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

geographic information system A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing Geographic data and information, geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with Geographic information system software, sof ...

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

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 In cartography and geographic information systems, rubbersheeting is a form of coordinate transformation that warps a vector dataset to match a known geographic space. This is most commonly needed when a dataset has systematic positional error ...

, which spatially warps the data to fit with more accurate modern maps. * Reconstruction of past boundaries: By creating

polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region, the bounding circuit, or the two toge ...

s of former political entities, administrative sub-divisions and other types of borders, their evolution as well as aggregated statistics can be compared through time. * Georeferencing of historical microdata (such as

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

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

Notable historical GIS projects

* China Historical GIS is a project on

Imperial China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapte ...

developed by

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and Fudan University. * David Rumsey Historical Map Collection is one of the world's largest map collections, which has digitized and

georeference Georeferencing means that the internal coordinate system of a map or aerial photo image can be related to a geographic coordinate system. The relevant coordinate transforms are typically stored within the image file ( GeoPDF and GeoTIFF are exam ...

d a large part of its collection and published it on the internet. * Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative (ECAI) is a clearinghouse for the exchange of metadata of Historical GIS. Maintained by the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

. * Euratlas History Maps is a historical atlas of Europe from year 1 to present days with one map per century. The maps depict sovereign states as well as administrative divisions and dependent territories. *

Great Britain Historical GIS The Great Britain Historical GIS (or GBHGIS) is a Spatial Database, 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 ...

is a GIS-enabled database holding diverse geo-referenced maps, statistics, gazetteers and travel writing, especially for the period 1801–2001 covered by British censuses. Created and maintained by Portsmouth University. *

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 (GIS) on the web. All information can be used and edited freely and is in ...

is an open historical geographical information system that tries to build a free historical atlas of the world. * National Historical Geographic Information System (NHGIS) is a system for displaying and analyzing Census tracts and tract changes in the United States.

Software or web services developed for Historical GIS

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

added a time line feature in version 4 (2006) that enables simple temporal browsing of spatial data.Announcement of the featur
at the Google Earth blog
2006. *

TimeMap ''Time''Map Java 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. TMJava is a comprehensive Java mapping applet which can run as a standalone ...

is a

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

open-source applet (or program) for browsing spatial-temporal data and ECAI data sets. Developed by the department of archaeology University of Sydney.

References

* Ian N. Gregory, Don Debats, Don Lafreniere eds.: The Routledge Companion to Spatial History. Routledge 2018 * Joachim Laczny: ''Friedrich III. (1440–1493) auf Reisen. Die Erstellung des Itinerars eines spätmittelalterlichen Herrschers unter Anwendung eines Historical Geographic Information System (Historical GIS)'' In: Joachim Laczny, Jürgen Sarnowsky eds.: ''Perzeption und Rezeption. Wahrnehmung und Deutung im Mittelalter und in der Moderne (Nova Mediaevalia Quellen und Studien zum europäischen Mittelalter, 12), Göttingen: V&R unipress 2014, p. 33–65. , '' *

Ian N. Gregory Ian or Iain is a name of Scottish Gaelic origin, derived from the Hebrew given name (Yohanan, ') and corresponding to the English name John (given name), John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename ''Iain''. It is a ...

Paul Ell Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

: ''Historical GIS: Technologies, Methodologies, and Scholarship'' (Cambridge Studies in Historical Geography) 2008 * Anne Kelly Knowles: ''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 * Anne Kelly Knowles,

Amy Hillier Amy is a female given name, sometimes short for Amanda, Amelia, Amélie, or Amita. In French, the name is spelled ''"Aimée"''. People A–E * Amy Acker (born 1976), American actress * Amy Vera Ackman, also known as Mother Giovanni (1886–19 ...

eds.: ''Placing History: How Maps, Spatial Data, and GIS Are Changing Historical Scholarship'' 2008 *

''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'', Berlin / Heidelberg / New York: Springer 2001 {{ISBN, 3-540-41016-3 * Feature edition of Historical development GIS in the journal Social Science History 24 2000, Introduction by Anne Kelly Knowles. Applications of geographic information systems

Techniques used in HGIS

Notable historical GIS projects

Software or web services developed for Historical GIS

See also

References

Further reading