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NASA Remote Sensing Research as Applied to ArchaeologyThe use of remotely sensed images is not new to archaeology. Ever since balloons and airplanes first flew cameras over archaeological sites, researchers have taken advantage of the elevated observation platforms to understand sites better. When viewed from above, crop marks, soil anomalies and buried features revealed new information that was not readily visible from ground level. Since 1974 and initially under the leadership of Dr. Tom Sever, NASA's Stennis Space Center, located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, pioneered and expanded the application of remote sensing to archaeological topics, including cultural resource management. Building on remote sensing activities initiated by the National Park Service, archaeologists increasingly used this technology to study the past in greater depth. By the early 1980s, there were sufficient accomplishments in the application of remote sensing to anthropology and archaeology that a chapter on the subject was included in fundamental remote sensing references. Remote sensing technology and image analysis are currently undergoing a profound shift in emphasis from broad classification to detection, identification and condition of specific materials, both organic and inorganic. In the last few years, remote sensing platforms have grown increasingly capable and sophisticated. Sensors currently in use, or nearing deployment, offer significantly finer spatial and spectral resolutions than were previously available. Paired with new techniques of image analysis, this technology may make the direct detection of archaeological sites a realistic goal.
Document ID
20040074210
Acquisition Source
Stennis Space Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Giardino, Marco J.
(NASA Stennis Space Center Stennis Space Center, MS, United States)
Thomas, Michael R.
(NASA Stennis Space Center Stennis Space Center, MS, United States)
Date Acquired
September 7, 2013
Publication Date
March 27, 2002
Subject Category
Earth Resources And Remote Sensing
Report/Patent Number
SE-2002-03-00031-SSC
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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