Abstract. Space and time analyses of channel changes, especially within large rivers
subject to high levels of human impact, are critical to address multiple
questions about rivers in the Anthropocene era. The reconstruction of
long-term (> 150 year) evolutionary trajectories permits an
understanding of how natural and anthropogenic factors impact
hydromorphological and ecological processes in rivers, helps with the design
of sustainable management and restoration options, and may also help in the
assessment of future changes. However, the reconstruction of channel changes
can be challenging: historical data are often scattered across many
archives, and the quantity and accuracy of information generally decreases
as one goes back in time. This data article provides a historical database
of 350 cartographic and topo-bathymetric resources on the French Rhône
River (530 km in length) compiled from the 17th to mid-20th
century, with a temporal focus prior to extensive river training (1860s).
The data were collected in 14 national, regional, and departmental archive
services. A table describes the properties of each archived data item and
its associated iconographic files. Some of the historical maps are available
in a georeferenced format. A GIS layer enables one-click identification of
all archive data available for a given reach of the French Rhône River.
This database provides substantial new material for deeper analyses of
channel changes over a longer time period and at a finer time step compared
with previously available data. The database has several potential
applications in geomorphology, retrospective hydraulic modelling, historical
ecology, and river restoration, as well as permitting comparisons with other
multi-impacted rivers worldwide. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.922437 (Arnaud et al., 2020a). Iconographic extracts of the
350 archived items are available at http://photo.driihm.fr/index.php/category/52 (last access: 2 May 2021).
