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History To Data: Converting Topographic Maps Into Digital Elevation Models, Briar Pierce, Eileen G. Ernenwein
History To Data: Converting Topographic Maps Into Digital Elevation Models, Briar Pierce, Eileen G. Ernenwein
Appalachian Student Research Forum
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 …