This paper aims to present and discuss the method of geocoding historical place names from historic maps that cannot be georeferenced in the GIS environment. This concerns especially maps drawn in ...the early modern period, i.e., before the common use of precise topographic surveys. Such maps are valuable sources of place names and geocoding them is an asset to historical and geographical analyses. Geocoding is a process of matching spatial data (such as place names) with reference datasets (databases, gazetteers) and therefore giving them geographic coordinates. Such referencing can be done using multiple tools (online, desktop), reference datasets (modern, historical) and methods (manual, semi-automatic, automatic), but no suitable approach to handling inaccurate historic maps has yet been proposed. In this paper, selected geocoding strategies were described, as well as the author’s method of matching place names from inaccurate cartographic sources. The study was based on Charles Perthées maps of Polish palatinates (1:225,000, 1783–1804)—maps that are not mathematically precise enough to be georeferenced. The proposed semi-automatic and curated approach results in 85% accuracy. It reflects the manual workflow of historical geographers who identify place names with their modern counterparts by analysing their location and proper name.
The plan of Kalisz by Andrzej Politalski is the oldest geometrically accurate depiction of the town. Compiled in 1785, it has survived to this day in a redrawing by Ottomar Wolle in 1878 at the scale ...of 1:3,000. The author discusses the process of developing the edition of Politalski’s plan for the “Kalisz” volume of the Historic Towns Atlas (HTA) and compares it with editions in other volumes. The most recent (2021) volumes developed in three different centres were chosen as comparative material: Biecz volume (Kraków); Fordon, 2
edition (Toruń); and Racibórz (Wrocław). Each volume adopts different editorial rules, although, in general, they conform to the overarching principles of redrawing a map at the scale of 1:2,500. The differences touch on virtually all aspects (source material, scope of content, non-cartographic elements), but they are united by the aforementioned common scale and purpose. Developing the edition of Politalski’s plan was preceded by genetic analysis and the identification of filiation of its remaining copies. The original (1785) has not survived, nor has the first redrawing (1800). We only have a redrawing by Wolle (1878), which was the basis for the development of the plan for the HTA. In addition to this, we also have several other less significant versions. Politalski’s plan was georeferenced, its content was vectorised, and cartographical representation was created. The result has been put together with selected editions elaborated to date. A distinctive feature of the work on the “Kalisz” volume is the use of a redrawing of the original as a source plan, as it is – in fact – its historical edition. The author also draws attention to the issues of standardisation of data models and, consequently, of legends between particular volumes.
The author’s aim is to reflect on the cartographic modelling of historical borders based on the example of the series “Historical Atlas of Poland. Detailed maps of the 16th century” (HAP). HAP ...presents secular (state, palatinate, district) and religious borders (dioceses, archdeaconry, deanery, parish). The belonging of historic settlements to administrative units is determined on the basis of written sources. During work on the current volumes of HAP, the borders were reconstructed through their manual interpolation (the so-called linear model). Digital tools enable the automatic generation of administrative units based on settlements in point geometry (Thiessen polygons) or the use of modern divisions (precincts obręby ewidencyjne) as a reference to them (semi-automatic method). The article compares and assesses the three mentioned methods of determining historical borders and the possibilities of harmonizing them in relation to contemporary administrative divisions. The source material consisted of 18,357 settlements from the volumes of HAP published so far and 235 parishes for detailed analyses. Precincts were adopted as reference areas due to the possibilities of data harmonization.
The author presents an overview of the scope of content of selected topographic maps of Polish lands from the 19th and the first half of the 20th century in its quantitative aspect. 19 maps were ...analysed and a common conceptual model linked to the Database of Topographic Objects (DBTO10k) was developed on the basis of catalogues of object types. Quantitative statistics were also prepared for the object types from maps before and after harmonization. Differences between their numbers within the same maps reflect the conceptual variety of said maps. The number of types of objects (before and after harmonization) was then juxtaposed with selected thematic layers: water network, transport network, land cover, buildings, structures, and equipment, land use complexes, localities and other objects. Such factors as scales, publication dates and topographic services which created analysed maps were also taken into consideration. Additionally, the analysed maps demonstrate uneven levels of generalization. Inclusion of objects typical for large-scale cartography on topographic and general maps is one of the distinctive features.
The aim of the paper is to propose a data model for editing historical records using the example of Karol Perthées’ works from the late 18th century. These consist of cartographic sketches, ...elaborated on the basis of parochial questionnaires and the maps of palatinates of the Crown, which are at a scale of 1:225,000. The model links the advantages of direct source data representation with scalability and flexibility features, which provide analytical possibilities. The sketches are indexed using the INDXR application and the structure of the model reflects the structure of the source. The maps were analyzed in a GIS environment, but no georeferencing was performed. The data collected separately as symbols and annotations were treated independently and were linked via features. The model is illustrated by a preliminary study of materials covering the area of the Zemborzyce parish near Lublin.
The array of archival maps from the 19
and 20
centuries is very large and, in order to assess their reliability for a particular analysis, some kind of evaluation form must be used. The proposed ...evaluation form comprises both formal and quantitative criteria, enriched with the maps’ elaboration circumstances, which may influence their reliability. These factors are also applied at both the spatial and attribute levels of information. Guidelines include: the scope of content, the map’s mathematical precision, the descriptive information correctness, the time reference of the content, and the information transfer efficiency.
The crowd-sourcing approach should be implemented into a new historical geoportal of Poland due to its increasing potential in WebGIS. Registered users will be able to acquire spatial data from ...various map series. As it requires feature class harmonization, a common symbol classification should be proposed. It will be based on chosen topographic maps of Polish land from the 19th and 20th centuries. Feature classes derived from archival maps will be standardized and reclassified, but with no information lost. This will be done in four steps which require: data acquisition, map content harmonization, feature class typification and attribute table elaboration. In addition, four methods of data harmonization can be distinguished: symbol sequence, semantic analogies, spatial relations and a combined method. The paper covers the elaboration of two thematic layers - roads and railways based on three topographic maps (Austrian 1:75 000, German 1:100 000, Russian 1: 126 000).
Recently, due to Web 2.0 and neocartography, heat maps have become a popular map type for quick reading. Heat maps are graphical representations of geographic data density in the form of raster maps, ...elaborated by applying kernel density estimation with a given radius on point- or linear-input data. The aim of this study was to compare the usability of heat maps with different levels of generalization (defined by radii of 10, 20, 30, and 40 pixels) for basic map user tasks. A user study with 412 participants (16–20 years old, high school students) was carried out in order to compare heat maps that showed the same input data. The study was conducted in schools during geography or IT lessons. Objective (the correctness of the answer, response times) and subjective (response time self-assessment, task difficulty, preferences) metrics were measured. The results show that the smaller radius resulted in the higher correctness of the answers. A larger radius did not result in faster response times. The participants perceived the more generalized maps as easier to use, although this result did not match the performance metrics. Overall, we believe that heat maps, in given circumstances and appropriate design settings, can be considered an efficient method for spatial data presentation.
The aim of the article was a comparison of the content’s scope, classification and presentation methods on topographical maps issued at the turn of 19th and 20th century covering the territory of ...former Russian partition. Three of such maps were chosen for the analysis, namely: Russian (scale 1:84,000), Austrian (scale 1:75,000) and German (scale 1:100,000). As a starting point of the study served an attempt at reconstruction of map legends, as, a coherent symbology key (i.e. map legend) can be found neither for Russian nor German map. It was conducted by employing the symbology keys prepared in the Interwar Period, as for the Russian map there was no legend enclosed, while in the case of German the legend enclosed featured only the road network. Apart from the legends, an analysis of the map sheets covering four areas was conducted. Those areas were, as follow: Brest, Dęblin, Pinsk and Pułtusk vicinites. The next stage was to elaborate a legend comparison with summary in the form of a table for particular thematic layers: settlement and built-up area, transport network, sacral buildings facilities and other buildings, land cover, hydrography, relief, and borders. An assumption was made that despite the apparent similarity of the scales (1:75,000, 1:84,000, 1:100,000) and source materials the maps analysed are distinct in terms of presentation of the geohistorical landscape. The settlements on the Russian map were illustrated in a schematic manner, while the other maps approached the subject more meticulously. The discrepancies involve also such areas as: road network, land cover, and waters, which were categorised along different sets of criterion. It happened that some categories present on the Russian map were absent from the Austrian and German. It involved such objects as: fascine roads, wooden churches or radiostations. Those differences stem from not only the “military mode” of elaboration of the German and Austrian map, but also conscious interference in the scope of content and classification methods.
The authors of the review aim to understand and assess cartographic Heat Maps’ (HM) designs, tools, and applications. The paper consists of two parts. First describes HM in the context of ...neocartography and map design by tackling such issues as definition, input data, methods of density determination and generalization, colour schemes, legend construction, and base maps. The second part assesses the range of 17 tools used for creating HM. Tools are divided into non-GIS tools (visualization tools and programming libraries) and GIS applications (desktop and webGIS). GIS desktop software has been selected due to its popularity and wide application. Paper presents an expert assessment of this software with the use of a research questionnaire. The analysis made it possible to develop a division of tools based on their embedding in computer programs and applications and taking into account the types of visualization. It also made it possible to indicate tools that can be used by both professional GIS users (e.g. analysts, cartographers) and the general public, including teachers using HM to visualize geo data for geography lessons. The limitation of the review was the analysis from the expert’s point of view. It would be desirable to include novices perspectives in future studies due to the wide demand for visualization.
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