordan, using Remote Sensing and GIS techniques

The historical topographic maps and satellite images of Al-Azraq Oasis of Jordan were collected from 1953 to 2005. These images are demonstrated for the first time. The satellite land image for 2005 is considered to be the most significant one. This is considered to be the highest level of degradation since 1953. The water degradation in the lake was fitted by linear regression and the best fitting for the calculated surface area for the water can be presented by a polynomial equation.

Historic landscape change and habitat loss: the case of black grouse in Lower Saxony, Germany

The declines of many specialist bird species in the agricultural landscapes of Central Europe have resulted in small and isolated populations. In the case of the black grouse, a ground-nesting bird species with large spatial requirements, empiric evidence about underlying landscape changes is scarce. In this study, we examined land cover and land cover changes in a farmland-forest mosaic in eastern Lower Saxony, Germany and how they affect occurrence and persistence of black grouse. Spatial information came from historic topographic maps from 1958 to 1975. The results show profound conversions of habitat to forest and farmland but also an increase in settlement area. Habitat conversions and suburbanization were negative correlates of black grouse persistence. Habitat models from before and after a decline period differed in some of the predictors and suggest black grouse habitat to be more diverse before the land cover changes. Our study confirms that land use factors at a landscape scale extent contribute to explain black grouse occurrence and thus can complement important small scale factors like the quality and size of individual habitat patches. Results also show that landscape factors affect black grouse distribution predominantly from an area much greater than an individual black grouse home range. Our models may be further evaluated on present-day landscapes and might be used to evaluate large-scale habitat availability for black grouse.

Colors of the past: color image segmentation in historical topographic maps based on homogeneity

A novel approach to color image segmentation (CIS) in scanned archival topographic maps of the 19th century is presented. Archival maps provide unique information for GIS-based change detection and are the only spatially contiguous data sources prior to the establishment of remote sensing. Processing such documents is challenging due to their very low graphical quality caused by ageing, manual production and scanning. Typical artifacts are high degrees of mixed and false coloring, as well as blurring in the images. Existing approaches for segmentation in cartographic documents are normally presented using well-conditioned maps. The CIS approach presented here uses information from the local image plane, the frequency domain and color space. As a first step, iterative clustering is based on local homogeneity, frequency of homogeneity-tested pixels and similarity. By defining a peak-finding rule, "hidden" color layer prototypes can be identified without prior knowledge. Based on these prototypes a constrained seeded region growing (SRG) process is carried out to find connected regions of color layers using color similarity and spatial connectivity. The method was tested on map pages with different graphical properties with robust results as derived from an accuracy assessment.

Indicators for assessing changing landscape character of cultural landscapes in Flanders (Belgium)

The increasing pace and scale of landscape change initiated a renewed interest in cultural and heritage values of the landscape. Efforts are made in inventorying, monitoring, and evaluating landscapes, needed for developing management and conservation plans, and also new concepts emerged. Landscape character became a new paradigm, as well as time depth and landscape change trajectory or path. Also, the use of landscape indicators for describing character and assessing changes has been widely tested. In Flanders, the rich landscape diversity is degrading rapidly due to extreme urban pressure and severe fragmentation by transport infrastructures. In this study a series of spatial data layers was used to describe and map the transformation of landscape character. Historical topographical maps and orthophotomaps from different periods were used to define landscape character types, which were mapped as polygons in a GIS. Map overlaying allowed analyzing the time depth and landscape constancy. The landscape character types were used as patches for the spatial and structural analysis and defining indicators of character change. A selection of class and landscape-based landscape metrics were used as such indicators, as well as the openness of the landscape. This selection was based upon the presumed relationship between the indicator and perceivable (visual) properties relating to landscape character. The landscape indicators express change very differently and several indicators are necessary to assess changes in the landscape character.

Saliency and semantic processing: Extracting forest cover from historical topographic maps

A multi-step recognition process is developed for extracting compound forest cover information from manually produced scanned historical topographic maps of the 19th century. This information is a unique data source for GIS-based land cover change modeling. Based on salient features in the image the steps to be carried out are character recognition, line detection and structural analysis of forest symbols. Semantic expansion implying the meanings of objects is applied for final forest cover extraction. The procedure resulted in high accuracies of 94% indicating a potential for automatic and robust extraction of forest cover from larger areas.

NATIVE WOODLAND LOSS DURING THE MID 1900S IN CAMERON COUNTY, TEXAS

Large-scale native woodland loss in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas during the 20th century has been reported in the literature. However, no detailed, quantitative study of landscape change in the area has been conducted. This paper presents an example of quantified native woodland loss within this area. Using historical topographic maps and aerial photographs, we were able to map the extent of native woodland areas in Cameron County in the 1930s. The historical native woodland areas were then compared with the 1983 extent of native woodlands as mapped on modern topographic quadrangles. Our results for Cameron County corroborate previous estimates of native woodlands loss in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, though at a slightly lower percentage (91%). Comparisons with recent land-use and land-cover mapping show that much of the loss was a result of agricultural expansion.

Topographic Maps: Rediscovering an Accessible Data Source for Land Cover Change Research

Given some limitations of satellite imagery for the study of land cover change, we draw attention here to a robust and often overlooked data source for use in student research: USGS topographic maps. Topographic maps offer an inexpensive, rapid, and accessible means for students to analyze land cover change over large areas. We demonstrate our visual-assessment based method using 1:24,000 topographic maps to examine urban expansion and surface mining shrinkage over thirty years in Ohio. Compared with alternative methodologies, the simple method we propose yields surprising robust results. The pedagogic potential of historic USGS topographic maps for land cover change research is just one reason to justify their maintenance in federal depositories.

Impact of impoldering and lake restoration on land-cover changes in Dongting Lake area, Central Yangtze.

Human activities can have a remarkable effect on land-cover patterns over time. This study characterized long-term (1930s-1998) land-cover changes in Dongting Lake area in the Central Yangtze River, China, by digitalizing historical topographical maps for the 1930s and 1950s and interpreting satellite remote sensing data for 1978, 1989, and 1998. The study indicates that land-cover patterns in Dongting Lake area have been greatly altered by impoldering and subsequent lake restoration activities in the past 70 years. There are two distinct periods of change characterized by impoldering (1930s-1978) and lake restoration (1978-1998). In the former period, cropland increased sharply at the cost of a drop in other land-cover types, which had resulted in significant negative consequences, while the pattern of land-cover changes reversed in the later period.

Early maps as stepping stones for the reconstruction of historic ecological conditions and biota.

We reconstructed the flora of a European region at a historical point in time from historical topographical maps that contain rather precise information about the condition and composition of habitats. The ecological information obtained from these maps can be enriched through the potential of broadly diversified archival information. This study is confined to grassland communities. Considerations in terms of phytosociology make historical lists of plant species a good starting point for the reconstruction of grassland communities. The combination of historical and scientific methods proves suitable for reconstructing specific historical environmental conditions. Taking into account the frequency of relevant historical sources in European archives as well as in archives abroad, this approach claims for far-reaching application to ecosystem restoration matters, especially if ecological information from natural sources is missing.

Map-based methods for estimating glacier equilibrium-line altitudes

AbstractWe examine the validity of two methods for estimating glacier equilibrium-line altitudes (ELAs) from topographic maps. The ELA determined by contour inflection (the kinematic ELA) and the mean elevation of the glacier correlate extremely well with the ELA determined from mass-balance data (observed ELA). However, the range in glacier elevations above sea level is much larger than the variation in ELA, making this correlation unhelpful. The data were normalized and a reasonable correlation (r2 = 0.59) was found between observed and kinematic ELA.The average of the normalized kinematic ELAs was consistently located down-glacier from the observed ELA, consistent with theory. The normalized mean elevation of the glacier exhibited no correlation and suggests that the toe–headwall altitude ratio is not a good approximation for the ELA. Kinematic waves had no effect on the position of the kinematic ELA. Therefore, topographic maps of glacier surfaces can be used to infer the position of the ELA and provide a method for estimating past ELAs from historic topographic maps.

Modelling land use changes and their impact on soil erosion and sediment supply to rivers

AbstractThe potential for surface runoff and soil erosion is strongly affected by land use and cultivation. Therefore the modelling of land use changes is important with respect to the prediction of soil degradation and its on‐site and off‐site consequences.Land use changes during the past 250 years in the Dijle catchment (central Belgium) were analysed by comparing four historical topographic maps (1774, 1840, 1930 and 1990). A combination of land use transformation maps and biophysical land properties shows that certain decision rules are used for the conversion of forest into arable land or vice versa. During periods of increasing pressure on the land, forests were cleared mainly on areas with low slope gradients and favourable soil conditions, while in times of decreasing pressure land units with steep and unfavourable soil conditions were taken out of production.Possible future land use patterns were generated using stochastic simulations based on land use transformation probabilities. The outcome of these simulations was used to assess the soil erosion risk under different scenarios. The results indicate that even a relatively limited land use change, from forest to arable land or vice versa, has a significant effect on regional soil erosion rates and sediment supply to rivers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Origin, Evolution and Distribution of Open Fields in Poland: A Case Study of Pomerania

(1988). The Origin, Evolution and Distribution of Open Fields in Poland: A Case Study of Pomerania. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography: Vol. 70, Landscape History: Papers from the 1987 meeting of the Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape, pp. 179-185.

Spontaneous urban settlements

To comprehensively study and better understand urban dynamic processes — such as densification, growth and sprawl, or shrinkage — spatio-temporal databases that allow to track changes of geographic objects like buildings and urban blocks are essential. While comprehensive databases exist for contemporary data, they usually lack a historic dimension. The manual constitution of historic geographic data, be it based on historic maps or aerial images, is a time consuming and laborious process, however. Therefore, we present an approach to semi-automatically extract this data from binary topographic maps with regard to built-up areas at urban block level. The suitability of topographic maps for historic urban analysis has been proven in previous research. To overcome the challenges that are inherent in scanned topographic maps in regard to digital image interpretation we designed a modular process. Among others, these challenges include fused and (multi-)fragmented map objects caused by the overlap of competing content layers in one single binary map. After a preliminary separation of individual map object layers from the map content, the process follows a two-stage top-down approach. At first, the map is organized into street blocks, which after that are re-delineated in regard to built-up area. In doing so, we achieve correctness values ranging from 0.97 to 0.93 for three study sites in Germany. With an increasing number of projects that provide historic topographic maps as georeferenced digital data, our process represents a promising approach to efficiently prepare these historic data for integration into a spatio-temporal database with minimal user intervention.