Mapping Archaeological Landscapes from Space

A Primer in Space Archaeology: In Observance of the 40th Anniversary of the World Heritage Convention in the Springerbriefs Archaeological Heritage Management series, familiarizes archaeologists with the basic principles and applications of what have become the most useful aerial and satellite remote sensing technologies. Researchers and practicing archaeologists will gain a sense of what is possible by the use of these technologies, and why and how they should be used. Contributors to this volume have been active in developing key technologies and have been among those most successful in applying them. Leading experts from NASA and many who have been involved in the NASA Space Archaeology program concisely describe what needs to be understood to utilize images produced from data collected by the most important airborne and satellite sensing devices. §Exemplary applications of these technologies are presented in brief by archaeologists who have made notable discoveries using them, or have contributed to archaeological resource preservation. Among the technologies examined are those that are undergoing rapid refinement and will be carried by an increasing number of aerial and satellite platforms, such as synthetic aperture radar (SAR), LiDAR, and multispectral/hyperspectral sensors, as well as older, optical space technologies now made more useful by the availability of increasingly sophisticated computer hardware and software. Of particular importance is the ability to model how development in and around archaeological sites and landscapes can damage or destroy archaeological materials.§Nurturing the development and application of space and aerial technologies in archaeology is therefore a matter of the greatest urgency, an appropriate goal to adopt by governments and universities at the 40th anniversary of the World Heritage Convention.