Authors' Affiliations

Briar Z. Pierce, Department of Geosciences, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN. Dr. Eileen G. Ernenwein, Department of Geosciences, College of Arts and Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN.

Location

Culp Ballroom

Start Date

4-7-2022 9:00 AM

End Date

4-7-2022 12:00 PM

Poster Number

77

Faculty Sponsor’s Department

Geosciences

Name of Project's Faculty Sponsor

Eileen Ernenwein

Classification of First Author

Graduate Student-Master’s

Competition Type

Competitive

Type

Poster Presentation

Project's Category

Environmental Geography

Abstract or Artist's Statement

Studying past landscapes existing before the modern era (pre-1945) carries great difficulty. Historical maps can offer insight to researchers, but the two-dimensional cartographic features on these maps remain largely inaccessible for geospatial analyses. This study investigates the idea of unlocking the data within historical maps to be utilized by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). To realize this goal, the cartographic features must be extracted and converted into digital vector (line) and raster (grid) data. For the purposes of this study, we focus on the extraction of elevation contour lines in United States Geological Survey (USGS) historical topographic maps. These lines are converted into Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), thus creating historically accurate digital landscapes. To ensure a high-quality result, the topographically derived DEMs (TOPO-DEMs) are compared to modern satellite-derived DEMs. The implications of this study can be directly applied to historical, archeological, and environmental research.

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Apr 7th, 9:00 AM Apr 7th, 12:00 PM

History to Data: Converting Topographic Maps into Digital Elevation Models

Culp Ballroom

Studying past landscapes existing before the modern era (pre-1945) carries great difficulty. Historical maps can offer insight to researchers, but the two-dimensional cartographic features on these maps remain largely inaccessible for geospatial analyses. This study investigates the idea of unlocking the data within historical maps to be utilized by Geographic Information Systems (GIS). To realize this goal, the cartographic features must be extracted and converted into digital vector (line) and raster (grid) data. For the purposes of this study, we focus on the extraction of elevation contour lines in United States Geological Survey (USGS) historical topographic maps. These lines are converted into Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), thus creating historically accurate digital landscapes. To ensure a high-quality result, the topographically derived DEMs (TOPO-DEMs) are compared to modern satellite-derived DEMs. The implications of this study can be directly applied to historical, archeological, and environmental research.