High-resolution documentation, 3-D modeling and analysis of “desert kites”

Arav, Reuma; Filin, Sagi; Avner, Uzi; Bar-Oz, Guy; Nachmias, Amnon; Malkinson, Dan; Nadel, Dani

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2015.02.040

Cited by 5 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Relevant here is another point, namely the high‐resolution documentation of large sites in harsh environments. Currently, all researchers are using Google Earth images and aerial photography, but using Lidar scanners and photogrammetry for 3D‐model building and ensuing analyses will take us some further steps forwards (Arav et al ., ; in press).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights into desert kites in Armenia: the fringes of the Ararat Depression

Nadel

Bar-Oz

Malkinson

et al. 2015

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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The Armenian kites are the northernmost known kites in south-west Asia. In contrast to those in the deserts further south, their research has only recently begun. The Armenian kites are situated at high elevations, mostly between 900 and 1500 m above mean sea level, in steppic conditions where Artemisia is at present the dominant shrub on the landscape. In our ongoing project we excavated three V-shaped kites and one enclosure kite. The two kinds are similar in construction details, but they differ in size and location: the former run down into gullies, while the latter were placed on the plateau. Six OSL ages suggest terminal Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age construction dates, while geomorphological considerations and surface artefacts suggest earlier dates. A preliminary palynological study suggests a gradual increase in grazing-resistant vegetation since the mid-Holocene, probably reflecting human impact on the natural vegetation through the herding of grazing animals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights into desert kites in Armenia: the fringes of the Ararat Depression

Nadel

Bar-Oz

Malkinson

et al. 2015

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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“…The individual scans were acquired in a local reference frame, requiring transformation into a common one—a procedure termed registration (Dold and Brenner, 2006; Buckley et al, 2008; Barnea and Filin, 2010; Arav and Filin, 2012; Arav et al, 2015; Liang et al, 2016). Our registration practice involved deployment of artificial targets—here, reflectors in the scene as tie elements (Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based on propagation of the variances, the detection limit was defined as

m_{Δ} = \sqrt{2} m_{z}

where m z is the accuracy estimate of the laser scanning data. We define the threshold based on the estimated accuracy of range data (Arav and Filin, 2012; Arav et al, 2015). Considering the ±2‐mm surface accuracy and 95% confidence interval, the minimal detection level was set to ±5.6 mm.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

High‐Resolution Measurement of Topographic Changes in Agricultural Soils

Arav

Filin

et al. 2017

Vadose Zone Journal

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Terrestrial lidar technology provides accurate surface data at high spatial resolution. This study examined the ability of lidar scanners to evaluate soil erosion and deposition at high spatial and temporal resolutions. Lidar scans were conducted in six field plots with three different tillage systems during two rain seasons, focusing on four major rainfall events. Results show that the lidar scanner identifies changes in the surface elevation in the case of rill erosion within the furrows. In these cases, the high-quality quantitative data can assist practical decision-making and can contribute to the calibration of physically based erosion models. In other cases, however, the results show that the ability of the lidar scanners to detect erosion and deposition processes is limited. The reasons for this limitation are the minor effect of sheet erosion on flat surfaces and soil swelling and shrinking occurring during and after rainfall events. Swelling-shrinking and soil compaction processes need to be taken into account during lidar scanning, as their magnitude is comparable to that of soil loss by erosion. On the other hand, the ability to measure these processes allows investigation of the dynamics of surface processes during wetting and drying sequences. The results showed also that the effect of the rainfall pattern was stronger when the rainfall intensity and the initial soil moisture were higher, and that rill erosion is more important when the furrows are parallel to the slope direction, while deposition is accentuated when the furrows are perpendicular to the slope.

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“…The volume was then estimated via area of each plot times the times the elevation difference between the fluvial terrace baseline to that of the top of the agricultural one. Soil loss volume since abandon- ment was measured via polyhedral volume summation (Arav et al, 2015).…”

Section: Structural Characterizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The annual soil loss rate was carried at gully heads, from where most soil is removed in the short term. Due to the complexity of the erosive pattern within the gully, soil-loss volume was measured first by delineation of the new eroded part at the head, and then by computation polyhedral volume summation (Arav et al, 2015).…”

Section: Erosion Documentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing the Landscape of the Past in the Agricultural Terraces of the City of Avdat

Arav¹,

Filin²,

Avni

2019

Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.

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<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Large areas in the arid Southern Levant are dotted with ancient agricultural terraces and runoff harvesting installations. In the Negev Highlands, Israel, they were constructed in the 3rd&ndash;4th centuries CE, maintained for 6&ndash;7 centuries, and then abandoned after the 10th century. Their design pattern and foundations provide a rare insight to the prevailing environmental conditions during the middle Holocene, while their 600&ndash;700 years cultivation tells the story of their maitainance and desert agriculture in these regions. From their abandonment onwards, they documented more than 1000 years of land degradation and soil erosion till present time. In this paper, we follow a complete cycle of desert agriculture of two sites near the UNESCO world-heritage town of Avdat. We reconstruct the landscape at the period pre-dating the first anthropogenic intervention, through the centuries of cultivation, and into a millennium of abandonment until the present erosion phase. We use high-resolution 3-D data to document the erosion and environmental dynamics during these two millennia, and to compute rates of siltation and erosion. Long-term measures of such kind are unique, as it is rare to find a millennium-scale documentation of soil erosion processes. Their study improves our understanding of the long-term environmental change mechanism acting in arid environments. The detailed analysis of these installations also offers insights into methods for soil conservation, for sustainable desert inhabitation, and for strategies to protect world-heritage installations. As the globe-wide struggle to combat soil erosion becomes urgent, this case study becomes even more relevant.</p>

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High-resolution documentation, 3-D modeling and analysis of “desert kites”

Cited by 5 publications

References 27 publications

New insights into desert kites in Armenia: the fringes of the Ararat Depression

New insights into desert kites in Armenia: the fringes of the Ararat Depression

High‐Resolution Measurement of Topographic Changes in Agricultural Soils

Reconstructing the Landscape of the Past in the Agricultural Terraces of the City of Avdat

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