cartographic and textual documents which fulfill the different criteria for potential
quantitative analysis. Many documents drawn by river engineers present the original
state of the river, prior to their planned works, as well as the future situation after the
recalibration (rectification, dredging, dikes and levee construction): this data set can
therefore be used to approach the natural conditions of the river channel of orders
5–7, which were not yet greatly affected by human activities (see Sect. 2). The 1910
flood which damaged Paris resulted in an exceptional depository of these documents
in the national archives.
The Seine River basin is covered by a great variety of maps (Fig. 3), in terms of
spatial coverage, from local to basin-wide (65,000 km
2 ) spatial scales, extending
over the last 200 years. In addition to the set of maps and drawings made by the
Ponts et Chaussées engineers, one also finds the fine-scale land registry established
for taxation purposes, such as the land registry supervised by Bertier [44], the
Napoleonic Land Registry [45], or the Etat-Major Map (1/50,000) drawn by the
War Ministry (1840–1860s).
Navigation charts give numerous details on the river channels. The first ones were
drawn from 1731 to 1766 by Philippe Buache (1700–1773), considered as the first
French geographer [46] (see Fig. 4c). They illustrate the many navigation difficulties
(shoals, rocks) encountered on the Lower Seine reach, before the implementation of
the first river management structures [42, 47]. The 19th July 1837 Law for navigation improvement on the Seine led to the drawing of the Seine River by Ponts et
Chaussées engineers and the construction of the first set of six locks on the Seine
River. Another set of charts was made between 1886 and 1899 by Raoul Vuillaume,
the director of a new magazine dedicated to recreational navigation, Le Yacht (see
Fig. 4e). These charts will be continued by institutions in charge of the navigation as
the Seine Navigation Service (SNS, today Voies Navigables de France, VNF) and
published by the IGN after the Second World War.
Around 2000 a major break in map production was observed stemming from the
new GIS technology and its related on-line geo-referenced multiple data layers and
the digitalised historic aerial photographic sets, which acquisition started before
WWII. Finally, LIDAR coverage is now widely used to check the validity and
accuracy of maps.
3.2 General Use of Maps to Document River Environmental
Changes
Cartographic fluvial elements are very diverse (Table 1). Figure 4a–e presents a
selection of these elements from maps of various origins and periods. Each of them
provides specific information on the state of the river system at a given period and its
potential changes in hydro-morphology, ecology, hydrology, aquatic resources, river
uses and bio(geo)-chemical functioning. It is noteworthy that this state is the result of
40
L. Lestel et al.
quantitative analysis. Many documents drawn by river engineers present the original
state of the river, prior to their planned works, as well as the future situation after the
recalibration (rectification, dredging, dikes and levee construction): this data set can
therefore be used to approach the natural conditions of the river channel of orders
5–7, which were not yet greatly affected by human activities (see Sect. 2). The 1910
flood which damaged Paris resulted in an exceptional depository of these documents
in the national archives.
The Seine River basin is covered by a great variety of maps (Fig. 3), in terms of
spatial coverage, from local to basin-wide (65,000 km
2 ) spatial scales, extending
over the last 200 years. In addition to the set of maps and drawings made by the
Ponts et Chaussées engineers, one also finds the fine-scale land registry established
for taxation purposes, such as the land registry supervised by Bertier [44], the
Napoleonic Land Registry [45], or the Etat-Major Map (1/50,000) drawn by the
War Ministry (1840–1860s).
Navigation charts give numerous details on the river channels. The first ones were
drawn from 1731 to 1766 by Philippe Buache (1700–1773), considered as the first
French geographer [46] (see Fig. 4c). They illustrate the many navigation difficulties
(shoals, rocks) encountered on the Lower Seine reach, before the implementation of
the first river management structures [42, 47]. The 19th July 1837 Law for navigation improvement on the Seine led to the drawing of the Seine River by Ponts et
Chaussées engineers and the construction of the first set of six locks on the Seine
River. Another set of charts was made between 1886 and 1899 by Raoul Vuillaume,
the director of a new magazine dedicated to recreational navigation, Le Yacht (see
Fig. 4e). These charts will be continued by institutions in charge of the navigation as
the Seine Navigation Service (SNS, today Voies Navigables de France, VNF) and
published by the IGN after the Second World War.
Around 2000 a major break in map production was observed stemming from the
new GIS technology and its related on-line geo-referenced multiple data layers and
the digitalised historic aerial photographic sets, which acquisition started before
WWII. Finally, LIDAR coverage is now widely used to check the validity and
accuracy of maps.
3.2 General Use of Maps to Document River Environmental
Changes
Cartographic fluvial elements are very diverse (Table 1). Figure 4a–e presents a
selection of these elements from maps of various origins and periods. Each of them
provides specific information on the state of the river system at a given period and its
potential changes in hydro-morphology, ecology, hydrology, aquatic resources, river
uses and bio(geo)-chemical functioning. It is noteworthy that this state is the result of
40
L. Lestel et al.