Very High Resolution Satellite Data in Archaeology and Paleaoenvironmental Studies

The importance of applying space technology to archaeological research has been paid great attention worldwide, mainly because nowadays the spatial capability of Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite data is comparable with aerial photogrammetric images. For the last century, aerial photos have been the most common remote sensing data source used in the field of archaeological investigations. The low spatial resolution of early satellite sensors, such as Landsat Temathic Mapper (30 m) or Spot (10 m), did not provide sufficient precision for the identification and inspection of archaeological sites. This restricted the application of satellite data to human ecology, landscape archaeology (Sheets and Sever, 1988; Clark et al. 1998, Sever , 1998) and paleao-geographic studies (Parry, 1992, Drake, 1997, White and Asmar 1999).

In the last decade, the increasing development of ground, aerial and space remote sensing techniques and the tremendous advancement of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have focused a great interest on the use of satellite imagery in archaeology and paleaoenvironmatal studies. In particular, the improved spatial and spectral capability of active and passive sensors has opened a new challenging prospective for the use of remote sensing technologies not only for the investigation, but also for the management and valorisation as well as for the monitoring and preservation of cultural resources.

The availability of Very High resolution (VHR) of multispectral satellite images, such as (i) IKONOS (1999) with panchromatic at 1 m, and multispectral at 4m, (ii) QuickBird (2001) with panchromatic at 0.6m and multispectral at 2.4, and (iii) Worldview (launched in the late 2007) panchromatic at 0.5m, offers improved capability in locating potential buried archaeological sites.

Moreover, the launch of WorldView-2 (anticipated October 2009) will provide imagery with a spatial resolution of 46 cm (panchromatic) and 1.84 m (multispectral -Blue, Green, Red & Near-Infrared). Beside the four standard bands the WorldView-2 imagery will also contain 4 additional colours (red edge, coastal, yellow and near-IR2).

The application satellite remote sensing techniques has significant potentiality for archaeological research and paleao-environmetal studies in different applications (i) detection, identification and mapping of new archaeological features (such as sites, road segments, and field patterns), (ii) reconstruction of ancient landscape, (iii) documentation, management and valorization of cultural heritage, (iv) monitoring of natural risks (such as landslide, fire, earthquake, flood) for cultural heritage. Examples of investigation focused on points (i) to (iv) will be presented in discussed in detail for several archaeological areas in South America (Tiwanaku -Bolivia, Nasca Perù;), Italy and Turkey.