While still in graduate school the potential of her approach soon began to become excitingly evident.
#Ancient space images how to
She searched scientific papers in geologyĪnd other fields for information on how to analyze satellite images there was then no definitive textbook for remote sensing satellite (Parcak said the idea to harness satellite technology came from her grandfather, a forestry professor who pioneered the use of aerial photography's application to various aspects of From 2003 to 2004,as a graduate student, Parcak used a combination of satellite imaging analysis and surface surveys in the detection of 132 new archaeological sites, someĭating back to 3,000 B.C and worked on her dissertation on satellite imaging at the University of Cambridge. Parcak received her Bachelor's degree in Egyptology and Archaeological Studies from Yale University in 2001. This Space Archaeology satellite imaging technology could mean that we now have an enhanced potential to monitor, assess and protectĪrchaeology from space, with high precision "You're actually able to see settlements and tombs - and even things like buried pyramids - that you might not otherwise be able to see."Īs of May, 2011, it seems that, in relation to Egypt alone, 17 new 'possible' pyramids, 1,000 new tombs, and 3,000 new sites This invisible world become visible," Parcak says. "You just pull back for hundreds of miles using the satellite imagery, and all of a sudden Those subtle differences are an archaeologist's clues to what might lie under a rice paddy or a city street. Try to tease out these very subtle differences on the ground." "What these satellites do is they record light radiation that's reflected off the surface of the Earth in different parts of the light spectrum," Parcak explains. That we could end up exploring on foot," she says. Higher density, building remains became "our hot spots, the places This approach can detect differing densities of materials lying beneath the surface of the terrain. More moisture than usual, producing a subtle signature in contrast to the overlying sands or soils that showed up in high-resolution, infrared satellite images.
During this period, buried mud brick walls absorbed Sarah Parcak, who has done much to pioneer these techniques,ĭiscovered that the most informative images were taken during the relatively wet weeks of late winter.
#Ancient space images trial
Through trial and error in relation to satellite imaging of the Egyptian terrain, Dr. High resolution cameras and other receptors, (themselves often deriving from military intelligence technology development),īuried sites, not visible on the surface,Ĭome to life for archaeologists to study, governments to administer and security guards to protect. Orbiting some 700kms, (or 435 miles), above the Earth.īy directing infrared light, visible light, microwave and thermal imaging devices at the Earth and capturing resultant data with a range of Identified using remote sensing imaging data from both NASA and commercial satellites, In late May, 2011, news reports began to circulate describing how images of lost, undiscovered or misunderstood archaeological sites in Egypt were being