Liu, J.; Xu, L.; Sarris, A.; Topouzi, S., "CRM & Archaeological Research using Remote Sensing and GIS: Zhouyuan (China) & Lasithi (Greece)", Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology (CAA 2002), 2-6 April.

Zhouyuan, the ancient capital of China (B.C1100 to B.C.700), is located at the center of Shaanxi province, covered by farmlands and some modern villages. The continuing archaeological investigations discovered some palace foundations, storage pits and some small tombs, while recent efforts have been focused on locating the foundations of the city walls and the royal tombs. Satellite remote sensing (Landsat TM imagery), aerial photographs and GIS techniques were employed by archaeological research for detection and photogrammetry. Aerial images were used for creating orthomaps, containing information on topography, rivers, roads, modern villages, a.o. to be used as basic background layers for mapping the archaeological sites of the region. Landsat TM images were georeferenced to the orthographic aerial image and combined, they resulted in an image of high ground resolution and wide spectral resolution to be used for interpretation purposes. The above were merged to a GIS, together with an archaeological database containing general information, mainly data and finds of the site, for further analysis. Lasithi (E. Crete) is one of the less-developed and remote districts of the E.U. and at the same time one of the archaeologically most investigated areas in Greece, containing a number of sites from the Neolithic era to the most recent historical period. After a detailed mapping of more than 900 ancient sites (Neolithic –Roman period), research was concentrated on the extraction of the spectral signatures of the sites based on satellite imagery and the cultural resources management of the area. Information regarding the geomorphological and geological attributes of the sites, seismic activity, fires, and climatic conditions were merged into a GIS together with other archaeological information resulting to a definition of risk areas having a variable index of conservation due to the environmetal variables. The above research projects fall within a collaborative framework of research which studies the use of satellite remote sensing and GIS in archaeological research and Cultural Resources Management in semi-arid regions with desertification phenomena, which in turn have direct consequences for the conservation of ancient monuments.