GlobalSeaRoutesA Historical GeodatabaseGuido Abbattista Project and historical analysis Andrea Favretto Geodatabase and digital mapping Giulia Iannuzzi Research and data entry Department of Humanities – University of Trieste (Italy)
“The temporal dimension of world connectedness,
or: how long did it take to travel by sea
to several overseas destinations and how did that change
over the four centuries of the modern era?”
GlobalSeaRoutes (GSR) is a relational geospatial database aimed at the study of sea routes on a global scale in the modern and contemporary ages, in order to understand how the degree of world interconnectedness from the standpoint of maritime journey times evolved over four centuries (1500-1914). Project launch: January 2019. Expected publication online: October-November 2020. GSR is • a relational database with a spatial component (Geodatabase) • a scientific cooperation between the University of Trieste and the Italian Navy Hydrographic Institute, with the participation of Marco Pierozzi GSR objectives: • to analyse and represent sea connections • to understand globalisation as a function of overseas expansion and the connected voyages, explorations and transportations from the late-15th century to the beginning of the 20th century • collecting data from printed travel accounts and manuscript ship logbooks • building relational online database to be accessed on the Web Software used for the database: PostgreSQL, PgAdmin, PostGIS, QGIS Experimental data visualization: Tableau, Nodegoat, Leaflet, D3.js Excerpt from the
circumnavigation of the Novara (1857-59)
Ongoing developments • debug of the database structure • data entry • web application Web application • enables final users to obtain comparative synoptic visualisations, e.g. dynamic maps and comparative quantitative tabulations, designing routes according to specific research interests and needs • search options based on series of variables, such as: - time periods - geographical areas and relations - vessels nationality and purpose of the voyages - technical characteristics of vessels and propulsion systems - navigation techniques, relating to nautical, astronomical and cartographical knowledge and skills Sample spatial queries: - Routes by ship - Routes by destination (Europe to Cape Horn) Background 1 - Routes by destination (Europe to Cape Horn) Background 2 Sample query by attribute - Navigation tools Awards (2018-19) Financial support of the Foreman-Casali Foundation; one-year research grant in «Social Sciences and Humanities» from the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region; scientific patronage of the Italian Cartographic Association CONTACT: Guido Abbattista: gabbattista@units.it, (+39) 040 558 7501 Andrea Favretto: afavretto@units.it, (+39) 040 558 3641 Giulia Iannuzzi: giannuzzi@units.it, (+39) 040 558 2826 Background image: Hendrik Hondius, Nova totius Terrarum Orbis geographica ac hydrographica tabula, 1630, detail. Copy at the State Library of New South Wales via Wikimedia Commons. |