Applying VGI to collaborative research in the humanities: the case of ARTL@S

ABSTRACT

Using Artl@s as an example of a project that relies on volunteered geographic information (VGI), this article examines the specific challenges that exist, beyond those frequently discussed in general VGI systems (e.g., participants’ motivation and data quality control) in regard to sharing research data in humanities: (1) most data from the humanities is qualitative and collected from multiple data sources which are often inconsistent and unmappable; (2) data is usually interconnected with multiple relationships among different tables which creates challenges for both mapping and query functionality; (3) data is both geographical and historical. Consequently addresses that no longer exist have to be geolocated and visualized on historical basemaps and spaces must be represented diachronically; (4) the design of web map application needs to balance both sophisticated research requirements and a user-friendly interface; (5) finally contributors expect their data to be cited or acknowledged when used in other studies and users need metadata and citation information in order to reuse and repurpose datasets.

In this article, we discuss how Artl@s, a project which developed a georeferenced historical database of exhibition catalogues, addresses these challenges. Artl@s provides a case study for VGI adoption by digital humanities scholars for research data sharing, as it offers features, such as flexible batch data contribution, interrelated spatial query, automatic geolocalization of historical addresses, and data citation mechanisms.     

Local traditions as a means for commercial production of historical beers: The case of Vossaøl,Norway

The aim of the article is to analyse challenges facing the commercial production of historical beers, which are ‘extinct’ beers. The concept of ‘fictive terroir’ is introduced to emphasize these challenges. The author addresses the following questions: What kind of knowledge is needed to produce historical beers? How can this knowledge be acquired? How can it be used commercially in craft breweries? The studied case is Vossaøl, a craft beer imitation of a beer produced in the early 19th century. The data were obtained from written sources and interviews with local home brewers and brewers at Voss Brewery in Norway. The study revealed the need to reconstruct the terroir in the early 19th century. Additionally, Voss Brewery had to acquire knowledge about how to process and combine the ingredients, which included the traditional yeast (kveik). Involving traditional home brewers was crucial to determine how ingredients could be combined to produce Vossaøl. The author concludes that a synthetic knowledge base was a useful point of departure in this respect. Participation in the traditional culture of brewing proved an important means when working with this knowledge base. The results are interesting in the broader context of the reconstruction of beverages and food.     

Changes and continuity of wood-pastures in the lowland landscape in Czechia

The term wood-pastures is usually applied to areas with trees or other woody vegetation, scattered through a mainly grazed grassland area, and reflects one of the oldest land use types in Europe, which plays important ecological, agricultural and socio-cultural roles. However, a rapid decline in their area due to changes in land use and a lack of tree regeneration has recently been observed all over Europe, which has led to the necessity of a deeper understanding of their behaviour in relation to different factors via a detailed analysis of the history of the changes in their distribution over space and time. Despite the recent increase in the number of related studies, information on historic patterns of wood-pastures in many European locations, such as Czechia, remains incomplete. The goal of this study is to assess the habitat continuity of current wood-pastures and to analyse the land-use/land-cover changes of historical and current wood-pastures in lowlands and warm landscapes of hills and basins of Czechia. To achieve this, nine sites covering a total area of 98.6 km² were studied in Czechia. The situation on three time horizons (1820–1840s, the early 1950s and today) was analysed. The results have shown that almost all wood-pastures from the 1st half of the 19th century have now been lost and most of the currently existing ones were formed from the 1950s till today. Most wood-pastures, which were lost by the 1950s, were turned into open habitats, such as arable lands, and the ones lost from 1950 were turned into forest. New wood-pastures are mostly formed from open habitats, often in former military areas.     

鸿沟引水口与渠首段经流考辩

鸿沟是先秦至魏晋时期中原地区一条重要的人工运河,对古代北方地区水运交通有着极其深远的影响。但其引水口和渠首段经流的问题,至今仍存歧见。本文在实地考察的基础上,通过对史料及考古资料的系统梳理与分析,深入探讨了战国至魏晋时期鸿沟引水口与渠首段经流的变迁过程,结果表明：① 战国时期,魏国在荥阳一带的实际控制线当在魏长城以西,包括当时的卷邑、衍邑等,魏惠王初开鸿沟运河时,其渠首段是利用流经魏国境内的济隧河道,而不是利用流经韩国境内的荥渎河道;② 秦兼并六国过程中,消除了国界的障碍,并在广武山设置了敖仓,为水运转输方便,遂将引水渠道西移至距敖仓较近的荥渎河道,并在荥口设置水门,以控制航运;③ 东汉后期,荥渎被黄河泥沙侵淤,鸿沟渠首段再次西迁至有柳泉、广武涧等清澈溪水注入的石门水河道,并一直沿用至隋开通济渠。     

生态红线区管理:英国科研专用区的历史脉络与经验借鉴

作为关键生态保护区域边界线,生态红线划定当前已经上升为中国国家层面战略部署,然而当前生态红线的研究尚处于探索阶段,对于如何针对红线区域具体设计法规保障、制定管理规则、限定开发行为等方面的研究较为匮乏。鉴于英国已经较为成熟的科研专用区相关保护管理的历史经验,梳理和定位了英国科研专用区的3个发展阶段,探讨了各个发展阶段的基本原则、管理机制和实施保障的演变过程,总结英国科研专用区的规划与管理经验,提出了完善法律保障与规程规范、实施统一监管和区域统筹、并行生态补偿与保护自住、签订标准化管理协议、加强公众参与与研讨机制、提升资金保障与使用效率等对我国生态红线区管理与保障的有益借鉴。     

南粤古驿道红色寻踪——基于《寻乌调查》的历史地理分析

基于毛泽东同志所作的《寻乌调查》,利用历史地图资料,结合当前遥感影像数据、道路地名信息及相关历史资料等,运用GIS技术对历史资料进行还原处理,从交通区位、经济地理与区域文化等方面,对20世纪30年代寻乌与南粤的区域历史地理关系进行研究：1）还原并佐证了《寻乌调查》描述的区域交通系统,梳理出寻乌与南粤区域水陆交通网络及交通运输的基本特征,寻乌典型的边区区位与自然地理等条件,成就了其联系南粤的交通枢纽功能。2）寻乌与南粤的区域经济地理关系具有典型的“盐上米下”特征;寻乌在区域贸易流通中承担着中转站的功能,但边区市集发展程度较低,寻乌的社会经济深受以梅县为腹地的南粤地区发展的影响。3）南粤革命力量对中央苏区具有不可磨灭的历史贡献,红色文化底蕴非常深厚。理解寻乌与南粤的区域历史地理关系,既对当前的区域发展规划与政策制定具较强的指导作用,也为当前的南粤古驿道活化和开发提供了一条“寻乌调查红色之旅”路线。     

历史背景认知对殖民遗产旅游情感体验的影响 ——以广州沙面岛为例

中国数量众多的租界本质是殖民统治时期的空间遗存,但随着时间的推移,一些历史背景已经被遗忘。以广州沙面为例,利用情感量表问卷对具备不同历史知识的340个样本进行认知与情感体验评价,探索历史背景认知对旅游者情感体验的作用与情感体验差异的产生原因。研究发现：1）愉悦、目标一致性与新奇/确定决定积极情感,自我投入决定消极情感;2）接受沙面历史背景介绍的旅游者情感体验更消极,认知评价具有显著差异。殖民历史背景认知通过降低旅游者的愉悦、目标一致性,减弱积极情感欢乐、喜爱,提升自我投入从而增强消极情感气愤、悲伤、畏惧;3）殖民历史认知是否导致情感体验趋于消极由个体的评价所决定。历史背景知识为旅游者带来深入旅游体验的同时不会影响旅游追求愉悦的本质,这为殖民遗产旅游的展示与管理带来新的启示。     

高分辨率青藏高原历史月降水数据重建

青藏高原对全球气候研究具有重要意义,而降水数据对水文、气象和生态等领域的研究也至关重要,且随着研究内容和尺度的变化,对高时空分辨率的历史降水数据的需求越发迫切。本文基于TRMM 3B43降水数据,采用随机森林算法,引入归一化植被指数(AVHRR NDVI)、高程(SRTM DEM)、坡度、坡向、经度、纬度6个地理因子,建立历史降水重建模型,获得1982-1997年分辨率为0.0833°的青藏高原年降水数据,然后根据比例系数法计算出月降水数据。为提高精度,利用站点数据对月降水数据进行校正。结果表明,该方法能简单有效地获得高时空分辨率的历史降水数据,决定系数R²大部分在0.4~0.9之间,平均值为0.6767,其中夏季效果最好,冬季效果最差;均方根误差RMSE和平均绝对误差MAE均在50 mm以下,RMSE均值为22.66 mm,MAE均值为15.97 mm;偏差Bias较小,基本在0.0~0.1之间。     

Development history and accessibility evolution of land transportation network in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region over the past century

From the development of modern transportation to the current era of high-speed transportation networks, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region has always played a national leading role in land transportation development of China. In order to explore the long-term evolutionary characteristics of land transportation in the BTH region, this paper utilized a temporal scale of 100 years to systematically interpret the development process of the land transportation network. Taking 13 cities within the BTH region as research anchor cities, we took into account “leaping” mode of transportation in order to investigate the evolution of accessibility. Our research shows the following results: (1) The land transportation network in the BTH region has undergone five stages of development: the initial period of modernization (1881–1937); the period of stagnation of transportation development (1937–1949); the network expansion period (1949–1980); the period of trunk construction (1980–1995), and the period of high-speed transportation network development (1995–present). The network structure centered around Beijing has existed from the outset of modern transportation development. (2) The accessibility spatial pattern of land transportation in BTH region has evolved from expansion along traffic corridors to the formation of concentric circles. The stratified circular structure of transportation in anchor cities has gradually developed into a contiguous development pattern. (3) There are clear hierarchical differences in the transportation structures of anchor cities. Beijing has always been at the top of this hierarchy, while the hierarchical position of Zhangjiakou has fallen noticeably since 1949. The Beijing-Tianjin region was the first region to form a short-duration transportation circle structure, while the transportation advantages of the central part of Hebei Province, which is located in the center of the BTH transportation region, have yet to be realized.     

Global impact of a climate treaty if the Human Development Index replaces GDP as a welfare proxy

This study explores the implications of shifting the narrative of climate policy evaluation from one of costs/benefits or economic growth to a message of improving social welfare. Focusing on the costs of mitigation and the associated impacts on gross domestic product (GDP) may translate into a widespread concern that a climate agreement will be very costly. This article considers the well-known Human Development Index (HDI) as an alternative criterion for judging the welfare effects of climate policy. We estimate what the maximum possible annual average increase in HDI welfare per tons of CO₂ would be within the carbon budget associated with limiting warming to 2°C over the period 2015–2050. Emission pathways are determined by a policy that allows the HDI of poor countries and their emissions to increase under a business-as-usual development path, while countries with a high HDI value (>0.8) have to restrain their emissions to ensure that the global temperature rise does not exceed 2°C. For comparison, the well-known multi-regional RICE model is used to assess GDP growth under the same climate change policy goals.

Policy relevance

This is the first study that shifts the narrative of climate policy evaluation from one of GDP growth to a message of improving social welfare, as captured by the HDI. This could make it easier for political leaders and climate negotiators to publicly commit themselves to ambitious carbon emission reduction goals, such as limiting global warming to 2°C, as in the (non-binding) agreement made at COP 21 in Paris in 2015. We find that if impacts are framed in terms of growth in HDI per t CO₂ emission per capita instead of in GDP, the HDI of poor countries and their emissions are allowed to increase under a business-as-usual development path, whereas countries with a high HDI (>0.8) must control emissions so that global temperature rise remains within 2°C. Importantly, a climate agreement is more attractive for rich countries under the HDI than the GDP frame. This is good news, as these countries have to make the major contribution to emissions reductions.