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KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
h ps://doi.o g/10.1007/s42489-023-00131-z
A Holis ic Wo k low o Semi‑au oma ed Objec Ex ac ion
omLa ge‑Scale His o ical Maps
IngaSchlegel1
Recei ed: 23 Decembe 2022 / Accep ed: 13 Janua y 2023 / Published online: 10 Feb ua y 2023
© The Au ho (s) 2023
Abs ac
The ex ac ion o objec s om la ge-scale his o ical maps has been examined in se e al s udies. Wi h he aim o esea ch u ban
changes o e ime, semi-au oma ed and ans e able holis ic app oaches emain o be in es iga ed. We apply a combina ion
o objec -based image analysis and ec o iza ion me hods on h ee di e en his o ical maps. By u he ma ching and geo e -
e encing an app op ia e cu en geoda ase , we p o ide a concep o analyzing and compa ing hose aluable sou ces om
he pas . Wi h mino adjus men s, ou end- o-end wo k low was ans e able o o he la ge-scale maps. The indings e ealed
ha he ex ac ion and spa ial assignmen o objec s, such as buildings o oads, enable he compa ison o maps om di e en
imes and o m a basis o u he his o ical analysis. Pe o ming an a ine ans o ma ion be ween he da ase s, an absolu e
o se o no mo e han 72m was achie ed. The ou comes o his pape , he e o e, acili a e he daily wo k o u ban esea che s
o his o ians. Howe e , i should be emphasized ha speci ic knowledge is equi ed o he p esen ed subjec i e me hodology.
Keywo ds His o ical maps· Objec ex ac ion· Objec -based image analysis (OBIA)· Map compa ison· Vec o iza ion·
Geo e e encing
Ein holis ische Wo k low zu semi-au oma isie en Objek ex ak ion aus g oßmaßs äbigen
his o ischen Ka en
Zusammen assung
Die Ex ak ion on Objek en aus g oßmaßs äbigen his o ischen Ka en is Gegens and zahl eiche Fo schungsp ojek e. Um den
u banen Wandel im Lau e de Zei zu un e suchen, bedü en semi-au oma isie e und holis ische Ansä ze jedoch wei e en Un e -
suchungen. In diese A bei we den Me hoden zu objek basie en Bildanalyse und Vek o isie ung au d ei e schiedene his o i-
sche Ka en angewende . Mi hil e eines anschließenden Abgleichs sowie de Geo e e enzie ung eines en sp echenden ak uellen
Geoda ensa zes s ellen wi ein Konzep o , das sowohl die Analyse als auch den Ve gleich de we ollen In o ma ionsquellen
aus de Ve gangenhei e laub . Nu ge ing ügige Ände ungen wa en no wendig, um den ganzhei lichen A bei sablau au ande e
g oßmaßs äbige Ka en zu übe agen. Unse e E gebnisse zeig en, dass die Ex ak ion und äumliche Zuo dnung on Objek en
wie Gebäude ode S aßen einen Ve gleich zwischen Ka en e schiedene Zei al e e möglichen und somi eine G undlage ü
wei e e his o ische Analysen scha en. Im Zuge eine a inen T ans o ma ion e gab sich eine maximale Abweichung on 72m
zwischen beiden Da ensä zen. Die E gebnisse diese S udie e leich e n dami die ägliche A bei on z.B. S ad o sche n ode
His o ike n. Dennoch soll e be ücksich ig we den, dass die o ges ell e subjek i e Me hodik spezi isches Fachwissen e o de .
Schlüsselwö e His o ische Ka en· Objek ex ak ion· Objek basie e Bildanalyse (OBIA)· Ka en e gleich·
Vek o isie ung· Geo e e enzie ung
* Inga Schlegel
inga.schlegel@hcu-hambu g.de
1 Lab o Geoin o ma ics andGeo isualiza ion, Ha enCi y
Uni e si y Hambu g, Henning-Vosche au-Pla z 1,
20457Hambu g, Ge many
1 In oduc ion
His o ical maps a e aluable sou ces when in es iga ing spa-
ial changes o e ime (He old 2018). As an essen ial ool o
communica ing geog aphic objec s and hei loca ions, hey
4 KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
1 3
a e o en he only sou ce o in o ma ion o he unde s and-
ing o spa io- empo al change (Sun e al. 2021; Kim e al.
2014). Wi h la ge-scale maps (app ox. > 1:20,000)—espe-
cially “ci y maps”—we a e able o s udy u ban mo phology
(Meinel e al. (2009), as ci ed in Muhs e al. 2016). F e-
quen ly, geog aphical, poli ical, en i onmen al, and o he
u baniza ion p ocesses can be back aced solely by means
o his o ical maps.
Fo he analysis o he u ban landscape o he pas , i
is ine i able o make he in o ma ion om la ge-scale his-
o ical maps accessible. Single map objec s may p o ide
insigh s in o o me names o oads and buildings o hei
e olu ion o e ime. Bu gene ally, physical scans (bi -
maps) o his o ical maps a e no machine- eadable. Manual
a emp s o acqui e in o ma ion om his o ical maps a e no
uncommon bu e o -p one, ime-in ensi e, and non- ans-
e able (Xydas e al. 2022; Chiang e al. 2020; Gobbi e al.
2019). The e is a need o (semi-)au oma ed app oaches o
sol e hese p oblems.
In his s udy, we p o ide a holis ic wo k low o no only
ex ac objec s om la ge-scale his o ical maps, bu also o
de i e bene i s om he en i e y o geome ic, ela ional,
and seman ic in o ma ion. Mo eo e , ou semi-au oma ed
app oach demons a es how a spa ial assignmen be ween
his o ical and cu en maps may be enabled and he e o e
p o ides a basis o u he compa ison p ocesses be ween
hese.
An es ablished s a egy used o semi-au oma ically
ex ac objec s om his o ical maps while minimizing he
eade ’s subjec i e in luence s a s wi h image segmen a-
ion, which ollows he p inciples o human pe cep ion:
objec s wi hin an image a e di e en ia ed due o g aphi-
cal a ia ions (e.g., in ligh in ensi y, ex u e, o spa ial
con ex ), a i ac s, and de ia ions. Visually homogeneous
image a eas o m so-called segmen s. By combining objec
segmen a ion and classi ica ion, he concep o geog aphic
objec -based image analysis (GEOBIA) is able o ep o-
duce physically exis ing objec s, like buildings o oads,
om as e maps (He old 2018; Hussain e al. 2013; Hay
and Cas illa 2008; Neube 2005). Howe e , au ho s ag ee
ha “ he e is no single ex ac ion me hod ha can be e ec-
i ely applied o all di e en his o ical maps” (Sun e al.
2021). This is a complex ask and only ew s udies ha e
shown sugges ions o u he p ocessing and he applica-
bili y o hei esul s.
Mos esea ch in his ield aims a ex ac ing and ec-
o izing geome ies om his o ical maps o make hem
analyzable, bu equen ly comes wi h se e al limi a ions
and p econdi ions. Many s udies ocus on he ex ac ion o
a single ea u e ype such as s ee s (Chiang and Knoblock
2013; Chiang and Knoblock 2012), i e bodies (Gede
e al. 2020), o di e en land use classes (Gobbi e al. 2019;
Za elli e al. 2019) like o es a eas (Os a in e al. 2017;
He aul e al. 2013; Leyk e al. 2006) o we lands (Jiao e al.
2020). O he s assume homogeneously colo ed map egions
(Chiang e al. 2011; Leyk and Boesch 2010; Ablameyko
e al. 2002), which is a ely ue o his o ical maps. Less
complex (“bina y”) maps con aining homogeneously black
objec s o con ou s on whi e backg ounds we e in es iga ed
by Xydas e al. (2022), Hei zle and Hu ni (2020), Le Riche
(2020), Iosi escu e al. (2016), Muhs e al. (2016), and Kim
e al. (2014). Bu di e en ia ing objec s solely based on
colo di e ences is insu icien especially o widesp ead
monoch ome his o ical maps o due o ancien pape ex u e,
noise, o di on he hand-d awn maps (Jiao e al. 2020; Pel-
le 2018; Muhs e al. 2016; A eaga 2013; Leyk and Boesch
2010). Labels o en emain unconside ed in he con ex o
objec ecogni ion om his o ical maps as hey commonly
su e om o e laps o g ay-scale alues simila o ex u es
o con ou s o o he map elemen s (Hei zle and Hu ni 2020;
Pelle 2018). O he au ho s p esume an exis ing coo dina e
sys em (Le Riche 2020; Gobbi e al. 2019; Iosi escu e al.
2016) o a huge s ock o aining da a, which is needed o
machine lea ning app oaches (Xydas e al. 2022; Hei zle
and Hu ni 2020; Jiao e al. 2020; Gobbi e al. 2019; Za elli
e al. 2019; Uhl e al. 2017). Mo eo e , ew s udies ha e
ocused on la ge-scale bu a he small-scale maps (Gede
e al. 2020; Hei zle and Hu ni 2020; Gobbi e al. 2019;
Za elli e al. 2019; Lo an e al. 2018; Uhl e al. 2017; Muhs
e al. 2016; He aul e al. 2013).
As exis ing esea ch gene ally ocuses on sepa a e p o-
cesses in ol ed in objec ex ac ion om his o ical maps,
ou s udy sugges s a holis ic app oach composed o ex ac -
ing, ec o izing, and linking objec s. We demons a e he
bene i s o elimina ing and assigning labels o his whole
p ocess and p esen applicabili ies o he esul ing geom-
e ies. Because only by conside ing hese echniques as a
whole, we a e able o answe loca ion- ela ed ques ions on
he e olu ion o geog aphic ea u es and make his o ical
maps “accessible o geospa ial ools and, hus, o spa io-
empo al analysis o landscape pa e ns and hei changes”
(Uhl e al. 2017). New quali a i e and quan i a i e analyses
as well as compa isons o o he his o ical o cu en geo-
da a become possible by sea ching h ough and p ocessing
in o ma ion de i ed om his o ical maps (Gobbi e al. 2019;
Chiang 2017; Iosi escu e al. 2016). Fo long- e m back ac-
ing o indi idual buildings, o ins ance, shape-based com-
pa isons ac oss di e en maps a e use ul (Le Riche 2020;
Laycock e al. 2011).
In his wo k, we p esen a semi-au oma ic solu ion o
make la ge-scale his o ical maps usable o spa ial analysis
while minimizing ime-in ensi e and labo ious manual use
in e en ion. Based on ou p e ious indings on he needs
o use s o his o ical maps (Schlegel 2019) as well as on he
iden i ica ion and ex ac ion o map labels (Schlegel 2021),
we demons a e he gene al easibili y o a comp ehensi e
5KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
1 3
wo k low composed o (1) elimina ing labels, (2) ex ac -
ing geome ies, (3) ec o izing and e ining hose, and (4)
ma ching and spa ially assigning he ex ac ed map objec s
wi h cu en ones. Po en ial u u e applica ions, which a e
shown in he u he cou se, may be in ol ing seman ic
in o ma ion om labels o anno a e co esponding map
ea u es o an adjus men o a map’s isual appea ance.
P ospec i ely, new da abases can be se up and compa a i e
s udies be ween di e en da ase s become possible.
2 Li e a u e Re iew
2.1 Elimina ion o Labels
Labels a e aluable componen s in his o ical maps holding
impo an me ada a. Howe e , ex wi hin a map is ypically
seen as a dis u bing ac o when ex ac ing geome ies. Mis-
in e p e a ions in he con ex o segmen a ion may easily
a ise due o o e laps, di ec adjacencies, o simila colo
alues o map elemen s and s uc u es such as lines o ex-
u es (Hei zle and Hu ni 2020; Bhowmik e al. 2018; Chi-
ang 2017). Monoch ome maps, in pa icula , ha e a educed
numbe o pa ame e s o di e en ia e be ween ex and o he
elemen s. Howe e , an ini ial elimina ion o ex o labels
om his o ical maps can be seen as a majo ad an age o
u he objec ex ac ion p ocesses (Gede e al. 2020). P e-
ious a emp s iden i ied labels wi h he help o ex ec-
ogni ion—subsequen o objec ecogni ion and ec o iza-
ion—o by shape ecogni ion algo i hms (Iosi escu e al.
2016). Ch yso alan is and Nikolaos (2020) used bina ized
maps o sepa a e ex om o he objec s (see also Bhowmik
e al. (2018)). By elimina ing small pixel g oups, hey we e
able o emo e le e s. A GRASS GIS add-on de eloped by
Gobbi e al. (2019) and Za elli e al. (2019) eplaces el-
e an pixel alues by means o low-pass il e s wi hin old
cadas e maps. Howe e , pixels mus al eady be de ined as
“ ex ” in ad ance. Telea (2004) and Be almío e al. (2001)
sugges di e en image inpain ing echniques, which a e
o en applied o image es o a ion. Missing o damaged
image egions a e illed o c ea e an image wi hou gi ing
he iewe a hin o changes. In ou es ing, hese app oaches
caused an unsa is ac o y blu ing o he inpu image.
2.2 Objec ‑Based Image Analysis
Many me hodologies o (semi-)au oma ed objec ex ac-
ion om his o ical maps we e demons a ed in ecen yea s
bu p o en insu icien o a ious easons. Fo ins ance, a
common his og am h esholding o colo space clus e ing
(He aul e al. 2013) igno es any spa ial con ex , whe eas
a i icial neu al ne wo ks equi e an inadequa e amoun o
aining da a (Gobbi e al. 2019).
Ch yso alan is and Nikolaos (2020) used GIS unc ion-
ali ies o con e a his o ical mul icolo map in o a bina y
image and hen o ex ac and ec o ize geome ies o build-
ings. Howe e , ex u ed o co up polygons could no be
handled and labels we e elimina ed only pa ially. A simi-
la app oach was conduc ed by Iosi escu e al. (2016). By
combining GIS ope a ions wi h Py hon lib a ies, Gede e al.
(2020) segmen ed and ec o ized geome ies o i e s as a
unc ion o hei colo whe eas Le Riche (2020) ex ac ed
buildings om his o ical maps based on colo s and ex u es.
Za elli e al. (2019) and Gobbi e al. (2019) used GIS and
R o segmen and classi y ea u es om his o ical land use
maps by ega ding hei colo s, sizes, and shapes. Addi ional
machine lea ning echniques we e applied by Gobbi e al.
(2019).
In ecen yea s, deep lea ning a emp s ia con olu ional
neu al ne wo ks (CNNs) “ha e ecen ly ecei ed conside -
able a en ion in objec ecogni ion, classi ica ion, and de ec-
ion asks” (Uhl e al. 2017) om his o ical maps (Jiao e al.
2020, Hei zle and Hu ni 2020, and Xydas e al. 2022). How-
e e , hey su e om majo d awbacks. Resul s om CNNs
s ongly depend on he quali y and gene ally low quan i y o
a ailable aining da a. O en, hese da a s ocks a e c ea ed
manually and solely on he basis o he inpu bi map i sel ,
which is ime-consuming and impedes an applicabili y.
O igina ing om he ield o emo e sensing, geog aphic
objec -based image analysis may also be applied o scans
o maps (Hay and Cas illa 2008). In he b oad ield o ca -
og aphy, only ew au ho s use OBIA app oaches o c e-
a e new geoda a. Whe eas Do nik e al. (2016) ep oduced
soil maps om clima e and ege a ion maps, Ke le and de
Leeuw (2009) ex ac ed poin -based popula ion da a om
pape maps o es ima e long- e m popula ion g ow h. Edle
e al. (2014) applied OBIA o ex ac and quan i y he p es-
ence o oads, buildings, and land use classes and o u he
e alua e he complexi y o opog aphic maps he eby.
In con as o pixel-wise app oaches, OBIA ega ds no
only spec al in o ma ion, bu also, e.g., he shape, size,
o neighbo ly ela ions o objec s, and is, he e o e, much
close o human pe cep ion. Hence, OBIA is o en sug-
ges ed o objec ex ac ion om his o ical maps wi h he
aim o make hem machine-in e p e able (Blaschke e al.
2014). Many s udies in he ield o OBIA ocus on maps
o colo s and smalle scales, p esuppose a p eceding geo-
e e encing (Ch yso alan is and Nikolaos 2020; Gede e al.
2020; Iosi escu e al. 2016) o well-de ined shapes o objec s
(Ch yso alan is and Nikolaos 2020; Gobbi e al. 2019; Hei -
zle and Hu ni 2020), o dis ega d in e sec ions be ween
map ea u es.
6 KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
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2.3 Vec o iza ion andVec o Enhancemen
As ec o da a can be be e p ocessed and analyzed han
as e da a, a majo i y o he men ioned au ho s p oceed wi h
a ec o iza ion o ex ac ed map objec s. B own (2002) and
A eaga (2013) use speci ic so wa e ools o, espec i ely,
ec o ize he ou lines o geologic s uc u es and buildings
om his o ical maps. Vec o iza ion ools a e also p o ided
wi hin A cGIS, GRASS GIS (Gede e al. 2020), and he
GDAL lib a y (Jiao e al. 2020).
To pu ge ec o ized objec s, u he simpli ica ion p o-
cesses may ollow. Mul iple so wa e and ools, including
eCogni ion, QGIS, A cGIS (God ey and E ele h 2015),
SAGA GIS (Gede e al. 2020), R (A eaga 2013), and
Py hon lib a ies, implemen p e-buil unc ions o smoo h
o simpli y lines o polygons and o emo e ou lie s, spikes,
and o he a i ac s.
2.4 Objec Ma ching
Fo he di ec compa ison o ec o objec s om di e en
maps om a ious imes, dis ance and simila i y measu es
may be p omising (Xa ie e al. 2016). Ma ching geome ies
be ween di e en inpu s is equen ly pe o med on he basis
o shape o spa ial simila i ies (Tang e al. 2008) o iden ical
a ibu e alues (F ank and Es e 2006). Howe e , seman ic
simila i y app oaches a e no easible as scanned his o ical
maps usually hold no ancilla y in o ma ion. E en i names
o oads o buildings we e a ailable—e.g., by a p eceding
ex ecogni ion— hey would need o be assigned o hei
co esponding geome ies.
When analyzing geome ic ela ions, such as o e lapping
a eas o dis ance measu es (e.g., Euclidian o Hausdo dis-
ance), only ela i e dis ances be ween objec s a e consid-
e ed. This echnique is useless when compa ing no ye geo-
e e enced da ase s (Xa ie e al. 2016). Region-based shape
desc ip o s (e.g., a ea, con ex hull, Momen o G id desc ip-
o , see Ahmad e al. (2014)) ega d all pixels wi hin a shape
and may he e o e be p omising o a compa ison be ween
iden ical eal-wo ld objec s om di e en inpu s. Bu due
o unce ain ies, hey a e a he conside ed complemen a y
ma ching app oaches. Addi ional simila i y measu es a e
necessa y (Xa ie e al. 2016). By ega ding he spa ial ela-
ionship be ween objec s, S e anidis e al. (2002) quan i ied
hei dis ances and ela i e posi ions. Samal e al. (2004) and
Kim e al. (2010) consul ed hi d objec s o c ea e an o e all
geog aphic con ex . Also, Sun e al. (2021) ega ded spa ial
ela ionships by linking iden ical eal-wo ld objec s om
di e en his o ical maps. Howe e , hei knowledge g aph
app oach p esupposes he exis ence and assignmen o labels
o hei co esponding geome ies.
3 Da a
Fo a p oo o concep o ou sugges ed me hodologies, a
la ge-scale (~ 1:11,000) his o ical map om he middle o
he nine een h cen u y was chosen, which has al eady been
objec o esea ch wi hin ela ed s udies (Schlegel 2019,
2021). The o iginal non-geo e e enced and undis o ed
e sion o he map scan was c opped o a smalle ex en
(~ 1000 × 800m in eali y) o easons o un ime comp es-
sion wi hin all p ocesses. No map p ojec ion is known. The
map subse in Fig.1 shows he ci y cen e o Hambu g wi h
blocks o buildings, oads, and wa e a eas. Apa om sub-
sequen ly colo ized wa e a eas, he map is d awn in black
and whi e. Many da a supplie s p o ide hei as e scans
wi h a esolu ion o 300 ppi which is conside ed adequa e o
objec ex ac ion pu poses (Pea son e al. 2013). Lowe pixel
densi ies induce blu ing and pixela ion, whe eas highe al-
ues end o highligh in e e ing a i ac s om, e.g., olds in
pape , discolo a ions, o smudges (Pelle 2018). We con in-
ued o wo k wi h he TIFF o ma (wi hou comp ession) as
i is lossless conce ning he image’s o iginal pixel alues
(Gede e al. 2020).
To demons a e he ans e abili y o he wo k low, wo
mo e la ge-scale his o ical maps co e ing he same spa ial
a ea we e used in he u he cou se (see Fig.9a, b). They all
di e in hei isual appea ance and complexi y in e ms o
con as s, ex u es, o he exis ence o labels and g idlines.
Fo compa ing he desc ibed da a o a cu en coun-
e pa , o icial ec o da ase s including ecen polygonal
buildings (Landesbe ieb Geoin o ma ion und Ve messung
2022) and line- ype oads (Behö de ü Ve keh und Mobil-
i ä swende (BVM) 2020) we e used.
4 Objec Ex ac ion
4.1 P epa a ion o  heElimina ion o Labels
As simila colo alues and o e laps be ween labels and
o he map objec s impede a clea disc iminabili y, an ini ial
elimina ion o labels designa ing eal-wo ld objec s signi i-
can ly con ibu es o a acili a ion o objec ecogni ion p o-
cesses. We sugges o make use o he ou pu om p e ious
label de ec ion a emp s (see Schlegel (2021)): ec o bound-
ing boxes comp ising ex image a eas, which can be seen
in Fig.1. An exempla y ex image a ea is shown in Fig.2a.
Wi h he aim o elimina e i s con en om he map, i was
ini ially c opped by means o i s o iginal bounding box (see
Fig.2b) and o a ed o he ho izon al by i s angle o align-
men (Fig.2c)—calcula ed by he used ex de ec ion ool
S abo (Li e al. 2018; Chiang and Knoblock 2014). How-
e e , hese ex image a eas do no only include cha ac e s,
7KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
1 3
bu also edges o buildings, which is an ou g ow h o S abo
(see uppe ma gin in Fig.2c). This is coun e p oduc i e
wi hin he subsequen s ep o building segmen a ion as hese
image a eas we e supposed o be en i ely elimina ed om
he map. Thus, building edges would become dis o ed. To
e ain hese impo an edges, all pixels wi hin a bounding
Fig. 1 Map subse showing he ci y cen e o Hambu g (Ha a d Map Collec ion, Ha a d College Lib a y e al. (n.d.)) wi h bounding boxes
con aining labels p oduced by a p e ious ex de ec ion
Fig. 2 S eps o sepa a ing building edges om labels shown wi h an
exempla y da ase : a inpu map wi h bounding box con aining ex
image a ea, which hen was b c opped, c aligned ho izon ally, and d
con e ed in o a bina y as well as e a h ee-class mask. The esul -
ing bounding box excluding building edges was g u ned back o i s
o iginal o ien a ion

8 KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
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box we e di e en ia ed by ex and pa s o buildings. A
use -de ined h esholding helped o gene a e a bina y mask
consis ing o da k “ o eg ound” and b igh “backg ound”
pixels (see Fig.2d). A u he “ o eg ound” di e en ia-
ion was needed o sepa a e building edges om ex pix-
els. Howe e , simila colo alues, o e laps, and smoo h
ansi ions be ween ex and buildings we e challenging.
Fo eclassi ying o me “ o eg ound” in o ei he “ ex ” o
“building edge” pixels, mul iple h esholds and condi ions
had o be applied (Fig.2e). As labels designa ing oads mos
commonly un pa allel o nea by building edges, his s ep
was pe o med ow-wise. As Fig.2 indica es, all pixels ep-
esen ing “ ex ” and “backg ound” we e combined and ec-
o ized. The esul ing polygonal bounding box was u ned
back by i s ini ial o a ion angle (see Fig.2g) and hen used
wi hin he ollowing objec ex ac ion s eps.
4.2 Objec De ec ion andRecogni ion
To de ec homogeneous image egions and ex ac objec s
such as buildings o wa e a eas om la ge-scale his o ical
maps, we used objec -based image analysis. In con as o
pixel-based app oaches (e.g., Maximum Likelihood, Clus e -
ing, o Th esholding), which only ega d spec al di e ences
be ween pixels, OBIA gene a es image objec s also based
on common ex u es, shapes, con ex , e c. and is, he e-
o e, mo e sui able o his o ical maps wi h limi ed spec al
in o ma ion and he e ogeneous appea ances (Blaschke e al.
2014; Hussain e al. 2013).
As none o he many ee and open sou ce packages
a ailable o semi-au oma ed ea u e ex ac ion p oduces
compa able esul s, we made use o he p op ie a y so -
wa e eCogni ion De elope 10.2 o gene a e GIS compa -
ible da a om a his o ical map ia OBIA (Kau and Kau
2014). eCogni ion con e s use -de ined ule se s—buil -up
om unc ions, il e s, s a is ics, e c. o image segmen a ion
and classi ica ion—in o machine- eadable code. These con-
ca ena ions o algo i hms can be easily ans e ed o o he
images (T imble Inc. 2022).
As Fig.3a indica es, a i s ough di e en ia ion be ween
da k ( o eg ound) map ea u es (e.g., buildings and labels)
and he map’s b igh backg ound (wa e a eas, oads, and
places) was enabled by h esholding he inpu TIFF. The
con en o he labels’ bounding boxes, as shown in Fig.2 ,
was simply classi ied as “backg ound” and could he e o e
be elimina ed (see Fig.3b). The de ec ion o u he map
objec s is he e o e signi ican ly acili a ed on he one hand
and building edges emain unal e ed on he o he hand.
To ex ac con ou s o buildings, an edge de ec o was
applied o he image. The building ex u e’s epea ing pa e n
could be de ec ed by means o a g ay-le el co-occu ence
ma ix—which measu es he e ical in a iance o adjacen
pixel pai s—and analyzed by ex u e desc ip o s (Cha es
2021; T imble Inc. 2021). Rega ding he o iginal map in
Fig.1, public buildings (e.g., he ownhall o chu ches) ha e
a signi ican ly da ke ex u e and could, he e o e, clea ly
be di e en ia ed om o he buildings based on hei g ay
alues. Wa e a eas we e iden i ied by h esholding he RGB
blue channel as well as applying supplemen a y ex u e
desc ip o s o a oid alse posi i es.
4.3 Vec o iza ion
Gene ally, OBIA esul s in as e iles con aining indi idual
image objec s, subdi ided in o p ede ined single classes. Fo
u he p ocessing and analysis pu poses, a ec o iza ion o
his da a is ine i able. Based on expe iences o Iosi escu
e al. (2016) and A eaga (2013), we applied GDAL’s
polygonize unc ion o pe o m a as e - o- ec o con e sion
Fig. 3 Fo eg ound objec s sepa a ed om he map’s backg ound a be o e and b a e elimina ing labels
9KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
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o each map class. Se e al unc ions o simpli y and smoo h
he ec o ized map ea u es, o close inlying mino gaps,
and elimina e small isola ed polygons we e compiled wi hin
an end- o-end Py hon sc ip . This way, in e e ing a i ac s
(e.g., islands, p o usions, o spikes) s emming om an
imp ecise segmen a ion o unde ec ed labels could be han-
dled. The esul ing polygons ep esen ing (public) buildings
and wa e a eas a e shown in Fig.4 and can be p ocessed
wi hin u u e analysis ope a ions.
5 Linking His o ical andCu en Da ase s
Compa ed o p e ious s udies dealing wi h objec ex ac-
ion om his o ical maps, we go one s ep u he and p e-
sen an exempla y way o how quali a i e and quan i a i e
e alua ions o long- e m changes wi hin a ci yscape may
be p ac ically enabled. We he e o e spa ially assigned a
mo e ecen ec o da ase o he his o ical coun e pa
as shown in Fig.7. Ou aim was o au oma e his coa se
geo e e encing p ocess as a as possible. Due o changing
names o oads and buildings o e ime, he lack o in-
dep h in o ma ion, o simply imp ecise scales, dis ances,
and di ec ions wi hin his o ical maps, we used he p e i-
ously ex ac ed geome ies o geo e e encing pu poses
(Rumsey and Williams 2002). As can be seen om Fig.5,
chu ches and o he municipal buildings s ill exis o e ime
and, beyond ha , do no subs an ially change hei basic
shape and geog aphic loca ion o e ime. The e o e, hei
objec shapes could be ma ched and used o he de ini ion
o con ol poin s in he u he cou se o geo e e encing
(Skopyk 2021; Ha licek and Caj haml 2014).
5.1 Shape Ma ching
To de ine ma ching geo e e encing con ol poin s be ween
he his o ical and cu en da ase , iden ical eal-wo ld objec s
a e o be iden i ied. We, he e o e, measu ed he shape simi-
la i y be ween he ex ac ed public buildings shown in Fig.5
(Sun e al. 2021; MacEach en 1985). A ma ching based on
Fig. 4 Vec o ized and e ised ea u es o he his o ical map
10 KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
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spa ial o seman ic (a ibu e-based) simila i ies was imp ac-
ical due o he lack o a coo dina e sys em as well as u he
in o ma ion conce ning he his o ical map.
As Fig.5 indica es, a side-by-side compa ison be ween
geome ies o public buildings ex ac ed om he his o ical
map on he one hand and he o icial ec o da ase con ain-
ing cu en buildings on he o he hand was pe o med. We
implemen ed a ma ching o hei shapes based on hei In e -
sec ion o e Union (IoU). A e adjus ing he aspec a ios
o co esponding coun e pa s ia ec angula bounding
boxes (“en elopes” (Es i 2022)), hei espec i e de ia ions
could be quan i ied ia IoU. As can be seen om Fig.6, a
building geome y and i s en elope oge he o m a bina y
mask—consis ing o he alues 1 (building geome y) and 0
(en elope). A inal supe imposi ion o hese masks helped o
de e mine hei o e lapping a ea (in e sec ion) p opo ion-
ally o hei common a ea (union) (see Fig.6). All “building”
pixels wi h a alue o 1 we e conside ed o he IoU cal-
cula ion, which was conduc ed wi h he help o Py hon’s
numpy lib a y. Table1 summa izes he IoU esul s o all
de ec ed public buildings con inued o use o geo e e enc-
ing pu poses.
5.2 Geo e e encing
5.2.1 Me hod O e iew
The cen oids o hose geome ies wi h he closes ma ches
(see highligh ed cells in Table1) we e de ined as con-
ol poin s o a semi-au oma ed, ough geo e e encing
be ween he his o ical and cu en da ase . To p ese e
he objec s’ shapes and o keep spa ial de o ma ions o a
minimum wi hin he his o ical da a, an a ine ans o ma-
ion o all cu en buildings and oads was conduc ed. This
Fig. 5 Vec o ized public buildings (chu ches and ownhall) om he his o ical map (uppe ow) and hei coun e pa s om he cu en da ase
(bo om ow)
Fig. 6 In e sec ion o e Union be ween he his o ical S . Pe i Ki che and a i s cu en coun e pa as well as b he cu en S . Ka ha inen Ki che.
The aspec a io o he geome ies’ en elopes was adjus ed o one ano he , espec i ely
11KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
1 3
was done ia QGIS Vec o Bende (Dalang 2019) using
he h ee ma ching objec pai s highligh ed in Table1 as
well as Fig.7. In ou es case, only h ee con ol poin s
wi h su icien poin ing accu acy could be ound—such a
small numbe is qui e ypical o his o ical maps. Howe e ,
i a ailable, a la ge quan i y o con ol poin s is ad isable
Table 1 Nume ical esul s om In e sec ion o e Union be ween his o ical and cu en buildings’ geome ies
His o ical map
S . Ka ha inen
Ki che
S . Pe i
Ki che Ra haus
Cu en
da ase
S . Ka ha inen Ki che 83,9% 74,9% 45,0%
S . Pe i Ki che 79,3% 84,4% 43,1%
Ra haus47,5% 45,9% 58,5%
S . Jacobi Ki che 82,1% 80,2% 42,6%
Mahnmal S . Nikolaia54,0% 49,8% 26,1%
aThe S . Jacobi Ki che was no classi ied as public building by eCogni ion whe eas
he (Mahnmal) S . Nikolai was econs uc ed in ano he ci y dis ic a e being mainly
des oyed du ing Wo ld Wa II and lea ing only i s owe un il oday (Claussen n.d.).
a The S . Jacobi Ki che was no classi ied as public building by eCogni ion whe eas he (Mahnmal) S . Nikolai was econs uc ed in ano he ci y
dis ic a e being mainly des oyed du ing Wo ld Wa II and lea ing only i s owe un il oday (Claussen n.d.)
Fig. 7 Geo e e enced cu en buildings and oads based on he cen oids o he highligh ed S .-Ka ha inen-Ki che, S .-Pe i-Ki che, and Ra haus
18 KN - Jou nal o Ca og aphy and Geog aphic In o ma ion (2023) 73:3–18
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