A remote sensing-based survey of archaeological/heritage sites near Kandahar, Afghanistan through publicly available satellite imagery

Karaucak, Mehmet; Steiniger, Daniel; Boroffka, Nikolaus

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0259228

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 66 publications

(53 reference statements)

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“…The accuracy of the remote sensing method using LiDAR is improved through cross-validation of the archaeological features that are observed in different visualization maps and images produced by these different techniques. 23 In this study, a number of visualization tools were used to visually verify the terrain and archaeological evidence around the study area, Seseong Mountain Fortress. Through application of image filtering on the pixel values of an image, natural and artificial boundaries in the image were detected and inaccurate data were removed to improve clarity or the quality of raster image data, and more precise analysis could be achieved.…”

Section: ) Analysis Methods Using Aerial Lidar and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case Study of a Korean Archaeological Survey using LiDAR

Hyoung-Ki¹,

Oh²,

Cho³

2023

Int J Korean Hist

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Among the international community of archaeologists, a number of studies have been reported on applied LiDAR technique for archaeological research with findings of significant implications. However, there have been few reports on archaeological studies using LiDAR in South Korea. Although there were studies of reconstruction and restoration of damaged mountain fortress walls or past topographic features using aerial archeology, there have been no tangible research outcomes using LiDAR to date.</br>Archaeological research with LiDAR technology allows for the identification of the shapes of remains or relics located in remote places or in the middle of a deep forest. In particular, the advantage of LiDAR data that allows observation of specific objects such as buildings on the ground in a physical environment even in the presence of various shapes of natural and artificial obstacles is a useful feature that can be effectively exploited considering the topographical characteristics of South Korea where 75% of the nation’s land area is covered by mountains. When considering the topographical characteristics of South Korea, where 75% of the nation’s land area is covered by mountains, LiDAR can be of particular use since it allows for the observation of specific objects such as building on the ground in a physical environment, even in the presence of various natural and artificial obstacles.</br>However, remote sensing technologies including LiDAR have not been widely implemented in Korean archeological research. Remote sensing technology, which assures the scientific and objective basis of research, is still an unfamiliar field for many Korean archeologists.</br>With this background, we conducted a pilot study using LiDAR. Remote was performed by applying a range of image visualization techniques based on LiDAR data acquired from around the Seseong Mountain Fortress. Various filters for visualization were applied to the results of our analysis to verify the representation of a detailed expression of the natural topography or artificial objects.</br>In recent trends, remote sensing technology is actively applied in the global archaeological community through an integration with satellite imagery or AI technology. It is expected that the utilization of these technologies will enable archaeological surveys in remote and isolated areas such as the DMZ or North Korea.

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Section: ) Analysis Methods Using Aerial Lidar and Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case Study of a Korean Archaeological Survey using LiDAR

Hyoung-Ki¹,

Oh²,

Cho³

2023

Int J Korean Hist

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“…Examples of attempting to recover the past vitality of qanat and karez systems in service of neo-imperial objectives include Goes et al (2017), Himat and Dogan (2017), Macpherson et al (2017), Khan et al (2015), Taghavi-Jeloudar et al (2013). For the US application of remote sensing technology to karez/qanat systems in Afghanistan, and the use of other technologies and technology more generally by the US in Afghanistan since 2001, see Egitto (2013), Stinson et al (2016), Karaucak et al (2021), Tiwari (2020), and Peace and Kuzmarov (2022). See the Natural Resources section of Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit website (https:// areu.…”

Section: Militarizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water in Afghanistan: a modern history

Hanifi

2024

Water Hist

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This paper discusses water in Afghanistan from the late nineteenth century through the early twenty-first century. This broad chronology is periodized using the historical themes of colonialism, nationalism, international developmentalism, and global warfare. Modern hydraulic technology arrived in the domestic architecture of Kabuli state elites beginning in the 1860s and accelerating greatly in the 1890s. The first decades of the twentieth were marked by continuing developments regarding palatial hydrology (pools, fountains, etc.) and new forms of modern hydraulic engineering (piped water, dams and bridges) primarily in and around Kabul involving the Kabul river and its tributaries. The middle decades of the twentieth century involved substantial engagement of rivers throughout country under the various ideological and material regimes of international development sponsored by the US, USSR and a number of other global actors and sanctioned by local political elites who became increasingly dependent on the global system. The decades surrounding the year 2000 have been marked by intense and sustained overt and covert global warfare. The effects of war on the environment of Afghanistan from the perspective of Human Rights, particularly Afghan Peoples’ Rights to Water, constitute the final section of the paper.

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“…The application of remote sensing technologies has also proved to be an effective means of monitoring the condition of archaeological sites and monuments [9][10][11][12][13][14]. The approach has proved especially useful for areas afflicted by civil war and other forms of conflict that limit the opportunities for physical visits [15][16][17], and allows the generation of 'risk maps' for particular areas that permit heritage managers to identify those individual sites and even entire heritage landscapes that might be at greater risk from damage or destruction and thus plan appropriate intervention and management strategies. Remote sensing is also increasingly used to map and monitor the environmental setting of heritage sites, and thereby assess the levels of risk arising from such factors as the indirect consequences of urban expansion, changing hydrological regimes, and sea level rise and associated coastal erosion [18][19][20][21][22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Sensing for Biocultural Heritage Preservation in an African Semi-Arid Region: A Case Study of Indigenous Wells in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia

et al. 2022

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The region of Southern Ethiopia (Borana) and Northern Kenya (Marsabit) is characterised by erratic rainfall, limited surface water, aridity, and frequent droughts. An important adaptive response to these conditions, of uncertain antiquity, has been the hand-excavation of a sequence of deep wells at key locations often along seasonal riverbeds and valley bottoms where subterranean aquifers can be tapped. Sophisticated indigenous water management systems have developed to ensure equitable access to these critical water resources, and these are part of well-defined customary institutional leadership structures that govern the community giving rise to a distinctive form of biocultural heritage. These systems, and the wells themselves, are increasingly under threat, however, from climate change, demographic growth, and socio-economic development. To contribute to an assessment of the scale, distribution and intensity of these threats, this study aimed to evaluate the land-use land-cover (LULC) and precipitation changes in this semi-arid to arid landscape and their association with, and impact on, the preservation of traditional wells. Multitemporal Landsat 5, 7 and 8 satellite imagery covering the period 1990 to 2020, analysed at a temporal resolution of 10 years, was classified using supervised classification via the Random Forest machine learning method to extract the following classes: bare land, grassland, shrub land, open forest, closed forest, croplands, settlement and waterbodies. Change detection was then applied to identify and quantify changes through time and landscape degradation indices were generated using the Shannon Diversity Index fragmentation index within a 15 km buffer of each well cluster. The results indicated that land cover change was mostly driven by increasing anthropogenic changes with resultant reduction in natural land cover classes. Furthermore, increased fragmentation has occurred within most of the selected buffer distances of the well clusters. The main drivers of change that have directly or indirectly impacted land degradation and the preservation of indigenous water management systems were identified through an analysis of land cover changes in the last 30 years, supporting insights from previous focused group discussions with communities in Kenya and Ethiopia. Our approach showed that remote sensing methods can be used for the spatially explicit mapping of landscape structure around the wells, and ultimately towards assessment of the preservation status of the indigenous wells.

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A remote sensing-based survey of archaeological/heritage sites near Kandahar, Afghanistan through publicly available satellite imagery

Cited by 3 publications

References 66 publications

Case Study of a Korean Archaeological Survey using LiDAR

Case Study of a Korean Archaeological Survey using LiDAR

Water in Afghanistan: a modern history

Remote Sensing for Biocultural Heritage Preservation in an African Semi-Arid Region: A Case Study of Indigenous Wells in Northern Kenya and Southern Ethiopia

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