Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting Detection
Looting of archaeological sites is illegal and considered a major anthropogenic threat for cultural heritage, entailing undesirable and irreversible damage at several levels, such as landscape disturbance, heritage destruction, and adverse social impact. In recent years, the employment of remote sen...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-10-01
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| Series: | Geosciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/7/4/98 |
| _version_ | 1828276269533364224 |
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| author | Athos Agapiou Vasiliki Lysandrou Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis |
| author_facet | Athos Agapiou Vasiliki Lysandrou Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis |
| author_sort | Athos Agapiou |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Looting of archaeological sites is illegal and considered a major anthropogenic threat for cultural heritage, entailing undesirable and irreversible damage at several levels, such as landscape disturbance, heritage destruction, and adverse social impact. In recent years, the employment of remote sensing technologies using ground-based and/or space-based sensors has assisted in dealing with this issue. Novel remote sensing techniques have tackled heritage destruction occurring in war-conflicted areas, as well as illicit archeological activity in vast areas of archaeological interest with limited surveillance. The damage performed by illegal activities, as well as the scarcity of reliable information are some of the major concerns that local stakeholders are facing today. This study discusses the potential use of remote sensing technologies based on the results obtained for the archaeological landscape of Ayios Mnason in Politiko village, located in Nicosia district, Cyprus. In this area, more than ten looted tombs have been recorded in the last decade, indicating small-scale, but still systematic, looting. The image analysis, including vegetation indices, fusion, automatic extraction after object-oriented classification, etc., was based on high-resolution WorldView-2 multispectral satellite imagery and RGB high-resolution aerial orthorectified images. Google Earth© images were also used to map and diachronically observe the site. The current research also discusses the potential for wider application of the presented methodology, acting as an early warning system, in an effort to establish a systematic monitoring tool for archaeological areas in Cyprus facing similar threats. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:55:38Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-06101b77b91c4a12904b01d0c2107600 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3263 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T06:55:38Z |
| publishDate | 2017-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geosciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-06101b77b91c4a12904b01d0c21076002022-12-22T02:57:16ZengMDPI AGGeosciences2076-32632017-10-01749810.3390/geosciences7040098geosciences7040098Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting DetectionAthos Agapiou0Vasiliki Lysandrou1Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis2Remote Sensing and Geo-Environment Laboratory, Eratosthenes Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Saripolou 2-8, 3603 Limassol, CyprusRemote Sensing and Geo-Environment Laboratory, Eratosthenes Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Saripolou 2-8, 3603 Limassol, CyprusRemote Sensing and Geo-Environment Laboratory, Eratosthenes Research Centre, Department of Civil Engineering and Geomatics, Cyprus University of Technology, Saripolou 2-8, 3603 Limassol, CyprusLooting of archaeological sites is illegal and considered a major anthropogenic threat for cultural heritage, entailing undesirable and irreversible damage at several levels, such as landscape disturbance, heritage destruction, and adverse social impact. In recent years, the employment of remote sensing technologies using ground-based and/or space-based sensors has assisted in dealing with this issue. Novel remote sensing techniques have tackled heritage destruction occurring in war-conflicted areas, as well as illicit archeological activity in vast areas of archaeological interest with limited surveillance. The damage performed by illegal activities, as well as the scarcity of reliable information are some of the major concerns that local stakeholders are facing today. This study discusses the potential use of remote sensing technologies based on the results obtained for the archaeological landscape of Ayios Mnason in Politiko village, located in Nicosia district, Cyprus. In this area, more than ten looted tombs have been recorded in the last decade, indicating small-scale, but still systematic, looting. The image analysis, including vegetation indices, fusion, automatic extraction after object-oriented classification, etc., was based on high-resolution WorldView-2 multispectral satellite imagery and RGB high-resolution aerial orthorectified images. Google Earth© images were also used to map and diachronically observe the site. The current research also discusses the potential for wider application of the presented methodology, acting as an early warning system, in an effort to establish a systematic monitoring tool for archaeological areas in Cyprus facing similar threats.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/7/4/98lootingremote sensing archaeologyimage analysissatellite dataCyprus |
| spellingShingle | Athos Agapiou Vasiliki Lysandrou Diofantos G. Hadjimitsis Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting Detection Geosciences looting remote sensing archaeology image analysis satellite data Cyprus |
| title | Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting Detection |
| title_full | Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting Detection |
| title_fullStr | Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting Detection |
| title_full_unstemmed | Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting Detection |
| title_short | Optical Remote Sensing Potentials for Looting Detection |
| title_sort | optical remote sensing potentials for looting detection |
| topic | looting remote sensing archaeology image analysis satellite data Cyprus |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3263/7/4/98 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT athosagapiou opticalremotesensingpotentialsforlootingdetection AT vasilikilysandrou opticalremotesensingpotentialsforlootingdetection AT diofantosghadjimitsis opticalremotesensingpotentialsforlootingdetection |