Redistribution of the map: open and closed landscapes in Northern Belgium on the Ferraris map (1771-1778)

The map of open and closed landscapes was created in cooperation with the Heritage Agency, by applying following processing steps: Detection of hedgerows and rows of trees using AI (Orthoseg) based on over 800 drawn training sets for the recognition of hedgerows on rows of trees (256x256m). Result: polygon layer showing the location of hedgerows and rows of trees at the time of Ferraris. Converting polygons into lines. Result: vector layer showing the location of hedgerows and rows of trees, displayed as lines. Calculation of line density. Result: density patches in a raster layer. Threshold value of 7.5 km/km² as a distinguishing threshold between open and closed landscapes. Forests and orchards added as a land use category, because together with hedgerows and tree lines, they determine the openness or closedness of the landscape. Result: a map layer with 7 categories: concentrations of hedgerows (=bocage), concentrations of tree lines (=coulisses), forest, orchard, open landscape, water, and built-up areas. Purpose of creation: Suitable for landscape research, landscape ecology, and studies on landscape perception, as well as for selecting appropriate locations for the (re)planting of hedgerows and tree rows based on cultural-historical patterns. In this context, it is advised to use the manual by Bastiaens & Verboven (2024), mentioned in the references section.