Analysis and Processing of Nadir and Stereo VHR Pleiadés Images for 3D Mapping and Planning the Land of Nineveh, Iraqi Kurdistan

Malinverni, Eva Savina; Pierdicca, Roberto; Bozzi, Carlo Alberto; Colosi, Francesca; Orazi, Roberto

doi:10.3390/geosciences7030080

Cited by 11 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…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%

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

et al. 2021

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“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).

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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

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“…The capabilities of satellite remote sensing beyond site detection were proven by Borie et al [5] in a study that focused on the analysis of specific environmental resources. Malinverni et al [6] demonstrated the advantage of using remote sensing for the documentation of an archaeological complex that further served as support for perseveration and enhancement efforts. Satellite remote sensing plays a crucial role also in the condition assessment [7] and detection of threats to heritage sites [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Remote Sensing for Cultural Heritage Assessment and Monitoring: The Case Study of Alba Iulia

et al. 2021

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In recent times, satellite-based remote sensing has a growing role in archaeology and inherently in the cultural heritage management process. This paper demonstrates the potential and usefulness of satellite imagery for the documentation, mapping, monitoring, and in-depth analysis of cultural heritage and the archaeological sites located in urban landscapes. The study focuses on the assessment and monitoring of Alba Iulia, which is one of the Romanian cities with the richest historical past. Multitemporal analysis was performed to identify the land use/land cover changes that might contribute to an increased cultural heritage vulnerability to natural disasters. A special emphasis was dedicated to the assessment of the built-up area growth and consequently of the urbanization trend over a large time interval (30 years). Next, the urbanization and urban area expansion impact was further analyzed by concentrating on the urban heat island within Alba Iulia city and Alba Iulia Fortress (located in the center of the city). As temperature change represents a key element of climate change, the temperature trend within the same temporal framework and its impact on cultural heritage were determined. In the end, with regard to the cultural heritage condition assessment, the research was complemented with an assessment of the urban ground and individual building stability, using persistent scatterer interferometry. The results contribute to the detailed depiction of the cultural heritage site in such a manner that the site is monitored over an extensive timeframe, its current state of conservation is accurately determined, and the future trends can be identified. In conclusion, the present study offers reliable results regarding the main factors that might endanger the cultural heritage site as a basis for future preservation measures.

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“…Agapiou et al [8] 3278 1904 5 Agapiou et al [3] 1708 970 8 Chyla [9] 1429 827 1 Comer et al [5] 1570 1102 3 Corso et al [12] 1753 1215 2 Danti et al [10] 1943 1740 7 Drap et al [13] 1571 1565 2 Gade et al [6] 1751 1210 4 Garcia-Garcia et al [14] 1282 995 1 Guidi et al [15] 1719 976 3 Kalayci et al [16] 1218 968 2 Křivánek [17] 1420 1174 2 Malinverni et al [18] 1445 1345 1 Parcak et al [11] 1486 1374 3 Poux et al [19] 2306 2249 7 Rayne et al [7] 1750 1500 5 Rutishauser et al [4] 1784 1345 2 Sonnemann et al [20] 1582 1046 2 Tapete [1] 1256 2313 3 Traviglia & Torsello [2] 1680 1311 9 Verhoeven [21] 1573 1399 6 Building upon the positive outcome achieved in 2017 and in order to continue this Special Series, in March 2018 I launched the call for papers for a second edition of the Special Issue with the title "Earth Observation, Remote Sensing and Geoscientific Ground Investigations for Archaeological and Heritage Research".…”

Section: Authors Views Downloads Citationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earth Observation, Remote Sensing and Geoscientific Ground Investigations for Archaeological and Heritage Research

2019

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Building upon the positive outcomes and evidence of dissemination across the community of the first Special Issue "Remote Sensing and Geosciences for Archaeology", the second edition of this Special Series of Geosciences dedicated to "Earth Observation, Remote Sensing and Geoscientific Ground Investigations for Archaeological and Heritage Research" collects a varied body of original scientific research contributions showcasing the technological, methodological, and interpretational advances that have been achieved in this field of archaeological and cultural heritage sciences over the last years. The fourteen papers, published after rigorous peer review, allowed the guest editor to make considerations on the capabilities, limitations, challenges, and perspectives of Earth observation (EO), remote sensing (RS), and geoscientific ground investigations with regard to: (1) archaeological prospection with high resolution satellite SAR and optical imagery; (2) high resolution documentation of archaeological features with drones; (3) archaeological mapping with LiDAR towards automation; (4) digital fieldwork using old and modern data; (5) field and archaeometric investigations to corroborate archaeological hypotheses; (6) new frontiers in archaeological research from space in contemporary Africa; and (7) education and capacity building in EO and RS for cultural heritage.

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Analysis and Processing of Nadir and Stereo VHR Pleiadés Images for 3D Mapping and Planning the Land of Nineveh, Iraqi Kurdistan

Cited by 11 publications

References 32 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

Remote Sensing for Cultural Heritage Assessment and Monitoring: The Case Study of Alba Iulia

Earth Observation, Remote Sensing and Geoscientific Ground Investigations for Archaeological and Heritage Research

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