Military Topographic Maps Research Articles

Field Observations of Burial Mounds from the Soviet Military Topographic Maps for the Yambol Province, SE Bulgaria

Field Observations of Burial Mounds from the Soviet Military Topographic Maps for the Yambol Province, SE Bulgaria

Tracing the fate of hay meadows with haylofts in Slovakia: A geographical perspective

Abstract The paper focuses on the historical distribution of haylofts in Slovakia, geographical conditions related to hay meadows with haylofts, and land cover changes of former hayloft localities. Moreover, the current state of preserved haylofts and the land use of their surrounding area were documented at a regional scale, during the field research. A map of the historical occurrence of haylofts was digitised based on the Czechoslovakian military topographic maps from 1952–1957 (1:25,000). Altogether, 9,742 haylofts were recorded. The haylofts were usually built in mountain and sub-mountain areas on places with low soil quality, mostly at higher elevations, on moderate or moderately steep slopes and in more distant and isolated areas. About half of former hayloft meadows now exist as meadows or pastures with different intensity of grassland management. Forest or shrubs already cover the other 38% of the sites. To a lesser extent, the areas have been converted into arable land or recreational areas. Only a few haylofts have survived to this day; for example, in Upper Liptov Region, it is only 1% of their former abundance in this area (48 haylofts). Apart from a few positive cases where they have been restored or preserved, those that have survived continue to decay.

Creating large, high-quality geospatial datasets from historical maps using novice volunteers

Unlocking data from historical maps for landscape analysis is costly. Automatic extraction using Machine Learning (ML) requires extensive preparation and expertise. Crowdsourcing scales better than direct digitisation by experts, but requires an appropriate platform and the technical skills to adapt it. Existing research provides little guidance as to when investments in these approaches become worthwhile. Here we present a customisation of the Field Acquired Information Management Systems (FAIMS) Mobile platform tailored to offer a streamlined, collaborative system for crowdsourcing map digitisation by volunteers with no prior GIS experience. Deployed in Bulgaria as an ancillary activity during 2017–2018 archaeological fieldwork, FAIMS Mobile was used to digitise 10,827 mound features from Soviet military topographic maps. This digitisation required 241 person-hours (57 from staff; 184 from novice volunteers), with an error rate under 6%. The resulting dataset was consistent, well-documented, and ready for analysis with a few hours of processing. A conservative estimate based on our work suggests our crowdsourcing approach is most efficient for digitisation projects of 10,000–60,000 features, but may offer advantages for datasets as small as a few hundred records. Furthermore, it indicates that systems designed for field data collection, running on mobile devices, can be profitably customised to serve as participatory geospatial data systems accessible to novice volunteers.

Modeling on Urban Land Use Characteristics and Urban System of the Traditional Chinese Era (1930s) Based on the Historical Military Topographic Map

The quantitative urban system structure in historical periods and the long time-scale urban land area grid dataset with spatial attributes are important for land use and land cover change (LUCC) research. In this study, we aimed to measure the area of county level and above cities in mainland China in the 1930s, also known as the traditional Chinese era (TCE), using a geographic information system (GIS) model and 1:50,000 military topographic maps. Furthermore, we aimed to identify the structure and characteristics of the urban system in the TCE according to the administrative area division using methods such as the rank size law. The results of this study revealed that 1265 county level and above cities existed in the TCE, including 25 provincial level or above cities, 179 prefectural level cities, and 1061 county level cities. The total land area of all of the cities was 1396.48 km2, with a mean value of 1.1 km2 and a standard deviation of 2.37 km2. The rank-size analysis indicated that the urban system in TCE was characterized by large cities with insignificant development (q = 0.829 < 1, R2 = 0.905). The results of the Lorenz curve and Moran analyses showed that the spatial distribution of the urban systems in China during the traditional period exhibited nonuniform agglomeration. Large-scale military topographic maps of historical periods have proven to be a good source for land use reconstruction. The 1° × 1° grid urban land area dataset constructed based on a GIS model in the TCE is important for future research on historical LUCC and can provide basic data for climate change models, urban economic history, and other disciplines.

Evolution of Ecological Patterns of Poyang Lake Wetland Landscape over the Last One Hundred Years Based on Historical Topographic Maps and Landsat Images

Ecological pattern evolution of Poyang Lake wetland, the largest freshwater lake in China, is critical for regional ecological protection and sustainable development of migratory bird habitats; however, this information is still not fully explored. In this study, we quantitatively reconstructed the spatial distribution and landscape ecological pattern of Poyang Lake wetlands in three periods in the past 100 years based on the military topographic map in the 1930s and the Landsat satellite remote sensing image data in 1979 and 2021. Further, use the Fragstats software to analyze the ecological pattern index of wetland reconstruction results. The results show that the wetland area in the Poyang Lake region has experienced a continuous reduction process over the past 100 years, and it decreased from 3857 km2 in the 1930s to 3673 km2 in the 1970s, and then to 3624 km2 in the 2020s. The current wetland area has decreased by about 6.04% compared with the 1930s. The general trend of changes in the spatial pattern of Poyang Lake wetlands is that the surface water decreases and the open land increases. Nevertheless, the trend has certain spatial differences as a large area of wetlands disappeared in the southwest and west of Poyang Lake and the areas with enlarged wetland density values mainly appeared in the northeastern and northern parts of the study area. The NP (number of patches) in the wetlands of Poyang Lake over the past 100 years showed a downward trend during the 1930s–1970s, and an increasing trend during the 1970s–2010s. Due to the increases of constructed wetlands, the number and density of patches also increased, and PD (patch density) reached a maximum value of 0.142 in 2020s. The LPI (largest patch index) has shown a gradual downward trend in the past 100 years. Compared with the 1930s, the wetlands in 2020s dropped by about 26.64%, and the wetlands further showed a trend of fragmentation. The AI index, which indicates the concentration of wetland patches, reached the maximum value in 2020s, but the LSI (landscape shape index) showed a downward trend in general, indicating that the shape of wetland patches has been simplified over the past 100 years. The research results can provide basic data and decision-making basis for Poyang Lake wetland protection, construction of migratory bird reserve and regional sustainable development.

History of Using Hydropower in the Moravice River Basin, Czechia

Water-powered facilities (WPFs) have traditionally been a pillar of the economy and social development. Therefore, the state took an interest in having these objects recorded and mapped in relevant maps and registers. This article focuses on identifying and localizing WPFs in the Moravice River basin in the so-called Sudetenland, Czechia, between the years 1763 and 2021. Specifically, the evolution and (dis)continuity of the WPFs are assessed through an analysis of cartographic and archival sources, reflecting the wider socioeconomic and demographic context as explanatory variables. The cartographic sources included old military topographic maps of Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia from four periods (the mid-18th century, mid-19th century, end of the 19th century, and mid-20th century) on the one hand and two state water-powered facility registers from 1930 and 1953 on the other. The archival sources included funds from regional and state archives. The results show that the count of WPFs peaked during the 19th century, after which there occurred a steep decline caused by societal and economic changes, namely, the expulsion of the local German population, nationalization in the postwar period, and economic and organizational transformations in the socialist era. Special attention is paid to hydropower plants, whose evolution reflects the outlined economic processes.

ВИКОРИСТАННЯ ГІС ПРИ ДОСЛІДЖЕННІ ГОРИЗОНТАЛЬНИХ ЗМІЩЕНЬ РУСЛА РІЧКИ СІРЕТ

The aim of the work is to study the horizontal displacements of the Siret riverbed from the settlement of Stara Zhadova to the village of Cherepkivtsi. Methodology: GIS analysis methods, mathematical data processing, analysis of Siret riverbed displacements were used to solve the issues raised in the work on horizontal displacements of the Siret riverbed. Semi-automatic digitization of the Siret riverbed on the scale maps: 1:75 000, 1:50 000, 1:25 000, 1:28000 was carried out and the lengths and coefficients of tortuosity were determined. Areas with the most pronounced meandering and changes in horizontal displacements of the channel are selected. The result of the study: For the study, the course of the river Siret was digitized from space images in 2016, which allowed to establish the coefficient of tortuosity, which is 1.52. Due to the vectorization of the water body on the topographic map of 1987 at a scale of 1:50 000, it was determined that the coefficient of tortuosity increased to 1.57. The military-topographic map of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was linked to the territory of the western part of Ukraine in 1889 and the coefficient of tortuosity along the digitized riverbed equal to 1.75 was calculated. The raster image was also digitized with the formation of vectorized layers on a 1957 map at a scale of 1:25 000 and the twist coefficient was determined to be 1.7. The study used the Austrian military topographic map of Galicia and Bukovina in 1861-1864 in modern western Ukraine, which calculated the coefficient of tortuosity at 1.9, which is the highest value for the entire observation period. The general overlay analysis showed that during the whole period of observations the channel was straightened, which led to a decrease in meandering processes along the entire length of the water body. Areas with the most pronounced meandering and areas with the greatest changes in horizontal displacements of the channel were identified: near the villages of Nova Zhadova, Cherepkivtsi, Kamyanka, Klynivka, and the town of Storozhynets. Scientific novelty: GIS analysis of horizontal displacements of the Siret riverbed during the 152-year observation period was carried out, which allowed to identify the main characteristic parts of the riverbed. Practical significance: the results of the study can be used in organizations and departments, in hydraulic services, in institutions involved in the design of river crossings, in regional and district water departments, as well as in research institutions.

The dataset of walled cities and urban extent in late imperial China in the 15th–19th centuries

Abstract. Long-term urban extent data are highly desirable for understanding urban land use patterns. However, urban observation data based on remote sensing are typically confined to recent decades. In this study, we advance in this arena by reconstructing the walled cities for China that extend from the 15th century to the 19th century based on multiple historical documents. Cities in late imperial China (the Ming and the Qing dynasties, 1368–1911) generally had city walls, and these walls were usually built around the built-up urban area. By restoring the extent of the city walls, it is helpful to explore the urban extent in this period. Firstly, we collected the years of construction or reconstruction of city walls from the historical data. Specifically, the period in which the size of the city wall remains unchanged is recorded as a lifetime of it. Secondly, a specialization on the extent of the city wall could be conducted based on the urban morphology method and a variety of documentation, including the historical literature materials, the military topographic maps of the first half of the 20th century, and the remote sensing images of the 1970s. The correlation and integration of the lifetime and the spatial data led to the creation of the China City Wall Areas Dataset (CCWAD) for the late imperial period. Based on the proximity to the time of most of the city walls, we selected six representative years (i.e., 1400, 1537, 1648, 1708, 1787, and 1866) from CCWAD to produce the China Urban Extent Dataset (CUED) for the 15th–19th centuries. These datasets are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14112968.v3 (Xue et al., 2021).

There Used to Be a River Ferry: Identifying and Analyzing Localities by Means of Old Topographic Maps

River ferries were historically important in crossing medium- and large-sized watercourses, with rivers often a barrier to trade routes and journeys. Using old medium-scale Austrian military topographic maps from 1763–1768, 1836–1852, and 1876–1880, Prussian maps from 1825 and 1877, and Czechoslovakian maps from 1953–1955, we systematically localized the ferries within what is now the Czech Republic over a monitoring period between the mid-18th century and the present. We also analyzed the map keys of relevant surveys to examine ways of depicting the ferries in the maps. In this context, a database of river ferries in the Czech Republic was prepared in GIS, containing all localities where river crossing ferries were shown on the topographic maps. A total of 514 historical ferry sites were identified on the military mapping survey maps, with an additional 28 recognized from auxiliary sources that did not appear in the military topographic maps. The sample information obtained from the maps was also verified by using independent sources.

A provisional guide to German military topographic map series of Ottoman Asia in the First World War

Abstract. In acknowledgment that no war can be fought without maps, German military cartography between 1915 and 1918 gradually extended its cartographic involvement in the Ottoman theaters of Sinai, Mesopotamia and Palestine. By the end of the Great War, six topographical map series had been specially produced: Operationskarte in 1:800,000, Karte des türkisch-ägyptischen Grenzgebietes in 1:250,000, Karte von Mesopotamien (und Syrien) in 1:400,000, Karte von Nordbabylonien in 1:200,000, and Karte von Palästina in three scales 1:100,000, 1:50,000, and 1:25,000. The paper makes the first attempt on a carto-bibliographical appraisal of these map series.

The Evolution of Soviet Topographic Maps as Revealed by their Published Supporting Documentation

ABSTRACT The appearance of late-Soviet military topographic maps was the outcome of a long series of reviews and revisions of preexisting map designs. These generated publicly-available normative documents and teaching manuals. While most topographic maps of Russia have been secret, these detailed supporting documents were openly published for public sale. These documents and manuals are used to describe the evolution of the designs of Soviet topographic maps at scales from 1:25,000 to 1:100,000 from the Revolutions of 1917 to the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. The nature of the maps inherited by the Soviet Union from Imperial Russia, and the prototype maps of the 1920s and 30s are described. These are contrasted with these with those of the Great Patriotic War and of the post-war period. The designs of Soviet topographic maps were continually changing, and great contrasts exist between maps made in the USSR at different dates.

ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ УКРІПЛЕНЬ МІСТЕЧКАКАМ’ЯНКИ(ДНІСТРОВОЇ) ЗА МАЛОВІДОМОЮ КАРТОЮ ПОДІЛЬСЬКОЇ ГУБЕРНІЇ 1844 р. А.ФІТІНГОФА

The authors for the first time put into scientific circulation an unique source of historical cartography - a military topographic map of the Podillia province in 1841-1847 by Major General A. Fittinghof (from the corps of military topographers of the Russian Empire). The map is unique source in that it reflects the condition of many Podilian settlements before the regulation and reconstruction of the 19th-20th centuries, which distorted the historical buildings, captures the relics of fortifications in towns and castles. The scale of the map is 200 soot. gives for us good opportunity to study in detail the historical planning of many fortified cities in Podillya, in particular those that are not reflected in other well-known cartographic sources. For such small trading towns as Kamianka (formerly Bratslav Palatinatum), only the Fitinghof’s map can serve as a basis for hypothetical reconstructions. The authors note that due to the loss of Kamyanka urban status in the 18th century and its subsequent restoration in the 19th century, as in 1844 (the date of the sheet of map with Kamyanka) historical buildings of Kamyanka 16th-17th centuries had been partially lost. Instead, it is possible to hypothetically restore the outline of the city fortifications, to identify the gates and main roads and the location of the castle. It is assumed that the castle was located separately behind the historic fortified middletown and connected with it through a gate and a short road, which in the 19th century was named "Candle Street". The reason of the loss of part of the historic middletown with the fortification the use by residents of Kamianka and surrounding villages of the road to the fords across the Dniester to the Moldavian coast, which was not controlled by customs and outposts. Rashkivska Street appeared along this road, around which the Jewish shtetl began to be actively built and a new structure of the town center was formed. The identification of the city fortifications was made based on a fragment of the city wall and a brick bridge across the existing moat depicted on the map of 1844.

Camouflaging of areas occupied by units of the Soviet Army Northern Group of Forces (NGF) on Polish and Soviet military topographic maps

Abstract The authors present the political conditions in Poland after World War II which influenced the development of military topographic maps. The article shows examples of camouflaging on topographic maps of garrisons and field facilities occupied in Poland by the Northern Group of Forces of the Soviet Army (NGF).

Soviet Cold War Maps: Examining the Organization and Practices of Production Through the Case of Denmark

ABSTRACT During the Cold War, the Soviet military carried out an ambitious mapping programme, which resulted in a global series of topographic maps. Although recent advances in scholarship have increased our knowledge of the production of these maps, we still know little about the organization behind them. Based on information from a set of 466 1:50 000-scale Soviet military topographic maps of Denmark, this article examines the Soviet mapping practices related to the large-scale mapping of Denmark. Results show that the Soviet military compiled large-scale topographic maps of Denmark between the 1950s and the 1980s. The maps were initially based on Danish maps, but later the Soviets began to prefer remote-sensed data from satellite imagery. This allowed the Soviets to capture information about concealed military infrastructure. The article also shows the potential for using information from the map sheets in a transnational analysis of the Soviet mapping during the Cold War.

Reconstruction and Pattern Analysis of Historical Urbanization of Pre-Modern China in the 1910s Using Topographic Maps and the GIS-ESDA Model: A Case Study in Zhejiang Province, China

The pattern of urban land use and the level of urbanization in China’s pre-modernization period are of great significance for land use and land cover change (LUCC) research. The purpose of this study is to construct a 1910s spatial dataset of provincial land urbanization in pre-modern China. Using historical topographic maps, this study quantitatively reconstructs the built-up area of various cities in Zhejiang Province in the 1910s. The research indicates that: (1) During the early period of the Republic of China, there were a total of 252 cities and towns in Zhejiang Province, including 75 cities at or above the county level, 21 acropolis, and 156 towns. The total built-up area was 140.590 km2. (2) The county-level urbanization level had significant agglomeration characteristics. The overall urbanization rate of land was 0.135%. (3) Hot spots analysis showed that the Hang-Jia-Hu-Shao plain is hot spot. (4) The correlation coefficient between the city wall perimeter data recorded in the local chronicles and the measured city wall perimeter was 0.908. The research showed that the military topographic maps possessed a good application prospect for the reconstruction of urbanization levels. The research results provide direct evidence for urbanization and urban land use in China’s pre-modernization period.

Zmeny krajinnej pokrývky vo veľkých mierkach s využitím starých máp: prípadová štúdia mestskej časti Bratislava-Devín

The maps record a generalized state of a landscape at a particular time. Therefore, the old maps are useful for the study of land cover changes. More recent land cover state is captured by the orthophotomaps showing the reality without generalisation. However, there are limitations with this source of spatial information to identify certain objects in the forest, such as rivers or unpaved roads. The paper aims to present a detailed reconstruction of land cover changes, including the characteristics of each change that has occurred in a case study of the Bratislava-Devín city district. Five different map sources were used covering the period from 1920 to 2009 from the newest to the oldest: Slovak state database for the geographic information system (ZBGIS), digital orthophotomap of the Slovak Republic (DGO SR), Basic map of the Slovak Republic (ZM SR), Military topographic map in the Gauss-Krüger projection (TM G-K), and the Third military survey maps of the Habsburg Empire in an updated version (VTM). Mapping of land cover changes was performed at the fifth hierarchical level of the Corine Land Cover at a scale of 1:10,000. First, the maps were individually visually interpreted and individual land cover classes were identified. Further, the land cover changes were identified by retrospective comparison of the individually interpreted maps approaching from youngest to oldest. The results show a significant occurrence of orchards and vineyards in the monitored area and the occurrence of several processes: urbanization, intensification of agriculture, and afforestation.

Using artificial neural network for labelling polygon features in topographic maps

Abstract The purpose of this article was to present the methodology which enables automatic map labelling. This topic is particularly important in the context of the ongoing research into the full automation of visualization process of spatial data stored in the currently used topographic databases (e.g. OpenStreetMap, Vector Map Level 2, etc.). To carry out this task, the artificial neural network (multilayer perceptron) was used. The Vector Map Level 2 was used as a test database. The data for neural network learning (the reference label localization) was obtained from the military topographic map at scale 1 : 50 000. In the article, the method of applying artificial neural networks to the map labelling is presented. Detailed research was carried out on the basis of labels from the feature class “built-up area”. The results of the analyses revealed that it is possible to use the artificial intelligence computational methods to automate the process of placing labels on maps. The results showed that 65% of the labels were put on the topographic map in the same place as in the case of the labelling which was done manually by a cartographer. The obtained results can contribute both to the enhancement of the quality of cartographic visualization (e.g. in geoportals) and the partial elimination of the human factor in this process. Highlights for public administration, management and planning: • Map label placement is among key variables ensuring the usability of topographic maps across disciplines. • We present the neural network approach for automating the process of labelling topographic maps with locality names. • The presented case study applies to the military map in scale 1:50 000, but can be applied on other maps and geoportals.

Capture and Release: The Story of the Russian Military Topographic Map Collection

Capture and Release: The Story of the Russian Military Topographic Map Collection

Cross-border topographic mapping, cross-border orienteering: the Hungarian overview

ABSTRACTThis paper examines cross-border topographic and orienteering maps. It is understandable that the early military surveys did not present areas over the state borders, but the situation has changed at later surveys. After WWI, when Hungary established its own military mapping institute, the surveyed areas were also influenced by political events. After WWII, the civil topographic mapping of Hungary was totally separated from the military one, and there was a consistent rule: only the military topographic maps represented beyond-the-border areas (for instance, Hungary as a member of the Warsaw Pact also mapped foreign areas). Orienteering maps are based on topographic maps; both types of maps are very fieldwork-intensive, without which none of these maps can be prepared. In the Cold War era, it was evident that nobody (including orienteers) could approach the frontier areas. It was symbolic that after the political change at the end of in 1980s, the Hungarian and Central European orienteers were very keen on mapping cross-border terrains.

Urban sprawl and land conversion in post-socialist cities: The case of metropolitan Budapest

Former state-socialist cities were described by the literature as compact and relatively dense urban forms. However, the political transition of 1989–90 has changed the spatial characteristics of these cities, partly due to urban sprawl. Yet, we do not know if such a phenomenon as “sprawl” did exist before 1989. The main aim of this paper is to assess urban expansion in the metropolitan region of Budapest during state-socialism and after the political changes, and measure the intensity of urban sprawl. The main thesis is that urban sprawl did not start with the advent of market forces in 1989–90, but it was already present during state-socialism, however the tempo of sprawl was considerably increased by suburbanization, the dominant form of urban expansion, after 1990. In order to explore the longitudinal land use changes in the Budapest metropolitan region we analyse standardised databases and maps (e.g. military topographic map from 1959, Corine Land Cover database from 1990 and European Urban Atlas from 2012). The discussion is focused, on the one hand, on the growth of urbanized land as an outcome of urban sprawl and the main underpinning factors in different epochs and, on the other hand, on the main driving forces of suburbanization and sprawl. Research results clearly show that urban sprawl has intensified around Budapest after the political changes. This was the result of a complex interplay of socio-economic and political factors, a process driven by the free movement of residents, firms, as well as the reshuffle of the regulatory framework. The study demonstrates that urban sprawl has several negative impacts on social, economic and environmental sustainability in the investigated metropolitan region, which is in line with findings of the literature.