Modern, high-resolution commercial satellite imagery (e.g. Ikonos, Quickbird, and GeoEye) is clearly superior to CORONA in a number of respects, offering significantly higher spatial resolution (up to 0.41m) and spectral coverage into the near infrared range. Even the downgraded images served through GoogleEarth and other web-mapping sites have been used by archaeologists to document sites and features with success (e.g. Kennedy and Bishop 2011; Ur 2006) and rare is the archaeological conference paper that does not include a slide pulled from Google-served imagery. Full-resolution images that are purchased by researchers offer even greater potential (Beck 2006). Studies in the Homs region of western Syria find that some sites and features are easier to detect on modern satellite images than on CORONA owing to locally complex geology, steep topography, and other factors (e.g. Beck et al. 2007; Wilkinson et al. 2006). Similarly, in desert areas where there is little contrast between sites and surrounding soils, archaeological features tend to be washed out if visible at all on CORONA. In arid margins of southern Mesopotamia for example, modern commercial imagery was found to be a far more effective tool for site discovery and mapping (Stone 2008). These results mirror the success of numerous researchers using modern high-resolution commercial satellite imagery for site detection in other parts of the world (e.g. Cavalli et al. 2007; De Laet et al. 2007; Lasaponara and Masini 2007; Due Trier et al. 2009; Salvi et al. 2011). Nonetheless, CORONA imagery has several key advantages over modern high-resolution images, foremost in offering a historic perspective on the landscape. As discussed at length, the landscape of the Near East has witnessed extreme changes as a product of urban expansion, agricultural intensification, reservoir construction and other processes. CORONA pre-dates many of these land-use changes, which have obscured or destroyed archaeological sites and features, thereby preserving a picture of a pre-industrial landscape. In addition, the costs of purchasing commercial satellite images remain extremely high; even archived scenes over individual sites can cost thousands of dollars. CORONA on the other hand is either free or very inexpensive, offering the possibility for large-scale, regional analyses that would be cost-prohibitive using purchased commercial imagery.
© Internet Archaeology/Author(s)
University of York legal statements | Terms and Conditions
| File last updated: Fri Sept 21 2012