Work

Historical ponds of the Czech Republic: an example of the interpretation of historic maps

Year: 2016

Type: article

Abstract: The paper presents a map of historical ponds of the whole Czech Republic which was created on the basis of the 2nd Military Survey (1: 28,000) from the period 1836 to 1852. This source was selected with respect to its age, precision, validity and accessibility at the Czech National Geoportal via the Web Map Service. All water areas, which had existed in the 2nd Military Survey within the current Czech Republic, were identified on this basis and vectorised in the Geographic Information System. Historical ponds larger than 0.5 ha were then picked from this layer, complemented with other attributes and analysed in combination with the current geodata (occurrence of pond, prevailing land use of extinct ponds, etc.). The resulting map may serve as a measure for potential attempts at restoring some extinct ponds, out of which over 3400 ponds larger than 15,500 ha have been discovered. This map source may be practically applied in Spatial Planning and in particular measures taken against changes in the global climate, specifically in the Czech Republic against droughts. The map source may be utilised by state authorities or local administrations.

Source: Journal of Maps

DOI: 10.1080/17445647.2016.1203830