Hydromorphological Information in Historical Maps of Switzerland: From Map Feature Definition to Ecological Metric Derivation

Abstract

This article focuses on defining hydromorphological features to be extracted from historical maps by means of digital map processing techniques. The hydromorphological features, evolving through time, can be described quantitatively by the development and application of various ecological metrics to study the spatiotemporal change of the natural and built freshwater environment. With the goal to support future revitalization efforts, this article first reviews the theory on quantifying spatiotemporal change using landscape and ecological metrics, ranging from simple shape metrics (e.g., shoreline length) to more complex hydromorphological indexes (e.g., river braiding index). Second, the hydromorphological features themselves are important to consider in terms of data quality and uncertainty as they might inherit errors due to the low-quality maps, the extraction process, or due to poor definitions used during feature extraction efforts. Errors introduced by poorly defined features can be avoided by the use of a well-structured definition system. Thus, the article concludes in a new concept categorizing hydromorphological features and the changes they can undergo. The definition framework integrates novel perspectives for defining and evaluating features from the Siegfried and old Swiss national map, including key aspects from the theory.

本文关注了采用数字地图处理技术从历史地图中提取的水文地貌特征。通过研制和应用各种生态指标, 可以对水文地貌特征进行定量描述, 进而研究自然和人造淡水环境的时空变化。为了支持未来的振兴工作, 本文首先回顾了基于景观指标和生态指标去量化时空变化的理论。这些景观和生态指标包括简单的形状指标(例如, 海岸线长度)和复杂的水文地貌指标(例如, 河流网状指数)。地图质量低、特征提取方法以及定义上的偏差, 都会导致水文地貌特征的错误。因此, 水文地貌特征对于研究数据质量和不确定性也很重要。使用合理的定义体系, 可以避免定义上的偏差所产生的特征错误。因此, 本文提出了一个新的概念, 对水文地貌特征及其变化进行分类。该定义框架整合了对Siegfried和Old Swiss国家地图特征的定义和评估的新视角和关键理论。

Este artículo se enfoca en la definición de los rasgos hidromorfológicos que deben extraerse de los mapas históricos por medio de técnicas de procesamiento de mapas digitales. Los rasgos hidromorfológicos, que evolucionan con el tiempo, pueden describirse cuantitativamente mediante el desarrollo y aplicación de varias métricas ecológicas al estudio del cambio espaciotemporal del entorno de agua dulce natural y construido. Con la meta de apoyar futuros esfuerzos de revitalización, este artículo revisa en primer término la teoría sobre la cuantificación del cambio espaciotemporal, usando métricas paisajísticas y ecológicas que van desde las simples medidas de forma (e.g., la longitud de la línea litoral) hasta los más complejos índices hidromorfológicos (e.g., índice de trenzado del río). En segundo lugar, en sí mismos los rasgos hidromorfológicos son dignos de consideración en términos de calidad de datos e incertidumbre, por cuanto podrían heredar errores debido a la mala calidad de los mapas, el proceso de extracción, o por las pobreza de las definiciones utilizadas durante los esfuerzos de extracción de los rasgos.

Key Words:

• definition system
• ecological metrics
• historical maps
• hydromorphological feature
• landscape change

关键词:

• 定义体系
• 生态指标
• 历史地图
• 水文地貌特征
• 景观变化。

Palabras clave:

• cambios del paisaje
• mapas históricos
• métricas ecológicas
• rasgo hidromorfológico
• sistema de definiciones

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments to improve the article. The authors would also like to thank all project collaborators, with a special thanks to Sidi Wu for her support in developing the applied definition system.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) for funding this work (Grant number 200021_188692/1).

Notes on contributors

Victoria Scherelis

VICTORIA SCHERELIS is a Doctoral Researcher in the Department of Geography, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland, and at the Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include GIScience, geoinformatics, spatial-temporal GIS, and environmental geography.

Michael Doering

MICHAEL DOERING is Head of the Ecohydrology Research Group and Professor at the Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include the ecology, restoration, and conservation of streams and floodplains, and the spatial analysis of ecosystems.

Marta Antonelli

MARTA ANTONELLI is a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Surface Waters Research and Management, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include hydrological connectivity between aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and the impact of disturbance on ecological communities.

Patrick Laube

PATRICK LAUBE is Head of the Geoinformatics Research Group and Professor at the Institute of Natural Resource Sciences, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, 8820 Wädenswil, Switzerland. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include GIScience, spatiotemporal analysis, and computational movement analysis.