bringing historic maps into gis small

8/14/2019 Bringing Historic Maps Into GIS Small

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Bringing Historic Maps into GIS

Patrick Florance

Digital CartographerHarvard Map Collection

Harvard University


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Purpose

Demonstrate how historical maps can be

used within a GIS.

Illustrate the techniques used to bring

historical maps into GIS

Show types of maps that are useful to bring

into GIS

Convey research conducted at the Harvard

Map Collection


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GIS

A geographic information system (GIS) is a

configuration of computer hardware,

software, and personnel specificallydesigned for the acquisition, maintenance,

and use of geographically referenced data.

Modification of Dana Tomlin

s definitionGeographic Information Systems and

Cartographic Modeling(1990)


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Why bring historic maps into GIS?

Use historic maps within GIS as a tool forunderstanding the spatial relationships of

past phenomena

Deforestation Shoreline change

Socio-economic characteristics of a state or a

neighborhood

Place-names

Railroads and transportation networks

Disease


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Why bring historic maps into GIS? Context: What exists

within ones studyarea at a given point(s)

in time?

Overlay modern GIS

data over historic maps

Early 20th century

USGS topographic map

of central Mass.


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Why bring historic maps into GIS? Context: What exists

within ones studyarea at a given point(s)

in time?

Overlay modern GIS

data over historic maps

Early 20th century

USGS topographic map

of central Mass.

Overlay modern

Quabbin Reservoir in

semi-transparent blue


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Why bring historic maps into GIS? Context: What exists within ones study area at a given

point(s) in time?

Close up of

northern Quabbin

over early USGS

topographic map.

Features flooded:

Towns, roads,

railroads, etc.


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Feature Extraction (heads-up digitizing) and encoding

Vectorize: discrete data made up of ordered lists of points

and represented by points, lines, and polygons

Trace features and encode those graphics with information

Surface of the earth Anthropogenic features

Places, place-names, roads, railways, trails, buildings,

bridges, etc.

Natural features Rivers, lakes, shoreline, elevation, etc.

Abstract/Administrative geography

Country, state/province, municipal, parcel/property

boundaries, census tracts, etc.


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Feature Extraction(vectorization)

1898 USGS topographic

map of Portland, Maine


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Feature Extraction(vectorization)

1898 USGS topographic

map of Portland, Maine

Built area extracted

(vectorized) in red.

Perhaps trace roads,

railroads, shoreline,

contours, etc.

Note edge.


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Resource/Research Management Tool

More and more researchers using spreadsheets to manage their

research to collect information about places and source material

Think of GIS as sort of a spatial spreadsheet or database, which

can be used to join that information to spatial representations


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Analysis

Simple

Finding inns that are located within 5 miles of towns

with a population over 10,000 in southern France around1910.

More complex

Archaeological predictive modeling

Spatial analysis techniques to model fire density ordisease patterns


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Analysis

Interpolated fire

density of

Constantinople,1660.


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Graphic presentations or visualization

Make maps, charts, graphs, etc.

Very powerful and useful

See David Rumsey Example
http://www.davidrumsey.com/GIS/sf3D.htmhttp://www.davidrumsey.com/GIS/sf3D.htm


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Data Conversion/Development Process

Convert maps to digital form

Georeference the digital maps: assign them

meaningful spatial coordinates

Feature extraction and data modeling ($$)

Generally around 80% of project cost

Heavy overhead before one gets results, which

is one of reasons why so many GIS fail.


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Convert Printed Map to Digital Image

Digital Image (Raster) is composed of a grid of pixels

1898 U.S. railroad map


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Equipment

Large-format scanner

Expensive

Scarce

Overhead digital photography

Be careful using photocopies

Distortion along edges


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Resolution

Resolution can be expressed as the number of

pixels per inch (PPI)

Different from spatial resolution of remotely

sensed imagery, which is a measure of the

smallest object that can be resolved by the sensor

or the dimension on the ground represented by

each pixel (i.e., 30 meters)


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Resolution (Cont.)

Generally between 150 - 600 ppi, average 200 - 300 ppi

Determine resolution that captures the smallest significant

feature

Use consistent resolution if working with a map series

Capture uncompressed as TIFF (Tagged Image File Format)

Consider using image compression for working file

If map is in grayscale, capture it in grayscale color model reduce file size

If map repository, consider capturing very high quality for

archiving & resampling to lower resolution for GIS work


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Georeference the Digital Image/Map

Georeferencing converts a digital image

(raster dataset) from a nonreal-world

coordinate system (image space) to a real-world coordinate system such as latitude

and longitude.

Makes it line upwith other GIS data. Allows the digital map image to be viewed

with other GIS data.

G f i


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Need to know

locations of at least 3

recognizable features

Use more than 3

Locations used to

create control points Spread out throughout

the map

Georeferencing

Process

1898 U.S. railroad map

G f i


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Need to know

locations of at least 3

recognizable features

Use more than 3

Locations used to

create control points Spread out throughout

the map

Link real-world

coordinates to the

control points Links used to

transform the map

image to real-world

coordinates

Georeferencing

Process Lat/Long Lat/LongLat/Long


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Georeferencing: Transformation

Transformation adjusts the digital map to

make it fit in this real-world coordinate

system Affine Transformation - most common

Scale

Skew Rotation

Shift (Translation)


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Affine Transformation: Scale Changes the image scale by expanding or reducing


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Affine Transformation: Skew

X

Y

Before

After


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Affine Transformation: Rotation Rotates x and y axes so that the image is correctly oriented

X

Y

After

Before


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Affine Transformation: Shift (Translation) X and Y origin are shifted

X

Y

After

Before


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Georeferencing: Transformation Complete

Software creates associated files that contain thecoordinate information (i.e., .tfw)

Digital map can then integrated with other GIS data

1898 railroad map with modern vector shoreline overlaid


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Root Mean Square (RMS) error

Root Mean Square (RMS) error

Describes the deviation between the control points in

the output image and the values calculated by the

transformation

A measure of the accuracy of the control points

In general, lower number the better, with 0 being

perfect

Record RMS error

Save control points


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Georeferencing Techniques for

Historic Maps Use existing coordinates or tics

Link features on map to features within GIS

datasets that have known real-worldcoordinates.

Global Positioning System (GPS)


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Use Existing Coordinates or Tics to Reference

the Map in Real-World Coordinates

Over 134 types of

features: towns,municipal boundaries,

road types, railways,

hydrology, rice fields,

pasture land, post

offices, churches,

castles, inns, etc.

Austro-Hungarian Monarchy Topographic Series,

Scale: 1:75,000; Date: 1874-1912


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Topographic map misaligned with modern GIS municipalboundaries (red)


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Step 1: map research

Map projection: polyhedric projection (antiquated)

Coordinate system: Bessel 1841 spheroid Spheroid: estimated shape of the earth as a sphere

Prime meridian: Ferro

Metadata is often located on the topographic map itself

However, not in this case Significant role for the historian


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Step 2: Create a point layer

From geographic

coordinates of the 4

corners

Based on the historic

coordinate system

(Bessel 1841) and

prime meridian (Ferro)


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Step 3: Project points into the historic map projection

Polyhedric antiquated

Used a polyconic


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Step 4: Link tic marks on the map to the projected

corner points.


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Step 5: Transform the map

Georeferenced topo

with modern GIS

municipal boundaries

and rivers overlaid


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Close up: modern municipal boundaries (gemeinden) overlaid on topo

Disparate

datasets never

match upperfectly

Off by around

300-400 feet

Detail on map:churches, road

types, pastures,

etc.


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Issue: study area falls on edge of a topo sheet


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Area Obscured by Overlap


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Mosaic: Match Adjoining Map Sheets

Image processingsoftware

Adobe

Photoshop

ERDAS

Imagine ArcGIS

Spatial

Analyst

Time consuming


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Other Useful Maps with Coordinate Systems

Topographic series USGS 1890s 1950s: 1:62500

England & Wales: 1805-1874, 1:63,360

German Karte des Deutschen Reiches: 1862-1907; 1:100,000

China Ministry of National Defense Land Survey: 1901-1947;1:100,000

Survey of India: 1866-1910; 1:253,440.

Nautical charts

Shorelines, soundings, etc.

World and regional maps

Historic places, national and provincial boundaries, transportation

networks, etc.

Globes


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Historic Maps Use existing coordinates or tics


datasets that have known real-worldcoordinates


i ki


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Feature LinkingUse control points to link features on the map to features within

a GIS dataset that have known real-world coordinates

1797 Street Map of Boston

2001 MassGIS Digital Orthophoto


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Feature Linking Steps

Acquire GIS reference dataset to link the map to

Should be of equal or slightly better scale Map research

Map projection, coordinate system/datum

Identify additional map sources for reference

Establish reference points to use as links Cultural features such as street intersections, bridges, buildings,

landmarks, monuments, etc.

Try to avoid using natural features such as shoreline, rivers, lakes,

etc. because they fluctuate greatly

Check dates of features on the map used as links

Project GIS data to match the projection of the map

Feat re Linking Steps (Cont )


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Feature Linking Steps (Cont.) If georeferencing multiple maps, start with the most current map and

work backwards in time

Provides more features to link to

1797

1835

1895

2001

F Li ki S (C )


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Feature Linking Steps (Cont.)

1797 Street Map of Boston

2001 MassGIS Digital Orthophoto

Add at least 3 control points spread out throughout the map

Transform the map


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City-Wide Maps: Boston

Useful for tracing thehistorical development of:

Streets

Districts & wards

Shoreline

Town boundaries

Monuments

Churches

Schools

Significant buildings

1797 - 2001 shoreline change


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City-Wide Maps: Cambridge Full View

1865 street map of the City of Cambridge, MA


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City-Wide Maps: Cambridge Detail

Detail of 1865 street map of the City of Cambridge, MA

Cit Wid M


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City-Wide Maps

Georeferenced

Georeferenced 1865 map of

Cambridge

GIS reference data

City of Cambrige GIS street

centerline (shown in red)


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Integrate Additional GIS Data with Georeferenced Map

Georeferenced 1865 map of Cambridge overlaid with 3D buildings


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Urban/Fire Insurance Atlases

Publishers: Bromley, Beers, Hopkins, Sanborn,

Ordnance Survey (OS)

Begin around mid 19th century, early 1800s for

OS. Scale of 1:5000 or better

Wealth of information

Property: boundaries, owners, addresses Building: footprints, composition, heights, stories, use,

roof types

Other info: streets, fire hydrants, etc.


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Urban/Fire Insurance Atlases Detail

Detail of 1867 Boston Sanborn


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Urban/Fire Insurance Atlases Full View

Ungeoreferenced 1867 Boston Sanborn

Issues

Bound

editions make

digital

conversiondifficult

Insets

Mosaicing or

edge-

matching



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Georeferenced Mosaic Full View

Georeferenced 1867 Boston Sanborn with inset mosaiced



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Georeferenced Mosaic Detail

Georeferenced 1867 Boston Sanborn with inset mosaiced

U b /Fi I A l


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Integration of Modern and Historical Data

Georeferenced 1867 Boston Sanborn with

modern buildings overlaid in red


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Reconstructing the New Orleans Yellow

Fever Epidemic of 1878

Andrew Curtis & John Anderson, LSU

Example of using historic urban atlases and

city-wide maps

Textual descriptions

Automated data conversion

Historical geocoding of death residences Spatial Analysis


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Other Useful Types of Maps

Census Maps Most common

request

Enormous amountof vectorization

work

Scarce

Minor Civil Divisions, NY, 1930.


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Other Useful Types of Maps

Aerial Photography Vertical photography from mid

1930s to present; developed

during WWII

Great for context

Distortion/displacement: scale,

relief, and tilt

Use building footprints not

rooftops, street intersections,

etc. for control points

Boston 1952 USDA aerial photo over 2001

MassGIS color orthophoto

1952

2001


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Other Useful Types of Maps Map to Map Georeferencing

Compare one map to another

Dont need real-world coordinates

Map of Paris, 1832 Map of Paris, 1865


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Historic Maps

Use existing coordinates or tics


datasets that have known real-world Global Positioning System (GPS)


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Global Positioning System (GPS)A system of satellites & receiving devices used to

compute positions on the Earth


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Global Positioning System (GPS)Collect ground control points for significant features on the

map: building corners, street intersections, monuments, siteremains, etc.

Lat/Long

1815 map of early 16th century waterworks in

Istanbul


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Useful for georeferencing when one does

not have any reference data or coordinates

on the map Primarily used for city-scale or larger scale

maps, not for maps of very large regions


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Georeferencing Techniques and

Historic Maps for GIS

Use existing coordinates or tics


datasets that have known real-worldcoordinates



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Rubber Sheeting

Expression is used many different ways


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Rubber Sheeting

The process of transforming an image

from one x,y coordinate system to another

ArcInfo manual Includes linear (Affine) transformations


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Rubber Sheeting

Higher order

transformations

(warping)

2nd order or higher(nonlinear) that

transform through

curves

Need minimum of 6

control points Maps of large areas

and unknown

projection

Aerial photography


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Rubber Sheeting

Piecewise Transformation Uses different transformations in different parts of the

map

Used when map is badly warped and data matching is

essential

Used for edge-matching

Generally use a full transformation first How does one record this in the metadata?

Sometimes easier with vector data


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Rubber Sheeting - What to Do?

Start with a first-order (Affine) transformation

Research projection of your map

Find good control points Understand there is a fuzziness of inaccuracy in all

maps and GIS data.

Then move on to higher order transformations and

then piecewise transformations

G tti St t d


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Getting StartedSource Materials

Historic & contemporary maps

Map & government document libraries

Special collections

Archives Government agencies

Commercial vendors

GIS data

Government agencies

Universities

Libraries

Commercial vendors

G tti St t d


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Getting StartedSoftware

Image processing software

Adobe Photoshop, Photoshop Elements

GIS software

ArcView, ArcGIS, IDRISI, AutoCAD, etc. Advanced spatial image processing software

(optional)

ArcInfo Grid, Spatial Analyst, ERDAS Imagine, etc.

Advanced wavelet image compression software(optional)

If want to disseminate georeferenced maps

ECW, MrSID, JPEG2000

G tti St t d


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Getting StartedHardware

Computer with minimum 512 megs RAM

For large processing 1-2 gigs of RAM

Access large format scanner or overhead digital

photography

G tti St t d


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Getting StartedPeople

GIS skills

Usually takes about 1 to 2 weeks to get up to speed

d b i


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Do you need to bring your

historic map into a GIS? Maybe NOT

Making a map of an historical period.

Using the map as reference to encode pre-existing GIS data.

Digitizing tablet

to extract/trace features.


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General Future of Bringing Historic Maps into GIS

History of cartography community needs more research

concerning technical aspects (i.e., map projections and

coordinate systems), mentioned by David Woodward at ICHC

2003

GIS community needs to develop more historic projections,

coordinate systems, and transformations.

Development of geo-historical datasets that can be widely used

must include metadata

Accuracy assessment

Outreach concerning the use and significance of historical

materials for GIS


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Future of Bringing Historic Maps into GIS at the

Harvard Map Collection

Harvard Library Digital Initiative

Georeferencing and disseminating maps online through the

Harvard Geospatial Library (HGL) as JPEG2000

Civil War collection Early Africa

Chinese topos

Historic USGS topos

Experimenting with automated raster to vector data

conversion

Conducting workshops and developing instructional

materials concerning GIS and the humanities/social

sciences


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Useful Internet Sites

The Harvard Map Collection

http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/maps/

Harvard Geospatial Library

http://hgl.harvard.edu

David Rumsey Map Collection

http://www.davidrumsey.com/index.html

The Boston Atlas

http://www.mapjunction.com/places/Boston_BRA
http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/maps/http://hgl.harvard.edu/http://www.davidrumsey.com/index.htmlhttp://www.mapjunction.com/places/Boston_BRAhttp://www.mapjunction.com/places/Boston_BRAhttp://www.davidrumsey.com/index.htmlhttp://hgl.harvard.edu/http://www.hcl.harvard.edu/maps/


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Comments and Questions?

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