At the 30th Annual Meeting of the European Association of Archaeologists (EAA), held from August 28 to 31, 2024, at Sapienza University in Rome, we presented a poster on the application of PRISMA pansharpening techniques for enhancing the detection of archaeological traces.
Our contribution, "Pansharpening of PRISMA products for archaeological prospection", has been selected as an Oral presentation for the 2024 Edition of IGARSS in Athens, July 07-12, 2024.
In this contribution, we assessed the usability of pansharpened PRISMA satellite products in geo-archaeological prospection by applying three pan-sharpening methods (GSA, MTFGLP and HySure). We then compared quantitatively and qualitatively the results over the archaeological landscape of Aquileia (Italy)
Find the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2404.05447
The area of the ancient Roman city of Aquileia, in Northeastern Italy, is rich in archaeological traces.
Three algorithms were compared in S1, S2, and S3 to enhance the visibility of traces related to the landscape's evolution.
A pansharpening algorithm is applied to PRISMA images to enhance the spatial resolution of the hyperspectral cube, from 30m to 5m. In the first stage, HySure algorithm was selected. Pansharpening process near the city of Aquileia, in northern Italy
The pansharpened enhanced image will be measured quantitatively and qualitatively with respect to other state-of-the-art pansharpening algorithms. Moreover, the new image will be tested specifically for the identification of archaeological sub-soli features.
PERSEO has identified four geographical areas featuring 5 main contexts in diverse environments. Areas were selected across the Mediterranean region to develop and test the methodologies on different conditions, to generalize the outcomes of the project and to extend their applicability to different case studies and user scenarios. Sites were selected, analyzed and described according to the following parameters:
- Geomorphological background
- Land Use management
- Archaeological features
- Accessibility for ground-truthing
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The area includes the suburban and rural territories of the Roman cities of Aquileia and Altinum, which developed since the 2nd century BC. The vast alluvial and coastal plain is intensely cultivated and it is characterised by numerous traces of palaeochannels and reclaimed lagoonal and swampy areas. Archaeological traces include buried infrastructures, such as roads and land divisions called ‘centuriations’, as well as remains of rural settlements and villas.
The area is part of the governorate of Beja, in the northwest of Tunisia. It includes the Roman cities of Vaga (Beja), Belalis Major, and many settlements and rural centres, spanning from the 4th century AD to the Late Antiquity (8th century AD). Traces of buried infrastructures are visible on satellite imagery (roads and centuriations), together with late Roman fortresses, churches and other archaeological structures. Illicit excavation activities (looting) are also detectable in major archaeological sites.
This is one of the richer archaeological areas of Southern Egypt, acting as an interface between the Nile Valley and the Western and Eastern deserts. It is the setting of a large number of necropolises, temples and sites in desert terrain. In this case study, PERSEO is going to assess the use of spectral signatures to classify archaeological structures at the pixel level.
Systematic mapping of archaeological settlement mounds (tells) offers valuable insights into the emergence, development, and organisation of early complex human societies. In PERSEO we aim at developing ML automated detection methods to improve the identification of tells using optical hyperspectral images. In addition, we aim to exploit spectral properties to differentiate artificial topographically elevated areas from natural elevations. This mapping serves as a preservation against looting activities and other damages to cultural heritage sites.