The Results of Digitizing Historical Maps: Comparison of Lithuanian Land-Use Structure in the 19th and 21st Centuries

Studies of long-term land-use changes can reveal significant results about land use in the past and lead to the main causes of these changes being revealed. We georeferenced 27 selected sheets from 1846–1872 topographical maps of the Russian Empire, covering the territory of the modern Republic of Lithuania. The georeferencing was based on using ground control points. We discuss the overall insignificant errors obtained from joining the georeferenced sheets of this historical map. Manual digitizing (vectorizing) was preferred over automated means because of the specifications of the map. All the data were merged into five land-use categories: (1) forests; (2) wetlands; (3) built-up areas; (4) water bodies; and (5) other (mostly including arable land, grassland, and pastures). The reconstructed land-use structure of the 19th century was assessed for its compatibility with the spatial data of the CORINE land cover in 2018. The results showed that forest land use increased from 26.57% to 33.52%, built-up areas increased from 4.35% to 3.23%, and water bodies increased from 2.24% to 5.78%. Meanwhile, wetlands decreased from 4.35% to 0.84%, and other land use decreased from 66.56% to 56.63%. The main LULC change trends were determined to have resulted from political and economic decisions. The reconstructed LULC situation and identified LULC changes can provide the background for land management and future studies in various academic fields.