Alpine Atmospheres: Environmental Data in Spatial History

Luca Scholz (Lecturer in Digital Humanities, University of Manchester)

Image credit: Berghaus, Heinrich, Hann, Julius, and Koppen, Wladimir, Wetterkarten. Zugstrassen der Luftdruck Minima (1886)
Image credit: Berghaus, Heinrich, Hann, Julius, and Koppen, Wladimir, Wetterkarten. Zugstrassen der Luftdruck Minima (1886)

This project investigates an environment that is rarely seen on historical maps: the atmosphere. Recent years have witnessed renewed interest in the study of atmospheric phenomena across a range of humanities disciplines. Concurrently but separately, there has been an increased uptake of GIS and digital mapping as a method of historical research.

Drawing on a wide range of sources, including the University Manchester Library's important map collections, this project digitises and visualises historical environmental data in ways that overcome the separation of human and non-human influences, vary the scales of analysis, and represent weather as part of physical and political landscapes. With a particular focus on the history of severe weather in the Alpine region, the project thus aims to expand the remit of digital atmospheric mapping beyond the graphical repertoire of atmospheric science.