Historical geographic information system

A historical geographic information system (also written as historical GIS or HGIS) is a geographic information system

Geographic Information System

A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...

that may display, store and analyze data of past geographies and track changes in time. It can be regarded as a subfield of historical geography

Historical geography

Historical geography is the study of the human, physical, fictional, theoretical, and "real" geographies of the past. Historical geography studies a wide variety of issues and topics. A common theme is the study of the geographies of the past and how a place or region changes through time...

and geographic information science

Geographic Information Science

Geographic information science is the academic theory behind the development, use, and application of geographic information systems...

.

GIS was originally developed for use in environmental science

Environmental science

Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...

s, military and for computer assisted cartography

Cartography

Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...

. The tools developed for these uses are ill suited for the features of historical data.

Techniques used in HGIS

Digitization and georeferencing of historical maps. Old maps may contain valuable information about the past. By adding coordinates to such maps, they may be added as a feature layer to modern GIS data. This facilitates comparison of different map layers showing the geography at different times. The maps may be further enhanced by techniques such as rubbersheeting
Rubbersheeting
In cartography, rubber-sheeting refers to the process by which a layer is distorted to allow it to be seamlessly joined to an adjacent geographic layer of matching imagery, such as satellite imagery which are digital maps. This is sometimes referred to as image-to-vector conflation...

, which spatially warps the data to fit with more accurate modern maps.
Reconstruction of past boundaries. By creating polygon
Polygon
In geometry a polygon is a flat shape consisting of straight lines that are joined to form a closed chain orcircuit.A polygon is traditionally a plane figure that is bounded by a closed path, composed of a finite sequence of straight line segments...

s of former administrative sub-divisions and borders, aggregate statistics can be compared through time.
Georeferencing of historical microdata (such as census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

or parish records). This enables the use of spatial analysis to historical data.

Notable Historical GIS projects

Great Britain Historical GIS
Great Britain Historical GIS
The Great Britain Historical GIS , is a spatially-enabled database that documents and visualises the changing human geography of the British Isles, although is primarily focussed on the subdivisions of the United Kingdom mainly over the 200 years since the first census in 1801...

, A GIS enabled database holding diverse geo-referenced maps, statistics, gazetteers and travel writing, especially for the period 1801-2001 covered by British censuses. Public access via the Vision of Britain site. Created and maintained by Portsmouth University
University of Portsmouth
The University of Portsmouth is a university in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The University was ranked 60th out of 122 in The Sunday Times University Guide...

.
China Historical GIS similar project for Imperial China developed by the universities of Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

and Fudan, China
Fudan University
Fudan University , located in Shanghai, is one of the oldest and most selective universities in China, and is a member of the C9 League. Its institutional predecessor was founded in 1905, shortly before the end of China's imperial Qing dynasty...

.
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection is one of the world's largest private map collections. It has some 150,000 maps and cartographic items...

, one of the world's largest map collections, which has digitized and georeference
Georeference
To georeference something means to define its existence in physical space. That is, establishing its location in terms of map projections or coordinate systems. The term is used both when establishing the relation between raster or vector images and coordinates, and when determining the spatial...

d a large part of its collection and published it on the internet.
Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative is a digital humanities initiative involving numerous academic professors and institutions around the world with the stated goal of creating a networked digital atlas by creating tools and setting standards for dynamic, digital maps.ECAI was established in...

(ECAI) a clearinghouse for the exchange of metadata of Historical GIS. Maintained by the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

.
HGIS Germany Institute of European History (Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...

) and Institute i3mainz at the University of Applied Sciences
Belgian Historical GIS tracks the development of administrative boundaries in Belgium since 1800. Developed by the University of Ghent
The National Historical Geographic Information System
National Historical Geographic Information System
The National Historical Geographic Information System is a historical GIS project to create and freely disseminate a database incorporating all available aggregate census information for the United States between 1790 and 2000...

(NHGIS) system for displaying and analyzing Census tracts and tract changes in the United States.
HistoAtlas
HistoAtlas
HistoAtlas is a free collection of historic geographic information of the human culture all over the world. This is achieved as a time enabled geographic information system on the web...

is an open historical geographical information system that tries to build a free historical atlas of the world.
Atlas-Historical Cartography This website provides information on the evolution of administrative boundaries of Portugal, and on censuses and other statistical series for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Public access via the Atlas-Historical Cartography.
Mammoth Cave Historical GIS documents the people who lived in the Mammoth Cave region before it became a national park. Public access via MCHGIS.

Software or web services developed for Historical GIS

TimeMap
TimeMap
TimeMap TMJava is an Open Source web mapping application, which was one of the first such applications to introduce generic time filtering and map animation on the web...

— A Java open-source applet (or program) for browsing spatial-temporal data and ECAI
Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative
The Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative is a digital humanities initiative involving numerous academic professors and institutions around the world with the stated goal of creating a networked digital atlas by creating tools and setting standards for dynamic, digital maps.ECAI was established in...

data sets Developed by the department of archaeology University of Sydney.
Version 4+ of Google Earth
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, map and geographical information program that was originally called EarthViewer 3D, and was created by Keyhole, Inc, a Central Intelligence Agency funded company acquired by Google in 2004 . It maps the Earth by the superimposition of images obtained from satellite...

added a time line feature that enables simple temporal browsing of spatial data

Literature

Ian N. Gregory, Paul Ell: Historical GIS: Technologies, Methodologies, and Scholarship (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography) 2008 ISBN 978-0521671705
Anne Kelly Knowles
Anne Kelly Knowles
Anne Kelly Knowles is an American geographer and a specialist in Historical GIS. She received her MA and PhD from University of Wisconsin–Madison...

: Past Time, Past Place: GIS for history A collection of twelve case studies on the use of GIS in historical research and education. ESRI press 2002 ISBN 1589480325
Anne Kelly Knowles, Amy Hillier eds.: Placing History: How Maps, Spatial Data, and GIS Are Changing Historical Scholarship 2008 ISBN 978-1589480131
Ian N. Gregory: A place in History A short introduction to HGIS by the lead developers of GBHGIS ISSN 1463-5194
Ott, T. and Swiaczny, F.: Time-integrative GIS. Management and analysis of spatio-temporal data, 2001 Berlin / Heidelberg / New York: Springer ISBN 3540410163
Feature edition of Historical GIS in the journal Social Science History
Social Science History
Social Science History is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal. It is the official journalof the Social Science History Association. Its articles bring an analytic, theoretical, and often quantitative approach to historical evidence....

24 2000, Introduction by Anne Kelly Knowles
Anne Kelly Knowles
Anne Kelly Knowles is an American geographer and a specialist in Historical GIS. She received her MA and PhD from University of Wisconsin–Madison...

.

External links

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