MAPPING SOUTH CAROLINAS HISTORIC RICE FIELDS: LEARNING FROM THE PAST TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE

The historic rice fields of South Carolina are a vital facet of the state's colonial past and represent an integral part of the state's ecological and hydrological present and future. These sprawling earthworks remain dotted across the South Carolina Lowcountry and present an essential opportunity for multidisciplinary research into the longstanding effects and the potential futures of these resources. Furthermore, these landforms, by their very nature and position in the landscape, can be used to engage the interest of stakeholders and begin to develop a plan for the future of the critical natural and cultural resources related to them.

This project will build upon historical research and maps, as well as previous LiDAR mapping research of South Carolina rice fields, but with the addition of newer analysis techniques and technologies. The full implementation of ESRI’s constantly improving deep learning and classification technologies within ArcGIS Pro will allow the creation of the most complete and temporally accurate rice field maps to date and in a fraction of the time of conventional “hands-on” methods. This combination of GIS computing and new high-resolution LiDAR data in the prospection and mapping of South Carolina's historic rice fields will not only help researchers to understand the physical and socio-political landscape of the antebellum south but will also inform on the lasting cultural, ecological, and hydrological effects on the coastal environments in which they reside. Additionally, integrating these technologies into the research of the state's rice fields will inform on these resources' conservation and preservation needs, how best to address these needs, and in what order.