Toward a High-Definition Remote Sensing Approach to the Study of Deserted Medieval Cities in the Near East

Abstract

The variability of currently available remote sensing datasets raises the question of which specific processing methods should be used for feature detection and feature extraction in both large and small-scale overhead images. In some cases, particular analyses allow us to carry out feature detection much more easily and effectively. The high-definition approach enables enhanced analysis of remote sensing data using all the spectral and graphical potential of multi-temporal ordered components. The deserted urban site of Kona Makhmūr, Iraqi Kurdistan, is taken as a case study to demonstrate this fine-grained approach. The analysis described in this paper is based on the complementary use of a variety of overlayed imagery, augmented by data from terrestrial surveys. The resulting map substantially enhances our knowledge of the built environment and the economic and environmental conditions of this early Islamic-period site. Spectral analysis of raster images allowed us to detect the real shapes of features, and with the addition of digital elevation model (DEM) (created via unmanned aerial system (UAV)) we were also able to interpret the state of preservation of the overground relics and the diachronic dynamics of their degradation.

A reconstruction of the occupation layer of archaeological sites according to a statistical analysis of multispectral imaging

“…Principal component analysis (PCA) (Abate et al, 2020; Starkova, 2020) was used to determine the most informative multispectral images. In some cases, images of the principal components are used along with vegetation indices.…”

Drones over the “Black Desert”: The Advantages of Rotary-Wing UAVs for Complementing Archaeological Fieldwork in the Hard-to-Access Landscapes of Preservation of North-Eastern Jordan

“…The benefits of the drone-derived data are even more apparent when one examines the created DEMs. On a basic level, specific features of sites that were difficult or impossible to detect on either real-world imagery or on the ground became clearly apparent on the DEM, as has been recognised for several archaeological landscapes across the Near East, e.g., [37]. For example, while the shape of the small enclosures that surround "encircled enclosure cluster" Site 977 are sometimes recognisable as being rectangular on the orthomosaic, especially one example west and one north-west of the main site (see Figure 7b), the DEM makes this form recognisable for practically all of these features (Figure 9).…”

“…Another widely recognised benefit of UAVs is their potential for documenting threats to ancient sites, and therefore contributing to the monitoring of cultural heritage, e.g., [4,37] and specifically in Jordan [42]. This is also the case in the Harra, where possible damage to the prehistoric structures usually comes in the form of bulldozing for road construction or prospective mining activities.…”

A Post-Anfal Village in Iraqi Kurdistan: The Remote Sensing Retrogressive Analysis

“…The situation is different in areas that can be called urban landscapes. To use a remote archaeological survey in urban areas, we most often need data with a very high spatial resolution [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]. In the Middle East, the most frequently used images of remote sensing are those acquired through the CORONA satellite system.…”