The Dynamics of Borders, Transportation Networks and Migration in the Historical Region of Macedonia (14th–16th Century), in: Proceedings of the Conference “Das europäische Mittelalter im Geflecht der Welt. Integrative und desintegrative Effekte von Migrationen”, Berlin [in press]
By combining the dynamics of borders, of road networks, of cross-border societies and of waterways, we possess the... more
By combining the dynamics of borders, of road networks, of cross-border societies and of waterways, we possess the means to reconstruct one specific part of the medieval landscape of the historical region of Macedonia in the 14th century. It has been clearly shown that a thorough analysis of published Byzantine and Old Slavonic charters is able to shed new light on several aspects of border and migration. Although these sources were published a long time ago, they have only been evaluated to a certain extent so far. Thus, it will be necessary and fruitful to expand the herein presented sample with the aim to obtain an overall picture of the whole respective space. Of vital importance is the analysis of additional border zones between the Serbian medieval state and the Byzantine Empire (i.e. the surroundings of Skopje and of Prilep) on the basis of the written sources, the reconstruction of their settlement patterns and the animated visualisation of the development as well as of the degradation of the settlements themselves.
A further field of research, which is closely connected to the shifting borders and which I will also address in the near future, is the change of ruling elites in the above-mentioned border zones. We witness a flight of Byzantine noblemen and landowners from their landed properties in the wake of the expansion of the Serbian medieval state and a redistribution of abandoned land and of privileges to Serbian noblemen by the Serbian rulers. But that is another story which still remains to be written.
together with P. SOUSTAL, Mapping ‘Macedonia’s Five Most Excellent Cities’ – What do Byzantine Studies, Austrian Cartography from the 1830s and GIS have in Common?, in: Proceedings of the 25th International Cartographic Conference, Paris, 3 - 8 July 2011, CO-426 [published as pdf within the Proceedings of the Conference on USB stick]
The achieved results illustrate that Byzantine Studies, historical geography, Austrian cartography from the 1830s and... more
The achieved results illustrate that Byzantine Studies, historical geography, Austrian cartography from the 1830s and GIS can successfully be combined with the aim to reconstruct mediaeval space and place in the historical region of Macedonia. Two main obstacles arose in the wake of this paper’s development: The first enlightened that a time-consuming approach is needed in order to prepare a relatively small amount of information for GIS-application. The second issue addresses the fact that it is still very difficult for the authors as historians to inspire GIS-technicians to involve themselves in such case studies.
Despite the above-mentioned obstacles, the authors will continue their scientific work on all four valuable maps in detail and try to find further examples of similar maps from the same period to create a variety of case studies and to enrich the spectrum of this hitherto neglected interdisciplinary approach.
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Download (.pdf) together with J. J. JUBANSKI, On the Function of “Least-Cost Path” Calculations within the Project Tabula Imperii Byzantini (TIB) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences: a Case Study on the Route Melnik-Zlatolist (Bulgaria), in: Anzeiger der philosophisch-historischen Klasse der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 145. Jahrgang / 2. Halbband (2010) 55-87.
The combination of all aspects of this study enables us to draw the following conclusions. Above all, the calculated... more
The combination of all aspects of this study enables us to draw the following conclusions. Above all, the calculated “least-cost path” confirms the usefulness of the historically attested route between Melnik and Zlatolist. It shows without doubt that the easiest and most direct way between these two points went and still goes via the pass Goljam Ključ. This again means that mediaeval men were well aware of the nature of the topographical conditions in the surrounding area of Melnik and of their own capabilities.
Still, there are some aspects to be discussed and explained on the basis of the presented model. The fact that the cumulative cost of the cliffy area to the south of the high ground Sveti Nikola was set to infinity within the model reflects the reality of today’s topography. Neither is it possible to descend from the high ground Sveti Nikola directly to the south nor to cross through a valley to the south of the high ground from west to east, because it is totally blocked by erosion. Both alternatives of passage can be excluded on the basis of field research conducted in 2007 as well as 2010.
If we take a look at the first part of the route between Melnik and the Pass (cf. fig. 31), we realise a slight difference between the existing route (in turquoise) and the calculated “least-cost path” (in yellow). This difference (about 100 m) can be explained on the one hand by the SRTM data resolution (90 m) and its altimetric precision (about 10 m). Additional (but cost-intensive) data gained on the basis of Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR), airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and TerraSAR-X would help to enhance the existing model. On the other hand we do see that the “least-cost path” tends to follow either the feet or the ridges of the sandstone cliffs (both marked with pink rectangles in fig. 34), which would indeed be the ideal way from the viewpoint of computer based calculations, but at this point does neither take into account the geological preconditions on a micro-level, which cannot be reflected by the SRTM data resolution, nor the difficulties as well as the effort needed to pass through the dense vegetation cover in these zones.
In the second part of the route between the Pass and Zlatolist the most remarkable difference between the existing route (in turquoise) and the calculated “least-cost path” (in yellow) can be discerned immediately to the south of the Pass (Goljam Ključ) (marked with pink rectangles in fig. 35). Field research revealed that the computer based calculations prefer a direct way, leading south through a hollow, which could be used by a human being with difficulty, but not by pack-animals due to the slope and the dense vegetation cover. That is why the existing route leads slightly to the east and then turns south in order to neutralise the slope in this zone. Finally, we recognise a marginal difference between both routes in the grass-grown valley towards Zlatolist, which can be ignored completely, because the terrain is flat and allows smooth movement in the middle of the valley as well as on its edges at the feet of the sandstone cliffs.
To sum up, it has to be stressed that this article presents a pioneer work, not only within the project “Macedonia, northern part” (Mihailo Popović, TIB 16) , but also within the overall project TIB of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, both under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Johannes Koder, as well as within the field of Byzantine Studies. It breaks new scientific ground by combining for the first time data on the historical geography of the Byzantine Empire, deriving from written sources and archaeology, with unpublished, i.e. unknown, archive material from the 19th century preserved in Viennese archives as well as applications of GPS and GIS (“least-cost path”).
This case study on the route Melnik-Zlatolist reveals the continuity of transportation on a micro-level through mediaeval and modern times by applying the means of replication within a “least-cost path” model. It proves that the framework of the historically attested and today still existing route established by men matches for the most part the computer based calculations via GIS. The usefulness of the utilised method will be repeated on selected case studies from the historical region of Macedonia in the near future in order to enrich the scientific research of the TIB.
ACCESSIM: modélisation et simulation d'accessibilité et d'inégalités géographiques dans la ville
Co-authored with Matthieu Delâge, Florent Le Néchet, Hélène Mathian and Sébastien Rey-Coyrehourcq
Presented at Festival International de Géographie de Saint-Dié des Vosges, 2008
2nd price at the Geovisulation Contest of the Festival International de Géographie de Saint-Dié des Vosges 2008
Modelling urban sprawl scenarios to support regional land-use planning and management
Book of Abstracts - 4th Meeting of Young Researchers of Univ. Porto
Towards the Use of Cr-Rules and Semantic Contents In ASP for Planning In GIS
by David Sol
David Sol davidr.sol@gmail.com
Claudia Zepeda czepedac@gmail.com
The paper proposes the integration of CR-prolog and se-
mantic contents in ASP to add planning capabilities to a... more
The paper proposes the integration of CR-prolog and se-
mantic contents in ASP to add planning capabilities to a Geographical Information System. Nowadays, cr-rules are used to restore the consistency of a program giving the diagnosis of possible causes of failure in a plan. However, in this paper we propose to use cr-rules to obtain an alternative plan in case of the ideal plan fails, i.e., we give an additional use for cr-rules. In particular, we show the use of cr-rules in a situation related to the risk zone of volcano Popocatepetl. We show an example about how we can obtain alternative evacuation routes, using cr-rules.
Keywords: Answer sets, GIS, Planning.
Modeling Evacuation Planning Using A-Prolog
by David Sol
David Sol davidr.sol@gmail.com
Claudia Zepeda czepedac@gmail.com
In this work, we present current results of our research which goal is to develop a decision support system (DSS) as... more In this work, we present current results of our research which goal is to develop a decision support system (DSS) as an extension of a Geographical Information System (GIS) to model evacuation plans. It is presented why an A-Prolog approach seems to be appropriated to explore in order to add planning operation as an extension of a GIS. In order to achieve our objective, first it is model the disaster scenario. The disaster scenario should be described as close as possible to the real problem. We define an action language to model and give solution to evacuation plans, named ALEP. Syntax and semantics of ALEP are presented. Finally, we plan to test the expressiveness of ALEP language defining a DSS to model evacuation plans.
Natural Hazards in the Popocatepetl Volcano Zone, Mexico
by David Sol
David Sol davidr.sol@gmail.com
Antonio Razo antrazo@gmail.com
Volcanoes are a very important component in the geological description of the earth. A volcano can modify the... more Volcanoes are a very important component in the geological description of the earth. A volcano can modify the geographical description where it is localized when an event arrives. An important activity is the observation of volcanic events to make predictions and to reduce the impact hazard (eruption, volcanic ash) on the population. Around the Popocatepetl volcano there are about 200,000 persons in several towns. The volcano events can be identified and placed on a map to help make a decision. A first work has been developed with old cartography of the zone. A first prototype has been built, and now it is used to develop an application with a geographical database. The work is made in collaboration with the Plan Popocatepetl Office from the Puebla government and CENAPRED (Centro Nacional de Prevencion de Desastres) in Mexico City. Some tools are developed to place the application in a network context. The application will be a tool to help the decision makers to protect the population.
Applications of Preferences using Answer Set Programming
by David Sol
David Sol davidr.sol@gmail.com
Claudia Zepeda czepedac@gmail.com
Preferences are useful when the space of feasible solutions of a given problem is dense but not all these solutions... more
Preferences are useful when the space of feasible solutions of a given problem is dense but not all these solutions are equivalent w.r.t. some additional requirements. In this case, the goal is to find feasible solutions that most satisfy these additional requirements. In order to represent preferences, in this paper we
use an extension of ordered disjunction programs. Ordered disjunction is an approach based on answer sets that allows us to represent alternative, ranked options for a problem. Moreover, we give a brief overview of two real applications of extended ordered programs in two different domains. The first one is in planning: evacuation planning. The second one is in argumentation: organ transplantation. In particular, we show the role of negated negative literals in extended ordered programs to obtain the preferred solution of each application