Historical geographic information system

A historical geographic information system (also written as historical GIS or HGIS) is a geographic information system 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, which spatially warps the data to fit with more accurate modern maps.
Reconstruction of past boundaries: By creating polygons 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 microdat

Gestion dynamique des échelles de données raster dans un environnement interactif

Benoit Le Bocey

Scale and resolution have long been key issues of geography. In recent years, the rapid development of desktop or Internet Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has forced a more precise consideration of these concepts. This research focuses on fitting the resolution of morphologic and thematic raster data, to the scale chosen to represent them in a GIS. To better adapt this resolution, reference aggregation methods based on the type of data are proposed. In the case of morphological raster data, this reference method is visually and statistically compared with two other alternative methods potentially used in existing interfaces. The feasibility of this research's concepts has been tested with an interactive web interface created for this purpose. This work demonstrates that it is necessary to adjust carefully the resolution of raster data to the display scale chosen by the user.

2010

Detecting footprints of selection in Ovis aries by a spatial analysis approach

Stéphane Joost

Detecting adaptive loci in the genome is essential as it gives the possibility to understand what proportion of a genome or which genes are under the pressure of natural selection. In this paper, we used a Spatial Analysis Method (SAM) recently developed to detect signatures of natural selection in sheep breeds.With the contribution of Geographical Information Systems, environmental variables, and AFLP data, multiple univariate logistic regressions are run to test for association between allelic frequencies at marker loci and environmental variables. The results of the application of this method to sheep breeds are compared with those obtained with a standard population genetics approach.

Edizioni Avenue Media2007

Rencontre de la science de l'information géographique et de l'anthropologie culturelle

Abram Pointet

Geographical Information Science and Cultural Anthropology are aimed to collaborate on development projects dedicated to indigenous communities. This fact is first based on a growing intention to integrate the reality and the perception of the development owned by the community. This movement, towards a stronger consideration of the community's point of view, is assigning to the anthropologist with a central importance in projects. He plays a leading part in linking the culture and the scientific disciplines involved in a project. Secondly, the geographic space, the community is evolving in, has its own organization and functioning. The recognized importance of space therefore implies the participation of the geographical information science specialist. The "rapprochement" of those disciplines with distant epistemologies constitutes the context of this study. At first sight, the use of a geographical information system by an anthropologist appears to be limited to the introduction of a new tool. For the specialist in geographical information science, the adaptation of the anthropological knowledge to the logic of the information systems seems to be a common problem of data structuring, analysis and mapping. The attempts of rapprochement to date aren't particularly successful. Their analysis brought us to formulate a statement of fact summarized in this research by the complexity versus simplicity paradox. The interaction between the two disciplines, given a concrete expression by the confrontation of their epistemologies, is at the origin of new problems and questions. Some of them are complex as this study shows. This research results corresponds to a twofold proposal for collaboration approaches. First, an innovative approach of modelling the anthropological knowledge in geographical information science is suggested. This approach introduces the concept of "knowledge model", dialogue object between the disciplines. Its establishment precedes the one of the conceptual data model. Second, an approach is developed for the conception of a visual and interactive interface. This computerized framework is set up in order to support interdisciplinary communication. Moreover, it allows products of the geographical information science to be accessible to the anthropologists. The pertinence and the reliability of the suggested approaches are established in terms of adequacy to the logic of each discipline, and of integration to the development projects. The associated contributions and limits are finally discussed, leading to some future prospects.

EPFL2007

Rencontre de la science de l'information géographique et de l'anthropologie culturelle

Abram Pointet

EPFL2007