Multi-spectral imaging &
thermal-decay mapping on sands and gravel bearing sub-soils
LRC Project EH3841 funded by English
Heritage from the Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund
Project Summary
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here for detailed
information
The light and well-drained
sands and gravels, which provide a fundamental raw material for the modern
building industry, provided the ideal location for early settlement and
agriculture. River terraces and deposits on the margins of drainage basins such
as the Vale of Pickering have been the setting for accidental discovery and or
widespread destruction of archaeological evidence on countless occasions in the
past. In order to reduce the accidental loss of important evidence of human
occupation we need to adopt pro-active methods to identify and assess the
archaeological resource so that a more sustainable approach to mineral
extraction can be established.
Air
photography and ground based geophysical survey have contributed an immense
amount of information regarding past activity in the landscape. The results that
can be gained from any particular technique vary according to the nature of the
soils such that a geophysical survey in one area will identify most features
whereas in others features fail to show. Conventional air-photography relies on
short life crop-marks which also show differentially according to the soils.
This
project using multi-spectral digital imaging (MSS) and Lidar surface modelling
data, collected as part of a National Environment Research Council (NERC) award
to Dominic Powlesland (Landscape Research Centre) and Dr. Danny Donoghue
(University of Durham, department of Geography), will investigate the potential
benefits of MSS, air-photographic and geophysical survey over two different sand
and gravel deposits in the Vale of Pickering, North Yorkshire. Set against a
background of more than 25 years of research within the area, undertaken on
behalf of English Heritage, the project will draw upon air photographic, MSS
data collected in 1994, and geophysical survey data integrated within an
interactive Geographic Data Management System (GDMS) and compare and contrast
the results of these and new MSS survey techniques. The new MSS survey will
include imagery collected both during the day and at night, which can be used to
create images reflecting thermal decay and variations in crop canopy moisture
that are not visible to the eye.
Although
the project will contribute to the archaeological landscape record of the Vale
of Pickering, its principal contribution will be to develop a strategic
understanding of the potential of MSS survey, linked to Lidar surface modelling
data, for the rapid assessment of large areas of aggregate bearing geologies. By
comparing and contrasting different techniques over different soils we hope to
identify the most efficient methods for rapid assessment and landscape
comprehension that can help inform future planning strategies in this type of
landscape.
The
project is designed to take place over a two year period, the latter part of
which is concerned with technology transfer and training. Project outputs
include not only publications on paper and on the Web but also training
materials with distributed data sets which illustrate the methods and potentials
of the various approaches to remote sensing. These training materials are
intended to assist archaeological planners as well as other professionals in
developing an understanding of the potential role of the new techniques in
particular.
To learn about this project in more detail,
please click here:
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