Land cover layer, digitized from the PEF Survey of Western Palestine (1880)

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Main Authors: Schaffer, Gad, Levin, Noam
Format: Dataset Open Access
Language:en
Published: PANGAEA 2015
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author Schaffer, Gad
Levin, Noam
author_facet Schaffer, Gad
Levin, Noam
collection Datos científicos de ciencias marinas y ambientales
contents Geographic information systems allow the extraction and quantitative analysis of information from historical maps. The aims of this research were to examine the completeness of information represented on the 1881 Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) map, to quantitatively reconstruct the landscape of nineteenth century Palestine and to explore whether spatial patterns in land cover/land use can be partially explained statistically by physical and human factors. Using historical aerial photos, we concluded that most of the major past landscape features were indeed shown on the PEF map, with an average overall correspondence of 53%. Forests and Mediterranean maquis were more abundant at distances greater than 2 km from towns and villages. Specific land cover/land-use types were associated with certain soil types, topographic regions and rainfall thresholds. In conclusion, the 1881 PEF map can serve as a reliable reference for understanding the land cover/land-use patterns of nineteenth century Palestine.
format Dataset Open Access
id pangaea_https___doi_org_10_1594_PANGAEA_846879
institution PANGAEA
language en
publishDate 2015
publisher PANGAEA
record_format pangaea
spellingShingle Land cover layer, digitized from the PEF Survey of Western Palestine (1880)
Schaffer, Gad
Levin, Noam
Western_Palestine
Geographic information systems allow the extraction and quantitative analysis of information from historical maps. The aims of this research were to examine the completeness of information represented on the 1881 Palestine Exploration Fund (PEF) map, to quantitatively reconstruct the landscape of nineteenth century Palestine and to explore whether spatial patterns in land cover/land use can be partially explained statistically by physical and human factors. Using historical aerial photos, we concluded that most of the major past landscape features were indeed shown on the PEF map, with an average overall correspondence of 53%. Forests and Mediterranean maquis were more abundant at distances greater than 2 km from towns and villages. Specific land cover/land-use types were associated with certain soil types, topographic regions and rainfall thresholds. In conclusion, the 1881 PEF map can serve as a reliable reference for understanding the land cover/land-use patterns of nineteenth century Palestine.
title Land cover layer, digitized from the PEF Survey of Western Palestine (1880)
topic Western_Palestine
url https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.846879