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Questions tagged [history]

History of GIS is the study of past developments in geography, geodesy, cartography, navigation and spatial data and analysis that ultimately lead to the application of geography to information and computer systems.

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Accurate 20th Century National Boundaries GIS Dataset [closed]

The CShapes 2.0 dataset (1886-2019) is very inaccurate: it doesn't include boundaries of many short-lived or even not so short-lived states: Manchukuo (1932-1945), Saarland (1947-1956), Trieste (1947-...
August2323's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
203 views

What is the likely error of the triangulation of Gauss' survey?

I have been trying to figure out the famous Gauss' big triangle measurement, but not being particularly well-versed in geodesy (I come at this from a physics perspective), I have been having some ...
Slereah's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
318 views

What is the resolution of the best publicily available satellite images from the 1970s and 1980s, for the southern hemisphere?

What motivates the question is a neighborhood disagreement involving my parents, that developed as follows: Dad bought a house in early 70s, moved there. The house was adjacent to a vacant lot, used ...
wubeinic0587's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
277 views

Download and evaluate historical OpenStreetMap data

objective: I want to download historical OSM data for Germany and check the number of new added nodes, ways, relations within a certain time range (01.01.2007 to 01.02.2007). Afterwards I want to ...
Max Uellendahl's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
143 views

Precision of latitude / longitude in history

I am looking to assign a likely precision value for a point based on the decade when the measurement was made. Lets say that in the 1910's the precision widely available would be to two decimal places....
D.W. Murray's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
153 views

Trying to find historical building footprints or centroids [closed]

I'm currently doing a research project analyzing how cities evolve over time and was wondering if there were any good online databases for finding historical building footprints. I've been looking ...
novark3's user avatar
  • 21
14 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why is there no state with code "03" (among other missing numbers)?

The US census documentation for state codes is missing several numbers. For example, there is no state with code "03", "07" and others. Here is the start of the list... STATE|STUSAB|STATE_NAME|...
CodyBugstein's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
2k views

Meaning of abbreviation BLH?

I cannot find anywhere why BLH (where B is geographical latitude, L geographical longitude and H is elliposidal height) is called BLH. The origin of the letter H is clear, but what about B and L? ...
Stranger in the Q's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
119 views

Hosted Feature Layers to local gdb and maintaining history in feature class?

Situation: I have setup a python script that writes fire equipment features from AGOL to a FGDB. These features are updated on a weekly basis using Collector. Script: ================================...
Itumeleng Mosweu's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
152 views

Finding creator of Inverse Distance Weighted method?

I am interested in the very first person who invented the Inverse Distance Weighted method or the very first reference that this method was mentioned. I tried to search on Google but could not get ...
noobie2023's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
271 views

Georeferencing xyz layer from Griffiths Valuation of 1850s?

I have made progress on my project to map land and property owned by individuals in 1850 in Ireland using Griffiths Valuation maps. I used http://griffiths.askaboutireland.ie/gv4/single_layer/tiles/{...
DJB166's user avatar
  • 33
1 vote
1 answer
85 views

Seeking map of communes for Bavaria region before 1930 [closed]

I am looking into data for an article, and I am missing a pretty important map. The map relates to this question. I need a map of Bavaria communes, the so-called Gemeinden divisions, either to buy or ...
alecsx's user avatar
  • 618
1 vote
1 answer
837 views

Downloading Map Tiles from Griffiths Valuation of Northern Ireland?

I would like to download map tiles of Northern Ireland associated with Griffiths Valuation of Ireland in 1867. These maps have details of property leased by individuals, including farm fields and ...
DJB166's user avatar
  • 33
2 votes
1 answer
340 views

Austrian-hungarian map: Franzisco-Josephinische (3) Landesaufnahme - Legend

Currently I work with the Franzisco-Josephinische (3) Landesaufnahme (Austria-Hungary) map in area around Lake Neusiedel. There are some map sheets around Vienna with the scale of 1:12.500 In the ...
user16032's user avatar
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0 votes
2 answers
326 views

How to monitor changes in a PostGIS database in GeoDjango?

I have been working on a GeoDjango project which uses a PostGIS database.I have enabled the history in my application using the django-simple-history module and works all fine. The issues comes in ...
Wanjohi254's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
2k views

Seeking Historical GIS datasets?

I've been looking for a while for Historical GIS datasets. In a lot of places (also in answers here at Stack Exchange), people are referring to a great dataset at ThinkQuest, which contains shapefiles ...
carelfransen's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
1k views

Create history map with inkscape with each country as a distinct object

I want to create history maps (maps showing historical borders) with inkscape and to have an object for each country. I want to draw borders between countries only once and have this part of a path ...
Simbian Glocy's user avatar
12 votes
3 answers
10k views

Downloading historical OpenStreetMap data

Where can I download historical data from OpenStreetMap? I’m I am interested in downloading an OSM .pbf file of a particular city in previous years (say, from 2008 and 2010).
rafa.pereira's user avatar
  • 1,277
0 votes
0 answers
94 views

Free datasets of Europe's historical country borders since the Middle Ages [duplicate]

Is there a source for historical shapefiles of Europe since the Middle Ages? There was a promising answer to the similar question Is there a source for historical shapefiles of Europe in the modern ...
Simbian Glocy's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
3k views

How did sailors navigate before the Mercator projection (1536)? [closed]

The Mercator projection (1536) must be great for nautical navigation. It allows one to find a bearing and keeping this constant one should reach the target (if not in the shortest line). But how did ...
Andy's user avatar
  • 375
1 vote
2 answers
5k views

Import KML to PostGIS

I am looking for a way to import my data from KML (example below) to PostGIS database. <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <kml xmlns="http://www.opengis.net/kml/2.2" xmlns:gx="http://www....
lomasz's user avatar
  • 93
3 votes
1 answer
351 views

How to combine historic OS sheets in order to create density maps of historic streets

I really need some advice on creating historical street maps using GIS software (I have access to QGIS and Diva). Basically, I want to upload a number of historic OS sheets, which I have downloaded ...
MikeFallopian's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
2k views

Sourcing GIS data from First World War (WW1)?

Simple question, but does anyone know where I can get some detailed (eg 1:10m scale) vector data from the First World War? I've been through the archives here, but it seems the best sites for it ...
Mark's user avatar
  • 103
8 votes
2 answers
481 views

What purpose do intersection points serve when mapping?

In this old map of California you will notice a ring of intersection points, all circling the focal land mass of the map. What are these intersections used for? I assume they are meant to guide the ...
Stu's user avatar
  • 183
2 votes
1 answer
2k views

Origin of the OSGB36 datum origin

Interpreting 'GIS' in the geographical information science sense, I have a historical question about the 1936 OSGB datum following the 1936-62 retriangulation of Great Britain - hopefully not too off-...
geotheory's user avatar
  • 526
1 vote
1 answer
148 views

Examples of Sanborn map WMS?

I'm wondering if anyone has heard of or come across any examples of scanned and georeferenced Sanborn Fire Insurance maps being served as a WMS. I know there are copyright issues, so presumably only ...
mr.adam's user avatar
  • 3,224
5 votes
1 answer
5k views

How to retrieve historical imagery from web mapping services?

Is there a way to retrieve historical imagery from Google/Bing/Yandex mapping services through their APIs? For example, I'd like to show on my website imagery from 2005.
gis_wild's user avatar
  • 471
1 vote
0 answers
1k views

How to create vector-based maps showing historic borders [closed]

I'm an absolute beginner in map making. I want to create digital maps with European historic borders that all have the same projection and style. All the data should be vectorized. My idea is to ...
colonnorron's user avatar
5 votes
3 answers
3k views

Spherical Mercator projection invented by Google and not conformal?

I had some certitudes on the Google Spherical Mercator also known under EPSG code 900913 and 3857 before looking at this presentation, I was sure that this projection was in the Mercator family (so ...
ThomasG77's user avatar
  • 31.1k
6 votes
1 answer
3k views

Is there a free dataset of historical geocoordinates of ancient cities and places?

Is there a freely available dataset (csv, geojson, topojson, etc.) with geocoordinates of ancient cities, for example of the Roman Empire? Ideally with additional information like population size? I'...
Suzana's user avatar
  • 175
7 votes
2 answers
3k views

Easiest way to create historical street maps using QGIS

I want to make some historical street maps using QGIS. I understand how to upload a historical OS map from DigiMaps to QGIS, but I want to actually 'draw' the streets myself in order to have some ...
MikeFallopian's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
73 views

Are there any js libraries for reading OpenStreetMap History data?

I want to do time based mapping on openstreetmap data in the Kathmandu, Nepal area. I think i have two options Using OpenStreetMap Change files (OSC) Using OpenStreetmap History files (OSH) I have ...
neogeomat's user avatar
  • 8,380
2 votes
3 answers
289 views

Is there a book about SYMAP?

I'm aware of several books on the history and developement of GIS, but not one specifically about SYMAP. SYMAP was developed in 1963 and is considered the first automated computer mapping program. ...
Zachary's user avatar
  • 6,190
1 vote
0 answers
44 views

Translating lat/lon coordinate on rotated/scaled maps

I need to indicate a lat/lon coordinate in an old map like this: http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~3017~90020003:Topographical-Map-Of-The-City-and-C Projected on Google Maps: ...
Stan Wiechers's user avatar
15 votes
4 answers
739 views

When did the word "geospatial" first come into usage?

For historical reasons, I'm trying to figure out when the term "geospatial" came into use? The earliest usages I can find are from around 1994, but I would be really surprised if it wasn't used ...
robguinness's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
891 views

Is there a name for map projections that produce two disks?

I've seen lots of world maps in the shape of two disks that touch, each one a separate projection of one hemisphere onto a disk -- usually the Western Hemisphere and the Eastern Hemisphere -- so ...
David Cary's user avatar
3 votes
0 answers
502 views

Linear Referencing Methods: Station Equation origins [closed]

I am working in the pipelines field, and I get in touch with the concept of the linear referencing methods, specifically with station equation method. I had to do research about this method, I'm ...
XtianGIS's user avatar
  • 782
1 vote
0 answers
217 views

History of the web map tile

I'm looking for a brief history of a 256x256 web map tile, in particular who used it first (came up with the idea) and who popularized it.
tmaj's user avatar
  • 2,613
1 vote
1 answer
392 views

Looking for QGIS Presentation info

I'm preparing a presentation of QGIS to release of the brazilian QGIS user guide. Thus, I would like insert some information about QGIS in global scale. Something like Tim's qgis-for-humanity ...
Arthur Nanni's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
231 views

What to do with old GIS books/manuals/etc? [closed]

We're having an office clear-out and have come across a number of old GIS paper materials. Random examples (to give a taste - there are about 20-30 in all) include: Postcodes: The New Geography (Book ...
GIS-Jonathan's user avatar
  • 6,775
17 votes
6 answers
5k views

80% of data has a spatial component, says who?

This quote about how 80% of all data has a spatial component has been bandied around everywhere. Introduction to GIS classes, product descriptions, talks, etc. Would anybody know who first said it? Or ...
R.K.'s user avatar
  • 17.4k
8 votes
1 answer
499 views

How to store historical versions of road (route) portions?

Part of my job is to analyze certain portions of road for our clients. A client will ask, I want to look at Road A from parcel XYZ to parcel RST and Road B from parcel RST to parcel OPQ. The way I do ...
dassouki's user avatar
  • 8,563