Showing papers in "e-Perimetron in 2006"

Modeling historical evidence in digital maps: A preliminary sketch

Abstract: The history of cartography has a long tradition in the study of the truth of maps. In 1968 two fundamental articles in Imago Mundi appeared that discussed the historical evidence of maps not only from a technical, but also from a functional/contextual point of view: Koeman’s: “Levels of historical evidence in early maps” and Harley’s: “Evaluation of Early Maps. Towards a Methodology”. In this paper we take the herein proposed division of “evidence on, about and of maps” as point of departure for a conceptual model which allows us to examine to which extent existing methodologies concerning the historical evidence of maps can be used in the analysis and design of digital town plans and virtual reconstructions of cities. The model contains parameters of historical evidence based on form, function, (re-)use and transformations of paper and virtual maps and on interpretations of users. Finally the process will be described to allow mapmakers and users to annotate digital maps with information on historical evidence. The proposed paper is embedded in the research programme of the Virtual Knowledge Studio (Amsterdam) and of the University of Groningen (The Netherlands): Paper and Virtual Cities. New methodologies for the use of historical sources in virtual urban cartography, http://odur.let.rug.nl:8080/pvc/template/EN/index.xml financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)

Identifying surviving landmarks on historical maps

Abstract: Summary Historical maps can provide valuable information for different disciplines. In this way maps are used more and more as data sources to detect spatial and temporal changes. But maps do have their limitations mostly because older land-surveying and map-making techniques were different from what we use nowadays. We should consider this when dealing with maps as data sources. Are the sources reliable enough to be taken as bases to determine changes over time? Or, are they merely pictorial representations without geographical or spatial foundation? The reliability of historical maps is studied in the research "Measuring the historical city" as part of the NWO research program Paper and virtual cities. By studying the education of mapmakers and land surveyors and by comparing various maps we try to understand how maps were made and to assess their reliability. We approach the reliability of the spatial context by measuring the accuracy of the maps by comparing historical maps with modern data. To enable such comparisons we consider differences between sources that are the results of real temporal changes and differences due to the techniques used to produce maps. This must result in a method that objectively describes how to interpret and compare features on historical maps with the same (and sometimes no longer existing) elements on reliable modern maps. On the basis of a case study of the Dutch town Zwolle we try to visualize difficulties and constraints resulting from these comparisons. We explore in detail aspects such as 3D effects and the correspon- dence between features from map-to-map by looking at the differences in: depiction of features, con- tent of the map, and stages of the mapmaking process. Our hypothesis is that a correct interpretation of features depicted on historical maps in the end will reduce the number of errors we might make in processing and therefore lead to a more reliable use of digital maps.

Complex analyses of surface, modelling and comparison of the 3D orthophoto to the real scale with historical cartography: mosaic surface of basilica of San Marco in Venice

Abstract: The safeguard and the valorisation of an historical patrimony as that of the Basilica of San Marco in Venice need solid plans of acquaintance and participation, and also instrumentation suitable to compare interdisciplinary information and able for diffusion in the scientific community. All the iconographic and scripts documents, the studies and the research done in the long run to make a careful study of the acquaintance of the Basilica, represent a big whole of information acquired in the centuries and documented and represented in the World. The objective is the understanding of the value and the functioning of a so important complex, where art, science, tradition, religiosity and material, contribute to become extraordinary. The target of this work is the study and the knowledge of San Marco’s pavement, famous for his historicalartistic value, for his undulation and for the richness of the materials. In agreement with the Procuratoria and the Proto, we started a project who expect the digital relief through a 3D orthophoto of the entire mosaic of the Basilica in scale 1:1 (2100m2). Initially (June 2003) we started with a test in a restricted area of approximately 40m2, while in the actual phase (February 2006) we ultimate the acquisition of 2000 frames (Hi resolution metric camera Rolleiflex 6008-metric) and altogether 2240 Ground Control Points. The 3D orthophoto creation can be obtained by using Socet Set 5.2.0 software of BAE System; surface analysis, models management and comparisons with historical map-making are realized by using ArcGis and ArcInfo softwares properties of ESRI and others software of reverse engineering. The insert of the orthophoto and the 3-dimensional model of the pavement in GIS software give us the correct position of every tessera of the pavement and offers many other applications and opportunities. The direct management of the relief in the program maintenance activity of the object with altimetric profiles extraction, with template’s construction for the re-establishment of the undulation of the mosaic for the restoration of the completely damaged zones. Furthermore GIS software permit to register and to catalogue historical documents, to classify materials and chemical-physical analysis, and more, until the comparison with the historical map who represent the pavement’s mosaic. The historical map, as regards as an only reference system, become directly comparable with the actual relief, allowing to extract useful information for the conservation project. Comparing the relief dating 1761 of Visentini, with the relief of Moretti dating 1881, until the actual 3D orthophoto at real scale we can see as in the time in a particular of the mosaic representation in the Sud transept, some represented subjects resulting first

Digitizing and analyzing historical maps to provide new perspectives on the development of the agricultural landscape of England and Wales

Abstract: Summary The primary aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the careful digitizing of historical maps provides tremendous potential for the historian and historical geographer. A Geographical In- formation System (GIS) has been used to combine the geographic and economic information contained in the Tithe Survey of the mid Nineteenth Century with other socio-economic and environmental data for parishes in Britain's agricultural heartland and in southwest Wales. The Tithe Survey records of a parish typically consist of a map and an accompanying schedule or apportionment. The schedule lists the landowner, occupant, cultivation type and rent charge payable to the tithe owner. The map shows the location of each individual field listed in the schedule. All the maps and schedule data required for the project have been input into a GIS and consist of approximately 40,000 individual agricultural fields spread throughout 40 indi- vidual parishes of England and Wales. Sophisticated analysis enables us to assess such issues as the relative significance of landowner, occupant and natural resource endowments on agri- cultural productivity as well as identifying and quantifying how these factors interact in differ- ent spatial contexts. Whilst the results are clearly significant, the paper will underline the need to be mindful of the pitfalls of using such precise methods and techniques with historical sources and that end-user requirements should be of paramount concern when embarking on such an enterprise. The design of a suitable data model and the selection of an appropriate methodology for data input are of critical importance. Research Context The view that British agriculture was revolutionized between 1750 and 1850 is based mainly on the dramatic improvements in farm productivity achieved in certain parts of England, most notably in lowland wheat-growing regions such as East Anglia. Studies of agricultural change in England and Wales credit wealthy landowners with leading the movement for reform. These "improvers" experimented with new crops, promoted crop rotation and the use of manure and lime to enrich the soil, and sought to increase efficiency and productivity by investing in better machinery, improv- ing drainage and consolidating their landholdings. Scholars have also pointed to the growth of ur- ban markets as a powerful spur to increase productivity and to expand agriculture beyond its tradi- tional locations. Lastly, the replacement of customary rights of tenure with tenancy agreements on fixed terms of years gave tenant farmers new incentives to increase production while husbanding the soil and taking better care of the properties they rented. We know little, however, about the extent to which these changes penetrated all areas of Britain and especially those that were still poorly connected to the market economy in the early 19 th century.

The use of animation in visualising deformations of a portolan-type map

Abstract: Summary Animation techniques are used in order to demonstrate in a dynamic and continuous way the deformations induced by the 'rigid' comparison of a nautical portolan map with a modern cartographic counterpart. A portolan map of the Mediterranean, by Giorgio Sideris, from the second half of 16 th century is compared optimally to a modern map of the same area, using a proper number of control points along the coastline of the Mediterranean, keeping unaltered the shape of the old map and leav- ing free, in the process of the comparison, only the parameters of scale and rotation. The two best fitted images are then introduced into an elastic comparison process for the production of an animated image showing in a dynamic way the 'motion' of the spatial field of deformation.

XML-Coding technical accuracy and historical evidence in digital historical maps

Abstract: More and more scholars start to use maps not only as illustrations of a past situation, but as primary sources for historical research. But, in order to use them as source material we need to do research on the reliability and accuracy of the maps. A reliable map in a technical sense is not necessarily the best source to describe a historical phenomenon and sometimes our choice of cartographical material is limited. Moreover differences in reliability between maps, or between different parts of the same map, are not only due to measurement techniques but also due to their original function and context. The project Paper and Virtual Cities financed by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) focuses on this use of the material. One of the goals of the project Coding the Virtual City is to create a mark-up language to annotate historical maps. This XML-based coding is based on already existing languages like GML, Heml, and MarcXML, but also has a number of extensions specifically made for the coding of historical maps. Besides the coding-language an application is made that offers the researcher a graphical interface to annotate the cartographic documents, and store the results in the new mark-up language. The proposed paper will focus on the necessary elements to annotate historical maps, both from the technical as well as from the historical domain. Secondly the paper will present a first glimpse of the application used to do the annotation work. Finally a number of possible end products are shown, including reliability maps, and the historical map ontology.