Research project SR/00/157 (Research action SR)
Advances in RS over the past 30 years, and especially over the last decade have provided new opportunities for geo-archaeological research, especially for identifying areas of high archaeological potential (De Laet et al. 2007, 2008, 2009; Fowler 2001; Garrison et al. 2008; Lasaponara & Masini 2005, 2006a, b; Masini & Lasaponara 2007; Ricchetti 2004; Weller 2006).
Because of the relatively small size of archaeological sites and the variability of their shape and spectral properties, the spatial and spectral resolution of any RS data must be extremely high to be really useful. In order to define the resolution requirements one has to develop a methodology and investigate the processes producing remotely sensible geo-archaeological signatures, something that is still missing in present-day archaeological research.
To complement research in this domain, focus in this project, which brings together a variety of Belgian and foreign research institutions, is on developing a methodology for investigating signatures of archaeological features as well as for integrated processing of LiDAR and hyperspectral data. The combination of LiDAR and hyperspectral imagery is of major importance since the way in which archaeological spectra appear is strongly dependent on the nature of the landscape context (e.g. Rowlands & Sarris 2007; Cavalli et al. 2009)
