Abstract This article presents a novel geospatial approach to reconstructing and analyzing environmental change over extensive spatial and temporal scales, even in systems such as rivers and streams that are comparatively difficult to digitize. We used a drawing tablet and stylus to digitize features found on historical Army Corps maps across the spatially extensive landscape of the Lower Wabash River’s riparian zone, in Indiana and Illinois, USA. The methodology allows for an efficient reconstruction of sinuous and irregular environmental features, such as sloughs, and demonstrates the utility of digitizing historical maps to understand the evolution of surface water quantity and location across a landscape. We then compared these historical data to contemporary environmental datasets for the same study area to understand what changes have occurred over a 100 year period. This reveals that the hydroscape of the Lower Wabash River has been significantly altered by past human activity, notably through the reduction of swamps, wetlands, and sandbars, and the increase in drainage ditches and overall stream area. Notably, many of these historical alterations are not captured within current environmental datasets.

中文翻译：

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回溯河流和绘制沼泽：使用绘图板从陆军测量地图重建历史水景

摘要 本文提出了一种新的地理空间方法，用于在广泛的空间和时间尺度上重建和分析环境变化，即使在河流和溪流等相对难以数字化的系统中也是如此。我们使用绘图板和手写笔对美国印第安纳州和伊利诺伊州下沃巴什河河岸地区空间广阔景观的历史陆军军团地图上的特征进行数字化处理。该方法可以有效地重建蜿蜒和不规则的环境特征，例如泥沼，并展示数字化历史地图的实用性，以了解地表水量和景观位置的演变。然后，我们将这些历史数据与同一研究区域的当代环境数据集进行比较，以了解 100 年期间发生了哪些变化。这表明，过去的人类活动显着改变了瓦巴什河下游的水文景观，特别是沼泽、湿地和沙洲的减少，以及排水沟渠和整体河流面积的增加。值得注意的是，许多这些历史变化并未在当前的环境数据集中捕获。