Remote sensing investigation of the Buddhist archaeological landscape around Sannati, India

Gupta, Ekta; Rajani, Mandyam B; Menon, Srikumar M

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2019.04.009

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For example, Malinverni et al [23] exploited stereo-pair processing of panchromatic and multispectral Pleiadés acquisitions with resolution of 0.5 and 2 m, respectively, to produce the first detailed topographic documentation of Khinis in Iraqi Kurdistan. Gupta et al [24], instead, used a 5 m grid spacing DEM generated from Cartosat-1 stereo pairs to locate archaeological mounds in the surroundings of the Buddhist site of Sannati in India and traced their elevation profiles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The assumption that DEM of better spatial resolution and posting can allow a better visualization of mounds finds contrasting evidence across the literature, and its validity may also depend on data (post-)processing. For example, Gupta et al [24] found that features with diameters approximately greater than 100 m can be visualized in the DEM, while smaller mounds were visualized in the 3D anaglyphs produced from the input images. Furthermore, spatial resolution is a trade-off with other parameters, e.g., spatial coverage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Regional-Scale Systematic Mapping of Archaeological Mounds and Detection of Looting Using COSMO-SkyMed High Resolution DEM and Satellite Imagery

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“Tells” are archaeological mounds formed by deposition of large amounts of anthropogenic material and sediments over thousands of years and are the most important and prominent features in Near and Middle Eastern archaeological landscapes. In the last decade, archaeologists have exploited free-access global digital elevation model (DEM) datasets at medium resolution (i.e., up to 30 m) to map tells on a supra-regional scale and pinpoint tentative tell sites. Instead, the potential of satellite DEMs at higher resolution for this task was yet to be demonstrated. To this purpose, the 3 m resolution imaging capability allowed by the Italian Space Agency’s COSMO-SkyMed Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) constellation in StripMap HIMAGE mode was used in this study to generate DEM products of enhanced resolution to undertake, for the first time, a systematic mapping of tells and archaeological deposits. The demonstration is run at regional scale in the Governorate of Wasit in central Iraq, where the literature suggested a high density of sites, despite knowledge gaps about their location and spatial distribution. Accuracy assessment of the COSMO-SkyMed DEM is provided with respect to the most commonly used SRTM and ALOS World 3D DEMs. Owing to the 10 m posting and the consequent enhanced observation capability, the COSMO-SkyMed DEM proves capable to detect both well preserved and levelled or disturbed tells, standing out for more than 4 m from the surrounding landscape. Through the integration with CORONA KH-4B tiles, 1950s Soviet maps and recent Sentinel-2 multispectral images, the expert-led visual identification and manual mapping in the GIS environment led to localization of tens of sites that were not previously mapped, alongside the computation of a figure as up-to-date as February 2019 of the survived tells, with those affected by looting. Finally, this evidence is used to recognize hot-spot areas of potential concern for the conservation of tells. To this purpose, we upgraded the spatial resolution of the observations up to 1 m by using the Enhanced Spotlight mode to collect a bespoke time series. The change detection tests undertaken on selected clusters of disturbed tells prove how a dedicated monitoring activity may allow a regular observation of the impacts due to anthropogenic disturbance (e.g., road and canal constructions or ploughing).

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional-Scale Systematic Mapping of Archaeological Mounds and Detection of Looting Using COSMO-SkyMed High Resolution DEM and Satellite Imagery

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Equally meager are the landscape studies exploiting DEMs produced from high resolution multispectral imagery via stereo-photogrammetry. The study by Gupta et al [18] is the first where DEM and 3D anaglyphs produced from the Indian Remote Sensing satellite known as CartoSat-1 (or IRS-P5) were tested to identify buried sites and archaeological mounds. However, this study stands alone in the literature, whereas much more research is needed to fully unveil the potential of the CartoSat-1 DSM for landscape studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detection, Morphometric Analysis and Digital Surveying of Archaeological Mounds in Southern Iraq with CartoSat-1 and COSMO-SkyMed DEMs

Tapete

Cigna

2022

Land

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In Near and Middle Eastern archaeology, satellite-derived digital elevation models (DEM) of medium spatial resolution (≥30 m) are mostly used to locate and map archaeological mounds (namely ‘tells’), whereas high resolution DEMs (≤10 m) are still poorly exploited. To fill this gap, the 5 m resolution CartoSat-1 Euro-Maps 3D Digital Surface Model (DSM) is assessed vs. the 30 m Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) global DEM, the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) World 3D–30 m (AW3D30) and a 10 m COSMO-SkyMed DEM, on a test area in Wasit, southern Iraq, where the high density of tells is yet to be exhaustively documented. A total of 344 sites was mapped, with one order of magnitude improvement compared to previous mapping exercises, existing databases and historical maps. The morphometric analysis not only highlights the reliability of CartoSat-1 DSM height and volume estimates, but also suggests that, in the test area, the volume of a tell can robustly be calculated based on the simple knowledge of its basal area, following a quadratic function. Morphology and elevation of at least 53% irregularly shaped tells were impacted by anthropogenic disturbances. Morphometric indices (e.g., Topographic Position Index, DEViation from mean elevation) are a viable automated method to ease tells detection. When integrated with other satellite datasets (e.g., CORONA, Google Earth, Sentinel-2 imagery), the CartoSat-1 DSM can unveil morphological changes and support condition assessment. In Wasit, agriculture and modern development are among the major threats for tells preservation, alongside looting.

show abstract

Late Holocene morphodynamic evolution of Thamirabarani delta and Thoothukudi tombolo in South India: insights from integrated analysis of early cartographic documents and satellite images

Gupta

Rajani

2023

J Coast Conserv

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Remote sensing investigation of the Buddhist archaeological landscape around Sannati, India

Cited by 3 publications

References 8 publications

Regional-Scale Systematic Mapping of Archaeological Mounds and Detection of Looting Using COSMO-SkyMed High Resolution DEM and Satellite Imagery

Regional-Scale Systematic Mapping of Archaeological Mounds and Detection of Looting Using COSMO-SkyMed High Resolution DEM and Satellite Imagery

Detection, Morphometric Analysis and Digital Surveying of Archaeological Mounds in Southern Iraq with CartoSat-1 and COSMO-SkyMed DEMs

Late Holocene morphodynamic evolution of Thamirabarani delta and Thoothukudi tombolo in South India: insights from integrated analysis of early cartographic documents and satellite images

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About