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

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.

• Publication year

  2017

• Venue

  Remote Sensing

• Publication date

  2017-04-06

• Fields of study

  Computer Science, History, Geography, Geology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.3390/RS9040351
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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