Meadow irrigation

Ph. D. project on meadow irrigation in the Freiburg valley

This is an excerpt of SCHELLBERG, S. (2005): Meadow irrigation in the federal state Baden-Württemberg. Portrayal of a nearly forgotten land use system.- In: Schriften der Deutschen Wasserhistorischen Gesellschaft, Sonderband 2: 123-131. For references please see full text (PDF 5,2 MB).

Meadow irrigation represents one of the many land use forms that have brought about substantial changes to the landscape. A Ph.D. study involving research into irrigated meadows found in the Freiburg valley between Freiburg and the Kaiserstuhl was initiated as part of the Graduate College’s ‘Formation and development of present day landscapes’ project at the Albert-Ludwigs University in Freiburg. For the first time meadow irrigation is analysed from a wider perspective. Apart from the changes that have affected water bodies and the landscape, the research also focuses on the social conditions and regional interconnections.

New approaches will be integrated into the applied historical landscape analysis, as described by Schwineköper (SCHWINEKÖPER 1997, 2000). One new aspect is the use of laser scanned data, which will be added to a geographic information system (GIS). Additionally, the results of the historical analysis will be discussed in the context of findings contained within the existing literature and social research.

To identify the changes to the cultural landscape, historical and current maps and aerial photographs will be compared. The results will be stored in a geographic information system and supplemented by laser scanned data. Laser scanners are optical measuring systems carried on board airplanes. They measure the signals emitted the laser’s sensor and then reflected back by the earth’s surface. Direct measurements make possible the creation of three dimensional digital terrain models (DTM), once the collected data is digitised. The suitability of laser scanned data to detect data about historical landscape structures was successfully tested in a research project conducted by the Institute of Landscape Management of the Albert-Ludwigs-University in Freiburg (SITTLER 2004). The extent to which the laser scanned data available can contribute to the historical analysis of landscapes characterised by irrigated meadows is currently being examined. The historical relics of irrigation systems have been recorded. The data collection methodology presented by Thiem will be modified and applied (cf. THIEM 2004). The information will also be saved into the GIS. Historical records will help to fill information gaps and clarify uncertainties.

In addition to the reconstruction of the changes caused by meadow irrigation, the analysis of historical records will also emphasise the region’s social and political framework. The locations of the irrigated meadows between Freiburg and the Kaiserstuhl will be of particular interest because they served as a link between the two areas in many respects.

A qualitative content analysis of available publications pertaining to meadow irrigation will be carried out in order to ascertain the overall conditions. For this purpose, the articles contained within the weekly Baden agricultural news will be analysed, and the results combined with the information on the development of meadow irrigation in the research area.

Based on the derived knowledge of the past, recommendations for the future management of the old systems of meadow irrigation will be made.

April 2004 - April 2007

Stipendium der DFG

Sabine Schellberg

Prof. Werner Konold