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High and Medium Resolution Satellite Imagery to Evaluate Late Holocene Human–Environment Interactions in Arid Lands: A Case Study from the Central Sahara

Published version
Peer-reviewed

Type

Article

Change log

Authors

Biagetti, S 
Merlo, S 
Adam, E 
Lobo, A 
Conesa, FC 

Abstract

We present preliminary results of an Earth observation approach for the study of past human occupation and landscape reconstruction in the Central Sahara. This region includes a variety of geomorphological features such as palaeo-oases, dried river beds, alluvial fans and upland plateaux whose geomorphological characteristics, in combination with climate changes, have influenced patterns of human dispersal and sociocultural activities during the late Holocene. In this paper, we discuss the use of medium- and high-resolution remotely sensed data for the mapping of anthropogenic features and paleo- and contemporary hydrology and vegetation. In the absence of field inspection in this inaccessible region, we use different remote sensing methods to first identify and classify archaeological features, and then explore the geomorphological factors that might have influenced their spatial distribution.

Description

Keywords

Sahara, late Holocene, Earth observation, GIS, high-resolution imagery

Journal Title

Remote Sensing

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

2072-4292
2072-4292

Volume Title

9

Publisher

MDPI
Sponsorship
Satellite imagery used in this study was generously provided by the DigitalGlobe Foundation, thanks to a grant entrusted to SB. This study was funded by the Marie S. Curie IEF the Europen Commission, grant No. 622344 PastoralMod, entrusted to SB, by the ‘PaisArque—Paisajes Arqueológicos Inaccesibles y en Peligro: Observación Terrestre y Tecnologías 3D para la Protección y Preservación del Patrimonio Cultural’ of the Fundación BBVA, and by the ‘SimulPast project’, CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010 from the MINECO (CSD2010-00034).